Oh, this reminds me, if you're thinking of doing a lot of writing with your good hand I've seen some cool one-handed keyboards out there - they kind of have a multi-button mouse shape that fit in one's palm. They use "chords" for groups of letters. I was thinking of getting one after a bout of back strain a couple of years ago.
Thanks for the info. My good hand can surprisingly work a standard keyboard. In fact, my one-handed typing is better than the two-handed typing of many people I know. When I type, all of the necessary work is done with one hand, thus that lone hand performs twice the work as what two-handed typists do. That’s where the strain comes in.
Sorry if that came across as less that respectful, I just thought it was a little amusing if people keep telling you that your work is like VC Andrews, and yet your worried that no one will want it because it's not aimed at teenagers, because VC Andrews is massively popular with teenagers.
I get what you’re saying, and I (now) see the humor. I’m gonna elaborate on this issue below, but I should repeat something from earlier threads: I’m not sure exactly what classification I should use for this book. Once I get to 50 posts, I’ll add a chapter to the SYW section, with hopes of enlightenment on the issue.
Good morning Randy, nice to have you back at AW after your break. I've got two thoughts for you.
Thought #1: "I just had the feeling it wasn't a marketable book (it's no Twilight)" You gotta sort out the part of your head that keeps telling you this story isn't marketable. Gothic horror is REALLY popular right now -- take a look at Welcome to Night Vale (a podcast), and the Tumblr
Regional Gothic trend. Gothic prose is well known right now, even among younger audience.
You talk a lot about your book here, but you don't really mention what you love about it, what makes you passionate about it? I'd like to know that, and what you think makes it unmarketable. If you're worried about the word count and verbosity, hey, it can be fixed. You're in a good place right now, you have the freedom to change this book into something that feels "marketable" to you, something you're confident in putting out in the world.
Thought #2: I entirely believe that you don't hate YA authors, but you do kinda fixate on it a lot in this thread -- Twilight references, and randomly discussing YA fiction when it's not your genre. What I'd like to know is: do you enjoy the typical YA writing style (readable, slim prose with a focus on dialogue and action)? Do you read a lot of it?
The reason I'm asking this is because sitting down and reading a lot of YA is a
really good way to study fast-paced, commercial prose, and stories told in a very low wordcount. Considering one of the issues you bring up here is verbosity and word count, it could benefit you to study YA prose and try and adopt some of those habits.
That sort of style isn't exclusive to YA, either: a lot of urban fantasy authors rock it, JK Rowling's fairly good at it, and then there's Stephen King's The Dark Tower, Phillip Pullman's The Dark Materials, Garth Nix's The Old Kingdom series. Once your crack slim, elegant prose it's a really transferable skill.
Good afternoon, and thank you for your kind words. To address your two thoughts:
The best way I can really say it is: the subject matter of my work, I believed, is off-putting. Where is this Gothic horror/YA confusion?
1.) The story centers on a group of depraved children.
2.) There is a murder element, one orchestrated by a 12 year old
3.) Some of the child characters are profane, dropping an F-bomb here and there
4.) Drug use exists in here. None of the children use them (save for a cigarette-smoking teen)
5.) Sexual elements exist, as well. In 2 cases, it involves children (rape). I don’t detail or narrate those parts. The reader only knows they happen by the characters’ admission.
The concept of this book has numerous origins, some spawning from my primitive years. My mother wedded a terrible drunk. My sister and I ran away from home once, out of anger over his presence. We returned later that day, thankfully. Anecdotes from those days paved the way to this story. In a bizarre sense, this book is like a warped memoir, with things grotesquely exaggerated. Much of it is there: The abusive, drunk dad; the running away; the struggles with poverty. Exaggerated or not, there are glimpses and pieces of Randy Pendleton in this thing. The book has serious, dramatic tones in some parts and funny, comical elements/dialogue laced in. It mirrors my own life in that regard.
I didn’t write this for fame or fortune (it might sound like it from my many Rowling references, I admit). I had a story, and I wanted to tell it. It’s kinda personal to me. The five items I’ve numbered above make up the roadblock--or does it? I’ve struggled to find the exact niche, thus I wasn’t sure if it fit in one, at all. I’ve looked through umbrella genres, and they didn’t feel right. But as well, the concepts my book covers made me wary. Would a publisher--or an agent--take on a risqué book by an unknown writer? After sending out a few queries, I just decided to stop. Honestly, not knowing your book’s genre is bad. Having such risqué elements makes it seem a harder sell to me. Now though, I want to try it again. I’m just struggling with that damn genre issue.
On the YA thing: as I don’t really know what my work is, it might be best for me to stop talking about it. I’ve thought of YA, juvenile fiction, adult fiction etc. A few were ruled out. These days, I read a ton but mostly only news. I’ve been too busy to read an actual book...this summer, once I get my current two books outta the way, I’ll have more time to do it.
There was an insult there, whether you see it or not. And the best response to being told you're causing offense is "I'm sorry," not, "I don't see an insult in the comment I placed."
I think as I do because I've seen many, many examples of work by inexperienced writers over the thirty or more years I've worked in publishing, and know what that work is usually like; and I've seen many, many new writers arrive here and post their work, and there's almost always a correlation to the language they use on the board and the language they use in their writing.
I'll look forward to seeing your work when you get something up.
I have a lot of problems with my hands and often struggle to type, so I can sympathise here. I've found voice recognition software really good; and I have a few digital pens which capture my handwriting, and transform it into a word processing file. It works very well. You might find them useful.
1.) It’s best for the community for me to simply apologize. Although it wasn’t intended, I apologize if I’ve offended anyone.
2.) The correlation makes sense. I don’t like being one of those “I’m an exception” people, but disability plays a large role here. I can differentiate my professional writings with my casual. Any subpar work of mine you see in forum/public is a result of my one-handed typing and the strain it puts on me. It can hurt even my thought process at times, hence at why I can ramble a bit in public writing. Five brain tumors are no help, either.
3.) My voice is also pretty bad, but this digital pen you speak of sounds worth looking into. Thanks
