At 02:01 AM 6/20/98 -0400, you wrote:
There are some things that differentiate a good writer from one who
isn't. Many of these I've discussed in length before.
And of course, there's a difference between good writers and writers who
have infinite ideas (I unfortuneately fit into more the latter category :(
This is one which is actually far more important than it seems: Patience.
Does this also mean you're writing will naturally be longer as your
experience grows?
The second part refers to the crafting of a story. With a few exceptions,
these things are NOT the results of a night's work; more often, it takes
weeks and several drafts in order to get a story right. To illustrate:
Daigakusei-no-Ranma has been writing for four or five years now - and
they're only in the late 20's in terms of chapters.
Hearts of Ice nears its 2nd birthday - and it's still not finished.
Zen takes the better part of a year to craft a single *chapter* of Long
and Winding Road. Moreover, I received a partially-complete rough draft
of Bitter End in December 1996 - nearly five months before the polished
final copy made it to the public.
The thing is, all three examples you just stated are extremely long in
terms of content (DnR would be the shortest of the three, but there's also
the communication factor between the four authors, HoI's chapters are
extremely long (I would assume both would be between 50K and 100K), and all
of Zen's work is even longer (200-300K or even longer))
Now that being said, is that why "younger" authors don't write as well?
Because they have less patience?
Oh, and I've heard Mike Stackpole (Rogue Squadron) says he writes
disgustingly fast and even he takes a few months (don't have exact figures
at hand) to write a RS story.
As for my own work, there are half-finished rough drafts that I've been
sitting on for months. Clothes Make The will release part 8 in a week or
two, nearly a year and a half after the initial post to the ML. (Sorry
about the delay; had serious personal problems after A-Kon.) The
eleven-part Circe Project took two years to finish; the four-part Borrowed
Time nearly five months.
Again, your stories take up a fair bit of writing space.
Of course, my Clothes side-story took thirty minutes, while Absolution
took an hour and a half.
Those are on-the-spot writing you just _have_ to write now or never. And
they're short too.
I guess my point is... I've seen a lot of works out there that *look*
rushed. Script is sometimes a sign of a rushed story; usually prose
requires more effort to craft. Also, check for bad formatting or spelling
errors. Sometimes they don't want to take the time to spellcheck or
proofread the thing.
Me? I am a stickler for grammar ^_^ even when typing with one hand like I
am doing right now.
However, bad style or wrong grammar is usually because the prereaders are
either not there, or are sleeping on the job.
This has been a public service announcement. ^_^
Now if I can just get rid of this splitting headache, I'll be able to write.
Later!
----------------------
Jonathan Ng
jonathan@worldy.com
alternate address: jonathan_ng@my-dejanews.com
"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow!" King Lear, III, ii, 1
"I am a man more sinned against than sinning." King Lear, III, ii, 62-63