frostnip and some writing updates

[edenfalling]

I finished "Learning to Listen" last night -- I finally figured out a way to make it hang together thematically, which I'd been worried about -- but I want to look over it one more time and whack off some more rough edges where the various pieces join.

I also nearly got frostbite while walking home from the library; my knees went numb fairly quickly, and I started having trouble feeling my fingers about halfway through my walk. Ye gods, the weather was hideous! It might have made 16 degrees Fahrenheit in midafternoon, and the cold was accompanied by winds of up to 20 miles per hour and erratic stinging snow. Yecch.

It's funny how my skin gets so hot it almost burns once I start to warm up again; it's as if my body has been trying so hard to stay warm that it takes a while to tone down to normal levels again, which means it's overcompensating for a while.

Anyway, I'm having choreography issues with "Lemonade" -- fights with small groups are trickier than single combat scenes or large armies -- but on the bright side, I worked through a conceptual problem I was having with "Guardian." I now have a firm grasp of Eiji's plans, his family, his coworkers, his business, his position in Sky Country, his relationship with Lightning Country, etc. I'd thought I had that down before, but when I started writing from his POV, I realized that I had large gaps in my knowledge. That's fixed now.

...

I really need a job.

Comments

[basement-gnome.livejournal.com]

How about as a writer?

No, seriously, you obviously have the time, dedication, and organization needed to write a long, multi-chapter story, and having read a few of your stories, I can say with certainty that you are a great writer, with wonderful character design and voice. Eventually, like a bunch of monkies and typewriters, you will end up writing a long enough story that youll have a book on your hands, and, I would pay to read it. Just saying. Err...sorry if this was at all creepy or annoying or anything...just tired, and thought it couldnt hurt to give an honest opinion.

[alliancesjr.livejournal.com]

I second this, with a minor amendment. I'd suggest looking into various publishing companies; they're usually looking for editors. Start with the administration, and you'll have the resources and contacts needed for when you need your own works published.

It's fairly competitive, and not too easy to get a job in this field, but it's definitely worth the effort.

[edenfalling]

I am a terrible editor!

Yes, I have a good grasp of spelling and grammar, and I can find awkward places in stories (characterization, plot, scene flow, etc.), but I have an incurable urge to rewrite things instead of just pointing those problems out to authors. It takes far too much energy to either restrain that impulse, or to write the paragraphs and paragraphs of explanation and potential changes that are needed to offer suggestions without taking over somebody else's story. In short, editing drives me insane, and I would burn out very quickly.

I don't think I'd make a good purchasing sort of editor either, since my grasp of what's commercially viable is... not always particularly accurate, shall we say. :-)

[edenfalling]

I have, over the past few years, been slowly building a small collection of short stories, and sometime this year I'm going to start submitting them to magazines and whatnot. I just... I write very slowly, and I didn't want to start getting rejection slips until I had more than one or two stories to send out, so as to prevent myself from getting hopelessly discourage and going months between submissions.

Also, I am a coward because writing is so central to my self-image, and I don't want to feel invalidated. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I say you must have a strong self-image, because your writing is some of the best non-commercial writing I've ever seen. Trounces a fair amount of professional work too, in my opinion.

[basement-gnome.livejournal.com]

Whoops, sorry, forgot I wasn't signed in.