August 27, 2015

To Write Is Right, But Not To Write Is A Left Turn To Nowhere

Last Thursday, I hinted at a fun-filled-action-packed-incredibly-researched post about my latest writing project, specifically this. However, that is not to be what this post is all about. While I was working on my latest this past weekend (currently sits at a very respectable 16,390 words), I got to thinking about that potential post and what I should write. After researching the memory banks, I found to my surprise/disappointment (you'll see in a moment), that I actually wrote a prequel to that particular book link.

A little more research into the memory banks and I found that I wrote this thing sometime between 2007 & 2009. I can't pinpoint the exact date because I was writing so much slushy stories during that time frame that I often didn't know whether I was coming or going. If something petered out, I put to the side and worked on something else (sound familiar?).

Anyways, I went on a search and destroy for this story and after about 15 minutes of tearing my den apart, I found it. All but the first 3 pages. However, another search of the memory banks (sadly, I have a memory that people would die for) brought me to my XP and a dusty old folder called "Novella 7". Opening said folder brought me the first 3 pages that I had written some time in 2014. Or '13, not sure which.

Long story short, I sat down to refamiliarize myself with the story, and within minutes, a boatload of questions/issues immediately cropped up, mostly about how to reconcile this story with what I was working on, so that they would both make absolute sense. I had 9 full chapters written, smartly labeled Plot 1 & Plot 2. Long story made even shorter, I'm pitching the 3 chapters of Plot 2 'cause they are 100% unusable for either that story or my now former project (you can see where this is going, correct?)

That's right, former project.

As much as I really want to continue re-writing that novella (and I'm having quite a bit of fun writing it), I need to stop and go back to the prequel. Call me old fashioned, but I like to read/write things linearly. In my world, writing something 2nd first is just a tad more convoluted than writing that 2nd something second.

Confused? You ain't the only one, my friend. I wrote the prequel and now I have to reconcile that with what I got written for the 2nd. The one smart decision I made with the prequel is chucking Plot 2. Plot 2, while a good read and probably a good dovetail for the 2nd book, I think is more suited as a pre-prequel...........anywho, that is my cross to bear and once I get things properly situated with a few notes and basic outline, I'll let everyone know exactly what it is I'm talking about.

In other writing news, I found this nifty article via a blog called The Passive Voice (everything you can possibly want to know about the publishing industry et. al. I highly recommend this as a very necessary read), about maximizing the distribution of your writing (if you do the indie route). I'm covered pretty good by Smashwords for my e-books and CreateSpace for print, but after reading that article, I'm giving strong consideration to uploading my books to Kindle, mostly to have more exposure and more potential eyes for my writing.

I already checked into the financials for the upload and it would cost me $50 to get MOBI files for my two books and $0 for the covers. So my friends, look for The Inner Sibling & A Taste Of Pain in the Kindle format this coming September/October.

And that, my friends, is all the writing news that we have for the month of August. Tune in next week when we might have a repeat of this post.

(c) 2015 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.

6 comments:

  1. I've found quite often that once something has sat around a while and I reread that all kinds of ideas occur to me.

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    1. Which is kind of what's happening with this a little. I'm skimming through the chapters and I'm coming up with a few ideas for tweaking/improving on the story.

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  2. I gather from this post is what a lot of hard work one takes on with writing a book. And what a memory bank one has to keep in 'credit'.
    Good fortune to you dear Sir. Keep at it.

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    1. Strangely enough, an obscene amount of work, at least for me. My memory bank has served me well throughout the years and I shall keep to it. Thanks.

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  3. As long as a book is in the iBookstore, I'm good.
    I understand writing things in order. I've toyed with the idea of writing a short story that takes place before my trilogy begins, but even that messes with my head.

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    1. Frustratingly enough, none of my books are at the iBookstore, even though I opted in via Smashwords.

      Yup, messes with mine big time. I only had the blinding case of the obvious this past weekend, so I felt it made more sense to stop where I was and go back to the prequel and get that properly situated so I would have a better grasp on the 2nd one.

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