tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post4933300174275747824..comments2024-03-08T15:14:31.312-05:00Comments on Landless: My next bookTony Nolandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090583562737225942noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-90768316834401799472013-01-22T14:43:42.828-05:002013-01-22T14:43:42.828-05:00Write whatever you want and screw the market. If y...Write whatever you want and screw the market. If you don't love it, why would anyone else?<br /><br />What works for me sometimes is to go back and look at ideas I've had in the past (I keep a notebook)and combine 2 or more that don't seem to go together, then try to come up with a story to make them work. In the meantime, we love your flash!Cat Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14160039271069426174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-71195699751874289762013-01-22T09:46:56.764-05:002013-01-22T09:46:56.764-05:00And this is the main thing I'm held up on, Joh...And this is the main thing I'm held up on, John. I have lots of ideas, but I've been discarding them simply because they feel like retreads and derivations of things that everyone has already seen.<br /><br />The Grammarian was (and IS) a fresh kind of story. At least, I hope it is, despite being set in the conceptual framework of superhero adventure. I'm trying to find another fresh kind of story that will be equally compelling.<br /><br />It took me more than a year to figure out how to pitch the Grammarian in just a couple of sentences. Any future book will have to gel around a comparably strong central idea.Tony Nolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090583562737225942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-86873094648654783312013-01-21T10:11:29.107-05:002013-01-21T10:11:29.107-05:00YA was never inviting to me anyway, and I almost c...YA was never inviting to me anyway, and I almost can't wait to stake a vampire. While I'm sorry your early explorations didn't shake out, if you're looking for major commercial distribution, ditching vampires-as-X-Men was a good move. True Blood already has plenty of people chasing that market, none of whom you'll now have to compete with. And I wish you the best of luck with that big idea once lightning strikes.<br /><br />Now I'm no further along in my publishing career than you, so my advice should only matter so much. But the thing I liked about Grammarian, from a purely secondhand level, is that I don't think many other people would write that idea. The best way to avoid chasing the market and to write something strong is to look into what you really want out of your literature. Grammarian sounds like it was one such property, but it can't be the only one. What are things nobody else is doing, that you'd like to read, and that can be summarized in a few sentences for pitches? Because that's the Shazam sweetspot of creating art that will satisfy you and diversify from the market.John Wiswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07416044628686736927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-81611333182440667142013-01-21T08:21:41.082-05:002013-01-21T08:21:41.082-05:00There's the rub: I don't want to write a n...There's the rub: I don't want to write a novel solely because I think it will please someone else. I do enough of that already. Besides, a novel is too much work, too much time to invest in something I don't really care about.<br /><br />I'll keep looking.Tony Nolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090583562737225942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-13209159317716785492013-01-21T08:19:07.056-05:002013-01-21T08:19:07.056-05:00Somewhere between "hackneyed and overdone&quo...Somewhere between "hackneyed and overdone" and "freaky crazy" is my "by George, it's so crazy it just might work!".<br /><br />Thanks for the reminder - I'll re-read the Handbook. ;-)Tony Nolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090583562737225942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-18791735799338543562013-01-21T08:17:39.346-05:002013-01-21T08:17:39.346-05:00It's like I'm constantly prowling an onlin...It's like I'm constantly prowling an online dating site and haven't yet seen anybody I'd like to ask out.Tony Nolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090583562737225942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-59895329326159780802013-01-21T03:05:37.990-05:002013-01-21T03:05:37.990-05:00I agree with Larry, I have another fantasy adventu...I agree with Larry, I have another fantasy adventure on the boil called Wizard - i think you have to write what you love writing you'll find your audience. I think though what you write depends on your agenda. It was like when I was exhibiting watercolours (did that for 18 years, sold a fair few) but I painted what I wanted to paint, others painted what they thought the viewer wanted to buy - in my opinion and it's just my own, one is not being very true to themselves doing that, to paint or write something because you think it is what will sell will not necessarily turn out to be your best work. My experience. Helen A. Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12748128819820230841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-35155204885580529142013-01-21T01:39:55.289-05:002013-01-21T01:39:55.289-05:00Amanda Hocking wrote about trolls. Suzanne Collins...Amanda Hocking wrote about trolls. Suzanne Collins wrote a mash-up of teen-gladiator and reality tv. And let's not forget Larry Kollar, who turned your average white pick into a new kind of spooky apocalypse.<br /><br />Tony, go back and re-read your "Handbook of the Writer Secret Society," and that "one big idea" will come to you. Go, now. And don't come back until you have that new great idea and a solid outline to go with it. :)Krystalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7797188666559531190.post-28932498902439839422013-01-20T19:37:07.633-05:002013-01-20T19:37:07.633-05:00Uh-oh, no teen wizards? Houston, we have a problem...Uh-oh, no teen wizards? Houston, we have a problem. :-P<br /><br />Screw that crap. If my teen sorcerers keep telling me their stories, I'll keep writing them.<br /><br />To the point of your post: the novel will come. It might be a flash that wants to be a big story when it grows up, for example.Larry Kollarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08317037795075278427noreply@blogger.com