Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Alright, here's the first line of To Hell With Fate; or, Why The Best Valentine's Gifts Come From Mini-Marts:

“Oh, and this story is the best of all of my books. It’s about this girl, who’s in high school, and she’s an artist, and a writer, and stuff like that, you know, creative, and she falls for the hottest guy in school, and so…”
“Let me guess. She gets him to fall for her?”

Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go? Do you always know ho..."

Hi, Steven.

Absolutely. There are times where I have a solid beginning and have nothing after that. I had one short story that I wrote for one of my novellas that I had the first couple of pages done, then sat there for a day or two trying to figure out where I was going with it. Suddenly I was inspired and bashed out the remaining pages in a couple of hours. Mind, as often as not I have everything laid out in detail as well. Depends on my mood I guess.

Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go? Do you always know ho..."

I know this post is old. But I'm new to the site so here it goes. I've written/co-written 12 screenplays and numerous short stories and I'm currently writing my first novel. For me I can't write without some sort of outline. Because once I get stuck, the story normally goes in the trash. When I'm writing a screenplay I sit down and hammer out a thirty page outline. This doesn't happen overnight. It usual takes about a month, sometimes more. I outline each scene in detail. I write everything down except dialogue. I do the whole story that way. It's a pain and it's not as fun but it's worth it. Because if you lay all of the groundwork beforehand, then when you start to actually write your scenes it becomes almost like a cut and paste and you move through yours scenes with speed and confidence. The last couple of scripts I worked on only took a month to write because I was working from a detailed outline. So a month to outline and a month to write for a completed first draft. Now obviously some things are going to change when you sit down to write. But for me it's much easier to build off what I've already created in the outline as oppose to constantly having to create out of thin air.

This thread makes me think that I should probably have been a bit more dramatic or revealing with my entrance. (sigh) Oh, well...."

This made me smile. I think it's what you say, not how much, that shows the reader that things are about to change. My new release opens with three words: The dogs growled.

Back in Time...Times Two

I love the first line stuff. The first line of my first and so far only book, Khe is:

Behind me, the beasts whistle—three short, low-pitched notes—the pack members on the hunt, calling to each other.

Julie wrote: "Okay, okay! I admit it! I'm utterly lacking in confidence. I'm terrified my book isn't good enough, that it won't stand up to critical eyes.

But what else can I do? I can't give up on myself, can I?"

Nope, nor should you, Julie. Remember, critiques are opinions. Some people will love your work, some will think "meh," and some will loath it. And each opinion will be formed by the reader's lifetime of experience. There is nothing you can do to change that. However, what you can control is the quality of your work and your attitude toward criticism. A well-written and honest critical review may not feel as good as a positive one, but it can be incredibly useful.

Or you can substitute "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" for "this book" when you receive a negative review. ("I hated every moment of this 'peanut butter and jelly sandwich'. It was the most confusing 'peanut butter and jelly sandwich' I've every 'eaten'.")

First line of Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream

Prologue: Gastien slouched at his table by the window staring at the painting in front of him, but not really seeing it.

Chapter 1: Today was going to be the day.

On first lines, how about:

“I HAVE an invitation to a Christmas party!” shrieked Thelxiepeia, billowing into the ornately-furnished room with all the grace of a pregnant airship.

To Dance Amongst The Stars, a short sci-fi take on Cinderella, available free from most places (see links here.)

First lines:

The first poem in god-chaser is "Me and G-d at the Sidewalk Cafe," of which the first sentence is "But I am not afraid to call you lover, friend, enemy."

First line from "Crossing the River"

"Feeling his wife's hand on his right shoulder, MacKenzie put down his quill."

First line from The Testing of Archie Rathbone

"The cool wave rushed up the beach and washed against Archie Rathbone’s naked sleeping body."

Alex wrote: "First line from The Testing of Archie Rathbone

"The cool wave rushed up the beach and washed against Archie Rathbone’s naked sleeping body.""

Great first line. Very intriguing.

Thanks Alexes - I'm glad you think so as that was very much the idea :o)

Hi all, I thought this might answer some questions befor they were asked. When I was an author guest at Fan Expo this year I did a panel titled INDIE GENRE FICTION, basically how to break in and promote yourself. The panelists consisted of Sass Cadeaux, Stephen Pearl, Karen Dales and Alan Draven and it was moderated by Monica S. Kuebler. The folk at Dreadful Tales videoed it and have made it available for viewing so if you are interested in breaking into print or self promotions why not give it a look see. The address is below.

http://dreadfultales.com/2012/09/08/i...


Stephen B. Pearl

First line from my novella, The Scarlet Bastards

http://www.amazon.com/The-Scarlet-Bas...

"I believe it is the true mark of a man's character in how he faces his end – whether it be a chicken bone in the Savoy Grill, an oncoming Kenworth on the 401, or a Sindhi pirate's knife pressed to his throat.

"Fear; it was kind of like my capricious uncle from Trail, B.C. – an aimless man-child that would invade our beatific existence every summer and inflict himself upon us as predictably as a summer thunderstorm, or a parliamentary filibuster."

First line from my upcoming novella, Tongs, Triads, and Tin Pot Battleships, another in the series of my dystopian sci fi adventures, Tales from the United Nations Off World Legion.

Alexis wrote: "Sean wrote: "First line from my novella, The Scarlet Bastards

"I believe it is the true mark of a man's ..."

That's a good first line--reminds me of Hellboy, a bit."

Thanks.

"I learned early on, when my parents indulged me with my first glass of a local Okanagan cabernet-sauvignon, that wine didn’t travel well in space."

First line from the short story, A Mess of Cank Fish from my novella, The Scarlet Bastards, one in a series of dystopian sci-fi adventure novellas.

Death is often a good career move for a journalist.

Opening line from my short story, "The Last Mountain Gorilla."

Gary wrote: "Death is often a good career move for a journalist.

Opening line from my short story, "The Last Mountain Gorilla.""

Like it!

"There weren't many diversions in an Off-World Legion cantonment in the colony of Samsāra, at least few that didn't involve the consumption of alcohol and narcotics on a truly Bacchanalian level."

First line from the short story, A Canoe and a Canuck from my novella, The Scarlet Bastards, one in a series of dystopian sci-fi adventure novellas.

Sean wrote: "Gary wrote: "Death is often a good career move for a journalist.

Opening line from my short story, "The Last Mountain Gorilla.""

Like it!"

Thanks. Probably my favorite short story, and yet it sells the least of all my stories. Probably because the others were nominated for a Pushcart Prize and awards are impressive. But daddy likes all of his children.

Denise wrote: "“Mental institutions don’t relieve the mind of misery, they only create more chaos where overcrowding exists."

First line from my dark, psychological suspense thriller, [bookcover:Net Switch|13276..."

Very good!

First line stuff is always interesting...

From A Question of Will:

Will Stark ran toward his home as fast as he could, despondent at the likelihood that his wife and son would already be dead when he got there.

Hi Everyone,
I have just completed my first interview as an author :) I would be thrilled if you guys took a moment to take a look. I would also welcome any questions or feedback from any readers or authors. I am honored to be a part of this community. Many blessings to all of you, Roberta Kagan

http://www.drunkenspacepenguin.blogsp...

Alexis wrote: "Monica wrote: "Julie wrote: "Okay, okay! I admit it! I'm utterly lacking in confidence. I'm terrified my book isn't good enough, that it won't stand up to critical eyes.

But what else can I do? I ..."

:D Coping skills. I gots 'em.

Thanks so much, Alexis, for reading my interview. I am so honored that you took the time to check it out.
To Alexis, Monica, and Julie: I know how you feel. As writers we take our souls and bare them in every piece we write. It is really hard when someone doesn't appreciate your book or is painfully critical.But just know that you have given a part of yourself to the world and that you have brought joy to many through the reading of your work. And although sadly, some will not like your book others will go on that magical journey with you. You know the journey I'm talking about...the one that made YOU fall in love with books in the first place. Now it is your turn to give others that very same gift to others. Many blessings to all of you, Roberta.

Linda wrote: "Hi Everyone: I am a writer for Reader's Entertainment blog - a blog the features news for readers and authors. I need input from readers for an article I'm working on. Many authors are using Pinter..."

I think it's always fun to see the personal interests of an author. I know that authors I love, I want to know all about them. I find them really interesting and would love to see pictures of the kind of fashion they like, places they've been or want to go, what their favorite recipes are. It may seem silly, but if you're a true fan, you want to see this stuff! :)

Hi,

I write myself, but I am just curious about references/infos sources. Do you guys crisscross references? Do you call/got to meet people to make sure the infos you got from the internet are accurate?

-When interviewing people is it best to ask different questions to different people or recycle and ask the same questions?

-I’ve noticed when books are published that in some instances the hardcover is different from the paperback cover or sometimes even has multiple covers, why is this? Is this standard, a publishing thing or something the author decides?

I don't think the author usually gets much say in the cover (unless they are self-published), but often the reason for multiple covers can be as simple as different styles work better in different places. For example books on sale in the book section of a supermarket might be supplied in different cover to those on sale to a highbrow bookshop chain.

I've heard of books with strong sex scenes having a raunchier version of the cover for shops that prefer that, and then a toned-down version to appear in high street shops.

Another factor is time. The hardback is often on sale before the paperback (and then there are reprints to consider) - trends and fashions in cover design can change in the meantime, sometimes causing the publisher to produce a new cover. Sometimes they might decide that the first print cover didn't sell the book well so they try a different one.

Generally the author has very little input into the cover. You may send in some excerpts from the book and hope the artist picks up on your description but this isn’t necessarily going to happen. Even with self publishing the author/publisher has to practice a lot of flexibility because the artist is working for a relatively small fee and hashing out the details can take a lot of effort.

As to cross referencing for me it depends on the source. If it is on the web or something like a D and D monster manual I cross reference for everything but spelling. If it is in a real encyclopaedia like Encarta I will tend to trust the source. Word of mouth information again depends on the source.

The target audience for book covers is not just restricted to which shop: which country is an even more important factor.

The pastoral scene on my cover has received nothing but praise here in Ireland, but is so far from the current fashion in fantasy publishing in the USA that it has been singled out by one cover designer as an example of how not to do it.

(I'm not going to name names: Google will tell you as much as you need to know. And in his country he is probably correct.)

I'm just about to release volume two of five, most of my readers live on these islands, and my marketing efforts are waiting until I have more to market. However, it is clear to me that publishers use different covers in different countries for a good reason.

Hi Claude,

It is absolutely imperative that you cross-reference everything. When we were researching "Which One Am I?" over the past two years, it seemed every phone call or letter would reveal another horrible surprise that would invariably change everything that had been written up to that point. Some sources are only going to tell part of the story and sometimes their motive for telling or not telling the truth is in itself a pretty intriguing tale.

The whole research process -- which, as a journalist, I've been doing for most of my life -- really leads to my questioning of what any of us really know about what made us the people we are. In fact, I tend to question any of the historical accounts we have grown up believing were the truth.

As to Justin's question, whether you use the same set of questions for different sources depends on what you want to achieve. Some of the questions we asked Darrell's family were the same though lots of them were different since different people knew him during different times.

If I ever get sea legs under our current book, for the next one I'll be asking much the same questions of everyone because I'm trying to determine how many of my former highschool classmates identify with a published study dealing with gifted adults.

www.WhichOneAmI.net

Steven wrote: "ok I have some questions for any author or authors that want to answer it.
When starting a story, do you ever just start writing something not knowing where it's going to go? Do you always know ho..."
Hi. I realise this is an old post but it still may interest someone. Usually I have an idea of where my story is going but once you start to develop characters they seem to take on a life of their own and more or less dictate what's going to happen next. Often the ending I have in mind doesn't come to fruition because the story has taken a different turn. I like to plan my story out on paper first before I hit the computer and I have an ideas book that I carry with me and write things down in. The internet is great for looking up information and so is the local library.

Thanks everyone for those answers. That makes alot of sense and I never considered different places need different covers and what not. Thomas, your right it prolly depends on what you wish to know about the person..ill switch it up, asking the same questions seems a bit bland. Thanks everyone!

I have a rather stupid question, but some input would greatly ease my mind. I am writing a novel very similar to 50 shades. The 50 Shades series, as well as a couple other similar series, having loved them, inspired me to begin. In my quest to find other books that would interest me as those did, I came across many suggestions, but very few had the same feel. Most would only have some similar elements, and not offer quite the same experience. In writing my book, I'm sticking very close to the obsessive love story that drew me in. In doing so, however, I've noticed some parts are coming off as a lot more similar than I intended. For instance, the introduction of the two characters is the female interviewing the male.

My intention was not to copy the idea, in fact I was well into the second chapter before I remembered the same scenario had occurred. I thought and thought of a way to change it as to not sound so similar, but nothing worked nearly as well. The writing style is also quite similar, in fact one sentence was unintentionally almost verbatim, though once I realized I went back and changed it.

My question is twofold, for the reader in you all, how would you feel about reading something that similar, and from the writer in you, how much would you feel it necessary to change? I want the story to be similar, as I have been really disappointed in most books I've come across in my quest to find something as captivating, yet I don't want it to be taken as a total ripoff.

Any experience or opinions on this are greatly appreciated.

Congratulations on writing your first book, Jennifer!

To start with, your question 'how much would you feel it necessary to change?'

The standard for writing to NOT be considered plagiarized is at least LESS than 25% similar and often closer to 15%. So if you have entire sentences which are verbatim and scenes which are exact, then I would say you should really reconsider exactly what story are you writing? Are you writing your original story, or are you rerwriting 50 Shades?

As an author, that is not only unacceptable it is illegal.

As a reader, I know many like to find similar stories and there is nothing wrong in that, but the similarities must be only that, similarities. If someone reads your story and says, 'hey this reads exactly like 50 Shades!' then not only have you made too many similarities, but readers might not like it.

For me, I know if I read a book that was a copy of my favorite book I wouldn't like it. I'm sure there are other opinions, but it's a slippery slope, so you must be careful.

As a reader, I can tell you right now that I have picked books so similar to others, that I absolutely stopped reading them because I felt they plagiarized a bit too much. Won't mention titles or authors, but I never read another of their books again. That's how much it irritates me. With that being said, though, sometimes you can't help it. But it sounds like this is bothering you a bit as well. If it seems to similar, change as much as you can to make it your own. Sometimes, after reading a really good book, I can't write for awhile because I feel I slip into that book rather than my own. I want my writing to be MY writing, not a knock off of someone else's. But, get other opinions here.

I think it is hard to avoid all accusations of plagiarism: as a writer far more famous than either of us observed, "there is nothing new under the Sun". Obsessive romances have been the subject of storytelling for millenia.

Like M.L, I find that reading a book with a strong author voice interferes with my own voice, which means I don't get to read as much as I would like. But I have found that the effect becomes less pronounced as practice develops our craft and strengthen our own voices.

An editor familiar with the work you are concerned about will be able to guide you. But I think you have the best touchstone for a writer. You want to write the best book you can, the book you would most like to read. If you can capture the "feel" of these series that you have loved and tell a story with your own unique voice, you will do all right.

You won't please everyone, but you don't have to.

Hi Jennifer. Writing a book with a similar theme as 50 Shades and marketing it as such might work to your advantage seeing that it's so hot right now, but as M.L. said, it could also turn off a lot of readers.

I just think as an author you want to keep your content as original as possible. That way there are little to no doubts. Love Henry's take on capturing the essence of those stories and giving it your own unique spin.

Write what's in you heart and mind and don't worry about what has influenced you. When you're done, read it with an eye specifically for similarities and change them.

I've written a line before and afterward gone, why does that sound familiar? It was because I unintentionally lifted it from a favorite book. Line got changed.

Thank you allso much for your input! Really, I never thought I'd have so much to go on,and now I really do feel better. Mine is very different, and it is really the the fact that they both had an interview made me worry. As far as the line that was verbatim, It was exactly as Abigail described. I thought the same thing, wen't back and found it had been in the other book and changed it. The writing style is similar, so I think it just naturally came out the same. Either that or I have certain phrases from books that I like stored away somewhere in my head and they find their way out in my writing. There isn't even an S&M element in mine, so I really don't there is too much that will sound familiar. Again, thank you so much. I do feel better now, as it is definitely not as similar as you guys might want to warn against. So glad I found this forum.

Jennifer, I just had someone give me back my two chapters from beta reading and they told me they were honest. The best thing to do is consider things you your self would normally mess but at the same time staying in your comfort zone.

Glad I could help. :D

Hi, I have a quick question for any of you authors who have published under a pen name. What name do you put on the copyright page? The pen name or your real name?

Michayla wrote: "Hi, I have a quick question for any of you authors who have published under a pen name. What name do you put on the copyright page? The pen name or your real name?"

Mine has my pen name.

It might also depend on the state. If you use a pen name in FL, you have to file for a fictitious name.

I'm pretty sure the copyright would have to be under a real name. I bet you can find out at the copyright office of the Library of Congress.