Category Archives: Writing

Authors, Pen names, Writing

Pen Names

9 Comments

2013-03-08 10.07.35

 

How many of us as writers have pen names?  A fellow writer friend who has done rather well for herself with her ebooks has several, one for each series she writes. As I am starting to get some of my work out there I wonder about the pros and cons to having a different name. Researching this online I came across the basic good and bad points from other authors.

Pros

-If your name is hard to spell

-You are shy and it is a way to hide behind a new name

-You are trying a different genre that is outside of your comfort zone thus giving you freedom

-Privacy

-You can write about any topic

Cons

-No one will know it is you

-You can get lost in the shuffle between social medias of your pen name versus your real name

-Less credibility as an author

-Confusion between the pen name and your name for family and friends. Especially if you have more than one.

These seemed to be the main reasons to have or not have a pen name.  When I approached one of my writing groups about it one of them said it plainly.

“You are just starting out. No one knows you or your work yet.”

But now that I think on it that could be in the pro list. As I go about the edits and book covers I realized though once they are released I would either have to inform people it is me through the social platform I have in place or start from scratch. But in doing that I might lose the contacts I have made over the last two years.  I am truly not sure what I am going to do. The thought of a pen name excites me it’s just so cool in my mind. I have even played around with what names I would use if it ever came to that.

I will have to think hard on this for I am honestly not sure at the moment.

TV shows, Viewers, Writing

Writers vs TV shows

15 Comments

2013-02-25 12.06.47

Actor #1:”Have you seen this woman?”

Actor #2:”No I have not.”

Actor #1: “Have you seen this man?”

Actor #2:”Did he kidnap her?”

Now hold the phone. How can you make a leap like that? Maybe they ran off together. Perhaps they are both missing. There is a chance she did something to him? It is not a small leap but to me it is still one.  As time goes by and I try to improve my craft of being an author I am noticing things that use to not faze me when it came to tv and movies. I now see loose ends, scenes that don’t connect the dot and leaps of faith that I can not wrap my mind around.

This same show had the main character and a detective at the Arctic Circle. The submarine falls into the waters and the car that the bad guy came in well kinda of got blown up. The bad guy runs toward the airplane, our hero’s only way out, leaving the two stuck on the tundra. Could these two have flown a plane we do not know since the bad guy killed the pilot. However the very next scene you see the two arriving by helicopter atop some building of the city they live in. Hello? Bridge the gap somehow. All that would have been needed was a line or two about how this occurred but no the audience was not privy to this. So we have to make assumptions how it happened.  Stuff like this use to just fly by me and I rarely paid attention, the times I did I just went with it and kept watching. But now that I am editing and revising and learning from various avenues of writing groups and so on stuff just does not go by me as readily as before.

I was all prepared to send this blog post out until last night another show got me thinking. The program “The Following” is one that I been watching from the get go. I do enjoy watching it with my son. But last night the episode got me thinking. The premise of it is that anyone unknown to the viewers can be a follower of the main bad guy Joe. So the suspense is we never know when his crew will be revealed to us. This was fascinating to me at first. But now it seems to just carry a plot that has no substance.

Indulge me if you will. Last night the bad guys were surrounded by the FBI, cops, a SWAT team and so on. Yet every one got out okay since they had infiltrated the law. That got me thinking. Anytime the bad guys are in trouble all they have to do is make one of the good guys a follower which then helps them get out of the jam. That got me a bit ticked and made me think that their plot is a little bit weak if they are always relying on unknown followers to get them out of a bind if they can’t reasonable do it on their own. Got a problem no worries. Make a follower appear and viola all is good again. I know this is just me rambling on but again I relate this back to my being a writer. I see things differently then I use to before.

Granted I am not familiar with scrip writing for films and tv shows so maybe there are rules I am just missing here. True this does get in the way of me enjoying some shows as I dissect it from beginning to end not enjoying the show but instead fussing as I yell at the tv, “ Come on are you kidding me?”

But I will take this as a good thing. That means I am improving my craft. And also it is one less show for me to watch giving me more time to watch shows that make more sense to me. When I watch a film or tv I want to be taken away. I want to forget the crap that is going on in life and just for a few minute enjoy what I am viewing not tearing it down bit by bit. Those are still out there waiting for me with a side of popcorn by my side and a cold drink in my hand.

Guest Blog, Published, Writers, Writing

Guest Post: Victoria Treder

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What Makes a Writer?

We’ve all heard the line, “If you want to be a writer, then write,” but what kind of writing counts? If you want to write novels, but you spend your time posting to a blog, does that count? Sure, you are practicing your craft, but are you “writing”? Is writing in the eye of the beholder or the pen holder?

What if your penchant is for poetry, but your rent requires writing articles. Of course, you can say that you are a writer, but are you a “writer”? You know, the kind who gets asked at cocktail parties, “What have you written? Have I read it?” If your answer is, “I extolled the virtues of Jenny Craig over Weight Watchers in the latest issue of Glamour,” you’re liable to get a blank look in response. If you can at least say, “In last month’s Cosmo, I raved about this little known island in the Pacific. Have you ever heard of Atuitaki?”, you’ll get a bit of wide-eyed interest back. Travel is fun and exciting. Dieting is not.

The only way to get respect for writing how-to’s on mundane subjects is to squeeze out an entire book. An article on choosing the right college elicits only yawns, but a book on How to Get the Most Out of Your College Experience rates oohs and aahs. Making a living explaining the dull, everyday stuff pegs you as in it just for the money, unless you can manage to cobble together a sufficient number of words for independent publication, a feat that immediately elevates you to the status of “author”. But what if you’ve published your How-To book? Are you then a “writer”, if your dream is to publish a novel? Or are you just a hack with a knack for stringing together a lot of words?

What makes a writer? Is it the content, the length, or the aspirations of the person herself? If you are making a living writing articles for magazines, a job that others only dream of, are you a writer if you really prefer to pen poignant short stories on the meaning of life?

Is the definition of writer determined by you, or by others? Is there a difference between calling yourself a “writer”, and saying that you write for a living? There are millions of words that surround us every day; someone has set them down in a particular order; someone has put some thought into their placement. Is it the thought that makes a writer? Or the ultimate goal the writer seeks to attain?

Is writing just another skill? Or is it a calling? Is it the level of discourse that determines, or the mechanism through which writers choose to communicate?  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I chose to call myself a writer when I first decided to write fiction, even though so far I have been paid only for my non-fiction work. I have a streak of romanticism that refuses to be subdued.

Guest blogger Victoria Treder blogs about politics, education, and the state of our nation at http://tredalong.com/