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Angelo View Drop Down
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Points: 13244 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 07 2015 at 09:12
Just remembered I had three articles published on a Dutch/Belgian web site two years ago. One was about how people treat those who are 'different', could be one of the best I've ever written. If you can read Dutch or want to run it through Google translate for an impression - here it is.

http://www.opiniestukken.nl/opiniestukken/artikel/577/Trap-mensen-niet-in-vakjes?r=be


Edited by Angelo - November 07 2015 at 09:13
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I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected]
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Points: 2223 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 07 2015 at 09:34
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:


well, I bought a hard drive back up system nowLOL
The next step is to use it regularly... that sounds like a redundant piece of advice but I've seen too many cases of people recovering lost data from out of date backups. 

Before I change something I've been working on I make a compressed archive of the original and save it to another harddrive, then after making the changes take a back-up and save that elsewhere. When I'm writing a novel I'll backup the whole folder, complete with any sundry notes I have on plot and character synopsis, and all the research material I've collected along the way. I'll also make backups of any artwork I've created for the book cover, title page and any illustrations, plus the .docx and .pdf layouts for the e-novel version. 

I don't have a harddrive backup system, I have several... at last count I have 7 external USB hardrives, one networked NAS drive and more memory sticks than I care to count, plus a networked PC that is fitted with four harddrives to act as a file-server. I don't use "the cloud" because I don't trust it and because I can access my home-network remotely so don't need it.

...and still I manage to lose data occasionally Ouch
 
while I was working on the dissertation, I backed it up regularly on an external drive, as well as on flash drives, which I would take to work and put  on my (backed-up) computer as a double back-up...When I was at university, I remember one professor talking about how an airline lost his luggage and the only working copy of his dissertation - pre-computer days - and how after it was recovered, he made three copies, one of which he kept in the freezer.  Did you know that if your house burns down, the contents of your fridge will survive intact?  I always remembered that story, and that's why I was so obsessive about making copies.
 
On the original subject, I never suffer from writer's block. I can turn out the pages whenever I sit down at a computer, that's what enabled me to write the dissertation in six months while working full time.  It's a useful talent.


Edited by emigre80 - November 07 2015 at 09:35
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Points: 37575 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 07 2015 at 10:05
Originally posted by emigre80 emigre80 wrote:

On the original subject, I never suffer from writer's block. I can turn out the pages whenever I sit down at a computer, that's what enabled me to write the dissertation in six months while working full time.  It's a useful talent.
...the original subject isn't writer's block, but through David's cunning punning, Writers' Bloc Wink

However, writer's block can in deed be a discussion subject within this loose association of writers: I can't say that I've ever noticed writer's block - I too can invariably draw upon some untapped vein of creativity in whatever I do. I'll never say never because I'm sure a day will arrive when those creative juices will fail to flow, but for now at least I feel confident that if I need an idea I will be able to pull one from the air and when I want to express that idea in words, images or sounds it will continue to be something that just happens without having to think about it.

However, sometimes the sight of blank page or canvas can be daunting even if I have a preconception of what I want to produce. I guess it's a fear of producing rubbish and thus wasting a pristine sheet of paper. When I used to paint regularly I discovered that simply painting over the canvas surface with a base coat of flat tone would be enough to get me started. With creating music picking a sound or rhythm and just noodling around with it would break the aural silence, and in writing once a letter has been typed top-left of a page it is no longer blank so the problem goes away.


Edited by Dean - November 07 2015 at 10:06
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Sean Trane View Drop Down
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Points: 20240 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 07 2015 at 11:21
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Originally posted by emigre80 emigre80 wrote:

On the original subject, I never suffer from writer's block. I can turn out the pages whenever I sit down at a computer, that's what enabled me to write the dissertation in six months while working full time.  It's a useful talent.
...the original subject isn't writer's block, but through David's cunning punning, Writers' Bloc Wink




i had hesitated between that and "blog" Wink
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Polymorphia View Drop Down
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Points: 8856 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 07 2015 at 11:49
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Originally posted by emigre80 emigre80 wrote:

On the original subject, I never suffer from writer's block. I can turn out the pages whenever I sit down at a computer, that's what enabled me to write the dissertation in six months while working full time.  It's a useful talent.
...the original subject isn't writer's block, but through David's cunning punning, Writers' Bloc Wink

However, writer's block can in deed be a discussion subject within this loose association of writers: I can't say that I've ever noticed writer's block - I too can invariably draw upon some untapped vein of creativity in whatever I do. I'll never say never because I'm sure a day will arrive when those creative juices will fail to flow, but for now at least I feel confident that if I need an idea I will be able to pull one from the air and when I want to express that idea in words, images or sounds it will continue to be something that just happens without having to think about it.

However, sometimes the sight of blank page or canvas can be daunting even if I have a preconception of what I want to produce. I guess it's a fear of producing rubbish and thus wasting a pristine sheet of paper. When I used to paint regularly I discovered that simply painting over the canvas surface with a base coat of flat tone would be enough to get me started. With creating music picking a sound or rhythm and just noodling around with it would break the aural silence, and in writing once a letter has been typed top-left of a page it is no longer blank so the problem goes away.
I have had many problems with writers' block, especially recently. They mainly stem from limits– having to write in a certain form or on a certain topic. I have never been good with limits as far as writing goes. I even have two writing assignments for school that are a few days overdue because its so bad. But the best thing in that case is just to mire through it. It's an indication that I'm out of practice writing in unfamiliar forms or topics, so I need the practice.

Edited by Polymorphia - November 07 2015 at 11:50
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Atavachron View Drop Down
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Points: 65261 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2015 at 00:51
Charles Bukowski said "No one who could write worth a damn could ever write in peace."

I have found a good deal of truth to that, and though the act of writing in peace is nice the background and experience required for interesting writing will not likely be found in a mountain retreat or lakeside cabin.   It was a difficult and ironic but important lesson for me.  

Thoughts?   Do you believe the living of a challenging, varied and even difficult life is crucial for good writes (fiction or nonfiction), or is that romantic folly?
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy
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Points: 166178 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2015 at 01:03
I feel like writing (and art in general) is too subjective to the topic and artist to really throw out a blanket statement like.
Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
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Points: 9869 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2015 at 08:02
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Charles Bukowski said "No one who could write worth a damn could ever write in peace."

I have found a good deal of truth to that, and though the act of writing in peace is nice the background and experience required for interesting writing will not likely be found in a mountain retreat or lakeside cabin.   It was a difficult and ironic but important lesson for me.  

Thoughts?   Do you believe the living of a challenging, varied and even difficult life is crucial for good writes (fiction or nonfiction), or is that romantic folly?



I don't know if it is crucial but it certainly helps in so far as good writing often draws on one's authentic experiences (rather than bookish knowledge).
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Points: 37575 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2015 at 09:42
Having peace to be able to write is not the same as having a peaceful life with no challenging or difficult experiences to draw upon. Unless of course you are writing about the difficulties of writing in a crowded bar, but even there a little imagination can go a long way Wink
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Points: 9869 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2015 at 09:54
It's somewhere in the middle for me.  I can write just fine in a noisy, crowded environment but only as long as there isn't somebody constantly interrupting me and demanding my attention.  It is easier to write in my home with somebody watching TV or some conversations going on in which I am not involved than to focus on execution at the workplace where somebody or the other turns up either with some requirements or just to chat up and thus there is a lot of distraction even though the environment overall is much more peaceful and quiet. So to me, the ability to write uninterrupted and with my undivided attention in that environment is most important.  
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Points: 65261 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2015 at 21:54
Dickens certainly had a fascinating and difficult life, his family's troubles clearly serving as inspiration for the Marley/Cratchit/Scrooge dynamic, among his many other stories drawn from life in a dense and septic London.




Edited by Atavachron - December 11 2015 at 23:06
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy
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Points: 65261 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2015 at 21:55
Originally posted by rogerthat rogerthat wrote:

It's somewhere in the middle for me.  I can write just fine in a noisy, crowded environment but only as long as there isn't somebody constantly interrupting me and demanding my attention.  It is easier to write in my home with somebody watching TV or some conversations going on in which I am not involved than to focus on execution at the workplace where somebody or the other turns up either with some requirements or just to chat up and thus there is a lot of distraction even though the environment overall is much more peaceful and quiet. So to me, the ability to write uninterrupted and with my undivided attention in that environment is most important.  


Interesting, I know what you mean.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy
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Points: 10387 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 12 2015 at 03:39
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

Charles Bukowski said "No one who could write worth a damn could ever write in peace."

I have found a good deal of truth to that, and though the act of writing in peace is nice the background and experience required for interesting writing will not likely be found in a mountain retreat or lakeside cabin.   It was a difficult and ironic but important lesson for me.  

Thoughts?   Do you believe the living of a challenging, varied and even difficult life is crucial for good writes (fiction or nonfiction), or is that romantic folly?

I don't believe that. what you need is some kind of trauma, but it may very well be in the past. and everyone has had some kind of trauma, so we all are potential writers.

but the trauma only gives you something to write about. you still have to learn how to write


A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta
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Points: 65261 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 12 2015 at 21:25
^ True, or maybe motivated to write it.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy
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Points: 65261 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 17 2015 at 22:32
I have found editing to be an integral part of finished work;  when writing my book, it was when I'd change or, more often, remove whole sentences or paragraphs that the manuscript would tighten-up and come together, focusing the text, staying on topic and eliminating extraneous material.  

On the other hand, during the initial act of writing I do enjoy letting go and seeing what happens.  

How much do you value editing?--  especially the serious kind where you remove or alter whole passages that simply don't work or don't relate to the thesis?
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy
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Points: 37575 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2015 at 02:23
Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

I have found editing to be an integral part of finished work;  when writing my book, it was when I'd change or, more often, remove whole sentences or paragraphs that the manuscript would tighten-up and come together, focusing the text, staying on topic and eliminating extraneous material.  

On the other hand, during the initial act of writing I do enjoy letting go and seeing what happens.  

How much do you value editing?--  especially the serious kind where you remove or alter whole passages that simply don't work or don't relate to the thesis?



 
Because everything I've written so far has been published on the internet in serial form pretty much as soon as I've finished writing each episode I don't have the luxury of being able to go back to older chapters to edit and revise them so all my editing is done within the confines of the current chapter. Mostly it's the normal stuff like spelling and grammar corrections, then it's fixing plot-holes, ensuring the characters have remained in character, checking continuity with previous scenes and the like. This is where I find 'story boarding' the entire story at the beginning to be of most use, so if I find that I've wandered off-script I can then decide whether the new direction is a keeper and needs to be worked into the story-line, or is extraneous to the plot and needs to be removed. Therefore culling of extraneous material is the next thing, however, if I really like the content of that and don't want to lose it I may try and work it into a later chapter or simply add it as a footnoteš or addendum, which I guess comes under the next category of 'failure to edit'. 

My editing failings are (and I suspect this happens with a lot of self-editors), the reluctance to remove any material; the addition of extra material; and (more often) the complete rewrite of whole chunks of text during the editing stage. I think this is the major difference between a writer who has a publisher and editor working for them and someone who does all of that themselves. I touched on this in my 2-star rated 'Please Self-Release Me' self-release blog - it's having the discipline to be honest with yourself over the quality of what you are producing. You frequently hear people say "Oh, I'm my harshest critic", but when that self-deprecation isn't false modesty it is often used as an excuse for not judiciously editing stuff they know doesn't pass muster.







šI do like sparse use of footnotes in novels.


Edited by Dean - December 18 2015 at 02:40
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Points: 166178 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2015 at 14:26
Editing is very important for me. The main issues I have with writing are focus and the occasional inability to get what is in my brain to the paper/keyboard fast enough. Both result in botched sentences, incomplete thoughts, unintended gobblygook, and general flotsam in my work. Thus, I usually have 'holes' in my work that I need to go back and fill in with words that fit better/couldn't think of at the time and make sure the sentences work as sentences. I also tend to write best between 12AM and 3AM so sometimes things come out incoherently when read outside of that netherzone region.
Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
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Points: 8856 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2015 at 14:41
I normally do some editing while I write. Something like a rough mix. If I don't, I lose faith in what I'm doing easily. It can also lead to writer's block, but the opposite can too.

I would say I am my harshest critic, but only when I submit something for critique. I realize a lot of flaws in my work then and the critiques normally confirm them.


Edited by Polymorphia - December 18 2015 at 14:41
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Atavachron View Drop Down
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Points: 65261 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 19 2015 at 21:45
Originally posted by Dean Dean wrote:

Originally posted by Atavachron Atavachron wrote:

I have found editing to be an integral part of finished work;  when writing my book, it was when I'd change or, more often, remove whole sentences or paragraphs that the manuscript would tighten-up and come together, focusing the text, staying on topic and eliminating extraneous material.  

On the other hand, during the initial act of writing I do enjoy letting go and seeing what happens.  

How much do you value editing?--  especially the serious kind where you remove or alter whole passages that simply don't work or don't relate to the thesis?
Because everything I've written so far has been published on the internet in serial form pretty much as soon as I've finished writing each episode I don't have the luxury of being able to go back to older chapters to edit and revise them so all my editing is done within the confines of the current chapter. Mostly it's the normal stuff like spelling and grammar corrections, then it's fixing plot-holes, ensuring the characters have remained in character, checking continuity with previous scenes and the like. This is where I find 'story boarding' the entire story at the beginning to be of most use, so if I find that I've wandered off-script I can then decide whether the new direction is a keeper and needs to be worked into the story-line, or is extraneous to the plot and needs to be removed. Therefore culling of extraneous material is the next thing, however, if I really like the content of that and don't want to lose it I may try and work it into a later chapter or simply add it as a footnoteš or addendum, which I guess comes under the next category of 'failure to edit'. 

My editing failings are (and I suspect this happens with a lot of self-editors), the reluctance to remove any material; the addition of extra material; and (more often) the complete rewrite of whole chunks of text during the editing stage. I think this is the major difference between a writer who has a publisher and editor working for them and someone who does all of that themselves. I touched on this in my 2-star rated 'Please Self-Release Me' self-release blog - it's having the discipline to be honest with yourself over the quality of what you are producing. You frequently hear people say "Oh, I'm my harshest critic", but when that self-deprecation isn't false modesty it is often used as an excuse for not judiciously editing stuff they know doesn't pass muster.

šI do like sparse use of footnotes in novels.

I get what you mean about being married to a good bit of writing even if it's not fitting the rest of the piece, I had to become much more disciplined about removal.   One does become attached;  your words are like children.

But the level of improvement I found through elimination of passages not directly pertinent to the thesis was a revelation.   It wasn't just about being a disciplined editor, the whole piece would suddenly become much cleaner and readable.   And when finished, if I couldn't find a place for the extra material I'd removed, I left it out.   And am I glad I can do that now without much regret.




Edited by Atavachron - December 19 2015 at 21:48
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy
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JJLehto View Drop Down
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Points: 34550 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2015 at 02:55
Writer's block is my lifeLOL
Reviews and blog posts are easy, but for ages I've tried to write serious fiction and damn it's hard. 


This has been my idea on how to get over my hurdle, anyone tell me if they think there's validity/their thoughts. 

I over plan, think too far ahead and try to come up with all this stuff in my head. For me, it hasn't worked. I'm thinking of just word vomiting. Spewing whatever I have out there. Do it every day. Later I can comb over it and sort things out, tidy it up, edit, repeat repeat repeat and hopefully it'll naturally pull together, instead of trying to plan every bit out in advance. 

Edit: Also, maybe this is total stupidity, but I had this idea of not reading any other fiction when attempting to write. I know this may be antithetical to the standard of "read read read, write, read read read" but I kind of wanted to craft something as much my own as possible, have a "sterile" process, untainted by outside influences. 
Within realistic limitsLOL of course there's the years of stuff in my brain already and natural life influences. 


Edited by JJLehto - December 20 2015 at 03:25
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