Thoughts on the Rules of Writing (Repeat)

Oops! I’m running late with this post. My excuses, such as they are, consist of “I just got back from ‘When Words Collide,’ and my brains are scrambled, or I'm working on a new project and lost track of the days, or more important, just got word that a long awaited third volume of my Toltec Trilogy will finally be available in a day or two.

Anyway, here is one I wrote back in 2013 that I think still applies!

At a conference I attended last year, one of the experienced professional authors, Kevin J. Anderson, talked about the rules of writing. He began by paraphrasing some rules set out by the famous science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, and then added a few of his own. I thought these worthwhile passing along, so here are my opinions on what they both had to say. First, paraphrasing Heinlein:

Rule number one is Write. It seems obvious, but if you never get beyond the day-dreaming about your many marvelous ideas, you will not get very far. Set something down; it=s a start.

Rule number two is finish what you write. I don=t know how many writing workshops I have sat through where people are busy re-writing the opening chapter of their great novel and may never get around to actually finishing the thing. Write your short story or novel all the way through to the end, then go back and see if it makes sense.

Refrain from re-writing. I would take this to mean that once you have spent a reasonable length of time going over your story, stop! Don=t spend the rest of your life trying to make it immaculate. There is a time when the story needs to be sent in. There is one codicil to this; you should probably re-write if your editor says to!

Put the work out to the market. If you are planning to be a professional writer, there is nothing to be gained by never sending the manuscript out. It probably doesn’t matter what your mother/loving spouse thinks...find out what the pros have to say. It will never see the published light of day if it never ever leaves your office!

And rule number five, keep the work out in the marketplace until it is sold. I personally had a very bad habit of sending something out, receiving a rejection letter, and then filing the project away in a safe place. Send the project out again, and repeat rules one to five!

In addition to the above, which if followed should help to get you published, here are some additional thoughts from Mr. Anderson to consider once you are a publisher writer:

Be professional with everyone you meet and look professional all the time. Talk, dress, and act professional. Do what you are asked to do: turn in a project on time, with the length and topic as agreed. Don=t make enemies or start feuds. Don=t correct others in public, or in writing. Don=t argue. Be kind. I suspect the speaker was referring here especially to other authors, critics, editors, and the reading public. To play safe, just be kind to everyone, do your best work, and keep track of your business. You might just discover you have become a professional author! 

I agree!

R.J.Hore

www.ronaldhore.com

www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)

The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1,2,3)

The Housetrap Chronicles (Volumes 1 to 8)

Alex in Wanderland,

Knight’s Bridge

We’re Not in Kansas

Toltec Dawn (Book 1, 2, 3)

The Differences Between Fantasy and Science Fiction?

I heard an interesting definition the other day. It had to do with the difference between fantasy and science fiction. The speaker was postulating that while Science Fiction is set on “Planets,” Fantasy is set on “Worlds.” Sort of the difference between the settings of Lord of the Rings and The Martian. One you can glance up in the sky and imagine it being there, the other you cannot.

The fantasy writer creates a setting and does not necessarily think about the whole, the sci-fi author may work out the how and why their location is different, or logical. If the sci-fi writer introduced dragons into a tale there would probably be a temptation to explain the means by which dragons can spit fire. Actually, I attempted to do that in my novel, “Alex in Wanderland.”

I’ve always felt that what sets sci-fi apart from fantasy, or any other classification of genre, is the “sci” portion of the equation. If you could remove the scientific gimmick or far future technology and setting and the story still works well, then maybe you’ve written it in the wrong genre. Fantasy suspends reality for at least a portion of the tale.

The same may also apply to world building. A magical city in the desert, an evil magician, interference by the “gods,” tend toward fantasy. A sci-fi writer might worry more about how the city’s politics and economy can actually work. Could that city support itself? (greenhouses, aquifers, trade?) How does the evil magician’s magic actually work? (high tech?) What are the gods? (Advanced aliens?)

I tend to write fantasy while downplaying the fantastical. I still like to have the how it works covered in the back of my mind or at least be aware when I have no idea. When I write science fiction I classify my tales as soft sci-fi. I throw in faster than light travel and ignore long technical passages on how it all works. I don’t really know and I don’t care. (But I’m also well aware of what I’m deliberately doing.)

I recently sat down to write a fantasy tale during a period of time between acceptance of a manuscript and editing. At least it started out as a straight fantasy tale, although it has begun sniffing around converting to sci-fi. Some days you can never tell where the unruly characters are going to lead you.

And I like it that way.

R.J.Hore

www.ronaldhore.com

www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)

The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1,2,3)

The Housetrap Chronicles (Volumes 1 to 8)

Alex in Wanderland,

Knight’s Bridge

We’re Not in Kansas

Toltec Dawn (Book 1, 2, 3)

Do You Mind if I throw in Some Humor?

Do you mind if I throw in some humor into my stories now and then? Some days I just can’t help myself. I also think even the most serious of tales can use some levity once in a while. For one thing, a large percentage of the population can be amusing, at least some of the time, whether they intend to be or not. For another, there are times when a serious situation needs a break. I have also been guilty of starting a serious novel, and having it degenerate into a giggle or three.

Take my fantasy detective series, the Housetrap Chronicles. Just because I take a familiar title, muck it about and then use the result as my plot inspiration, doesn’t mean the tales were not intended to be serious. Of course, I couldn’t resist throwing in the occasional bad pun or ridiculous situation, or have the characters’ innermost thoughts conflict with their words. It gets pretty bad when the publisher complains, “It’s not funny enough.” And here I thought I was writing serious prose.

This never fails to happen to me. My second published novel, “The Queen’s Pawn,” started out as a straightforward fantasy thriller about a young man trapped in a burning city. Before long, nonsense started to creep in. By the time I’d finished what turned out to be the first book in a trilogy, I’d abused him mercilessly and stuffed him into all sorts of embarrassing situations. Of course, this meant I had to carry on in this manner for the next two books. What else do you do with a handsome hero who is clueless about the ladies who keep flinging themselves at him and who doesn’t recognize that when the princess is talking about her wedding plans, he is supposed to be the groom.

In general, even in a more serious tale, there has to be a wise-cracking character or two in my stories to lighten the load. Alex in Wanderland started out as a novel about a feuding married couple a long way out of their depth in an alternative Dark Age style world. They ended up on a quest with a group of characters out of B movies central casting, not to mention the local deity, the Goddess Gladys.

Besides bad puns, which are sometimes more difficult than writing straight dialogue, I enjoy doing what I think of as the parallel conversation. This is where using point-of-view comes in handy. You can have a character saying one thing in conversation, while mentally thinking or commenting something completely different internally. This lets the reader in on the joke.

Even in tales where I have managed to stay on track and stick with serious subjects, I find myself throwing in characters whose sole purpose is to say witty things and comment on the goings on. An example of this shows up in my Toltec series where a Mayan servant and a Saxon cook keep up a lighter dialogue and commentary about what is happening around them.

There is a place for everything, although sometimes everything gets out of place, at least inside my head, while I’m trying to write. But if you don’t giggle once in a while at your own cleverness, who will?

R.J.Hore

www.ronaldhore.com

www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)

The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1,2,3)

The Housetrap Chronicles (Volumes 1 to 8)

Alex in Wanderland,

Knight’s Bridge

We’re Not in Kansas

Toltec Dawn (Book 1, 2, of 3)

Struggling With A Space Opera - Part Two

Back at the start of last year I decided to try writing something new. I needed a change from dragons and damsels, or detectives facing vampires and wayward housewives. I decided it was time I ventured deep into outer space.

As usual I started with a scrap of a plot and plunged right on ahead. I knew what the opening chapter would look like, and the final dramatic scene. All I needed was the middle part of the beast. My Beta reader uncovered the usual number of faults but I pressed on. Unlike some authors and betas, we look at each other’s work as it goes along, a few chapters at a time. We don’t wait until the completion before we do the swapping of manuscripts and the serious critiquing. The advantage to me is I pick up on any problems early enough to incorporate the fixes as I create the next section and repair the last.

I usually write quickly. I’ll start each day by reading and editing what I wrote the day before, and then charge on ahead. I also go back, adding scenes, inserting comments, sprinkling in incidents as they pop up.

Decided on a working title: “Of Destiny’s Daughters.” So, what happened after I finished this epic? Sent it off to the publisher and settled down for the usual waiting period, chewing nails to the quick. Of course, the brain keeps active during this period and the ending had generated some ideas on what might happen next in the story.

Might as well keep on writing, eh?

My beta reader complained the start of volume number two was a bit slow. Okay, I add an opening scene with a flashback complete with explosions. Somewhere during this process I also imagined a third volume. Then of course I changed my mind and compressed the projected third volume into the end of book two, which had a working title of “Hammer Across the Stars.”

Might as well finish this off and send it to the publisher so she can get an idea of how the tale unfolds beyond the first book.

Of course, as I put volume number two to bed there is an itch in the back of my head. The revised ending has given me a brilliant (I may exaggerate here) idea for a third volume. No, I haven’t started on this one yet, but the ideas are percolating.

One reason I haven’t started anything on book three (working title unknown although “Expedition to Earth” has a nice ring to it) is that I’m now up to my eyeballs in edits on the first volume. The publisher has said “Yes!”

The moral here, persistence pays off. Now about that book three…

R.J.Hore

www.ronaldhore.com

www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)

The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1,2,3)

The Housetrap Chronicles (Volumes 1 to 8)

Alex in Wanderland,

Knight’s Bridge

We’re Not in Kansas

Toltec Dawn (Book 1, 2, of 3)

Sometimes I really Wonder

Sometimes I really wonder why I do the things I do. I just spent the last few long months wrestling with the second volume of my space opera epic. Made several changes, additions, and went through the beast until I was cross-eyed and finally sent it off. Before that I was putting the income tax nonsense into some kind of order. Now, with that finished and the manuscript off my plate, I could get caught up on all those other things I’ve been letting slide.

Like my office. The children have warned my wife not to enter it on her own without tying a rope around her waist so she can find her way back out. Even I have to admit it’s been getting a bit unruly in there.

But then ideas keep bubbling. You know the feeling. It’s an itch that requires scratching. What to do? Two new plots were struggling for attention. Now what?

I chose the path of least resistance and decided to start on both of them and see where that led me.

The first option is one in the series of Housetrap Chronicles novellas. I always find these relaxing as I can have a lot of fun throwing in everything (including a kitchen sink) into my fantasy detective series and work out any frustrations. Slight problem, this plot requires more planning than I’m used to with these. Normally I come up with a mash-up of a mystery title and then write a story to fit the title.

The second option is a more-or-less straight fantasy tale that bit me when I wasn’t looking. This thing has decided it wants to be full novel length but is unsure whether to be teen, young adult, or adult. Only the bedroom scenes may eventually decide that rating.

After writing the opening chapters of each of these ideas, I decided I really had to get a serious grip on these creatures; and work on only one writing project at a time. So I did.

Glancing around my office, it is still sinking under the weight of the paper piled on my floor. But that is not surprising, my desk and shelves are full.

Carry on writing, especially if you enjoy it. I often write so I can find out how the story ends.

Why do you write?

R.J.Hore

www.ronaldhore.com

www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)

The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1,2,3)

The Housetrap Chronicles (Volumes 1 to 8)

Alex in Wanderland,

Knight’s Bridge

We’re Not in Kansas

Toltec Dawn Trilogy (Volume 1, 2, 3)

How do You Create Your Masterpiece?

Working at a book table during a recent Con set me thinking. You get to meet and talk with a lot of new or developing writers at these busy events. Some come looking for hints, or just want to talk about the writing world in general.

One young gentleman’s comment that he only writes in longhand in a notebook got me thinking. When I mentioned using computers he was dead set against them. Pen to paper was the only way for him. He intended to work that way until he had his final draft of his manuscript completed.

I too started out writing in a notebook. I still have them buried in my office somewhere. Then I graduated to a manual typewriter. (I’m a two-fingered typist and I like it that way.) The typewriter certainly made for easier-to-read work. I also went through large reams of paper and whiteout by the jar or strip.

Then I graduated to a Commodore 64 computer and 5 inch floppy discs. I was in my glory. Unfortunately, I still have two novels that never escaped from the floppy discs. Fortunately, I do have hard copies buried around the office somewhere, if I ever get the ambition to transcribe them on to my latest computer while editing out all those beginner errors at the same time.

Now I have three laptops, numerous thumb drives, and an external hard drive. Which brings me to the moral of this lengthy tale and why I’m quite happy I kept moving on up through the equipment in search of something better.

I was wrestling with my latest epic recently. My Beta reader was working me over. I decided she was correct, again. I needed to make some important changes. First, was completely re-writing the opening. Then, I needed to make several changes through the manuscript. Next I had to add some new scenes to make sense out of the revised opening. I shudder to think of doing this amount of revision work on a typewriter or even the trusty Commodore. Never mind scratching around in a notebook!

I can give another better example. A couple of years ago I turned in a manuscript that came to somewhere north of 100,000 words. That particular publisher decided it was a bit long for them when they brought out the print editions. Their request, cut the manuscript into two, flesh those two out to a decent length of somewhere over 80,000 words each, and then write a third novel to turn the whole project into a trilogy.

I can imagine doing the above using a handwritten notebook. One final thought on the subject. I keep a separate file on the computer of notes for each project that I can call upon and bring up as I am working. Useful stuff such as, “How did I spell that character’s name?” or “What did I say was the color of her eyes?”

Experience is a good teacher. Bottom line, writing is a very personal exercise. Write in the way that suits you best, and take all the advice from us old timers with a grain of sea-salt.

R.J.Hore

www.ronaldhore.com

www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)

The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1,2,3)

The Housetrap Chronicles (Volumes 1 to 8)

Alex in Wanderland,

Knight’s Bridge

We’re Not in Kansas

Toltec Dawn Trilogy (Volume 1, 2, 3)

5

Things a Pantser Will Do

I’m a pantser and proud of it. Here is one reason why.

I was working on a lengthy manuscript the other day. The scene had the heroine trying to escape a boring party and being harassed by a dull male until she eventually shooed him away. At that point he was just inserted as part of the scenery. I began to wonder if he had an ulterior motive. What was his real purpose? Maybe he was up to no good.

If I was a serious plotter I would already know the answers, having decided he was simply a walk-on, throw-away character passing her by in the night. But being a pantser, I wondered if I should find something useful for him to do and employ him a while longer.

The heroine was going on a trip. Would anyone be curious about this? I have it! My throw-away character is a bumbling spy who must continue to pursue her. Gives me someone to keep her busy while she is in transit. I can use the action around this hapless male to explain the how and why of a few other things going on rather than use a boring info dump. So I did.

Might never have come up with this angle if I was a meticulous plotter. While not a character who will become a main player, he did get to play an expanded part.

I often create characters I know little about at the time, only to learn more about them as I create. Sometimes they become major players. In this case a simple walk-on player earned at least two more scenes and probably made enough extra to cover his groceries and beer for the next week.

R.J.Hore

www.ronaldhore.com

www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore

The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)

The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1,2,3)

The Housetrap Chronicles (Volumes 1 to 8)

Alex in Wanderland,

Knight’s Bridge

We’re Not in Kansas

Toltec Dawn Trilogy (Volume 1, 2, 3)