WATMM Writers Thread

[sweepstakes]

here's the stasi article i did for White Fungus mag, now online. Not in love with it but it was an experience i learned from and will probably (hopefully) write better next time

 

Panopticon Fatigue: Life, Sex and Death under the East German Stasi

http://mediaroots.org/panopticon-fatigue-life-sex-and-death-under-the-east-german-stasi/

Thanks for sharing, very pertinent read.

[Bechuga]

My short story is free until this morning or thereabouts!: Uk link or US link to Amazon, take your pick. So far, it's being picked up mostly by people in Germany. Hope they're not expecting much robot sex...(although there is a little bit of it in there...)

 

here's the stasi article i did for White Fungus mag, now online. Not in love with it but it was an experience i learned from and will probably (hopefully) write better next time

Panopticon Fatigue: Life, Sex and Death under the East German Stasi
http://mediaroots.org/panopticon-fatigue-life-sex-and-death-under-the-east-german-stasi/

 

Nice, much info gleaned. Sexy info.

[geosmina]

Do I need a fucking Kindle to download it? I would like to read it!

[Bechuga]

Do I need a fucking Kindle to download it? I would like to read it!

 

No, there's an online app I believe you can read it in. Booktron or something I think...should be right below the button.

 

edit: you might have to download an app. Failing that, if it doesn't work, send me a PM and I'll send you the file myself.

[geosmina]

Here is a short note I made about some digital arts... It's really brief but I feel really proud about what I wrote since it kinda of inspires me. Not trying to feel superior or shit, but I think it's really good. It's ins spanish lol.

 

http://www.cutoutfest.com/ljos/

[Bechuga]

If anyone else can't use Amazon / refuse to use such a corporation, I can PM you a PDF if you wish to read it, PM me if so.

[geosmina]

So deadline is approaching. I'm talking about a contest here in my country about writing. I can submit 3 stories to it. I had some ideas, though most of them (if not all of the ideas every new human could possibly "create"), I believe, are already taken. I haven't written none. But I'm quite motivated. Though I started wondering about how people get creative. So I asked myself: How do people could create a unique creation? Is people's imagination really limited by who they actually are? It's interesting to think about that, imo. What are the mechanism in people's mind of imagination? Personal experiences? Maybe. So am I limited to my own life experiences? I've been fighting against that in 2 ways: learning as much as possible about human cultures (books, movies,music, meeting other people, etc.) and actually forcing myself in thinking like fucking literally outside my universe. And I sometimes achieve it, tho, because the lack of actual information behind this new thought in my brain, I feel like standing in the middle of nowhere, with no direction whatsoever, and I just start wandering around with a stone in my pocket, a stone I wish I could craft into a diamond.

 

lol btw if it's badly written, I'm quite lazy right now to edit it properly :)

[geosmina]

Call me analfuck, but I sometimes believe there's an actual formula to be creative. I say it because people, independently of who they are, tend to know what is creative and what is not. Of course there are relative senses of creativeness, but at least in a superficial way there is a really tangible difference. So there must be mosts and dont's when being creative, I think.

[Bechuga]

So deadline is approaching. I'm talking about a contest here in my country about writing. I can submit 3 stories to it. I had some ideas, though most of them (if not all of the ideas every new human could possibly "create"), I believe, are already taken. I haven't written none. But I'm quite motivated. Though I started wondering about how people get creative. So I asked myself: How do people could create a unique creation? Is people's imagination really limited by who they actually are? It's interesting to think about that, imo. What are the mechanism in people's mind of imagination? Personal experiences? Maybe. So am I limited to my own life experiences? I've been fighting against that in 2 ways: learning as much as possible about human cultures (books, movies,music, meeting other people, etc.) and actually forcing myself in thinking like fucking literally outside my universe. And I sometimes achieve it, tho, because the lack of actual information behind this new thought in my brain, I feel like standing in the middle of nowhere, with no direction whatsoever, and I just start wandering around with a stone in my pocket, a stone I wish I could craft into a diamond.

 

lol btw if it's badly written, I'm quite lazy right now to edit it properly :)

 

"What has been will be again,

what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun."

 

It's rare anything is truly new, but the way it's told and presented can be different, a new variation. I mean, most cars have four wheels and they can always be called 'the new model'.

 

And I wouldn't say you have to be limited to life experience alone. I wrote a short story about a married man having sex with a robot, and I've done neither, so...either write from experience or make it up. And I have an idea for a story about a vampire--the most redundant, over-told story trope on recent years--but I reckon what I want to do is different enough to make it interesting. All about the angles you approach your ideas. Try looking at things from another perspective, avoid the clichés and retell it differently.

 

As for horror stories, I did one myself (which failed to get published) about a man who was allergic to ghosts, and was being haunted by his ex-girlfriend. He had no time to be scared, in amongst the sneezing and snot he produced...so, you know, there are different angles to these ideas. Whether they're any good, though...

 

That horror story--called Ectoplasmic Rhinitis--I will post a bit of here, in spoiler tags:

 

 

“Aron, the blood test is back and it's conclusive—you're allergic to ghosts.”

Aron stared back at the doctor, mid-wipe of his runny nose. He blew once more and removed the tissue from his red raw septum.

“Allergic...to ghosts? You mean, like “spirits”? The see through ones?”

“Yes, the same. As with your 'rubber' allergy, protracted contact with the deceased will cause the symptoms to increase in severity.” The doctor turned to his desk and started writing on a small slip of paper in hieroglyphics. “I'll prescribe a course of some stronger anti-histamines and recommend placing a few crosses around your homestead.”

Aron sniffed his nose again in place of any meaningful response. The doctor handed him a slip of paper.

“Here. Take these for a week and if the problem persists, come back to me so I can recommend you to an exorcist.”

“Um...can I really be allergic to ghosts? Are you telling me they exist?”

“It's either that, or what you have is the common hay fever allergy, like any other hay fever sufferer in Summertime. Take your pick.”

 

After picking up his prescription from the Chemist--the indecipherable doctors note making the man behind the counter laugh at his expense, all £6.40 of it-- he took one of the pills before he could exist the medicinal shop with some water. He was disappointed it didn't work within seconds, and sneezed.

Suffering from hay fever is one thing, he thought—but during November? When all but a few leaves have left the trees and littered the streets? Whilst wearing a cosy scarf to offset the cold? Sure, the cold had the same warmth of a British summer, but the pollen count surely couldn't be that high. How ridiculous, he thought. But then...the alternative wasn't exactly convincing either.

With a nose full of snot, overflowing to capacity, he tissued his way home.

 

***

It was around this time that the night visits began.

During one mucus filled doze, the sound of glass being smashed shattered Aron's sleep. Assuming it to be fireworks set off by local louts, he drifted off into a lucid dream. When the dream steered away from his ex-girlfriend, to her shattering into pieces, he awoke again to realize the noise was actually inside the house. Fearing the worst, he sneezed.

Halfway down the stairs, both replica wooden sword and boxers raised up, he heard more glass smashing. Psyching himself up, he jumped into the living room and bellowed nasally.

“Who's there?! Who's in my home?!” He held the sword out with two hands. “Get out, now!! I'll chop you if you...don't?”

At this point, he noticed a glass pitcher of his—collected drunkenly over many months from a lager promotion at the bar—floating about in the air like the last remnants of lager in a, well,...a glass pitcher. As he breathed in deeply, the glassware seemed to draw back, as if being readied to be thrown. And was then thrown against the wall. shattering to pieces.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!” he screamed in terror.

Another glass rose into the air, without a string in sight. Smash.

“AAAAAAAAAAAH--ah AHCHOOO!!” he sneezed, partially in terror.

 

[Bechuga]

A great article from an experienced proof reader, Mary Norris, with examples of what to avoid and what to encourage.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/10/between-you-and-me-confessions-of-a-comma-queen-mary-norris-extract

[Bechuga]

A new graph in Amazon's KDP (kindle direct publishing fyi jsyk) tells you how many pages someone has read of your book(s). I can now tell definitively whether anyone who downloaded my books for free read a single god damn word.

 

 

I already know they don't read them: people download forty thousand free books, thinking they'll actually have the time in this short span of life on Earth to read forty thousand books...so expect depression soon

 

[baph]

A new graph in Amazon's KDP (kindle direct publishing fyi jsyk) tells you how many pages someone has read of your book(s). I can now tell definitively whether anyone who downloaded my books for free read a single god damn word.

 

 

I already know they don't read them: people download forty thousand free books, thinking they'll actually have the time in this short span of life on Earth to read forty thousand books...so expect depression soon

 

 

I downloaded your book, but I've got to finish other things first. JUST SO YOU KNOW

[lala]

I find it fascinating that stephen king doesnt know the endings to his books. his thinking is that if he doesnt know the ending to his books, then how will the reader.

 

He makes up characters and sticks them in a predicament and then writes what happens, good or bad.

 

 

What a cool way to write a story, no wonder hes one of my favourite writers

[Bechuga]

 

A new graph in Amazon's KDP (kindle direct publishing fyi jsyk) tells you how many pages someone has read of your book(s). I can now tell definitively whether anyone who downloaded my books for free read a single god damn word.

 

 

I already know they don't read them: people download forty thousand free books, thinking they'll actually have the time in this short span of life on Earth to read forty thousand books...so expect depression soon

 

 

I downloaded your book, but I've got to finish other things first. JUST SO YOU KNOW

 

 

Lol take your time, many better books out there to read than mine! I don't think the graph works retrospectively anyway, just from this point on.

[Cryptowen]

http://world3.tk/t/nfo8.txt

the 8th entry in an ongoing series of txt documents about me livin in the woods on mount royal with no money rn irl

[Twelvetrees]

I finished this short story the other day, it's called [post=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzORHQ_foi_nOTdDQ2FLZFlVeUU/view?usp=sharing]KnownThings[/post]. It was a strange little idea that was in my head for ages, so it's nice to have it down and done.

 

Edit: I'm crap with BBcodes, so I'll just leave this the way it is as the link works.

[Bechuga]

Ursula K. Le Guin is answering questions relating to writing over here, starting with the biggie: "How Do You Make Something Good?" : http://bookviewcafe.com/blog/2015/07/27/navigation-q1-how-do-you-make-something-good/

 

 

I finished this short story the other day, it's called [post=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzORHQ_foi_nOTdDQ2FLZFlVeUU/view?usp=sharing]KnownThings[/post]. It was a strange little idea that was in my head for ages, so it's nice to have it down and done.

 

Edit: I'm crap with BBcodes, so I'll just leave this the way it is as the link works.

 

Will read this later, downloaded to put on my kindle.

[Bechuga]

Read and enjoyed it, Twelvetrees! Some nice imagery in there, I liked the comparison of the white flower to icing on a chocolate cake, very vivid (and I like cake, that helps). Enjoyably ambiguous too, a story to ponder about which I suspect was the point (could be wrong though: I have been told off for missing quite obvious things). If you do anything else post it up.

[Twelvetrees]

Yeah, the ambiguity is intentional. At first I was going to make it very obvious but it's much nicer when it's left unexplained I think.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it Bechuga, and thanks for reading! I haven't got anything to share at the moment but I'm working on a novella which will be finished soon enough I hope.

[Bechuga]

Ursula le Guin continues her advice blog, answering 50 questions about how to pace a novel, POV to use and more.

 

http://bookviewcafe.com/blog/2015/08/10/navigating-session-1/

[Rubin Farr]

has anyone used tor to distribute works you never want traced to your ip address?

[drillkicker]

I finished this short story the other day, it's called Known Things. It was a strange little idea that was in my head for ages, so it's nice to have it down and done.

There you go, pal.

[Bechuga]

has anyone used tor to distribute works you never want traced to your ip address?

 

No one has read my book, let alone gone underground to find me

[KovalainenFanBoy]

has anyone used tor to distribute works you never want traced to your ip address?

 

Rubin = Peter Sotos confirmed

[Bechuga]

Bump! I have a second book out now which you can get from the Kindle store, home of digital capitalism: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BKX5AXM?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

It is called Green Roomers, and I switch between being satisfied with it and loathing it. Who knows what it actually is...

 

Anyone else doing anything? Anything to share / link up? If you're Elena Ferrante or Thomas Pynchon and want to reveal your real identity, this would be the thread to do it in.