Writing

The More I Write, The Less I Know About Writing

Dale

I took my first writing course in 1981 at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. I had been reading a steady mix of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Michael Moorcock. I just loved Conan, John Carter, and Elric. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks had only come out in 1977 and the first trilogy of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R Donaldson was also available. The original trilogy of the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey was also available in the bookstores of Lawrence, KS. I gobbled up every fantasy novel I could find at the time, but the market was young in 1981. Some of the great works that would come out in the ensuing years hadn’t been written yet.

Sword of Shannara
$2.50 in 1977

In all fairness to the Professor, my writing ability wasn’t exceptional. Some thirty-seven years later, I still have a lot to work on. Just recently I sent a short story I had worked on to a copy/line editor I know. When I got it back, I found a lot of comments and suggested changes. If she had done it on paper, it would have been called red ink. There was a lot of it. It was filled with unnecessary repetition of words, use of words that should be avoided in fiction, improper paragraph breaks, improper verb tense, improper order of adjectives, and not including character description soon enough. So it’s something I am working on to improve my craft.

Recently, I dropped my subscription to SiriusXM radio. Now I listen to podcasts in my car especially Writing Excuses hosted by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. (It’s really good. If you are a writer, you should check it out.) This opened my eyes to other huge gaps in my knowledge. (Like what the hell is a MacGuffin?) Couple this with trying to learn about inciting incidents, plot points, beats, structure, and view point choices, and my first novel came to a screeching halt. Trying to plot that middle part of the book, which may result in changes to the beginning, and possibly the ending, left me with more questions than answers.

Elric of Melnibone
$1.50 in 1976

I’ve often told people that writing is hard. Even I have determined that stories can be told in different ways. Certain choices you make result in a different story. The more I’ve learned about writing, the more I realize I don’t know. I do believe that writing is challenging. What I also believe is that I am improving and learning how to work through those challenges. I have also decided to work on some shorter fiction until I get my plot figured out for Skye Song, my first real attempt at a novel. Working on short stories allows experimentation with the many aspects of fiction and allows for more immediate feedback from other others, beta readers, and via submissions. It also is easier to be accountable to myself.

I did finish a short story in April and submitted it to an anthology. It was my first submission to a publication and I believe it is one of my better works to date. I don’t know how long it will take to hear back, but I’m excited about the possibilities. If you’d like to follow my progress, sign up for my Reader’s Group with the form on this page and follow me on Facebook and Instagram.

Announcements, General Interest, Writing

Writers of the Future – The Future is Now!

Dale

I bought a copy of Writers of the Future XI, published in 1995, an anthology of short stories by undiscovered fantasy and science fiction authors. It fueled a desire to write fiction that had lain dormant inside of me for many years. I vowed to write a story and submit it to this contest until I won and let it kick off an illustrious writing career. I was intent on sitting down and writing that first short story. As soon as I could find some time. Like maybe after I finished college and got my degree. I was thirty-five at the time, a non-traditional student at the University of Wyoming, recently separated and raising two girls, 8 and 5, and working fifty hours a week managing the Taco Bell in Laramie, WY.

I was in my third year of starting college over and many of my classes were aimed at broadening my knowledge so I could be a better writer. I had taken literature classes, political philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and history classes. I was listening to a professor of a political philosophy class at the University of Wyoming talk about Nikos Kazantzakis, a Greek author. We were reading portions of his book “Report to Greco”. The professor told us about Kazantzakis and his story. Kazantzakis didn’t finish and publish his first book, Zorba the Greek, until he was sixty-three. He went on to write more books including “The Last Temptation of Christ” which he completed at the age of seventy. With my busy schedule and responsibilities, I didn’t think I had time to write. I told myself, if Kazantsakis could do it after he turned sixty, I could delay the start of my writing career for a few years.

Twenty-two years later, I still hadn’t finished a short story or novel, let alone submitted one to WotF.  The 34th anthology was just released and tonight the winner of the Golden Pen award will be announced. After several geographical moves (Wyoming to Missouri to Iowa), another marriage which I learned more lessons from, and many jobs later, I finally submitted my first short story to the Writers of the Future in March of 2018. I also attended a Superstars Writers Conference and learned so much about the business of writing. I am finally taking steps to realize my dream with corresponding actions. I intend to submit another short story this quarter to the WotF and I’m working on two novel ideas. This website is another step in that process and incentive for me to do the work to be in anthology number 35.

I invite you to sign up for my Reader’s Group and be a part of that process.