Steve E Posted February 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Truth be told, I broke my chair and can't manage to fix it. Makes sitting at the computer for long stretches of time painful. I'm almost done editing, but it's slow. I'm pretty good at cutting out large swashes of what I wrote and not so good at filling in the blanks left by frantic "get the story on the page" typing. Consider a wheelchair. They're mobile and can be comfortable as all heck since they're designed for people who expect to be spending a lot of time in them. But get a cushion anyway. Something that can absorb perspiration. I'm doing puzzles and learning knitting. And baking. Trying to stay warm. Time well spent: puzzles will keep your mind sharp in winter's torpor; baking will keep the home toasty; the products of knitting will keep you warm and annoy your friends. As I write this it's snowing outside my window (and other places, I expect) but the floors are downright hot. I live on the 20th floor and heat (from the other co-ops) rises. A friend of mine on 26 says he's keeping the windows open. He's gathered up enough snow on his parquet floors to form a small army of tiny snowmen. Everybody needs a hobby. How is everyone else? What are the projects you're all working on? I'm on my second editing run-through of my second re-write of "A More Perfect Union". I have to wonder if Plotters have it easier than us Pantsers when it comes to re-writes. There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found... -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 I'm on my second editing run-through of my second re-write of "A More Perfect Union". I have to wonder if Plotters have it easier than us Pantsers when it comes to re-writes. -Thoth. I doubt it. I was actually pretty structured on this one, at least to the point of sitting down to overhaul the plot when I realized I'd written myself into a corner. That did explain the first round of revisions: I was putting in things that foreshadowed or made sense of later plot points. I guess a really good plotter could avoid that part. But then I showed the initial chapters to my critique group, and they had all kinds of questions, in the answering of which I decided some characters were not necessary, etc. Even plotters must run into situations like that. Creeping forward, M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Slow but steady wins the race.- Aesop’s fables, “The Tortoise and the Hare.” -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astillac Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 My brain is plotting against me. It's saying, aw, screw editing, start this new story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 My brain is plotting against me. It's saying, aw, screw editing, start this new story! Yep. Brains do that. They don't like the hard parts, just the fun stuff. Show your brains who's boss. -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codemer Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Yep. Brains do that. They don't like the hard parts, just the fun stuff. Show your brains who's boss.-Thoth. But what if your brain is contracted out to a multinational corporation? IF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 But what if your brain is contracted out to a multinational corporation? Rise up comrade brains! You have nothing to lose but your chains, and a whole lot of lovely money. -Red Thoth. BTW: Writer's Lounge has reached 10 pages! And you, Isaac, are approaching the magic number of 500 posts, where you get the key to the Executive Washroom at Storyist Headquarters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 My brain is plotting against me. It's saying, aw, screw editing, start this new story! That's why I keep a file called Story Ideas.story, just so I can add a note page when my brain starts goofing off and fool it into thinking it actually has started the new story. If that doesn't work, mention to it that tax season is starting. My poor brain is reeling after two hours preparing lists for future entry. It can't wait to get back to editing now! Laboring under the sad realization that I have yet to earn a penny from this fiction-writing habit, M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Laboring under the sad realization that I have yet to earn a penny from this fiction-writing habit, Someday you will despair over losing your amateur status. Joe Eszterhas, once one of the most in-demand screenwriters in Hollywood*, now laments his golden writing years -- now that he's found god, or as he says, god found him. You never know what you've got 'till it's gone, -Thoth. * Flashdance, Jagged Edge, Jade, Betrayed, Sliver, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Telling Lies in America, Burn Hollywood Burn, Children Of Glory, etc., plus an estimated twenty-five unproduced screenplays. An estimated $30M in screenplay sales in total. Oh, and he wrote several books, too. And all without the benefit of Storyist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Someday you will despair over losing your amateur status.You never know what you've got 'till it's gone, -Thoth. Ain't that the truth? Thanks for the pick-me-up! Reworking the synopsis (gag) so I can tackle the second half of my revisions without heading down any blind alleys except the one where the final confrontation is to take place.... M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codemer Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Laboring under the sad realization that I have yet to earn a penny from this fiction-writing habit, We're supposed to make money off this stuff? My researched showed that I have approximately a 0.03% chance of making any real money off of writing, so the free route seems about as attractive in my case. IF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 My researched showed that I have approximately a 0.03% chance of making any real money off of writing... One chance in 3,333? I'm surprised it's that high. It's not just a matter of writing a great story. Lots of great stories never get published. A genre quota for a particular publisher might be filled. It too closely resembles something else they published or plan to publish. It addresses a topic that scared a lawyer or marketer. Or the publisher just doesn't want to take a chance on too many unknowns this year. And if you make 10K to 20K on your first book (a thousand pages stained with the blood sweat and tears of several years' labor), consider yourself lucky. The good news? Plenty of new books are published every year, and you'll make a lot more on your second if the first does well. Feel better? Hey, as Isaac says, there's always the free route. There are plenty of comic sites out there that make their money on advertising. So, why not a lit site? Or does Kindle self-publishing have that covered? Ever hopeful, -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codemer Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 One chance in 3,333? I'm surprised it's that high. It's higher than normal because I do my research. IF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astillac Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Well, that's disheartening, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 We're supposed to make money off this stuff? Well, I don't write to make money, that's for sure; and I'm having way too much fun to give it up even if I never publish a page except on my website for my fellow Storyists to read. But if someone did decide to offer cash for my prose, I wouldn't turn it down. And I think it would be super-cool if someday I could support myself by writing, even though the chances of that are infinitely smaller than the odds Isaac quoted. Call it my Plan B (in the old sense described in today's New York Times, of an alternative you love to fantasize about in the midst of drudgery!). Best, M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Well, that's disheartening, guys. Think of it this way; it's not nearly as unlikely as winning the lottery, and millions play the lottery. Or, how about this: Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell wrote one novel in her entire life; she started it because she was bored, being bedridden with a broken ankle; the book turned out to be the best selling novel of all time. It not only made a lot of money but earned her critical acclaim to the tune of the 1937 Pulitzer Prize. The book was/is Gone With The Wind. The bad news: Mitchell died at age 48, run over by a car while crossing the street to see a movie (no, not that one). So, as they say in the theatre, break a leg, or an ankle. -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astillac Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I just made my first monies from my baking. Blackberry lemonade cake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codemer Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I just made my first monies from my baking. Blackberry lemonade cake! Sweet! Pardon the pun. IF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I just made my first monies from my baking. Blackberry lemonade cake! Terrific! Now, if you had written something on the cake, composed in Storyist of course, we could've posted a Storyist benchmark. Always thinking, -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I just made my first monies from my baking. And I just made my first monies from my photography. Well, a dollar anyway. In arranging for a Storyist table at this year's San Francisco Writers Conference, I sent along a link to some photos I shot at the 2007 conference. Barbara, one of the conference organizers, liked them and asked if she could use them if she upgrade my badge to an all-conference badge. I, of course, said yes. Turns out she used them for the cover of the conference guide! At one of the lunches, I found myself sitting at a table with literary agent Ted Weinstein, whose photo was on the cover. I asked him how it felt to be a cover model. Always the agent, he joked that the conference had failed to secure a model release form. When he learned that I had taken the shot, he asked if I was a professional photographer. I said "No, just a guy with a camera." He promptly reached into his wallet, pulled out a dollar, handed it to me, and said "You are a pro when someone pays you for your work. Now you're a pro." I think we should all send a dollar to Marguerite. She's a pro if ever I saw one. -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 So let me understands this. You just sold the rights to the cover shot to an agent for a dollar after selling it to Babs for a badge upgrade which, one would assume, has some monetary value. You sold all rights twice, you clever boots. Double congratulations. Lucky for you agents aren't at all litigious. M, your check is in the mail. (I just hope I have your address right.) Launching myself into little old lady land, (How many will get the reference? Odds anyone?) -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 So let me understands this. You just sold the rights to the cover shot to an agent for a dollar after selling it to Babs for a badge upgrade which, one would assume, has some monetary value. You sold all rights twice, you clever boots. Double congratulations. Lucky for you agents aren't at all litigious. M, your check is in the mail. (I just hope I have your address right.) Aw, I'll have to bake a special batch of overmuffins now. How about apple cinnamon? Distribution via elf post. Or maybe I'll send Sir Percy around with the carriage. It's about time he did something besides preen (and rescue hapless victims of the Terror). Congratulations, Steve! As Thoth notes, selling the photo once is cool. Selling it twice is marketing genius! But you were already a pro as far as we're concerned. Best, M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codemer Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Launching myself into little old lady land,(How many will get the reference? Odds anyone?) Is this in reference to your cross dressing and going to the convalescent home? IF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astillac Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 unrelated, but i can't use my right arm! it's driving me insane! i am supposed to not move it today - husbands orders, but... ergh. what do you guys do when you overdo it and hurt yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Is this in reference to your cross dressing and going to the convalescent home? Half right. You win a muffin-top of the Over variety. -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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