nichepoetryandprose

I have been absent from my blog for a week. Tied up in the sheer enjoyment of writing my fantasy tale.

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an illustration of the interaction between the main character of my story and a Dock-winder alien

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I have discovered that there are two main parts to writing: the writing itself and the ‘administration’. The administration includes the editing, the creation of other materials associated with the writing (for me, drawings, maps and covers), the search for publication, the preparatory work toward publication, and the marketing (readings, selling books, making sure the cat doesn’t destroy your boxes of books).

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Although some of the administration is fun, it is the writing I love to do. This includes the research and the joy of creating the characters, the story, the plot, the various drafts.

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This project has been particularly involving. Perhaps it is the creation of an entirely new world. Perhaps the freedom of building characters I have not known before. Perhaps the thrill of writing in a genre I have always enjoyed reading but felt hesitant to write.

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the main character in the book – a practitioner of parkour and a woman who has hung on to hope in spite of adversity

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My story is simple. It is about a young woman who wants freedom and sets out on a search for that freedom. The plot is a little more complicated. In her search she encounters a man who seems to share her purpose. Adventures and romance ensue.

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So far I have

• the first in what I hope will be a series of three stories
• most of the first draft of the second story because it informs the first … in the writing of the second story I discover needed elements of the world I’ve created
• a cover design … one of the tasks ahead is to create a painting from my design
• a description of the planet Meniscus
• a map of the part of Meniscus in my story
• a glossary since some of the words in the story are unique to the created world – units of measurement, plants and animals, and so on
• a condensed guide to the main language used on the planet  (everything in the text is translated but having a dictionary is just fun)
• drawings to illustrate some of the action in the story

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a map to go with the story

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My plans are to pull this all together and venture into the world of self-publishing. I have a friend who has lots of experience with Amazon publishing and is willing to share his ability.

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I have also hired an editor to work with me on the project so my book will be the best it can be.

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I will be looking for some beta-readers, so if you are a regular reader, like sci-fi, fantasy, romance, and adventure, and enjoy reading accessible poetry, let me know by leaving a request in the comments, including a little about your reading life and genre preferences, and whether you have been a beta-reader before.

From this I will choose a few beta-readers and I will exchange what I hope is a great read for some feedback.

A beta-reader provides general comments on readability, identifies parts of the story not easily understood, points out any ‘bugs’, and lets me know what they enjoyed/disliked about the book.

The book will be short (9,500 words) and about 100 pages (stretched out since it is written in poetic lines and includes illustrations and a map). There is some violent content, sexual content and alien profanity, so beware.

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Back to writing. And ‘administrative’ duties!

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Copyright 2016 Jane Tims