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Thursday, January 28, 2016

FINISHING


I am at the 70,000 word mark on
THE NOT-SO-INNOCENTS ABROAD ...



   And the silence is loud, the inertia of writing weighing down on me. 

After all this work, will anybody really WANT to read this novel?



I hear gruff words above me: 

"Tarnation, Son!  Let me tell you about two hellions who wrote ...

to each other ... and to the world at large."

It is the ghost of Mark Twain:

"Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald

had a lot in common. They were both drunks ... let's not be PC about it, shall we?"

Mark wrinkled his moustache.

"They both had intense and complicated marriages. They were both deeply committed to their craft.

Most importantly, they were literary giants at a time when the Great American Novel was more than just a myth—it was a real possibility."

"I don't want to write the Great American Novel ...." I began.

Mark laughed, "Shoot for the moon, son.  Anyway, the two of them wrote to each other on how things were going for them."

The ghost of Hemingway sat down beside me, grumbling,

“Scott took LITERATURE so solemnly. He never understood that it was just writing as well as you can and finishing what you start.”

He lit up a cigar.  "You quit, kid, and I will kick your butt from here to Putin.  He loves you, don't you know?"

He shook his head. 

"I was a believer in self-discipline while Scott depended on his Muse ... and week long benders, scribbling frantically and pushing his lank blonde hair out of his eyes."

Hemingway snorted,

"Me?  I wrote like clock-work -- standing up at the typewriter, at the same time every day -- pushing through even the 'dry' days when the words came slowly."

He jabbed his cigar at me.  "In life, you are either a doer or a dreamer."

Hemingway gruffed, "You just have to go on when it is worst and most helpless—

there is only one thing to do with a novel and that is go straight on through to the end of the damn thing.”

Mark lit up his own cigar.  "Sometimes even Hemingway is right."


12 comments:

  1. I'll certainly want to read your book, Roland. And Hemingway's approach to writing may have worked for him, but then so did Fitzgerald's personal approach, at least judging by the books both men created.

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    1. Thanks for wanting to read my book, Helena! :-)

      Like you, I believe there is no one way to write well -- just the way that works for you.

      Delete
  2. "Almost there. . ."
    "Stay on target."

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    1. Weren't those the words of Porkin right before Darth Vader blew him up? :-) Thanks for the kind words.

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  3. I'll want to read it!
    Let me know when it comes out so I can announce it. I think I've missed a few of your books and owe you big time.

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    1. As I wrote you, Alex, my Kindle and PDF's pf my print books have been pirated.

      I may just walk away from writing altogether.

      But if I decide to stay, I could use your help big time! :-)

      Delete
  4. How many books have you written? My thoughts were how does it feel to finish. I've yet to finish any. I did finish a screenplay so I could get the idea of the structure. To say it is bad is an understatement. lol, Congrats.

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    1. I have written 34 ... and they have all been pirated. Sigh.

      It does feel good to finish one though. :-) With some of the movies we see on the screen today, your "bad" screenplay might make a best selling movie! :-)

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    2. I am truly sorry to read your books have been pirated. So much of that has happened. I wish the best of luck in getting them back.

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    3. Too late, Ann. The Pirates have already sunk my eBook career. I went from steady sales to ZERO!

      Amazon relies in form answers only roughly relating to my emails. :-(

      Once the pirates have your books, it is too late -- they are cast out unrecoverable over the internet.

      I will restrict myself to print and audio. But one site has pirated my print books with the cover images even!!

      Print is expensive on my budget. I will never recoup what one book costs me, much less 34!

      Encourage your friends to buy one of my print books if they are into my genre.

      Thanks for caring, Roland

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    4. From what I have read, Amazon is part of the problem. It is too easy to convert their files to a document that can be pirated. I say shame on folks who would purchase pirated books. I also think writers should not give their books away. It cheapens the work they and other writers do.
      It does say something about the quality of your work that it is worth pirating. Small consolation I know.

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    5. I found this link which is probably a pirate. You can click under Help and report a copyright abuse. I would report but I was not sure. However, if it wrong, I will also report. Perhaps a blog post of these lists. https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1ql_-Fln4RNZY1uRSsc6Wu6UMWLwVXwdKfKvUkTYW#card:id=2

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