A couple more pages into chapter 19. I got bogged in the end since I have a character that is getting hit with so many conflicting emotions at once that it is hard to figure out actions and dialogue. Also another character died, but I think it was a minor enough character that she doesn't count on the death toll.
I've realized that I have been influenced by fantasy writer Robert Jordan. I keep thinking about his books when I'm planning mine. In my mind, his books stand as a shining example of what I do not want to do. If something sounds like it could be Jordan-like I know it needs to change.
If something sounds like it could be Jordan-like I know it needs to change.
The anti-inspiration!
I've been reading blogs about BEA, which is ... less interesting than it should be, and much more depressing.
Book Expo America, the industry's big, not open to the public, annual trade show. Booksellers and others interact with publishers and authors, blah blah. Lately it's been very, "How do we save publishing?!"
Gud, BEA=Book Expo America, the big publishing-industry con.
Lately it's been very, "How do we save publishing?!"
Eh, for decades before that, it was "how do we save Bookselling", with occasional bouts of "OMG INTERNETS IS COMING". I'm fairly convinced that they're in the handwringing/fearmongering biz more than the book biz.
I'm fairly convinced that they're in the handwringing/fearmongering biz more than the book biz.
Oh yeah. They're experts at handwringing.
That makes me think. My wife wants me to go to some writer's conference. I'm very dubious about getting much out of it and I can't say I'm very interested in it. I don't consider myself a real serious writer and I wonder if one really gets a lot of these things.
It depends on the conference, Gud. Who's presenting, who's attending, what kind of workshops are given. If you're interested in learning craft, or even just how other people write, it can be really fascinating, and it always used to fire me up to write more -- for a long time I was going to a couple a year, as an *editor* asked to speak, but I always got to sit in on other panels and talk to writers, so.
The anti-inspiration!
Very much so. Now I just feel ashamed that I read the books. Well not all the books. I think I stopped when I realized I just read a 600 page book and almost nothing happened. That and the characters ended up being all the same, especially the women.
