Writing
Posted: 10 Oct 2014, 06:45
This needs its own thread. I write articles. Aiming for a rate of 12 a year right now. And need to get my ass moving on my book. So much to do. So little time. Need focus, motivation and advice.
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Re: Writing
Posted: 10 Oct 2014, 23:02
cool
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 05:40
I have written on Eastern Europe, the middle east, the Asian subcontinent and one on the BRICS countries (the latest). In other places, I have written large theoretical articles (on socialism), which I submitted to online blogs rather than newspapers. Those I have not shared with you.
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 05:42
Good mate. So why are you struggling with writing at the moment? What sort of advice are you looking for?
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 05:48
Several issues.
1) The book is not a novel. It is a work on history and social issues. And my concern is that people are less interested in these things today.
2) There is a whole section which I would like to include in the book, in the interest of making it a more honest and straight-from-the-heart book. But including that section in it may affect the book's overall marketability. So the dilemma is whether one should go for palatable content or truth.
3) I don't have mentors and I don't know if there will be someone who will read the draft, help improve and critique it when it is done. That is something that is offered to academics, that's one of those privileges. And I am not an academic, so I do not know if somebody will be able to help on that.
1) The book is not a novel. It is a work on history and social issues. And my concern is that people are less interested in these things today.
2) There is a whole section which I would like to include in the book, in the interest of making it a more honest and straight-from-the-heart book. But including that section in it may affect the book's overall marketability. So the dilemma is whether one should go for palatable content or truth.
3) I don't have mentors and I don't know if there will be someone who will read the draft, help improve and critique it when it is done. That is something that is offered to academics, that's one of those privileges. And I am not an academic, so I do not know if somebody will be able to help on that.
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 05:49
I am aiming for 100,000 words. Or something close.
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 05:53
- This is pointless agonising. If you think something is worth writing, write it. Don't think about your audience in this way unless you are writing the book to make money. This is your first book. It will most likely suck balls whether it finds an audience or not. That's a given - so just write it.
- Your book won't be "truth". Whether you try to dumb it down or conform it to some abstract palatable standard you've invented in your head or not, it will not be objective, it will not be full of facts. It will be your own subjective perspective on whatever historical and social issues you are writing about. So again - do what is best going to serve the ideal of the book you are writing.
- When you finish a draft, you can worry about this. There are always people out there willing to read your work, you just need to find them. Finding them without a complete manuscript is going to be a hundred times as hard as having the words there, the thesis there, relevant to certain experts. If you hunt for promises before the fact then you're only going to get people who are interested in you personally on-board, rather than the people who would be best positioned to provide feedback on the book's actual content.
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 05:59
By truth I meant, true to myself. Should I write a book that is straight from the heart, true to myself, or something that I must compromise on for the sake of making it more palatable?
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 06:00
Large readership, or truth?
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 06:06
You don't know what is palatable. Even experienced book editors struggle with this.
Different styles, content and kinds of books appeal to different people. If you try to conform your book to some ideal in your head of what you believe to be palatable to "the masses" then you are going to turn off those who would have preferred your book in its unadjusted form. Do not assume you can adjust your book and immediately reach a wider audience. If you are writing fluff then this holds true, but if you are aiming for a serious exploration of issues in which you argue your case, aiming for "palatability" is pointless and self-defeating. You won't be taken seriously by those you respect. Your ideas will get lost.
This is the sort of thing you should think about after you have a draft in your hand and people have given you feedback.
Different styles, content and kinds of books appeal to different people. If you try to conform your book to some ideal in your head of what you believe to be palatable to "the masses" then you are going to turn off those who would have preferred your book in its unadjusted form. Do not assume you can adjust your book and immediately reach a wider audience. If you are writing fluff then this holds true, but if you are aiming for a serious exploration of issues in which you argue your case, aiming for "palatability" is pointless and self-defeating. You won't be taken seriously by those you respect. Your ideas will get lost.
This is the sort of thing you should think about after you have a draft in your hand and people have given you feedback.
Re: Writing
Posted: 11 Oct 2014, 06:38
That's good advice.
Re: Writing
Posted: 15 Oct 2014, 06:47
I used to write metal music reviews. Then it became boring and annoying to the point where everything I listened to and wrote about started to sound the same. A few of my reviews may still be floating around on the Teufel's Tomb website under the name "The Baroness". 
Re: Writing
Posted: 15 Oct 2014, 07:54
I've toyed around with the idea of starting a music review'ish website, may look into that one day. I don't plan on actually producing content but I reckon if I could get a really nice presentation and recruit some decent content authors (mabb folk maybe) then maybe we could generate ad revenue.
dolla dolla bill yall
dolla dolla bill yall
Re: Writing
Posted: 15 Oct 2014, 07:57
i can barely type out a coherent post let alone a fucking article thanks to all the opiates rotting my brain for years.
life is suffering
life is suffering
Re: Writing
Posted: 17 Oct 2014, 06:47
[quote="zim"]
I've toyed around with the idea of starting a music review'ish website, may look into that one day. I don't plan on actually producing content but I reckon if I could get a really nice presentation and recruit some decent content authors (mabb folk maybe) then maybe we could generate ad revenue.
dolla dolla bill yall
[/quote]
Do it. I would scribble some fancy words for ya.
I've toyed around with the idea of starting a music review'ish website, may look into that one day. I don't plan on actually producing content but I reckon if I could get a really nice presentation and recruit some decent content authors (mabb folk maybe) then maybe we could generate ad revenue.
dolla dolla bill yall
[/quote]
Do it. I would scribble some fancy words for ya.
Re: Writing
Posted: 19 Oct 2014, 17:06
I exchange some comedy writing stuff with a fellating lover on google drive. One batch of material is a fake local news show I gradually put together. It's all made up stuff that takes place in a fictional town, but is loosely based on things I would find in local newspapers that are free and poorly written. It's also a spoof of the off-hours news broadcasts that mostly consist of fluff. The concept isn't original - although I think the tone of it is - but it's practical, because it's possible to present an unlimited range of characters, sketches, and ideas while still having a central premise that ties everything together. It's more fun to write that way, and I think it would be more watchable.
It was put together to have story arches and fake commercials for fake companies over the span of between three and five 30 minute episodes. I was hoping to polish that up this winter and then audition for an older man with a good voice to be the anchor. It's all deadpan, so I want people who actually look the part to do it. For some reason the public access studio in St. Paul is brand new and state of the art, and it's amazingly inexpensive to use. A couple hundred dollars to use their $10,000 cameras and multi-million dollar studio for a year.
I have written some skits too, because I was sort of talked into it. I wasn't too interested in writing them because the idea of a conventional skit to me is pretty backward: reveal the punchline near the beginning, and then drive it into the ground on a thin premise over and over for what seems like too long. I have tried to avoid that by making them more of a narrative, and limiting them to about four minutes. I'm very proud of some. Others might work if we found the right people. All of them could use a re-write at some point. At any rate, I enjoy the problem solving that goes into putting them together.
It was put together to have story arches and fake commercials for fake companies over the span of between three and five 30 minute episodes. I was hoping to polish that up this winter and then audition for an older man with a good voice to be the anchor. It's all deadpan, so I want people who actually look the part to do it. For some reason the public access studio in St. Paul is brand new and state of the art, and it's amazingly inexpensive to use. A couple hundred dollars to use their $10,000 cameras and multi-million dollar studio for a year.
I have written some skits too, because I was sort of talked into it. I wasn't too interested in writing them because the idea of a conventional skit to me is pretty backward: reveal the punchline near the beginning, and then drive it into the ground on a thin premise over and over for what seems like too long. I have tried to avoid that by making them more of a narrative, and limiting them to about four minutes. I'm very proud of some. Others might work if we found the right people. All of them could use a re-write at some point. At any rate, I enjoy the problem solving that goes into putting them together.
Re: Writing
Posted: 24 Dec 2017, 03:07
Currently writing my own book too.
Sent what is typed up at the moment to a select few people and have nothing but positive feedback on it. Still only about half way finished, but once it is, I have a plan, other than getting it published of corpse.
Sent what is typed up at the moment to a select few people and have nothing but positive feedback on it. Still only about half way finished, but once it is, I have a plan, other than getting it published of corpse.
Re: Writing
Posted: 24 Dec 2017, 15:41
I haven't written anything on paper for months now.
Re: Writing
Posted: 24 Dec 2017, 20:21
http://www.metalbite.com/main.asp
I have some album review written here.
haven't done anything in a few months although I still receive digital promos for review.
I have some album review written here.
haven't done anything in a few months although I still receive digital promos for review.Re: Writing
Posted: 24 Dec 2017, 20:25
do you leak them onto the internet for all to hear
Re: Writing
Posted: 24 Dec 2017, 20:26
No, I can't do that. Well, I could but then I'd be a real shithead. There's a way to track those leaked promos back to whomever is being a bad boy/sexy leopard elevator and sharing with the public like that.
Re: Writing
Posted: 24 Dec 2017, 20:28
i wouldn't leak them for fear of retribution 
the unholy wrath of the record industry
the unholy wrath of the record industry
Re: Writing
Posted: 24 Dec 2017, 20:47
Exactly that and well, I'd feel bad about it. I don't illegally download anymore unless it's an album that is REALLY hard to find a copy of. It makes me feel bad.
Re: Writing
Posted: 24 Dec 2017, 22:25
I wish I was better at writing but I sard.
Dusty, here's a question I've always wondered about, do you actually read all of a students paper? That question might seem absurd but surely there are a lot of god damn boring, illiterate papers you've had to go through.
My essays in college usually had high grades but I felt like they were generally boring and somewhat redundant at times. As I got further in school I started to become skeptical on whether or not my papers were being read so I started to be a little more sarcastic and absurd in my writing
Dusty, here's a question I've always wondered about, do you actually read all of a students paper? That question might seem absurd but surely there are a lot of god damn boring, illiterate papers you've had to go through.
My essays in college usually had high grades but I felt like they were generally boring and somewhat redundant at times. As I got further in school I started to become skeptical on whether or not my papers were being read so I started to be a little more sarcastic and absurd in my writing
Re: Writing
Posted: 25 Dec 2017, 03:02
i don’t read any student papers, as i haven’t been a teacher for three years
however i did read them all until the very last year. the students at that school were almost uniformly terrible writers and i realized there was no point in reading every word since doing so presumes their ability to construct an argument and conduct it over a given period. at that point i just picked one problem per paper and focused all my comments on it
however i did read them all until the very last year. the students at that school were almost uniformly terrible writers and i realized there was no point in reading every word since doing so presumes their ability to construct an argument and conduct it over a given period. at that point i just picked one problem per paper and focused all my comments on it
Re: Writing
Posted: 25 Dec 2017, 03:44
i'm actually not sure what you're currently doing, i assumed you were still teachinghorse dealies wrote:i don’t read any student papers, as i haven’t been a teacher for three years
however i did read them all until the very last year. the students at that school were almost uniformly terrible writers and i realized there was no point in reading every word since doing so presumes their ability to construct an argument and conduct it over a given period. at that point i just picked one problem per paper and focused all my comments on it
that is interesting though, i couldn't imagine having to read student papers
Re: Writing
Posted: 25 Dec 2017, 06:19
Dusty is a full time hoe bag these days.
Re: Writing
Posted: 25 Dec 2017, 06:20
i always sucked at writing
and i disliked it even more than i sucked at it
and i disliked it even more than i sucked at it
Re: Writing
Posted: 25 Dec 2017, 08:28
Inverted Crosses And Gorebongs wrote:Dusty is a full time hoe bag these days.
correct
Re: Writing
Posted: 26 Dec 2017, 14:29
zim wrote:i'm actually not sure what you're currently doing, i assumed you were still teachinghorse dealies wrote:i don’t read any student papers, as i haven’t been a teacher for three years
however i did read them all until the very last year. the students at that school were almost uniformly terrible writers and i realized there was no point in reading every word since doing so presumes their ability to construct an argument and conduct it over a given period. at that point i just picked one problem per paper and focused all my comments on it
that is interesting though, i couldn't imagine having to read student papers
He writes about how dope the new Kesha and Lil wayne singles are. And what jay-z ate at drakes wedding. Makes good money doing it too. And yes I'm envious.
Re: Writing
Posted: 26 Dec 2017, 16:29
I knew about that but wasn't sure if it was still going on. that's gotta be easy money
Re: Writing
Posted: 02 Jan 2018, 16:50
it's a job
i have tried to convince many friends and allies to join me in this endeavor. none have done so
meanwhile, i continue
i have tried to convince many friends and allies to join me in this endeavor. none have done so
meanwhile, i continue