billscott: When do you think your story, poem or novel is good enough for publishing?
    michaelcahill: That's a good question. I'm guessing that a consensus from writer's opinions that you respect. I find it hard to judge my own work. Sometimes I think it's the greatest, other times I want to set it all on fire! -
    Michaelk: I agree with Mr. Cahill, it's extremely difficult to judge your own work. I had people rave over my stories, but I would send them to magazines only to be rejected over and over. The answer is it's ready when it's ready. When you're satisfied with it, send it out.
    If you really want to see your work in a different light, get it edited. I never knew how many mistakes I was making until I started getting my novel edited. -
    humpwhistle: When you're re-read it for the 200th time, and you finally decide to make no changes.
    -


billscott: Who inspires you to write?
    humpwhistle: Folkish folks, like Mark Twain and Larry McMurtry. -
    Michaelk: Mike Battaglia, Dean Kuch, Edgar Allan Poe, and Metallica. -


billscott: Offering up prayers, thoughts and respectful meditations for Gungalo...we will miss you!

I miss her


billscott: How do you "figure out" your characters?

Do you use past experiences of your own and mix them in?

Or do you completely make it all up?
    pafaust: They're all me. I just disguise their weirdness in different names so I can deny that. -
    nor84: Every character has a facet of my own personality -- or of the way I wish I were. -
    vapros: I think you have to begin with a story, and then invent the characters needed to make it work. When you know what you want them to do, you will know what kind of people you need to invent.

    If you begin with characters, then you find that you need to change them, as the story demands. And remember, they not only have to serve, they also have to entertain. -


billscott: after you have written your work, have you wondered what it might look like as a screenplay? or even written it yourself? or maybe someone wrote it out for you?
    Leonardo Wild: Yes, billscott, I have turned three of my novels into screenplays ... though mind you, the first one was probably not good at all, and the second one I did never went past the second draft. With the third I co-wrote it with the director who wanted to turn it into a film, but the financial quandary could never be overcome. But doing all that has helped me not only learn about screenwriting, but also how that can be applied to novel writing. It's really worth the exercise, as it can probably help you cut down your "learning curve" for novel writing by quite a few years. -
    billscott: Leonardo- I have written a few scripts without guidance (per instructor or mentor) and I thought it rather interesting to seek out some serious guidance. After reading your post, I have made up my mind...cheers my friend! -


billscott: If you could be a fly on the wall of a famous author to see how they operate, write, market, interact with publishers, their fans, etc., whose wall would you be on?
    shelley kaye: no one's.... because i don't want to get swatted by a rolled up newspaper lol ;-)

    -
    shelley kaye: then again.... maybe i'd watch william.... have to hid in a place where he can't see me though, in case i fall asleep from boredom hehe ;-)

    -
    Adri7enne: Ken Follet's wall. I think he's the best novel writer alive today. Sometimes, when I really need a shot of good, professional writing, I read one of Follet's novels for the second time. I've read them all, so I'm always waiting for the next one. But, right now I'm reading "World Without End" for the 2nd time. I have it on my EReader. Now I try to analyse the way he puts it together as much as I read for the story. He does great research. And he's been writing wonderful novels since he was just a kid. Just goes to show one doesn't have to be long in the tooth when there's real talent. Follet seems to have always known how the world works. -


billscott: Have you written more than one genre? Which one? If so, would you ever do so again?
    Adri7enne: Yes. I write fantasy, sci-fi, but I've also written an allegorical novel, with caterpillar characters and transformational butterflies. I think it's good to experiment. Why tie yourself into a particular genre unless it's your only interest. I find the entire world with its wide range of possibilities should remain an open field. Maybe I just don't like commitments? LOL! -
    billscott: Adr7enne, have you mixed genre's in the same work before? -
    Adri7enne: I have. Sometimes, a story just comes to you, without time to stop and analyse what genre it might fall into. Don't try to set up too many tight paremeters around yourself. Let it be what it is and worry about the genre when it's done. Allow yourself to just be creative and original. The creative part of you is beyond the analytical mind. When you find the thread of the story, you can then allow the mind to refine it. It's always a two step process with me. You create until you find the thread of the story line. Then use your writing skills - the ability to inhabit your characters and their surroundings - and use your skills to bring them to life and tell their story. It should be fun! -
    billscott: Fun is what it's all about. ;) -
    billscott: Adri7enne - you said you wrote about caterpillars? Have you heard of David Gerold?

    He wrote using worms but for a more sinister purpose..I believe the series was called The War Against The Chtorr...Have you heard of it?
    -
    Adri7enne: I'd never heard of that series but I checked it out. Looks like something I could get lost in for years. I loved Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I thought he did characters well. And he created a world with such firm descriptions that I felt I knew it. Great fun! -
    nor84: I've written action/adventure with a touch or romance, also paranormal and paranormal romance. Would do all again. One of the neat things about e-book publishing is that you can mix genres in the same book because it doesn't have to 'fit' onto a bookstore shelf as any one genre. -
    billscott: nor84 I love that aspect of ebook publishing as well. I wish agents of today would get brave and realize the power of such mixed genre's; we writers would have more profitability on our hands...one can hope. -


billscott: When your written words hit the page, what leads you...the character(s), plot, theme, or central conflict?

Or is it something else?
    shelley kaye: usually the voices that whisper in the night

    lol ;-)

    -
    Joy Graham: When your words hit the page like a fresh blot of ink, that's amore! Sorry, that tune grabbed me when I read your post lol! -
    Adri7enne: I think it might be different for other writers, but for me, the characters lead the action and eventually, the plot. If my characters don't lead me or play well against each other, I know I should just can it. Other times, I like the characters so well, I hate to leave them. Usually, when I feel good about them, readers will tell me they wanted to story to go on. That's when you know the characters work and the work might be worth developing further. -
    billscott: Adri7enne, I agree. If a character is shaped without enough detail, the story just falls away and becomes narration. -
    Joy Graham: My characters tell me how to write the story. We have great arguments about it lol! -


billscott: When inspiration strikes, do you write or outline your next writing project?
    vapros: I'm not sure what I might do, if inspiration ever struck. -
    michaelcahill: I write, but I probably should outline. I so get myself in trouble sometimes by winging it. But, there are advantages to not knowing what is coming next. -
    Adri7enne: Sometimes, it's an advantage not knowing what you just wrote. Some people get so buffuddled by nonsense, they think it might make sense to someone and they're just not smart enough to get it. They'll give you points for 'writing over their heads'. Bullshit still baffles brains. Just go for it! At least some people seem to be successful with that idea. Sometimes I think it's true that the grounds of the madhouse are so vsst, fools wander the grounds making profound statements while not realizing they're behind the gates. -
    billscott: Ari7enne - what do you mean "behind the gates?" -
    Adri7enne: Ah, but if I'm to play that 'enigmatic', 'guess what I wrote' game, I shouldn't be asked to explain myself. That would be telling the Emperor he isn't wearing any clothes. -
    Adri7enne: Sorry, Bill. I'm just being a smartass this morning. I find that allowing my mind to roam free with an idea and a computer, without an outline, will at least get me writing. Then, I might generate a germ of an idea while putting down a few lines. From there, I can either keep on writing or discard the preliminary exercise and run with the new idea the writing just generated. The risk is not knowing when to discard what doesn't work. We tend to think everything that originates in our minds has to be a masterpiece. Some of it is just fodder for the trash can. A lot of mine is. I'm learning to cut and discard - write and rewrite - the most important skills a real writer can learn. -
    billscott: I understand. It's ok.

    You touch upon aspects a very good author explains in his book called "Several Short Sentences About Writing"

    It talks similarly of what you explained.

    We all have our ways to get our "juices" going. That's the interesting part of writing. Rules? What rules?

    What inspires, inspires...what doesn't, just doesn't.

    I have read some of your material. Love it.

    Headin over for a deeper look if I may...

    Cheers! -
    shelley kaye: depends on what the voices tell me to do....

    ;-)
    -


billscott: If meditation was designed to work with what you do like and was specific to your intentions, would you use it?


billscott: What if meditation helped your writing...would you try it to find out?
    shelley kaye: i have tried meditation a few times.... didn't like it and didn't do anything for me. lol

    next question?

    -


billscott: All photos on any of my works are courtesy of google images in the public domain, unless indicated by FanArt contributions.