Writing Topics and Questions help please!

[sethp]

Ok I only have 7 questions.

1. How do you write an outline for a book and can I see a sample book outline?
2. What is the self publishing craze? How do I self publish?
3. How long does it take you to write a short story? meaning one that is approved on literotica from start to clicking the submit button.
4. Say you have written book and it's complete. What are the steps to getting it actually published if it was good enough. (such as printing manuscripts? getting it copywrighted?
5. Do you proofread and edit each section or chapter or wait until you've finished the whole book or story?
6. Best online resource for writers that is not literotica?
7. Best thing that I can practice or do right now to become a better writer?

what you do here is jus pick a number and put that number at the beginning of your post and elaborate on it. you can pick as many numbers as you want or do all 7. Thank you!

Sethp

 

[Lalah]

2. What is the self publishing craze? How do I self publish?

Either you go to one of these print on demand/vanity press websites and submit to them (but watch out, there's many that are just scams) and then sell your books through their website, or you actually save up some money, go to a local printer and have your book printed yourself. If you go to the websites you will have low to no fees but will get the smaller chunk of the profits. If you print yourself you pay a lot but get all profits.

Authors published by established publishing houses consider self published authors to basically be frauds, but they have slightly higher respect for those that print it themselves. Not much mind you.

3. How long does it take you to write a short story? meaning one that is approved on literotica from start to clicking the submit button.

Depends how short. Mines take me anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days but what seem longer is the submitting process. It usually take a week for my stories to get through.

4. Say you have written book and it's complete. What are the steps to getting it actually published if it was good enough. (such as printing manuscripts? getting it copywrighted?

Write query letters and send them to agents and publishers who deal with that genre, cross your fingers and wait

5. Do you proofread and edit each section or chapter or wait until you've finished the whole book or story?

Why not?

7. Best thing that I can practice or do right now to become a better writer?

Write, keep writing. And possibly buy and read books about writing.

 

[starrkers]

The only ones I can begin to answer are 3. and 7.

3. Depends on the story. I wrote a short piece (just over the 750 word minimum - it's a letter) yesterday in 2 hours from open new Word doc to Submit. I have another thats taken two weeks so far and is at about half done. Asking "How long does it take to write a story?" is kinda like asking "How long is a piece of string?"

7. To get better you need to keep writing and keep reading - and pay attention to how writers you enjoy reading put words together. If you don't like something, try to figure out why. Get an editor and listen to them. Don't just blindly take all their suggested alterations/corrections, think about them, figure out why they're better (or worse) than the original. Keep writing.

 

[sethp]

thanks

So far this has already been a huge help!

 

[christabelll]

Ok I only have 7 questions.

1. How do you write an outline for a book and can I see a sample book outline?

I did that once... every character summarized
times lines charted
arch created all of it
the story was still born

Now - I just let it come - read what I ahve written and take off with it again - at times asking, begging, trading reads, for others to read it and give me their take on it.... it helps immeasurably to have sounding boards.

2. What is the self publishing craze? How do I self publish?

something I looked at and forgot - its expensive one - most places are scams - and I am just reluctant (I dont know the first thing about typesetting a book!)

3. How long does it take you to write a short story? meaning one that is approved on literotica from start to clicking the submit button.

as starkers and lalah said - it varies story to story - some seeming minutes... others weeks... months - nay years!

4. Say you have written book and it's complete. What are the steps to getting it actually published if it was good enough. (such as printing manuscripts? getting it copywrighted?

THere are a lot of how to's out there on just this subject... some publishers even give you tips and suggestions on how to submit to them! Imagine - lolol...
Print off your pieces with an embedded time date stamp... put it in an appropriate sized envelope and send it certified to yourself. DO NOT OPEN IT... lololol... this is your federally recognised proof of ownership- creatorship - etc
You can even apply for an ISBN number - and copyright documents - hardly worth the money unless you self print then its rather mandatory
5. Do you proofread and edit each section or chapter or wait until you've finished the whole book or story?
I proof read and edit as I go... sometimes switching up whole chapters...But really its your choice
6. Best online resource for writers that is not literotica?
Writers Digest is a good place to start - search it out - look at what they do and how then decide for yourself
7. Best thing that I can practice or do right now to become a better writer?
WRITE - even if its just email or posts... its still writing and its still a way to keep the fingers limber and the mind supple... and READ - cant stress that enough READ READ READ...

 

[Stella_Omega]

The theory behind book outlining is;
Write down where it starts and where it ends.

Between those two items, put in three more; what gets the action going, something that moves it forward, and the climax-point.

Now you have five points in your outline.

Between every pair of points, put in something that makes sense-- that bridges each pair.

Keep this up for as long as you feel necessary.

The second point-- where the action gets going-- and the fourth point-- the climax-- each need to stay pretty close to the beginning and ending of the outline. The climax can move further forward to give you room for winding everything up.


That's the theory, anyway....

 

[3113]

1. How do you write an outline for a book and can I see a sample book outline?

For yourself or for a publisher?

3. How long does it take you to write a short story? meaning one that is approved on literotica from start to clicking the submit button.

As said, it depends on how long, and how much time you want to put into it. A super-short story that you don't much care about it can be done in hours, but one that runs, say three Lit pages (about 30 regular pages) and that you really care about, that can take a few weeks. It also depends on how fast a typist you are, how fast a writer. I know very careful writers who will take months on a short story just to get every word right.

4. Say you have written book and it's complete. What are the steps to getting it actually published if it was good enough.

There's the old copywrite trick of mailing a completed manuscript to yourself and no opening the envelope. The sealed envelope, with the date stamped by the post office, establishes that you wrote it and it is "copywrited"

Steps:
a) Find a publisher that publishes the type of book you've written--that imprint for say Science Fiction or Mystery.
b) Send query letters to the editor of that imprint--there will only be one or two editors usually per imprint per publisher. The editor will tell you if they read unsolitited manuscripts. Some will, some won't. Those who won't only read manuscripts given to them by a book agent.
c) Print up the manuscript double space, 12pt. plain text (typewriter looking font), make sure the first page has your title, name, address, phone number on it. Make sure every page has title/your last name as header. Make sure each page is numbered. As said, there are books on such things and, of course, internet sites. Best to get one as editors will use any excuse, including an unprofessional looking manuscript, to toss out the book.
c) Send the editor what they want--usually a summary of the book and a certain number of pages--they may or may not ask for the entire manuscript, but they'll want a summary. Make sure that summary is SHORT. Like no more than 2 pages telling them the entire story.

5. Do you proofread and edit each section or chapter or wait until you've finished the whole book or story?

I edit as I go. If you wait till you've finished the whole book, you often have a lot of editing to do. If you edit as you go, changing early chapters as you write later chapters and discover things (oh! That's why my character is afraid of heights. I can slip hints of that into chapter 1!) then it makes things easier once you're finished. You can keep final editing to cutting the fat, rather than putting in what's missing.

7. Best thing that I can practice or do right now to become a better writer?
Read, read, read. Write, write, write.

 

[sr71plt]

4There's the old copywrite trick of mailing a completed manuscript to yourself and no opening the envelope. The sealed envelope, with the date stamped by the post office, establishes that you wrote it and it is "copywrited"

This, known as "the poor man's copyright" has validity in the UK (which doesn't have a copyright registration process). In the United States, it's an old wives tale that just won't die. The following comes straight from the FAQ page at the U.S. Copyright Office Web site (www.copyright.gov):

"The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a “poor man’s copyright.” There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration."


On the other questions in the original posting:

1. Discussion and samples of outlines can be found (or could be found there the last time I checked) at http://members.dca.net/areid/proposal.htm.
(Alice Reid's "A Practical Guide for Writing Proposals").

A good book resource on this is Sierra Adare, What Editors Look For: How to Write Compelling Queries, Cover Letters, Synopses & Book Proposals (Cougar Imprints, 1995).

2. On the self-publishing question, the first question you have to ask yourself is where you, all by yourself, can sell 400 copies of a paperback book you've written--because the key to publishing isn't writing a book; it's selling the book. If you want to break even (without considering that you still will have written the book without a dime in compensation) and you can't touch 400 actual buyers, self-publishing is a losing proposition.

If you've decided to self-publish, though, by using print on demand services (which is the cheapest way to go), a services and price comparison of the major POD producers can be found on Clea Saal's Web Site at www.booksandtales.com.


3. After my mind has formulated a story, it takes me an average of 4 hours to take a Lit. short story of 3,000 words from cold start writing, through review and submission.


4. This question would take days to answer properly. Here are some good books to read on it: (And the term is "copyright"). If you narrow your questions down and only ask a few at a time, I'd be happy to give more detail.

Judith Appelbaum, How to Get Happily Published: Fifth Edition (Harper Perennial, 1998).

Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published (Alpha Books, 1998).

Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook, Your Novel Proposal from Creation to Contract (Writer’s Digest Books, 2003)


5. For a short story or essay, I don't review until after it's done. When I write a book, I review every chapter before I go onto the next chapter. (And review it all at least once after it's all done as well).


6. Literotica isn't all that good as a writer's resource. The Internet is so dynamic that I'm not sure all of the following are still at the given URLs, but here's a start on on-line writer's resource sites to check out:

http://www.absolutewrite.com

http://english.ttu.edu/acw/operations/category.html#centers

http://www.coonts.com

http://www.writingclasses.com

http://inspired2write.com/?hop=castine.write2earn

http://www.lighthousewriters.com/

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/

http://www.robinsnest.com

http://www.crayne.com/writetop.html

http://www.suite101.com/readingcenter/

http://198.170.246.218/tips/

http://www.writersbbs.com/

http://www.write101.com/

http://www.writersdigest.com

http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/writers.html

http://www.writers.net

http://www.writerswrite.com/screenwriting/

http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html

http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp

http://www.writing-world.com/


7. The best things you could be doing now to give yourself a good foundation to develop as a writer are: read, get a good grounding in grammar, take an introductory creative writing course or two (they are offered all over the place through community education programs), and start writing.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

1. I'll show you what the start of the outline for my book, Vampires of Prague, looks like. You don't want to see the whole thing. It runs to 5 pages.

Because the outline was so long, I sent them a one-page synopsis too, to give them a quick idea of what the story was about: a woman falls under the erotic spell of a man with vampiric powers who must indulge in sex to keep from becoming one of the undead. If that description caught their interest, they could read the more detailed outline, and then they had the first three chapters to see how they liked the actual book.

It worked pretty well. Out of 10 agents I sent it to, 2 were interested, and I'm still working on revisions for them.

Chapter 1​

The year is 1937 and tensions between Germany and Czechoslovakia are high, with Germany threatening invasion of its much weaker neighbor. Lydia Devineau, doctoral candidate in folklore from the University of Berlin, is taking the night train from Berlin to her home in Prague. She's supposed to be accompanying her teacher and mentor Professor Franz Henckele but the professor's apparently missed the train in Berlin. Two Nazi guards, a German, Erich Dolhardt and a Czech named Matacyk, aggressively question her about the professor's whereabouts. It seems the professor was going to Prague to work with the Prague police, a fact Lydia was ignorant of, and they suspect him of being a Czech sympathizer and spy. Learning she is Jewish, Dolhardt sexually threatens her and then attempts to force her to have sex. She's saved by the sudden appearance of Dr. Szandor Arnyak, who's also looking for the professor. Arnyak's natural authority and political connections persuade the guards to leave, but only after he learns that the they're acting under the orders of a man called the Shadowcaster, the head of Prague Special Operations Group for the Nazi SS.

Chapter 2​

Arnyak tells Lydia he's looking for the Professor for personal reasons, but otherwise he's very guarded. Lydia repeats that she doesn't know where the Professor is, and Arnyak's very disappointed. We learn that Lydia is a modernist and doesn't believe in the truth of the vampire legends she studies. She believes they reflect repressed sexual desires while the Professor believes the legends are literally true. Some sexual chemistry develops between Arnyak and Lydia as the train proceeds through the haunted woods of Kastmirsz.

Chapter 3​

Having dinner in the dining car, Lydia expands on her theory of vampirism and is cut short when Arnyak explains to her that he is indeed a vampire, or rather, in the process of becoming one. He was bitten years ago and, while he now has vampiric powers, he's avoided becoming a full vampire by feeding his human side with human emotion in the form of vice, namely sexual and sensual excess. He explains that real vampires are hideous, insect-like creatures with no emotions and he'd rather die than become one of them, and that's why he's on the train—the Professor was going to assist him in killing himself before the transformation could occur, but now that the Professor's unavailable, Arnyak wants Lydia to do it. Lydia's horrified so Arnyak puts her in a trance, but before they can leave, Dolhardt shows up demanding Lydia come with him. He's just discovered dead bodies in the Professor's luggage. Arnyak insists on coming with.

Chapter 4​

Dolhardt leads Lydia and Arnyak to the baggage car where Matasyk is waiting with a pistol. The two Nazis show them a large crate that has what appears to be the bodies of two mummified midgets with their teeth fused into rings in it, and Arnyak identifies them as mature vampires or "old ones". The Nazis don't believe him. They attempt to arrest Lydia and there's a scuffle in which Arnyak overpowers them with superhuman strength and speed. He hurls Dolhardt from the train and knocks Matasyk out. He tries to tear the cuffs off Lydia but can't, not until he murders Matasyk and drinks his blood. Then he has the necessary strength and tears her cuffs off easily. Furious that he's had to kill again, he takes Lydia back to her compartment where he intends to go through with his plan to have her kill him.

 

[Boota]

Self-publishing is a bitch, and as mentioned, a losing propostion for the most part. I've self-published through a POD, however, and found myself to be the exception that proves the rule. I'm not getting rich, but it's still selling worldwide and getting quite a bit of attention.

The trick is to go into self-publishing with your eyes open about the process. Realize that no one you don't know wants to read your book and then figure out how to make them want it. Make sure you have a quality product that is marketable. Chain bookstores have policies against carrying self-published books, but you can sometimes convince them to carry yours if you can prove it's good. My book is carried in several Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and Borders stores, but each on an individual basis. That means that it cost me a copy of my book for nearly every store. Only a little over half the stores I gave promotional copies to ended up carrying the book. Fortunately, the book sells for them and they've continued stocking it.

The internet is the best tool a self-published author has. There is an element of coolness about seeing your book on a shelf in a brick and mortar store, no doubt about it, but Amazon.com is still responsible for 99% of my sales. As an individual you have virtual no access to real distribution, at least at first. You've got to pound the pavement to get anything and the internet is the best and cheapest option.

Going the POD route your book is going to retail at much higher than seems reasonable. You'll have very little control over that. My option was to take $1.00 less on the retail price ($20.95 instead of $21.95), but lose $2.50 per book in royalties. I figured anyone who would pay $20.95 would still likely pay $21.95, so why give the POD publisher more of my money? I sweated it big time before the book came out. I love my book and believe in it, but I was concerned that people would be disappointed in the book and upset that they paid so much for it. Four years out and I've never heard anyone with buyers remorse. Whew!

There is a stigma about self-published authors, but you can win people over if the work is good. Still, there will always be an element that only considers you as a credit to your "race". LOL. Some of that is justified, though. Most self-published books do suck quite horribly. It's an uphill battle to prove to people that even though you are self-published you are still good enough to deserve to be with a tradtional printer. You just have to become a promoting machine.

 

[sethp]

More than I thought

Thanks to everyone and this is more than I thought I would get info and response wise.

Can I get some story or book writing modes. what I mean is.. do you...?

Lock your self in a remote cabin for a couple of days and write until your body gives out on you? and then call for help?

Do you write little snippets before/at lunch/and after work etc...

Thanks!

 

[3113]

Lock your self in a remote cabin for a couple of days and write until your body gives out on you?

God no! I tried that once and was bored out of my mind. A noisy café for me. I'm one of those obnoxious people you see in coffee places with a laptop. No apologies.

 

[sr71plt]

1. I'll show you what the start of the outline for my book, Vampires of Prague, looks like. You don't want to see the whole thing. It runs to 5 pages.

I'm a little confused. You said you'd show the beginning of an outline but everything you showed was synopsis. The only difference between an outline and a synopsis is that an outline is in charted bullets and a synopsis is in prose. I saw no outline in your posting.

 

[sethp]

I'm a little confused. You said you'd show the beginning of an outline but everything you showed was synopsis. The only difference between an outline and a synopsis is that an outline is in charted bullets and a synopsis is in prose. I saw no outline in your posting.

could you show me a sample outline of something you would do? would help me a ton.

 

[sr71plt]

could you show me a sample outline of something you would do? would help me a ton.

No samples, sorry, as they all lead to published works that could lead back to me. But an outline is primarily for nonfiction. If you are writing fiction, Dr. M. has given you a good example of a synopsis. For an outline of that, all you would need to do is restructure into outline form, where you can economize by using slugs/fragments rather than full sentences. Dr. M's chapter 2 synopsis could thus be outlined as:

II. Chapter 2.

A. Arnyak tells Lydia he's looking for Professor for personal reasons

B. Lydia repeats she doesn't know where Professor is

C. Lydia's unbelief in vampire legends, her belief they reflect repressed sexual desires revealed, contrasted with Professor's belief legends are literally true.

E. Arnyak/Lydia Sexual chemistry developed as train proceeds through haunted woods of Kastmirsz.

 

[sethp]

wait a minute!

Are actually saying that you have books published and for sale in bookstores...I mean a real, actual author?? Are there other real authors on lit too?

 

[sr71plt]

Are actually saying that you have books published and for sale in bookstores...I mean a real, actual author?? Are there other real authors on lit too?

Yes--both fiction and nonficton (including a book on just the sort of questions you've been asking--which is why I could flip out that long list of writing resource URLs). I'm sure there are other mainstream authors on Lit. too. In my case, erotica writing lets off steam and "invigorates" me for other writing, but it's quite definitely not something I could link to my mainstream writing persona.

 

[sethp]

wow

I guess I never realized that there were any mainstream authors on lit.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I guess I never realized that there were any mainstream authors on lit.

As you can imagine, mainstream writers want to stay undercover about their erotica-- under the red, satin covers


Some people here write technical manuals, I know at least one is a journalist, a couple of people here write young adult, and a friend of mine has just gotten a contract for a children's book...