March 9, 2015

Where The Writing Is At

A very happy Moanday to one and all today. I thought that for today, I would grace this blog with the presence of a writing update, because after all, a pretender, Great or otherwise, I am not. First, an update from Wednesday.

I went to my cousin's wake/funeral this past Thursday (3/5) down in the lower part of the state, which sadly I am becoming all too familiar with. I saw a lot of family members who I seem to meet only at this kinds of functions. Had a fun filled flashback when my other cousin dug out some family pics of the past 30 years, because I saw a pic of myself with hair and sideburns. I won't say a good time was had by all, but I did get a chance to say goodbye and to share some fond memories as well.

With that out of the way, we move on to what I've been long yapping about but painfully short of actually making progress on: my writing.

Update #1: The next book up for self-publishing.

I sent off my novella "A Shadow Warrior's Redemption" to a fellow writer on Facebook. And while she was exceptionally gung-ho about it afterwards, she also provided some very necessary feedback on the story as well. Fortunately for me, the feedback that she provided will not be ignored as it does clarify a couple of salient points that may confuse potential readers.

The one main problem that I'm having with my novella, and this seems to be the problem with all of my stories (and probably yours as well for those of you who are writers), is coming up with a good title. Back when I was querying this thing, another fellow writer at my former publisher suggest that a title change would make the story plot less obvious, as well as a MC name change. The latter was done, but the former still escapes me. For those of you who are so inclined, please click on link and give the synopsis a whirl, and see if you can come up with a alternative title. Please note that the link goes to my adult blog.

Update #2: Current writing project.

Beyond trying to make everything 1st/present tense, I've added just enough new writing to make it to the 2nd chapter. The main problem that I've finally figured out with this thing, is adding meat to the plot.

As I've previously mentioned, this originally a short story that first appeared on my now closed short story blog called Flashing Georgie's Shorts. What many of you don't know is that this story was one of roughly 5 dozen that I had written specifically for the blog, circa 2009. Most of the stories for that blog were mediocre-to-average, and specifically designed to practice my writing. Which meant a majority of them had very minimal-to-zero plot lines. A few did rise to the surface and with a lot of editing/rewriting, those three became the basis of my short story trilogy, Broken Promises.

The best I've been able to determine just exactly what the plot for the story is this: A young female hybrid cobra kidnaps a lumberjack from the forest in they work and live, for express purpose of renting him out as a stud so that she can pay an overdue bill. Her lover, a hybrid feline, becomes livid when she finds out what she's been doing behind her back. Subsequently, the lumberjack stud expires when he finally accomplishes what he was kidnapped for.

What I've been able to do so far with this story, is to construct two different linear courses of action in the sincere hope that it all come together in the end. One involves the two women and the other involves the lumberjack's friends. Beyond that, I'm a little undecided on just how far I should lean towards/on using the two major components of what I like to write. R is good, X and NC-17 is severely off-limits, and PG-13 is just too pedestrian.

And that my friends, is where the writing is at. But...there isn't a turntable or a microphone to be had. Or is there?

(c) 2015 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved.

10 comments:

  1. The premise for your current work made me laugh. I guess the stud served a purpose though.
    Sad that funerals are often the only time you see certain family members.
    And I suck at titles as well.

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    1. Yeah, it is a very strange premise for a story, that is for sure. Back then I had an obsession with strong vivacious female characters, which often showed up in the strangest of stories.

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  2. I haven't had a chance to write anything for almost two weeks now. So busy with work and other things

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    1. Which definitely sucks. The underlying problem with my writing is the perpetual busyness of work. I'm always working 5-6 days a week, which really leaves nothing in the tank for writing as I'm spending most of my downtime trying to recharge my batteries to make it through the week.

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  3. Hey, I'm sorry to hear about your cousin.

    I like your strong female characters!

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  4. I am behind on any reading and can barely keep up with my blog comments. My eyes are going out on me and allergies on top of cataracts really limit me.

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    1. Uggh...I feel your pain. Was there many years ago and cured the problem with lens implant surgery. Sometimes I get such wicked eyestrain that I often will not read unless absolutely necessary.

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  5. So sorry about your cousin - so glad you could go to the funeral though.

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    1. Thanks. I don't mind driving to that particular part of the state because a lot of reminds me home. Very rural with one huge manufacturer (Sikorsky).

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