Not everything needs an explanation / Happenings In The Outhouse 12-June-2020

Writing a decent story means, at times, that you may be walking a fine line between a well-paced story and one that drags.  Well-paced doesn't necessarily mean fast-paced.  Have you ever read a book or watched a movie/TV show where you found it difficult to stop?

That's good pacing.  And the best ones blends fast and slow pacing very well.  It would do you well to study how it was done.

A few weeks ago, I decided to watch all eleven Star Wars movies back-to-back, in chronological order by the events in the movies, not the release dates.  I started with the three prequels, then Solo and Rogue One, and of course the original trilogy and finished off with the sequel trilogy  Now, before you ask, I didn't watch them straight through without any sleep.  Lord no!  But it was interesting how quickly I moved through the first movies--including the prequels--and by the time I got to the final sequel movies, I found it difficult to watch for too long.  In fact, it took longer to watch the final trilogy than the others.

Then I discovered why.  Pacing.

Even Rogue One and Solo didn't suffer from a pacing problem.

If you view the sequel trilogy, there is a problem with the characters having to explain EVERYTHING.  True, there was some explanation in Phantom with the whole midichlorian thing when it came to the Jedi and Sith, but it was done quickly, in passing, and then we moved along--well, some were upset by it and still are to this day.

Remember.  Not everything needs to be explained.  And mindless banter just for the sake of banter only drags the story along.  Not that dialogue needs to be eliminated.  If you want a lesson on dialogue, read anything by J. D. Salinger.  Especially his other stories.

Watch one of your favorite movies or read one of your favorite books.  I can almost guarantee you that the pace of the story doesn't suffer.  Events don't always have to be explained in great detail.  Even Tolkien didn't explain a lot of the events in Lord of the Rings.  Neither does Rowling and George R. R. Martin, when it comes to their worlds.

Please leave something for the imagination.

Exciting news for fans of J. D. Salinger

I will not sugarcoat this.  I love J. D. Salinger's writings.  Up until now, none of his books have been in digital form--okay, I believe others have done it but it's not officially his, so I have not purchased those.

Well, as of today, those of us who love books in digital form, the wait is finally over.

Salinger is one of those writers who can transport you right into his story without you even knowing.  He is a true master of words.  Especially dialogue.

Now, although most know Salinger through Catcher in the Rye, it's his other works that I love even more.

Here is a link to Amazon that goes directly to his author site for the official stories:
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B000APYJ8Y?_encoding=UTF8&node=618073011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-pages-popularity-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader


I post this link because to actually search for J. D. Salinger comes up a lot of various books about Salinger and/or analysis books about his books.

A huge thanks to the Salinger family (he passed away on January 27, 2010) for updating his library to the digital form.

Rome wasn't built in a day. So don't treat your writing career like it should be.

Stephen King didn't stop with The Shining, his first hard cover bestseller.

J. K. Rowling didn't stop with the first Harry Potter books.

John Grisham didn't stop with The Firm.

Brandon Sanderson didn't stop with the Mistborn trilogy.

George R. R. Martin didn't stop with Game of Thrones.

All of these bestselling authors (and many more) did one thing in common: they wrote more books.

Of course, there are runaways successes like Harper Lee, William Peter Blatty, and J. D. Salinger who wrote one book (or two in the case of Blatty and four for Salinger) and quit.  These are not the norm for most authors who want to have a successful writing career.

Write more books.

Rome wasn't built in a day.  I look back at my blog and am astonished at how long I've been doing this.  I also look back at when I wrote some of my previous (unpublished) books and wonder what in the world I've been doing.

I am in this for the long haul.  I will be writing, and publishing, more books.

Don't treat your writing career anything less than the building of Rome.  It may be slow, but keep writing.

The world needs you.

Happenings In The Outhouse 20-Sept-2013 / Some projects coming to a close, others starting

Yesterday I submitted another short story to the Writers Of The Future contest.  I think it's pretty good, but I have some very stiff competition.  No matter the outcome, I am at least doing something and submitting instead of not doing anything.

Because that is what one needs to do in order to become successful.  Do.  Do something.  Do something to further your work--your art--into the world.

It makes no sense for all of your stories to sit in a drawer with no one to enjoy them--I truly wish J. D. Salinger would've published more stories than the few he did; the rumors of all the stories regarding the Glass family have been rampant.

Your work needs to be out for others to enjoy.

I am also putting the finishing touches on an inspirational novella titled Gabriel's Hope.  My goal is to get it done by the end of the month.

I am also editing a previously submitted short story from Writers Of The Future--that didn't win, of course--to be sent out to the traditional SF market.  If I get no luck there, I'll end up adding it to a collection to be self-published later.

I am starting to work on the sequel to Beholder's Eye, in the Central Division Series thriller novels.

If you could have dinner with a writer (living or dead), who would it be?

Copyblogger has a great segment of articles they call The Writer Files.  They've interviewed many writers, from Seth Godin to Jeff Goins.

One of the more interesting questions they ask is: what writers, living or dead, would they like to have dinner with?

Who would yours be?

Here's mine: it's a small list, with various pros and cons tied to it.

First and foremost at the top of my mind is Stephen King.  That's a no-brainer.  The King of Horror himself.  As long as we talk "shop" - i.e. writing.

Next would be Brandon Sanderson--fantasy author.  I've listened to enough podcasts and watched enough videos to give me a good sense of what he can teach, and then again he's teaching an upcoming class over at Write About Dragons.com next month.

That's all for the living authors--I know, it's a short list and I didn't even mention others such as J. K. Rowling or John Grisham.  Or even Dean Koontz.

The deceased authors, on the other hand, are a bit more interesting.

One such fellow is J. R. R. Tolkien.  Nothing more needs to be said there, do I?  Next would be John Gardner--his novel On Becoming A Novelist is a classic in my book, and a must-read for any author.

In the end, if I had to choose one, it would be the recluse J. D. Salinger.  Why?  He doesn't even write genre fiction, so why Salinger?

He is a master of dialogue, for one.  And his method of storytelling far exceeds most writers.  I'd just like to know how he approaches the craft of writing and even dialogue in general.  There's one such story he wrote--it wasn't Catcher--where we meet two characters conversing for over fifty pages, while one is in the bathtub.  And I was enthralled by it!  How in the world did he pull it off?

Ancient mysteries I'd like to know.

In the end, I'd set aside King (although if I really had to pick a living author, it might be his son Joe Hill) and Sanderson for the mighty Salinger.

Yeah, that's who I'd pick.

Who's yours?

J. D. Salinger makes headlines again

It's been a little over two years since his death at 91, and J. D. Salinger is still making headlines.  Or, rather, a political move caused him and his family to be.

As had been reported everywhere, Matt Salinger fought hard for two years to help keep his father's identity protected and not exploited, and the New Hampshire Governor vetoed such a bill.  I scanned through a number of these articles, which all stated the same thing.  Now, I'm not going to debate the intimate details of the vetoed bill, nor am I going to get political.  What I am doing is somewhat siding with the Governor on this one.  But for reasons other than political, if I can pull it off.

I didn't read J. D. Salinger until after his death--sure, I read Catcher in the Rye in high school, but I didn't read it like I do books nowadays.  Salinger was a master storyteller, and also a master at crafting dialogue.

Salinger had a gift.  A gift for writing.  Now, if he wanted his privacy, he should've never published any of his stories in the first place.  But, in a way, that's being selfish, self-centered, and depriving the world of the fruits of his talented labor.  We all know he went into seclusion, and have heard the rumors that he has drawers and drawers of stories, many centered around the Glass Family--I pray that he does have these stories tucked away and that his family offers these fine gifts to the world; not in a way of making money but in a way of being generous and fulfilling our lives just a little more.

One of my favorite movies about writers and writing is the Sean Connery movie Finding Forrester.  When I read that it was possibly based loosely around the seclusive life of J. D. Salinger, I became even more fascinated by him.  The more and more I read about Salinger though, the more unlike the movie he became . . . but the movie is still great and inspiring in my opinion.  I'd love to run into someone like that one day, to have a mentor that so changed the world, so that I could learn from him or her.

If you have a gift, whatever it is, and don't share it, you are doing the world a disservice.  Also, I believe the price of fame and putting yourself out there for the world to see is that you cannot keep yourself in a secluded bubble.  I understand that the Salinger family wants to abide their father's wishes.  I can appreciate that.  But sharing his stories with the world is bound to have a positive impact on mankind for decades and centuries to come.

Dream Team

In Napoleon Hill's classic book Think And Grow Rich one of his chapters is devoted to what is called the Mastermind Group.

A Mastermind Group is synonymous with a Dream Team.

These are a group of people, that although they may individually exhibit great talent, together they can form an unstoppable force.  Napoleon Hill said to create, in your own mind, a Mastermind Group and use that group when making decisions.  For example, one of his members was Abraham Lincoln.  Pretty hard for him to attend in person, since he's been dead a little while (even in Napoleon Hill's time), but if you've read enough about a person, it's almost like channeling their creativity or talent.

Dan Miller and Dave Ramsey have been part of group of thirteen men they call the Eagles Club, which is the same concept of the Mastermind Group with other members of the business community that they trust and are great friends with.  You can have more than one Mastermind Group--possibly one in person and the other in your mind.  One could be your writers' group and the other be a group of famous authors you wish to "channel."

Who would be on your own dream team?  Mine would possibly be:

Stephen King

George Lucas

Steven Spielberg

J. R. R. Tolkien

J. K. Rowling

John Grisham

Brandon Sanderson

J. D. Salinger

John Gardner



Am I dreaming?  Yeah, I probably am.

Welcome rejections

This pill might be a little hard to swallow, but as a writer you need to be ready for rejections.  If you're not ready, then write and keep your writings within the confines of your own little world--ok, J. D. Salinger did this for the remainder of his life after his tremendous success with Catcher in the Rye but that had nothing to do with rejection.  But if you've ever dreamed of publication, you have to be ready for the onslaught of rejections.

If you're ready, you are in great company: Stephen King, J. K. Rowling, John Grisham, and the list goes on.  Because each and every writer has been rejected at one time.

Don't take it personally.  Rejections can range from an overworked editor or literary agent to the quality or layout of your work.  But plow ahead fellow writer.  Perseverance is the key to winning in life, including being a published author.

Why did I name this blog "Welcome rejections"?

If you get in the mindset to welcome rejections, you won't be surprised when it happens, and then you can move on to someone who will accept your work.

For those who have read Stephen King's On Writing (and for those who haven't, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of this book immediately), you'll note a time in Mr. King's life when he would tack his rejection letters on a nail in his bedroom.  And when those rejections became too numerous, he replaced the nail with a spike.  And King is one of the most bestselling authors in the world.  Remember that next time you get a rejection from a literary agent or an editor.  Welcome it, and move on.  Persevere, fellow writer.