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[CrowFairy]

Yeah, so I am on a major writing high right now, even though I have to wake up in a few hours to finish a paper, have a headache, and am tired as crap. I've been working on a fantasy novel with my boyfriend since June 2010. Just one hour ago, I finished the final scene in it. Length-wise, before I write two short scenes that have to be added in, it's just short of the word count of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the book, not the script ). I am so excited to have gotten to this point. I have put so much of my heart and soul into this thing. All that's left is to do a small bit of writing, edit, start on the second book, find an agent, and get this sucker published. I cannot explain in words what this feels like, you guys.

So I just really wanted to post about this because I am so happy about getting this far that I could explode into a million fireworks.

I'm going to try to sleep now, so feel free to ask me questions about this enormous project (Let's just say 15 books is the minimum), and I will answer them when I get on again (if there are questions, that is).

So what are you working on?

[Carl-E]

Final exams. 

[Jimor]

Congrats! Getting to that last bit is amazing. Unfortunately, my own fantasy novel (see sig, follow link to a posting of most of it here in the forums) has stalled out in rewrite. I have an ending, but I'm not happy with it and need to rework it all. The last couple of years I've been concentrating more on restructuring my life around some kind of video/film/TV career, so haven't done any writing for a while, but I feel I'm getting back to a place where I can start doing it again with the dedication it needs.

I did manage to sell one science fiction short story a few years back, however, so I'm an associate member (not quite a full member, you need 3 short story sales, or 1 novel sale for that) of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and I've been active in exposing publishing scams of various sorts, so while I may not be able to give you direct advice on how to get published, I can point you towards good resources, and help you avoid bad deals, so feel free to PM or post any questions you may have about the process.

[Lupercal]

I think my friend and I will be writing a radio play piece for January, which is really exciting. At the moment, its my final week of university and I'm writing an essay on duality in the understanding of the self in Jekyll and Hyde & The Importance of Being Earnest. Not the easiest of papers but something I'm trying to write well, because I've already hit 2000+ words and don't feel like i've really explained myself at all.

[Carl-E]

Have you seen this thread? 

We could use some material...

[Thomas Edison]

I'm currently working on a stoner-ish road trip movie called "Get out of Belgium" with a friend of mine.


Ingredients: Take one part In Bruges
                  Add two tablespoons of easy rider
                 Thin the sauce until all motorbikes have disappeared
                 Do some other stuff and keep the script semi-serious, rather like a shitty tarantino movie (ie. we're aware we aren't tarantino) and make it dialogue driven
                 Add Clerks-esque twenty-something hopelessness.

Amibitious as it is, it'll probably never be made due to funding issues and trouble getting actors to have any confidence in our director's abilities, but if it does get made, I promise it'll be awesome.

This sounds pretty much right up my alley. Even though first time writer/directors are still considered a risk by small independent production companies, there are a few out there that'd be willing to give it a shot if you presented them with a good business plan/film package.

[Welu]

Fifteen books? Wow!

I've got a couple writing projects on the go. One is my failed NaNiWriMo which I'm slowly continuing with. I'm more inspired right now to work on Fallout based fanfics though.

[CrowFairy]

Congrats! Getting to that last bit is amazing. Unfortunately, my own fantasy novel (see sig, follow link to a posting of most of it here in the forums) has stalled out in rewrite. I have an ending, but I'm not happy with it and need to rework it all. The last couple of years I've been concentrating more on restructuring my life around some kind of video/film/TV career, so haven't done any writing for a while, but I feel I'm getting back to a place where I can start doing it again with the dedication it needs.

I did manage to sell one science fiction short story a few years back, however, so I'm an associate member (not quite a full member, you need 3 short story sales, or 1 novel sale for that) of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and I've been active in exposing publishing scams of various sorts, so while I may not be able to give you direct advice on how to get published, I can point you towards good resources, and help you avoid bad deals, so feel free to PM or post any questions you may have about the process.

Thanks! I understand the feeling--I was planning on doing that with another story but decided not to because it was so bad.

That's exciting! I will probably send you a PM sometime soon about that! I've got a copy of this year's Writer's Market, which has the subscription for the online stuff with it. I haven't activated it yet because I'm not ready to start looking for an agent, but I'll be pretty excited to start using that. I would really love any advice and such that you have to offer--thanks. You'll probably hear from me next week or sometime soon after that.

Have you seen this thread? 

We could use some material...

Hmmm... If someone could give me ideas, I could probably come up with something. I do have a lot of other stuff I have to work on, but I could try a little bit of it. My only thing is that I suck at coming up with plots.

Fifteen books? Wow!

I've got a couple writing projects on the go. One is my failed NaNiWriMo which I'm slowly continuing with. I'm more inspired right now to work on Fallout based fanfics though.

Yeah, I know. ^.^;; The boyfriend has been working on these characters and plots for so long that all I have to do is get it all onto the page and add whatever I want to.

Then work on the fanfics. ^.^ I know it doesn't feel like you're being as productive as you'd like, but writing is writing, and being in the habit is more important than any one project if you're not on a deadline.

[Welu]

I suppose I could just change the names to make it original.

[AnAverageWriter]

Yeah, so I am on a major writing high right now, even though I have to wake up in a few hours to finish a paper, have a headache, and am tired as crap. I've been working on a fantasy novel with my boyfriend since June 2010. Just one hour ago, I finished the final scene in it. Length-wise, before I write two short scenes that have to be added in, it's just short of the word count of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (the book, not the script ). I am so excited to have gotten to this point. I have put so much of my heart and soul into this thing.

Congratulations! You've accomplished the easiest part of your task- yet it's a step that many people cannot accomplish. A good, novel-length book (70,000 words or so) isn't something to sniff at.

All that's left is to do a small bit of writing, edit, start on the second book, find an agent, and get this sucker published. I cannot explain in words what this feels like, you guys.

Now comes the hard part, the cold water splash. Even if you've written something fantastic, something great, something original and wonderful... getting published is hard as hell. JK Rowling found "Harry Potter" rejected a dozen times before a small London Publisher said "yes". And she's a billionaire. My recommendation for you is to start off by getting a copy of the latest "Writer's Market" book. It is filled with not only insight, but also lists and lists of publishers that are actively looking for authors, and what genres they publish.

Once you have found an agent or publishing house, research, research research! Look them up, see what books they've already represented or published.

Last, but not least, don't ever use a generic template for your submission Query letter. Carefully craft the letter, with professionalism, skill and tact. A great query letter will get a publisher or agent excited. A generic or poorly written one will just get your submission tossed into the reject bin.

So I just really wanted to post about this because I am so happy about getting this far that I could explode into a million fireworks.
I'm going to try to sleep now, so feel free to ask me questions about this enormous project (Let's just say 15 books is the minimum), and I will answer them when I get on again (if there are questions, that is).

Fifteen books? That would be daunting even for Stephen King. Would recommend you temper your ambitions a little bit, at least until you've gotten at least two or three published. Then you can spring your plan.

Anywho, good luck!

[CrowFairy]

Thank you! At current count, it's almost 86,000 words, but there's a lot that needs to be removed/edited and added. Getting all this done while in some of my busiest semesters in college was no easy task!

I actually did buy the Writer's Market with the year's free subscription to the website. I haven't used it yet because I wanted to wait until I really needed it so I can use it as long as possible. I've gone through and written down just about every agent and publishing house that would potentially take me. The list was kinda short. :/

Thanks for the advice! I haven't written one of those before, so I'll keep that in mind.

I'm actually working on it with my boyfriend, who has had these ideas since he was very young. He has enough ideas to keep this series running for the rest of our lives, honestly. I'm just going to keep on plugging through each book as well as I can, because these stories are far too good not to be told. It is my mission to make his voice heard. He's not the greatest writer, to say the least. ^.^;; Without me, this won't happen. I'm not going to stop until all 15 books are published. I know that's incredibly ambitious, but I think it's also good to have something really big to shoot for. For some reason, I don't feel overwhelmed by the idea. And that's part of what's keeping me going--a huge project like this doesn't scare me? What has happened to me?? I like having big projects, to be honest, and it's great that I have someone pushing me to continue working on it. And I can't even claim writer's block because the entire story has been determined years ago. XD There are some rough patches, but I'm really enjoying this, and if I don't get through all 15, then the readers are going to be left clueless about a LOT of stuff. I'm placing seeds for stuff that literally won't be explained until the penultimate or last book. It's becoming very important to do them all.

[kajiura fan]

Congratulations! Can you share the title of the series or is that to remain a secret until it is published? I can understand since I haven't shared the title of my story yet. I'm still wondering if I should change it so I keep the title to myself.


I'm working on one series that I thought of in late 2004 and it's grown into 4 books now even though it was originally supposed to be just one. ONE! Darn this mind of mine... However, it is difficult for me to write it when I work 40 hr weeks and I'm mentally drained by the end of the day. It doesn't help that I spend more time thinking about the story than actually writing it. I guess I plan too much?

But since the beginning of this month, I've pushed myself to at least write a couple of pages every day. I will finish the first book within the year!