The Bigsoccer Writers' Thread

This is a cool idea; never hurts to have another forum where writers can share experiences and gab. I'm in the middle of deciding what to do with a book, whether to wait out Random House or go with a couple of smaller-press offers, and I'm interested to hear what other writers are up to.

There used to be a guy who went by the name of Scribe, a screenwriter. Haven't seen him in a while, but I hope he'd be a part of whatever ends up happening.

Also a small plug: my short-story collection is out from Subterranean Press. http://subterraneanpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SP&Product_Code=irvine

 

I've had a couple short stories published in little-known fanzines, and technically I've written a book that sold tens of thousands of copies...except that it's a software manual that came with the program, so that doesn't really count.

I've written and rewritten my current (fantasy) novel three times now. One of these days I'll actually submit it somewhere...

As far as grad school being a bad time to start, all I can say is, it's *always* a bad time to start-- but sometimes you've gotta do it anyway. Married with two kids is also a bad time to start (sorry, can't work on the book tonight, gotta take the [wife/kids] to [soccer/cub scouts/volleyball/music class]...)

 

Here's a poem from an Austin, TX zine a few years back:

http://www.onr.com/user/jwhagins/ZauharWhy.html

A more recent poem from said Austin, TX zine

http://www.onr.com/user/jwhagins/zauharcharlie.html

Scroll down for my contribution to a forum on poetry and class a couple years back.

http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/however/v1_2_1999/current/forum/forum.html

Since the theme of "smell" recurs in each of these (something I just noticed) here's something that also enacts olfactorial discomfort rather than merely talks about it, an ill-fated attempt at a documentary poem...

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~simmers/59chica.htm

Somewhere on-line I have a review essay on the work of poetry critic Marjorie Perloff that was the second most lucrative thing I ever wrote: It helped to net her, I was told, a $7K merit raise. She told me thanks when I met her, which was nice, but I would've preferred an annual cut. The most lucrative thing I ever wrote was the "Kitchen Procedures Manual" (an industrial strength cookbook really) for the restaurant corporation my brother used to work for: I basically ghostwrote it for him and pocketed the cash while he took the raise and promotion.

 

www.circlemagazine.com

They have a lousy system there, without any apparent specific page addresses.
But whoever wishes can go the fall issue of 2002, find Train and peruse my limited contribution to the cultural advancement of the planet.

I need to sit down and start writing seriously again. I've fiddled, byut I really haven't gotten much done lately.

 

I spent the last three years as a sportswriter, but am now trying to start freelance writing.

I'm taking a great class from MediaBistro.com right now - LA Journalist Boot Camp. If you live in an area that MediaBistro teaches, I highly recommend their course catalog.

RS

 

I wrote 3 novels between the ages of 10 and 12. I'm talking hundred page plussers.

Since then (in the last ten years) I have written several first few chapters of things, a few essays, a few kids stories, and that's it.

I haven't gotten anything published. I'm in the process of typing up my really old stuff, because it's pretty good.

I wrote for the yearbook and newspaper in high school, but nothing major.

My latest work in progress might actually get finished though, I made it to chapter 4, and thats a lot further than I usually get. I have tons of good ideas, I just have problems taking things where I want them to go. Any advice?

 

How John Grisham got started:

Dude put in major time when he didn't have any, and eventually got it right. I don't think it's when or how you start, or how much time you have. Starting is the important part.

Best of luck. (note, you'll need a sockpuppet when you get Grisham famous on us).

 

Hey all,

Good thread, great idea.

I have been writing since I was a child. My favourite means then was poetry, but in my early twenties I wrote my last poem and have barely been able to write a line since. I find that my prose compensates for this at times, but that can mean very flowerly Russian type prose when I would prefer more succinct, reportage-like vernacular.

I set up a blog more than a year ago to report to friends around the world what I was doing with my life, but found that as time went on, it because more of a collection of essays on things which irk, amuse, or appear in my life. My reportage writing has improved since I began this, and it is sometimes really strange to look back and note my almost complete lack of finesse, whereas in later entries I seem to have developed a real style. Not sure if anyone else has had the same experience

More interesting is the fact that things I wrote when I was a child appear to have been written by someone far more worldly than I am now. I guess when we are young we write from the heart, but as we age, we are prone to consider more what we would like to say, and so filter our initial thoughts before they hit the paper (screen). I find that I would like to write about certain things, but I censor myself. Strange, but true.

If anyone has any comments on that, I would be interested to hear them.

 

I'll be contributing to this eventually, as an aspiring political science Ph.D. Sooner or later, it'll be publish or perish.

 

There can be no better food writing than that done by Homer Simpson. The headline of his review of the Captain's seafood restaurant ("Yar! She Blows") is better than anything in the entire annals of gastrography. (Okay, I think I see why that word's never been used before).

 

I published a story in the Daily Texan's Weekend Magazine in Austin which was illustrated by Chris Ware, who wrote the Jimmy Corrigan graphics novel.

I had no idea they were going to have an illustration, so that was cool. I had no idea who Chris Ware was, so later when I discovered who he was, that was doubly cool.

The best part about it, though, was that the morning it came out, I was hanging out with some folks in the student lounge, and one guy who I don't know perks up and says, "hey, there is a cool story in the Daily Texan today." Since we were law students that was really an unexpected, out of the blue comment.

I haven't really written after that. I spent a few months submitting poetry, and did get a short note from someone at the Iowa Review who indicated that "I like the way the third poem ends". Thrill.

I'm interested in what drives people to write. The only good stuff I have ever written was written with a specific reader in mind. In other words, I don't really felt I ever wrote just to write -- there was always some other motive. To woo a girl. To impress a friend. To make someone laugh. I think its why I never was able to keep it up. It wasn't directed properly.

 

Yeah, I had set up a Yahoogroup for a writer's workshop back in the pre-crash days, but it only drew two members (one of which was myself) so I let it expire. I'm currently a sportswriter (oddly enough, at the same small paper that freestyle used to write at. Small world). I also dabble in fiction and poetry, but having had a busy semester, I haven't had much time for that. I still shamelessly promote the work of Bigsoccer's professional authors.

 

Just to get the conversation rolling .... What are the (unwritten) "rules" of writing that you absolutely hate?

1) A character and name must appear in the first paragraph, usually in a dependent.clause .... sample:

I always knew she wanted it. She'd looked at it in the window so many times. When Alisa first saw the umbrella, she ......

So many stories start this way and it's so formulaic. I think if you introduce a character before the fourth or fifth paragraph you're starting too soon. My favorite rule to break.

2) Consistency of voice --- I don't have a consistent voice. Why the hell should my characters? Voice ought to be determined by situation.

Anyway, those are two rules that I think make for very mechanical work. Maybe that's just me.

 

I think you are reading consistency of voice too tightly. Non-consistency of a characters voice would be something that would jar the reader for the only reason that the writer was not being careful about thinking through how his character would react.

Think about how many times someone stops you and says "Wow, that sounds really strange coming from you." I'll bet not that often.

 

I wrote and edited at two different newspapers for close to 10 years. Everything - sports, news, features, editorials.

Back in the early 90s, I started and published an amateur wrestling newsletter (Maryland news only) for about 18 months.

I have done PR writing (Higher ed) since 2000.

Now, I write a weekly newspaper column (www.regularguycolumn.com) and occasional sports and features stuff for one of the papers where I used to work (www.eveningsun.com). I also write occasional columns at www.soccer365.com

I am working on editing my first novel. I hope to finish that and start submitting to agents by early next year. I started in January of this year. If anyone wants to read some (seriously because I'm in the soliciting feedback stage), e-mail me at writer@regularguycolumn.com

I have written a bunch of other fiction that is in various stages. I am taking part in National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) where people try to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. I intend to fail miserably, but have fun in the process. I'm working on some short stories on the side.

Plain and simple, I write whatever I can, whenever I can. I think that's the draw of a place like this because I like to think I express myself on paper better than I do verbally. Some people journal. Some people blog. I come here.

As far as interesting sites, I get a bunch of e-mail newsletters and subscribe to Writer's Digest and The Writer. I also pick up Writer's and Poets from time to time. I'll post some links later after going through my e-mail.

 

This is what is troubling me now. My "novel" (I really don't know what to call it since it's not published and I don't want to sound arrogant) has multiple narrators, some appearing several times. So people are speaking for themself and having what they say relayed by other people. Plus, there are characters who never narrate, but appear all the time.

It's a struggle. And I don't want too much consistency because I view a person much differently than other people do. So inconsistency is consistent.

 

to the above post.

I have difficulty following standard rules. I probably do so completely unconsciously, but for the most part, I try to let my words spill as they come out. My reckoning is that I can always edit what I have to say later, whereas if I try to edit it before I write it, what I want to say becomes very contrived or worse, completely convoluted, and I lose the plot - literally - altogether.

On another note, people have said that I write much as I speak. I think that pitches me approximately in Victorian England

 

I've been told the same thing and it generally approximates a party at 2:30 a.m.

 

Monster got me into NaNoWriMo this year, and I'm almost at the 20K mark. Unlike him, though, I don't plan on failing.

Before this my biggest writing project was a 26K-word travelogue about a vacation a friend and I took to Liverpool almost two years ago.

 

Jacen - Did you get picked up full time? That's awesome.

RS

 

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I know of two (I think) reporter openings - one in news and one in sports - in Hanover, PA if anyone is interested.

 

Nope, still doing freelance work (I'm still doing the school thing at the same time. I'm on the scenic route through college ). Most of what I cover is up in the Frederick area now.

Monster, what exactly IS there to cover in Hanover? My high school used to play them in sports, and, aside from the fact that my town made Hanover look big by comparison, there wasn't alot there!