I used to write SF. Was crazy enough, and had some ideas, and I just wrote. Only the first one was on paper, though - the very next one went into a computer, on what machine I had then - I used REM lines in ZX Spectrum (am: timex) in lieu of a real editor, then bought (unheard of, in those days) a real editor, then carried the stuff over to my Atari, then used WordStar (never WordPerfect), then Word, then some other editors... and then stopped altogether. Not really stopped, but slowed it down below the threshold, when I can't say seriously I'm writing. The reason for this is twofold: one is writer's block. At some point in mid nineties I got hold of the remaining books of Ursula le Guin which I couldn't find before. And there I found most of my ideas, or what I thought were my ideas, written far better. I guess I saw where her other books were leading and came to the same place.
All the same, I was sort of dumbstruck - not even my ideas are original, and the inventor herself has packaged them far better than I ever could. Which is because I'm not a professional writer - I don't have the time to do all the groundwork, to build personae, research, build a plausible plot, re-read my stuff and hone it all to the level I'd like to read. I just can't be good enough to please myself as a reader.
The other reason was publishing. I even put two of my books on Lulu (OK, one book and one story - and the story was already published in 1984, I just translated it), and then nothing - the number of readers remained below a thousand, even after I dropped the price from $5 to zero. I guess I just wanted to have proof of copyright, in case what I suspected in 1993 happens again (the script for the "Brainstorm" movie bears a heavy resemblance to a story I wrote and uploaded to a BBS at about that time - having no firm dates written down anywhere, I can only whistle).
To make your book read, for free or paid, is a tough sell. You practically have to "aggresively promote" your book, which means becoming a travelingsalesman salesperson seller. I'd rather dig ditches than sell stuff. You also have to make the book presentable, which means you should know some typography, or use one of the templates, or have an applied artist friend... all of which are things which may be worth the while if you're a professional writer. Which I am not. I am an amateur - in the literal sense of the word (qv in any dictionary).
I like to write, despite the low frequency of posting here - I'm usually writing somewhere else, on forums, on my regular website, in emails, even documentation for my work (if the programmers' guild ever hears of this, I'll probably owe a dinner for the whole board).
So I had an idea on how to both hold it tight and fart (aka "eat the cake and have it too" - which is a senseless brainkiller of a phrase, because then what does "have a cake" mean? That you can't eat it?), which is to self-publish, in a form of a website containing the book. No advertising needed, I don't care if anyone ever reads it, because I will have published. The word would get out, this way or other, dropping a link when the context calls for it is allowable on any forum, or having a link in your signature. I may be getting more visits than here, who knows.
BUT, but... there's trouble ahead. I'm not writing SF because I can't be bothered to invent a proper plot (actually I have an outline of one, somewhere in my head, and I'm still writing that one for the last decade). The only thing left to write, in my favorite short form, is... an autobiography. Which is perfect for me - I know the subject matter intimately, I don't have to invent the plot. I don't need any deus ex machina to contrive a happy end - the very fact that it's an autobiography means that the author survived long enough, and was not disgusted enough, to write it. I don't even have to invent personae - they exist already.
And that's where the trouble lies. They exist, and so do I. As with every book concerning real people, someone would be offended, the guys who got depicted as bad guys most probably, but then also some who may have thought that I'm giving out their secrets, or at least spoiling their chances at 15 minutes of fame. So I'm hiding the names, of people, and some smaller places, and companies, and software apps on which I worked... but anyone who knows me intimately enough will recognize the most by description, and I'm fried. I mean, do I need the trouble with dozens of people whose feathers I may ruffle? Every autobiography is full of lies, but if I make them all look good, what will be left of the real life in the text? And lies are a nightmare anyway, they can't be automated and you have to watch out for bugs and inconsistencies in every new word you write. In a text written slowly over the years, it's impossible to keep track.
OTOH, it's a pity that I don't publish. I already have some 400K of text, in English. The story may be interesting altogether, for I have lived in four cities, three countries, three languages... actually, six countries, if we count the various incarnations of my country so far. There'd be a lot of material to include about the way of life in previous decades, specially for the current audience with memory capacity of a demented chicken, who don't know what happened just a dozen years ago.
So what do I do?
I have a temporary solution, which I won't divulge for a while. Just so I don't preclude any better ideas others may have.
All the same, I was sort of dumbstruck - not even my ideas are original, and the inventor herself has packaged them far better than I ever could. Which is because I'm not a professional writer - I don't have the time to do all the groundwork, to build personae, research, build a plausible plot, re-read my stuff and hone it all to the level I'd like to read. I just can't be good enough to please myself as a reader.
The other reason was publishing. I even put two of my books on Lulu (OK, one book and one story - and the story was already published in 1984, I just translated it), and then nothing - the number of readers remained below a thousand, even after I dropped the price from $5 to zero. I guess I just wanted to have proof of copyright, in case what I suspected in 1993 happens again (the script for the "Brainstorm" movie bears a heavy resemblance to a story I wrote and uploaded to a BBS at about that time - having no firm dates written down anywhere, I can only whistle).
To make your book read, for free or paid, is a tough sell. You practically have to "aggresively promote" your book, which means becoming a traveling
I like to write, despite the low frequency of posting here - I'm usually writing somewhere else, on forums, on my regular website, in emails, even documentation for my work (if the programmers' guild ever hears of this, I'll probably owe a dinner for the whole board).
So I had an idea on how to both hold it tight and fart (aka "eat the cake and have it too" - which is a senseless brainkiller of a phrase, because then what does "have a cake" mean? That you can't eat it?), which is to self-publish, in a form of a website containing the book. No advertising needed, I don't care if anyone ever reads it, because I will have published. The word would get out, this way or other, dropping a link when the context calls for it is allowable on any forum, or having a link in your signature. I may be getting more visits than here, who knows.
BUT, but... there's trouble ahead. I'm not writing SF because I can't be bothered to invent a proper plot (actually I have an outline of one, somewhere in my head, and I'm still writing that one for the last decade). The only thing left to write, in my favorite short form, is... an autobiography. Which is perfect for me - I know the subject matter intimately, I don't have to invent the plot. I don't need any deus ex machina to contrive a happy end - the very fact that it's an autobiography means that the author survived long enough, and was not disgusted enough, to write it. I don't even have to invent personae - they exist already.
And that's where the trouble lies. They exist, and so do I. As with every book concerning real people, someone would be offended, the guys who got depicted as bad guys most probably, but then also some who may have thought that I'm giving out their secrets, or at least spoiling their chances at 15 minutes of fame. So I'm hiding the names, of people, and some smaller places, and companies, and software apps on which I worked... but anyone who knows me intimately enough will recognize the most by description, and I'm fried. I mean, do I need the trouble with dozens of people whose feathers I may ruffle? Every autobiography is full of lies, but if I make them all look good, what will be left of the real life in the text? And lies are a nightmare anyway, they can't be automated and you have to watch out for bugs and inconsistencies in every new word you write. In a text written slowly over the years, it's impossible to keep track.
OTOH, it's a pity that I don't publish. I already have some 400K of text, in English. The story may be interesting altogether, for I have lived in four cities, three countries, three languages... actually, six countries, if we count the various incarnations of my country so far. There'd be a lot of material to include about the way of life in previous decades, specially for the current audience with memory capacity of a demented chicken, who don't know what happened just a dozen years ago.
So what do I do?
I have a temporary solution, which I won't divulge for a while. Just so I don't preclude any better ideas others may have.
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