Issue 026, Archived

Hello,

Welcome to The Newb Files, Issue 026. My apologies for being a little late.

News

After over two months of dealing with repairing and painting our home, it is almost done. I am so ready to dive back into the self-edits on my manuscript EXTINCTION SPECIES.

EXTINCTION SPECIES

I have contacted several editors and hope to deliver EXTINCTION SPECIES to one of the three soon. Stay tuned.

A fourth was not interested in a zombie story but recommended an editor friend that would be. And she was. Nice. So far everyone has been so professional, so helpful, it's been a great experience.

Epiphanies

I have taken a step back from Epiphanies in Snowflake Pro to lay out the basics in Scapple, a new to me app(lication). Scapple and Scrivener are both from Literature and Latte, so in theory, they work well together. After I get the basic structure laid out, I will return it to Snowflake Pro, or if I feel it is ready, directly into Plottr, maybe even into Scrivener.

As I mentioned before, Epiphanies is much more complicated than EXTINCTION SPECIES. I suspect my thinking that is a sign of my still shiny newb-ness.

Other News

Writing Tip: "IT"

I have noticed recently that my primary overused word is "it". If I see a sentence with "it" in it, I take note. Because changing it to something specific will improve the sentence and clarity dramatically. Yes, more newb-ness.

Book Reviews

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

by V. E. Schwab

WARNING: SPOILERS!

I had heard a lot about this author. People as is often the case have mixed feelings about her writing. A lot seem to love her-with the remainder being the usual mixed bag of good and bad opinions. Enough love her, she's doing okay. When I started reading this book, I was immediately taken with her writing. I can say the same about the book. But. ...

But. ... In the book, Addie LaRue sells her soul (to the god of darkness) for something other than what she thought it would be. Something that turns out to be torture. She has lived for centuries. Without aging, without changing, and with no one remembering her. Until she meets Henry. I kept thinking, how the hell can she not realize the "god of darkness" controls Henry And, more to the point: how the hell is this going to end

Well, "badly" is the answer to the latter. Yes, our world has a history of gods doing the naked pretzel with humans. Yes, humans have a history of doing nasty things with people they know they shouldn't. Or with gods, for that matter.

I can ignore the fact I don't believe the god of darkness needed HER, wanted HER that much. But what I can't forgive is that she was so sure that HE made a mistake in the second (revised) deal. The book ended with that revised deal, and with her certainty that she was going to win her freedom.

I would have had a lot more respect for all involved if, after losing Henry, she-gave in. That, after a few more years, she gave up her soul. The End. Tragic, but shit happens.

In fantasy writing, it is even more important for it to follow rules and to be consistent. I cannot remember who said that, let me know if you know.

If you're an author-take a look, otherwise, NOT RECOMMENDED.

WARNING: SPOILERS!

Opinion

On being a tough self-critic: Why choose to write Derivative Crap

I find The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue interesting in several ways.

Why did an agent (okay, as an established author, she had an agent) pick it up

Why was it published

Why did it sell so well, and be so well thought of, when it has what, to me, is a fatal flaw in the plot

When I started writing, if I came up with an idea, that had a problem that I could see, I didn't write it. However well the rest of it worked.

Of course, thinking you can fix the problem if you only try-can lead you down a thorny garden path-to, well, crap.

An extreme example is the movie Alian. For 1979, very well executed. Great sets, models, puppets, and special effects, period. The entire story revolves around the good aliens isolating the dangerous aliens. And warning others away, that's all. Not killing them. Only a warning. In other words "Crap." Scary, and entertaining to be sure, but crap.

The most infamous, and extreme example of crap writing was exposed on the TV show Big Bang Theory. Amy Farrah Fowler pointed out that the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) would have ended the same without Indiana Jones's input. So, "Crap", with a capital "C".

For myself, as an author-if an idea has a plot flaw, or is too close to an existing story, that is a NO.

Yes, even as I am still (after writing for 4 1/2 years) a newb I understand that there are a limited number of basic stories. But there has to be a new twist. Something new to make it worthwhile writing about. And, despite widely held disparate opinions, it has to work. Period. Even if it is one of the first pieces you've written. Why aim low from the beginning?

The short story exercise I wrote "Three by Me" for the diyMFA online course (2020) is an exception. I based all three short stories on three of my favorite authors' styles. Two of the three stories take place in existing worlds these authors had already created. That was the assignment.

After the first four months when everything I wrote was gold, I had doubts about my writing and my share of imposter syndrome. Along with the occasional thought when reading my work, "This is so bad, perhaps I should stop writing" I also wondered if I could write something original that would be as good as my unoriginal "Three by Me".

I waited until I had an original take on zombies to write my first novel. But, it wasn't until after I had read the full draft of EXTINCTION SPECIES that I realized the answer was "Yes". Yes, I can write something original and also query-worthy.

Why, other than practice would you waste your time with an unoriginal bad idea?

Some would say it was standard practice in the early days of writing. Maybe. And maybe, sometimes it sells. Sells a lot.

I say-you need to be your toughest critic. Period.

My experience with beta readers is that finding the important actionable bits is a skill unto itself. This is why having several beta readers is so important.

A general rule seems to be if someone is a tougher critic of your work than you are, they are often wrong. They did not follow instructions regarding the level of review requested. Or, as has happened to me more than once, they think the only way to write anything is the way they write. Or you are not critical enough of your work.

There is an obvious question about this point. The obvious answer is that, if all your beta readers are telling you the same thing, you need to listen.

Everyone who read my manuscript for EXTINCTION SPECIES had different suggestions. A couple of very minor points were mentioned by more than one person, all of which I took as a good sign.

If you are not your toughest critic (yet) work on self-editing until you get over yourself. Then put your work out there.

And always remember, as David Gerrold said, "Your first million words are for practice."

I am currently at approximately 120k in total. Unfortunately, rewrites don't count.

Sidebar

This issue seems to be focussed on my still being a newb. Well, it rears its ugly head constantly. I just happened to mention "newb-ness" several times in this issue.

And yes, sometimes my rants are on repeat-if only as reminders to myself.

F.A.Q.

Future newsletters may have Frequently Asked Questions. Send your question(s) to Eric.

That's all for now!

Thanks,

Eric C Bailey, April 14, 2024

website: ericcbaileyauthor.com email: eric@ericcbaileyauthor.com
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