SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Just a quick question, Me Grimlock. Do excerpts (as in the first 3-4 chapters of a novel) count as a first publication? It's not uncommon for authors to offer excerpts as a "free sample" to potential readers on their site or blog.
I don't know if there's any easy answer to this. Depends on the length of the work, depends on the publishing house considering it. If it's a novel, like you say, I don't think three or four chapters would hurt. But it's not so cut and dry.
It's more based on the percentage of the overall thing rather than a concrete number of chapters. For instance, it's not a good idea to post the first three to four chapters of a work that's six chapters, but okay if it's sixty. It's also not good to post the first three to four chapters of a book if those chapters are long, regardless of how many short chapters follow. But if they're short and the last few chapters are long, then it might be okay. I wouldn't say there's a good number when talking about chapters or pages, but rather percentage. Maybe 10-20%? A good rule is just enough and not a word more.
SlyTF1 wrote:I just started looking at Createspace. Do they have anything for advertising, or is it just self publishing?
Not sure. They have a service they call Kirkus Indie Review, which buys you a book review from a well-known voice in the industry, but I didn't buy that, so I can't tell you how effective it is. They also have
Marketing Copy Essentials, which isn't a marketing service per se, but it helps you to "brand" your story, gives you the back cover blurb and some other stuff. Essentially, they get someone who knows how to entice a reader to write some blurbs for you. It's up to you how you use those blurbs. I bought that service.
SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Flashbacks should be used VERY sparingly, though. They detract from the current flow of the story, and makes the reader wonder why he's reading about something that happened ages ago.
I can't argue with using them sparingly, but when used right, they don't detract from the story. Otherwise, flashbacks would never be used. Two examples I can think of where flashbacks were necessary and gave to the story are Stephen King's
Dream Catcher (skip the movie, read the book) and
Futurama's "Luck of the Fryish." If you haven't yet, check those out. How they enhance the story is better left to experiencing them rather than me telling you about them. There's nothing I can say that would do them justice without having to go on for pages and pages.
But, in a nutshell, the thing about flashbacks is the reader already knows the outcome of what's happening for the most part. It's in the past. So the reader doesn't really feel excited since there's no suspense. If you don't hook them in another way, they're bored or, even worse, skip the flashback. Does this character live? Yeah, we've seen him in other chapters. Does that character get the girl? Yeah, they're married in chapter four. So, in flashbacks, you have to keep the reader's suspense by making them ask different questions: not "what" but "who" or "why" or "how."
A "what" question is "what will happen to this character." We already know. The question you're trying to give the reader shouldn't be about what will happen to him, but maybe how. The character died, but the suspense of the flashback is how. Or maybe why. Or maybe who killed him.
What question: Did he get the girl? Pfft. We know he didn't. No good.
How question: How did he mess things up? Better.
What question: Did he die? Yeah he did. You already told us in chapter six.
Who question: Who was that mystery shadow guy who stabbed him? And why?
Engage the reader with a different question. But if you think of the story as complete without the flashback, get rid of it, same as you would any chapter you find unnecessary.
SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Another thing; ALWAYS start your novel with the protagonist. He/she should always be the first character your reader gets to know, as it is through his/her eyes that the reader experiences the story. An rare exception to that rule is if the protagonist is meant to be enigmatic, and you want the reader to slowly peel away the mystery by seeing him through the eyes of those around him.
Don't know if I agree with this. Sometimes it's better to hook in with the antagonist, or a secondary character. Sometimes it's better to build a reader's hopes of the hero based on what others say about him or her. I can think of a few examples where the main protagonist doesn't show up right away, most of them movies though.
Brave New World,
The Odyssey,
Atlas Shrugged,
Star Wars,
The Matrix,
Ghostbusters. How many stories have you seen a chapter with a couple of little guys getting in trouble way over their heads and calling in "a specialist" who then appears in chapter two?
The rule is to not to start with the protagonist first, but to start with the conflict as early as possible. Get the reader hooked. And even then, this rule can be broken with something called "bridging conflict," which is the excitement you use to get the reader from the start of the story to the start of the main conflict.
SKYWARPED_128 wrote:Yeah, I know what you mean. I've written stories like that before, where the setting itself becomes as interesting, if not more so, than the characters themselves.
Setting should be treated as a character. Give it characteristics, tendencies, quirks.
SlyTF1 wrote:It's sci-fi fantasy.
I'm about eleven pages deep into your story, and it seems to be straight up sci-fi. I heard a definition that made sense: science fiction is something that can possibly happen even if it's unlikely, fantasy is something that could never happen. This might be outdated, since I heard it a loooong time ago, and it's very black and white. A sci-fi fantasy would be
science fantasy, which is a little-known middleground where something looks like science fiction with all the gadgets and space stuff, but it could never happen. That would be where stuff like
Star Wars lives.
But then, I think in a case like this, it's better to go with your gut. Does it have gadgets and is it set in the future? Then it's sci-fi, regardless of the Force or any other mystical thing. Does it have magic in it with swashbuckling elves and dragons? Then it's fantasy, regardless of how many lasers you put in. I think in a case like this, it's better to just use broad strokes when applying terms because readers expect certain things when you call something a sci-fi or a fantasy. So I'd classify your story as sci-fi and leave the fantasy descriptor out unless you're planning to show the story in a world of dragons and ogres.
Ironhidensh wrote:Well, I've found the legitimate responses in this thread to be very informative. Writing a novel is one of the few childhood dreams I still cling too. The others I gave up on in favor of the practical reality life presented me with. It's really not bitter out, it's just what it is. Trust me, I have no delusions of grandeur about ever getting published. I want to write it just write it. Well, more like finish it. I've been working on it for many a year.
Hey, I encourage you to stick with it. If you have the writing itch, it's one of the most fulfilling itches to scratch. There's nothing like finishing the first draft of something and, also, nothing like finishing the final draft.
Blast Cannon wrote:What film would you recommend I go and see this Friday?
Avengers: Age of Ultron was decent. :p