I wrote this poem many years ago when I was in high school. It has remained, largely untouched, since then. I will admit that I have edited it for this post. I was, after all, a lot younger then and my understanding of language has evolved, as all things do, over time. The heavy use of dashes in this poem is a stylistic technique that I use consistently in my poetry. I have also used ellipses, but I don't know if there is a difference, in my head, for the two. I used it to break up the rhythm of the poem visually. It is up to the reader, as with all writing, on their interpretation of the marks.
A "dyad" is, according to dictionary.com, a grouping of two. In the case of this poem, I used the term to suggest the personal duality I felt at that time. It is a poem of opposites and one that I really identified with at the time. The concept of a "dyad" is a recurring theme in my early writing. For those of you wondering...yes, my blog was named after this poem.
-----------
I am a creature born unto the night
Yet raised in the day.
A child of Darkness and of Light--
Without reason or way.
Twin in soul--One in body--
Logical and conceptual,
Sensible and insane--
Angry and alone.
I am the son Evil
And the daughter of Good.
Dancing amongst the graves,
Praying in the tombs--
Not sure what has, fearful of what will--
I have hated the light,
I have loved the dark.
Through peaceful thoughts I roam,
Alive in twisted madness.
To touch the Evil at the core--
To feel the Good beyond it.
And so I remain--
Eternally divided, tet always one.
Lost in Life--Found in Death.
A child of Darkness--
And of Light--
Without reason or way.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
This may be opening a can of worms, but I wanted to weigh-in on this subject. I'm sure that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of sites out there that espouse one over the other. If you are looking for that kind of site, look elsewhere. That isn't the purpose of this entry. I think both have their purpose. Both have good points and bad points. Pitfalls and positives. No matter which way you go, the bottom line should not be money. Yes, you can make money, but the focus should be on getting your thoughts/ideas/dreams out there. To weave a tale that people will remember, and more importantly, enjoy. If money is all that you love, save us from yourself and become a lawyer.
Back to the point.
Self Publishing
This is the easiest way to get your story out there. It's free and easy and you can get something published in literally minutes. There are several self-publishing sites out there, the two that probably have the most exposure are Lulu.com and Amazon.com (see links below). All you have to do is follow their directions, and boom! You have a story ready to be delivered to the masses. You even get a sizable profit from the sales (over 70%). Like I said, quick and easy with a high payout. You don't have to fight with thousands of other manuscripts to get the attention of an editor (or their assistant). You don't have to wait to get it published. Sounds awesome, right? Maybe not so much.
The biggest mark against self-publishing is the lack of a professional editing staff. Wait! Didn't I just say that you wouldn't have to worry about getting the attention of an editor? Yes, I did. However, the lack of a professional editing staff means that you don't have someone scrutinizing your work and ferreting out all of the mistakes that might detract from your story. Even if you have a really good reading circle, they may not find all the little things that an editor might. I've read some self published stories. The ones I have read had some really interesting story concepts and characters. However, all of them had issues that seriously detracted from the story that an editor would have found. Issues that made them almost unreadable at times. It was a pity because I really enjoyed what I was able to read. Some of the issues were typos (spell check won't find them all!), irrelevant historical information that had NO bearing on the story, excessive use of "Deus Ex Machina", overly successful characters, and even one case where the first person view changed to another character and I couldn't tell the difference (very confusing!).
So, if you are wanting to go the route of self-publishing, push your reading group to really scrutinize your work. Don't assume that everything you write is perfect. Write. Re-write. Re-write some more.
Traditional Publishing
Although it is a lot harder to get a book professionally published, there are some significant pluses. For one, you get the experience of a professional editor and their staff to help you maintain a coherent story from start to finish. Another thing you'll get is distribution to all markets. You also get the marketing power and prestige of a publishing company. Once you get published through a professional publisher, a LOT of doors are opened. Some publishers only take manuscripts from agents or published authors. Someone who is self-published won't necessarily get the attention of an agent and you won't be considered a "published" author by some companies. Agents and publishing companies do cut into your profit margin, but at the same time, they can shop your story around to people who wouldn't normally look at your work.
The downside to traditional publishing is that it takes a lot of time. You have to compete with a lot of other writers. You have to research all of the publishers and what they do, and do not, want, write cover letters, format the manuscript, and spend money on postage (most publishers won't take digital submissions). The Writer's Market is a good place to start. They have a print copy of their book as well as an up-to-date site full of just about everything you could imagine.
Final thoughts
Whether you are self-publishing, or going the traditional route, you need to make sure that your story/poetry is read by as many people as you can find. The more feedback you get from them, the better. Encourage them to be honest and take their criticism with grace. After you do that, sit down and figure out which way you want to go.
If you are interested, you can check out my self-published short story here: The Forgotten Arch (ebook). It was submitted to Lulu.com for their short story competition as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It is also Free. Shameless plug, I know.
Till next time (I promise I'll have a new story soon).
Back to the point.
Self Publishing
This is the easiest way to get your story out there. It's free and easy and you can get something published in literally minutes. There are several self-publishing sites out there, the two that probably have the most exposure are Lulu.com and Amazon.com (see links below). All you have to do is follow their directions, and boom! You have a story ready to be delivered to the masses. You even get a sizable profit from the sales (over 70%). Like I said, quick and easy with a high payout. You don't have to fight with thousands of other manuscripts to get the attention of an editor (or their assistant). You don't have to wait to get it published. Sounds awesome, right? Maybe not so much.
The biggest mark against self-publishing is the lack of a professional editing staff. Wait! Didn't I just say that you wouldn't have to worry about getting the attention of an editor? Yes, I did. However, the lack of a professional editing staff means that you don't have someone scrutinizing your work and ferreting out all of the mistakes that might detract from your story. Even if you have a really good reading circle, they may not find all the little things that an editor might. I've read some self published stories. The ones I have read had some really interesting story concepts and characters. However, all of them had issues that seriously detracted from the story that an editor would have found. Issues that made them almost unreadable at times. It was a pity because I really enjoyed what I was able to read. Some of the issues were typos (spell check won't find them all!), irrelevant historical information that had NO bearing on the story, excessive use of "Deus Ex Machina", overly successful characters, and even one case where the first person view changed to another character and I couldn't tell the difference (very confusing!).
So, if you are wanting to go the route of self-publishing, push your reading group to really scrutinize your work. Don't assume that everything you write is perfect. Write. Re-write. Re-write some more.
Traditional Publishing
Although it is a lot harder to get a book professionally published, there are some significant pluses. For one, you get the experience of a professional editor and their staff to help you maintain a coherent story from start to finish. Another thing you'll get is distribution to all markets. You also get the marketing power and prestige of a publishing company. Once you get published through a professional publisher, a LOT of doors are opened. Some publishers only take manuscripts from agents or published authors. Someone who is self-published won't necessarily get the attention of an agent and you won't be considered a "published" author by some companies. Agents and publishing companies do cut into your profit margin, but at the same time, they can shop your story around to people who wouldn't normally look at your work.
The downside to traditional publishing is that it takes a lot of time. You have to compete with a lot of other writers. You have to research all of the publishers and what they do, and do not, want, write cover letters, format the manuscript, and spend money on postage (most publishers won't take digital submissions). The Writer's Market is a good place to start. They have a print copy of their book as well as an up-to-date site full of just about everything you could imagine.
Final thoughts
Whether you are self-publishing, or going the traditional route, you need to make sure that your story/poetry is read by as many people as you can find. The more feedback you get from them, the better. Encourage them to be honest and take their criticism with grace. After you do that, sit down and figure out which way you want to go.
If you are interested, you can check out my self-published short story here: The Forgotten Arch (ebook). It was submitted to Lulu.com for their short story competition as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It is also Free. Shameless plug, I know.
Till next time (I promise I'll have a new story soon).
Friday, November 25, 2011
Writing in the Moment
I decided to take a creative writing class in the spring semester. I decided to do it because, being human, I don't know everything. Shocking, I know, but it does happen. There are two reasons for taking this class.
- I love feedback. As a writer, it is invaluable. Taking this class will expose me to a lot of different viewpoints and opinions. This is a good thing
- It will expose me to a style I've never tried (playwriting). Even if I never write in this format after this class, I'm a firm believer in the more you know, the better. Plays are dialog driven, so if nothing else, it will help learn some good dialog techniques.
The class only has one textbook (which I have already purchased). I'm generally not one to read classroom textbooks unless I have to. Usually, they are dry and boring. Not so with this one. It actually practices what it preaches, good creative writing. Even if you are not a student, I would highly recommend it as a useful tool in improving your craft. The book in question is: The Practice of Creative Writing : A Guide for Students by Heather Sellers. A new copy will run you about $40 on Amazon.com, but there are used copies for less. I bought the new one as I wanted a clean copy for when I need to mark in it.
Among the numerous bits of information that I've picked up from this book is the concept of "writing in the moment". It is the practice of imagining a scene and writing the "action" and not the "thought". It is actually more difficult than you would think. You have to focus on the movement. You let the action of the scene explain what is going on. Instead of saying "Joe thought the sunrise looked pretty", you would say "Joe marveled as the sky slowly change from the dark of night, to a vivid blue, as the sun rose over the hillside". Although the second sentence is a little long winded, it evokes more activity than him just thinking about how it was a pretty sunrise.
As I've said, it isn't easy to maintain that type of image. With more practice, I'm sure it gets easier. The book lists several aids to help you center yourself in an image while writing. One of things it suggests is sketching the scene (if you are artistically inclined). If you lack the requisite artistic talent (or just don't want to), the book lists several questions you can ask yourself to help solidify the scene in your head. If you don't see the scene clearly, then neither will the reader. Another thing about the scene, it isn't a static image. Even standing still, people, and their environment, are in motion. Don't write static images, they are boring.
The other thing this book strongly encourages is to read. Sounds easy, right? Not necessarily, you need to read and pay attention to what works and what doesn't. What scenes evoke good images and what scenes make it difficult to image. When you run into either of those, really look at how the writer used the language. Reading what others have written is a really good way to learn the do's and don'ts.
Till next time.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Albatross!
One of my favorite words is "Albatross". The first time I heard it was a Monty Python skit where I guy was trying to sell an albatross. He was walking around with this gigantic "dead" bird yelling, "Albatross! Allll-batross!" He sold it to another person who then turned around and tried it sell it himself. It was one of those things that just stuck in my head. Every time I encounter writing that I think is ungainly and isn't going anywhere, I think of that skit.
I've used that term to describe an essay that my sister was writing for college. It was huge, ungainly, and I could tell that she wasn't really interested in writing it. She took a step back and ended up re-writing a majority of the essay, which turned out to be quite good. Well, up to this point, I never used that term to describe something I had written. That was, until I started going through all the feedback I had on Goobasaurus Dex.
It isn't that the people in my reading circle don't like it; it is just that there seems to be a consensus that it isn't where it needs to be. The feeling of an albatross hanging from my neck is my own. I feel that it is turning into something huge and ungainly and I need to take a step back and re-evaluate where I want to go and what I want to do with it. Some radical changes need to be made and it may end up being more than just a simple picture book. As I told a friend, I felt that maybe I was trying to cram it into a format that it wasn't meant to be. That would explain why I felt it was turning into an Albatross.
So, the next thing I need to do is take a step back, leave it on the back burner, and let my back brain chew on it while I focus on something else. I did a little of that with my second story, "Sir Grumpsalot". With that one, I ended up deleting over half of it and rewriting the ending. I ended up with a much better story as a result. Goobasaurus Dex may take more time to figure out than Sir Grumpsalot did. We'll see. I've got another story to focus on that I'm really excited about, plus an upcoming creative writing class to focus on.
The story in question is called "The Forgotten Arch" and I am planning on submitting it to a competition through Lulu.com for National Writing Month (which is November). I have till the end of the month to upload it to their service and enter it. I don't expect to win anything, but you never know. I've had a lot of good feedback from everyone in my reading circle so I'm positive that I am going in the right direction. The last time Lulu.com did a competition for National Writing Month, it was for full length novels and they had 30,000 submissions. Whether I win anything or not, the important thing is that I am taking the chance.
So, some negatives on one front, but positives on another.
Till next time.
I've used that term to describe an essay that my sister was writing for college. It was huge, ungainly, and I could tell that she wasn't really interested in writing it. She took a step back and ended up re-writing a majority of the essay, which turned out to be quite good. Well, up to this point, I never used that term to describe something I had written. That was, until I started going through all the feedback I had on Goobasaurus Dex.
It isn't that the people in my reading circle don't like it; it is just that there seems to be a consensus that it isn't where it needs to be. The feeling of an albatross hanging from my neck is my own. I feel that it is turning into something huge and ungainly and I need to take a step back and re-evaluate where I want to go and what I want to do with it. Some radical changes need to be made and it may end up being more than just a simple picture book. As I told a friend, I felt that maybe I was trying to cram it into a format that it wasn't meant to be. That would explain why I felt it was turning into an Albatross.
So, the next thing I need to do is take a step back, leave it on the back burner, and let my back brain chew on it while I focus on something else. I did a little of that with my second story, "Sir Grumpsalot". With that one, I ended up deleting over half of it and rewriting the ending. I ended up with a much better story as a result. Goobasaurus Dex may take more time to figure out than Sir Grumpsalot did. We'll see. I've got another story to focus on that I'm really excited about, plus an upcoming creative writing class to focus on.
The story in question is called "The Forgotten Arch" and I am planning on submitting it to a competition through Lulu.com for National Writing Month (which is November). I have till the end of the month to upload it to their service and enter it. I don't expect to win anything, but you never know. I've had a lot of good feedback from everyone in my reading circle so I'm positive that I am going in the right direction. The last time Lulu.com did a competition for National Writing Month, it was for full length novels and they had 30,000 submissions. Whether I win anything or not, the important thing is that I am taking the chance.
So, some negatives on one front, but positives on another.
Till next time.
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