Hi all! As the title suggests, I’m here to give myself a kick up the expletive. I was pretty consistent for a chunk but then things were tough for a while and it was difficult getting the motivation and opportunity. Things have been good for quite a while now and the desire to get back into it has been building and spilling over but that first step has been a toughie. Ideas and themes are scribbled on scraps of paper, notes and sub-notes are sprawling all throughout my phone (some more coherent than others) and scenes keep rattling around my head, looking for a home. I’ve always liked Stephen King’s simply stated advice “Read a lot and write a lot” from On Writing but I’ve definitely been focusing on one half of the advice more than the other. Convincing myself I wasn’t procrastinating, just really really really fulfilling the first step. It’s been a while and I’ll admit, I’m a bit intimidated and don’t feel as technically competent as I’d like but it’s hard to sort out the legitimate concerns from the anxiety spawned ones. I do remember the sheer joy of wrangling, chasing, cajoling, seducing and discovering the right order to the words while time would either slow down or pass quicker than seemed possible. I want that again so I’m here to have fun and see what comes. I think forums are the best place to share and spark ideas and knock off some (a lot) of the rust. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be output, instead of input. My preferred genre is fantasy because it can share space with so many other categories, but I’ve never kicked a book out of bed just because it didn’t have dragons in it. I’m an absolute sucker for the Monte Cristo format; betrayal, self improvement, plans in effect, retribution! Anywho, That’s me and I’m really looking forward to experiencing the enthusiasm and creativity that converges to communities like this one.
Hello and welcome Kur, you've come to the right place for resources, support and encouragement. Looking forward to seeing you in the forums!
Better to do one than neither! Don't worry about anxiety and don't expect perfection. Cut yourself a break, especially since you're just getting back into it. You'll be rusty for a while, but once you get into it and get your flow on that will evaporate and you'll get into the zone. But don't be harshly judgmental on yourself. I mean if you don't think your work is where it should be, if you miss a few days or take some time off now and then, any of it. Being harshly critical on yourself doesn't help, it just raises the stress and axiety levels. You just want to write at first, whatever comes to mind—do freewrites and practice scenes, or whatever you feel like writing. Write about the story before you start writing the story (I do that a lot). It all helps you work your way toward writing a story again. You don't need to jump in at the deep end—wade into the kiddie pool and work your way down into it step by step. Make it fun along the way. Or dive in wherever it feels comfortable.
Thanks @Louanne Learning, I'm already appreciateing all three. And cheers @Xoic. Most of the anxiety was in taking the first step after such a long hiatus but now I'm...well, not running, but definitely moving at a brisker pace. It's been a busy week but I've thoroughly enjoyed spending the downtime getting acquainted with the forum and finished one short project and am playing around with another. This is such practical and applicable advice that it boggles the mind. Like the first time someone thought to put wheels on a suitcase. I looked it up; 1972. Four thousand years after the wheel was invented. Boggles the mind! Thanks for sharing is the main point.
G'day from Australia, Kur! (Yup, the Land of the Bloodthirsty Dropbears, Giant Jumping Rats, Gigantic Venomous Spiders, and Underwater Toothy Muddy Predators). We're also known as Fourecks, which (if you know your Terry Pratchett) means that everything here is out to get ya. Except maybe some of the sheep. Still ... no worries, eh? I agree with Xoic: freewrites and practice scenes are a good way to shake off the rust. I wonder, Xoic: do you mean beat sheets? Or outlines? Or both? (I try to do both before writing a story, which is why I'm curious). Or ... do you mean something else? What type of fantasy do you prefer, Kur? I mean: do you prefer "classic" fantasy, aka (Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast or Leiber's Fahfrd and The Gray Mouser), or "humourous" fantasy (for instance, Terry Pratchett, Robert Rankin, Eoin Coffer, etc.)? Of course there are others -- but just curious! Welcome again, and thrice more be welcome.
I've done beat sheets (which are also sometimes called Step Outlines) as well as various kinds of outlines, but I'm talking about something you would do before any of those—just writing about your ideas to help think through them. Here's an example—for an early version of the Beastseekers in 2020: The big bunker (need better name) under the surplus store is like a big comfortable living room, and we meet up there frequently for discussions. This is for debriefing as well as briefing and just general teaching and mentoring. Library as I said, and maybe a little kitchen. TV? No, Harlan says the 3 previous ‘seekers brought one down––it couldn’t pick up broadcasts of course, being in between dimensions, but they brought tapes. Immediately on seeing it Harlan unplugged it while they were watching and said take it back. No distractions in here, especially that garbage that makes you want to just sit and waste hours at a time. If you want to watch TV stay at home––implying don't be a ‘seeker. Reading is fine in the hideout, but only the nonfiction that’s already stocked there, or other similar books. Not fiction unless it teaches practical lessons of the right kinds. There are fiction books that impart practical wisdom and life lessons like The Fountainhead, Treasure Island or Robinson Crusoe, but a lot of it is just pointless garbage not allowed by Harlan. No, there’s no electricity in the bunkers. Propane for cooking. Maybe some kind of magic lamps provided by the daemons. Or Coleman lanterns, with fuel stored in the self-stocking locker. The bunkers near our houses are smaller and less lavish, they’re just outposts while the central one is the hub and main meeting room. All furniture is duplicated, exact same scratches and rips etc. * * * * New thoughts on bunkers. All are exactly identical except the central hub which is much bigger and has little groupings of sofas and chairs (one sofa, one chair duped) and coffee tables, maybe a taller table for dining. There’s a big TV at one of the groupings, maybe another. I want groups to be able to congregate here and there sort of separately and have little conversations. Some eating maybe, some watching a movie or show. There is electricity, no explanation of how. There are also empty rooms along the tunnels, near each of the bunkers I guess, where captured creatures can be kept in cages or chains etc. Tunnels aren’t isolated from weather. They’re cold in the winter, hot in summer etc. Bunkers too, so we sometimes sit in sleeping bags in chairs, or fire up a kerosene heater. There are cross-tunnels where needed to connect up bunkers, so you don’t have to go all the way past the central hub to get from Eric's bunker to mine. So, just thinking your way through ideas 'out loud' so to speak. Developing the story's philosopy or tone or whatever needs thinking through. On some stories I do a good deal of this before I feel ready to launch on any actual writing or outlining. This story in particular needs a lot of it, because it's got a very complicated setup. Apparently at that time it wan't set in the Seventies, because the earlier generation of seekers had videotapes!
Salutations from Ireland Rath! Or to go colloquial in return, How’s she cuttin’? Both a greeting and an inquiry about how well the hay is progressing. I’ve never visited Terror Incognita but The Last Continent made it sound like an amazing place to admire from afar. I’ve been fortunate enough that my animal hazards have been limited to playful kitten attacks, being run off by a bull, mugged by a seagull, bitten on the finger by a horse that missed the treat, bitten on same finger by a vole that was rescued from a cat, bitten on all fingers by an overeager bearded dragon (a descendant from one of your locals no doubt) and thoroughly face licked to near death by every dog I met before becoming aware of the concept of hygienic practices. I don’t live the rural life myself but through friends I’ve had the chance to work some summers with sheep and I consider them the most suspect of all. They ooze fluffy malevolence. And lanolin but that’s useful and doesn’t give you nightmares. I’m aware loosely of the concepts of beat sheets and outlines and I understand them to be essentials for any larger projects. Doing is learning though and I’ve never had occasion to apply them to anything because I’ve never seriously attempted anything that couldn't be said in 5000 words or less. There was one that had plenty of scenes that I very much enjoyed but the thing as a whole lacked cohesiveness: sometimes it seemed like each addition sprung a leak and each fix for that sprung two. Now I’ve some thoughts and want to try it the right way and I need to go through the process and apply proper foundations. I took Xoic’s advice to be a mixture of explaining it to a friend that didn’t mind some rambling but also a more collated version of notes and thoughts that have been written down or considered. That might be included in beat sheets and outlines but right at the beginning, a more conversational tone really helps me think a bit better about what works and why something is happening. And maybe more importantly, what doesn’t work so it needs to be changed/removed even though I like it and am a bit precious because it worked before things evolved. I can be terrible for that. I need to try it all really and see what works for me. Exciting times! But like most things, that's in the future and I am very much enjoying remembering how to ride a bike again, one that can fly or transform or speak or become a love interest/nemesis or time travel or be a horrible roommate with all the hilarity that ensues. Whatever feels right. I legitimately needed to look up both Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast or Leiber's Fahfrd and The Gray Mouser, though I was aware of Gormenghast on an osmosis level and am keen to read Lieber’s stuff now. I’ve suspected for a while now that much of what I enjoy to read is either considered mainstream or just a couple of layers down though when a story grabs and doesn’t let go, mainstream or esoteric have no relevance. But, examples give clarity, (as Xoic has shown) so I’ll just list some names and let the picture paint itself. Cut my fantasy teeth on David Eddings, this went to Raymond E.Feist which led naturally into Jany Wurts. After that the order gets blurry, depending on recommendations and discoveries. Trudy Canavan, Anthony Ryan, Tad Williams, Brent Weeks, The inevitable Terries: Goodkind (The start was better than the finish) Brooks (He was so good when he did funny) and Pratchett (Nothing needs saying). Karen Miller, Gail Z. Martin, Robin Hobb (My favorite, hands down) Mark Lawrence, Samantha Shannon, Patrick Rothfuss, N.K Jemisin, Paul Hoffman and Brandon Sanderson. Keeping up with him is almost a full time job in itself. Special mention for Conn Iggulden and Ken Follet for historical fiction. Lately I’ve wanted to read thing where I have literally no idea where things might go (Though sometimes the formulas I enjoyed when I was younger are comforting) so I’ve really enjoyed some of China Miéville’s work (The Bas-Lag Universe) though less so some of his other stuff. Names left out of course but that’s a fairly accurate representation of what I like to snuggle up with, the winnowing criteria was re-reads. I'm going to go to bed tonight and remember twenty other names that I should have said and feel mild shame for a week!
If you want a preview (or just to read a bunch of the stories for free) a ridiculous number of the stories can be read on Google Books. Check this link in my massive ongoing blog post about Leiber: Well damn! You can read almost the entire first book for free on Google Books There's a link there straight to the first book (Swords and Deviltry), where you can read the first two stories and some of the third. Then scroll down to the next post for links to the rest of the books, most of which I found on Google. The first two or three stories in each are generally readable.
Thanks so much. My first resort is going to be the local library system, they are very good at inter county sharing here so if it’s in the country I’ll get it and I love the e-vailability of books now but if I can hold it and turn the pages, that will always be my first choice.
I hate to say it, and usually I would agree, but that could be a problem with the Fafhrd (etc) books. The Ace paperbacks printed through the seventies are not holding up well now—the paper is dry and yellow and ready to crumble (at least my old ones are) and to split apart at the spine. The later White Wolf reprints with Mike Mignola illustrations from the 90's (I think) are weirdly printed so words run down into the center gutter between pages, and to read the beginnings and ends of all the lines you have to pry the book open really hard, which risks damaging the spine. It's very frustrating to ty to read it that way. There are a few other printings that may be much better. Especially the Centipede Press run, but here in the states those are long sold out and were very expensive to begin with, being deluxe volumes with lush illustrations and apparently lots of extras included (libraries might have them though). Hey, if you can find some hardcopy books, by all means, snatch 'em up! But I finally decided in this particular case the best option was eBook versions.
I like watching magicians work. Even though it's so easy nowadays to know how the trick works. So many of the new tricks are variations of the old ones, some of them are easy to guess and sometimes the magicians just tell us. And of course, if we want to spoil all the fun, we can just look it up and thousands of people will tell us. Some of them will even get it right. But knowing how the trick is done and knowing it is difficult and seeing it done with skill and aplomb has always made it more impressive to me. So I know how you did what you just did right now. Based on your personal knowledge and experience of the prints & reprints, the scarcity of it in the country of origin where one would assume it’s most available and how that scarcity might convert negatively to a country just over 4000 miles away, you were able to predict quite confidently, without being an ass about it, that I was not going to find what I was looking for, in the moderately well funded archive of an entire country. And I didn’t, but in real time now, and still figuring out the entanglement, there seems to be some Omnibuses (I’ve never had to pluralize that word before, it checks out but it feels wrong) published by Gollancz in the UK, The first book of Lankhmar (2001) containing Swords and deviltry, Sword against Death, Swords in the mist and Swords against wizardry. Also 2001 by same publisher, The Second book of Lankhmar, containing Swords of Lankhmar, Swords of ice magic and Knight and Knave of swords. My head is fair swimming now trying to sort it all out, the unfathomable partnership between US and UK publishers and how it effects titles and collections. If i’m seeing it right, the individual titles themselves are collections of short stories so it's a series of omnibuses of short stories. Still though, better an omnibus than walking.
Well, maybe part of that. I did recently look into availability in another country, very briefly, and it seems the print books are basically unavailable there. But for Ireland and the UK I have no idea, plus of course they may well be available in libraries. Yes, exactly. They were originally being written in the days of pulps, when short stories were very standard. Many of them even refused to serialize anything requiring more than two installments, because during the war availability (especially to the military) was far from guaranteed. So novels were out at that time. Only one of the books is a novel—that's The Swords of Lankhmar. The rest consist of short stories. And if you're wondering, those two Ominbii (??) would be the entire series, except for a crappy followup written by somebody else after Leiber's death, but we don't count that.
I just looked up the Gollancz omnibus editions on Amazon US. It seems to be a very good collection. I didn't see any negatives in the comments, at least under book 2, with one significant problem. The Mouser is wearing brown!! Dude wears nothing but gray. Pffft—artists and all their poetic license!
Yeah, I don’t claim to know their process but it can be hit and miss sometimes. Might not be able to get the latest Lee Child because funding only allowed for a certain amount of acquisitions that year but maybe I could get Gutenberg's diary because it was donated 600 years ago and is still in rotation. I’m rarely disappointed though and it was a happy day in my life when my local librarian kindly and patiently informed me that I could order the books from a phone app rather than going in with a list. It was a happier day in my life when they fixed the terrible app and now it’s better! I remember reading or hearing somewhere that Dickens did some of his work in serial format and people would wait at the docks for the latest edition with some people charging to go to houses and read it to families. Which of course led to scams where people would just take up where the story left off and tell it how they reckon it was going to go. I'd love to hear some of those versions. That goes down much smoother than Omnibuses. Damn the word scientists, it just feels wrong! And thank you, I was wondering about the exclusion of the last title in the series.
