tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post7809236862262054348..comments2024-02-02T06:07:56.982+00:00Comments on LIVING THE HISTORY: THE LEARNING CURVEElizabeth Chadwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16911841862257909703noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-14578222766152841712011-08-06T02:15:07.540+00:002011-08-06T02:15:07.540+00:00I wish I could see some of the things I wrote at t...I wish I could see some of the things I wrote at that age! (My mother threw them all out and told me "One day you will thank me for doing it." I do not.) <br />Thanks for sharing your journey though. I always find other people's writing journeys fascinating.catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-3745994268531433272010-05-27T00:36:42.101+00:002010-05-27T00:36:42.101+00:00That was a great post. I just graduated from unive...That was a great post. I just graduated from university with a BA in history. Now I am puzzled as to what I want to do. I know that I want to take up writing again. I used to write stories so easily as a teen, but now I just cannot sit and write the way I used to. One of my last assignments at uni was a short historical fiction piece, which I am proud to say wowed the teacher (and my mom) and earned me my first A+ on a term paper at university (the professors are tough in the history department in comparison to those in the classics). She even wants to use it as an example to future students. (hee hee) This has given me a boost of confidence that I certainly needed. <br /><br />I was wondering though, how do you go about starting a book? Do you make an outline or have a general idea in your head? How much research do you do before hand, or do you research as you go? Or maybe you are such an expert now in the Middle Ages that you do not have to do much research?<br /><br />There is also the problem of experience. I feel that since I am young and have never been truly in love that it would be hard to write about that and other things. Do you think life experience is necessary to write a good and believable novel?<br /><br />Anyway, I know I will probably have a long way to go before I get a novel published. Two of my short stories were published as a teen, but in very obscure publications. I have to figure out what to do for a living now, because I can't live on writing. Especially since I have not even started yet, hee hee.Vanessahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02635991247676354522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-77970688027465841132010-05-23T01:19:13.082+00:002010-05-23T01:19:13.082+00:00Speaking of The Champion... it was only available ...Speaking of The Champion... it was only available as a (ahem!) previously-enjoyed book on Amazon-US. (Probably smuggled into the States by Canadians with excellent taste in fiction.) I ordered it last week, and today my mailbox had a little bit of joy, deathless prose and all. :)Christy K Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05988458745832012138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-20414073507033663802010-05-22T23:20:11.835+00:002010-05-22T23:20:11.835+00:00I am so delighted to read these examples from your...I am so delighted to read these examples from your earlier work. I am dying to read more. I just finished The Conquest and can't wait to get my hands on more of your work!!! I would love to read more from these earlier manuscripts, as I have become completely enthralled with the worlds you create in your novels. You paint such vivid pictures and alluring stories that I find myself even dreaming of the middle ages and your wonderfully compelling characters. I can't get enough! I haven't read one of your books that I hadn't longed for a sequel or prequel to. So please publish these, us fans are dying for more!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02827919984119442788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-65623475139971933192010-05-22T21:29:38.564+00:002010-05-22T21:29:38.564+00:00Helen:
Your comment is very pertinent! Writers p...Helen:<br /><br />Your comment is very pertinent! Writers pretty much learn what they learn through practice. My very first attept at writing a novel was a good idea but I was trying, partly unconsciously, at the time, to imitate a sf/fantasy writer I regarded highly(and still do). After two drafts, I realized it just wouldn't work. I had too many stories within stories, to begin with. My second attempt was a little better, and I will probably go back to it, drastically revised, eventually. Each time I wrote, I got a little better, though there were things I didn't know how to do. There are things I still can't do very well, but I keep batting away at them. Though what I'm writing now is long and complicated, it at least has a controllable story arc and reasonably definable characters. And I will probably be learning as long as I'm writing. And I too, would like to thank EC for sharing her early material. I think all of us travel or have traveled the same road at various times.<br />Anne GAnne Gilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03045500116098233731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-28772598631712272592010-05-22T15:49:19.420+00:002010-05-22T15:49:19.420+00:00well at least we can read your handwriting. Mine w...well at least we can read your handwriting. Mine was (is) more like unreadable Enigma code! (I partly put this down to my poor eyesight, especially now I have this wretched cataract. The other part is an imagination that runs quicker than a pen can write.) Hooray for keyboards, spellcheckers and that, oh so useful, cut & paste tool.<br /><br />It's good to know that even very successful writers like yourself had a tough time getting started; gives the rest of us encouragement to keep going.<br /><br />I particularly thank you for pointing out the necessity for a "learning curve". Too many "wanna-be" writers send their MS off to an agent or publisher, get a rejection slip and declare said agent or publisher does not know what he/she is looking at. Several rejections later, it is still the agents and publishers who are at fault for being as short-sighted as I am. So few of these writers stop to think "Maybe there is something wrong with my writing style? Perhaps I'll get a professional critique/edit just to make sure it's them, not me."<br /><br />Many new writers who I have encouraged have shown flair and talent, but have made nearly all the "novice" errors which will not get their work accepted or even looked at. Most are only too delighted to have these common errors pointed out and go away to "learn". Sadly a few disagree, but that is their choice. Being blunt though, writers who get snotty about constructive criticism will not get far as a serious writer. Part-time self-published hobbyist maybe, but nothing more. (And I am NOT knocking self-publish - but self-published authors have even more responsibility to learn, and learn fast, to ensure their books meet a marketable, sustainable standard.)<br /><br />Mind you, you once pointed out too many Point Of View changes in my early work Elizabeth - and I am now paranoid about P.O.V., LOL. (Thank goodness for my editor's red pen!)<br /><br />I'm not boasting, my published books are good novels, but I am well aware that I am STILL learning - my curve is very steep at times. I want to learn. I want to make it to becoming a respected decent-selling author who can write engrossing and entertaining novels for readers to enjoy.<br /><br />Which I will not do while spending my time reading this blog will I? :-)Helen Hollickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04292983846350273039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-25956833115059344932010-05-22T13:51:00.381+00:002010-05-22T13:51:00.381+00:00Thank you for sharing this part of your writing jo...Thank you for sharing this part of your writing journey with us. It's really interesting to me to learn how popular writers found their niche and place in people's hearts. It's also comforting to hear how you struggled with your earlier manuscripts before finally landing your first publication and I'm so glad things finally clicked because I love books and the Medieval world you bring alive for us!Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06863958329151143572noreply@blogger.com