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Showing posts from April, 2018

Objects and Places

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Objects and places have a way of influencing art. They can inspire the best in us.  Sometimes I drive into work and I see this burned out sort of house thing that is propped up on stilts, just off the West Side Highway. The stilts protrude from the water. I believe around 90th street. It’s strange. But looking at this structure, I can see a story, characters. A recluse vampire, or a being who does not want to be seen by the public. I don’t have to write the story down to feel it inside, as though it has taken place.  That character is waiting there, hiding within, behind the doorway, peeking out now and again. He/she is waiting for me to flesh out their tale. I can see it all, now to just get it on paper the way I witness it in my mind, so readers can see it the same way. Not too easy, but it’s possible. Though, isn’t it funny how just looking at something, or being somewhere specific can bring these feelings and visuals to you? They scream out to

Word in the Cloud with Pages

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What is your word processor of choice? The going thing is Word. .doc and .docx are its formats. Then you have Google Docs (storing with Google Drive), Open Office, Word Perfect, Pages and the list goes on. Most of these are free to use online, or have an extended service for more features on the PC, and in app. Most can link to a complimentary cloud of some sort, or connect to existing cloud services. Recently, I believe taking a page from Google and it's Docs platform, Microsoft put a free version of Word online up on the web, and the app on mobile is free as well.  You can also save your documents in the cloud with the limited free One Drive storage. Of course there are limits that paying for a subscription will do away with, but if you’re just using it as a word processor, you will be fine. All the fonts you know and love are included, and not some different-named-similar-looking fonts so as not to not be sued. Then there are the other word processors

Which Way Was Better

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Sometimes I stop and think about how submissions took place when I was younger. And I start to think which way was better? I remember the constant research. Looking at books on how to submit, Writer’s Market each year. Where do I send this query letter? Then there was the SASE, you want that printed story back to send somewhere else. Right?  It was a pain, but it felt good. It felt professional. Now it’s just include the story in the body of an email, or attach a .doc or .docx file. Sometimes I feel I’m being scammed, hardwired not to trust emails and links and such, but maybe I’m just old fashioned. As I get used to the new age of things, I realize how much easier it is, and how much faster I can resubmit because of this.  Instant gratification, or rejection. But no longer can I tack up rejection letters on a corkboard and lean back in my rolling chair, looking at the haphazard pages as proof that I submitted something and someone gave a respons

Shut Them Out

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Do you ever feel after reading someone else's work that you are not as good, even if that may or may not be the case? And then it affects the way you write? Woah! Shut them out? Well, yes. I'm not saying don't talk to anyone, and certainly keep communication open, no hate involved. But I was thinking and remembered when I was a kid and came out of a movie theater feeling energized--as though I were the hero of the story.  It felt great!  I imagined I was that character. And until I came down from the clouds, my kid life paled in comparison.  I feel it's sort of the same in this situation I'm thinking about. You read someone else's work and it reads really good, like one of those great movies you watched as a child. You want to emulate this because it was so good. You look at your work half edited and feel down.  It's easy to feel this way when you still have work to do on your project. But remember, what you just finished reading will influence

South of the Border

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When I was a teen, some time after my mom passed, my Cousin Linda and her husband Jim took me and my sister and her son to Florida. We drove there. And along the way our group passed a place called South of the Border. This place--between North and South Carolina--had all kinds of firecrackers, places to eat, hotel and more. Might have grown since then, but one thing I remember were the signs.  It was fairly small,  but for miles before and miles after there were signs advertising the place. Going there it says to stop, after passing it says to come back you missed it. These were creative little signs meant to catch your attention and make you laugh.  I loved these signs.  A  lot of them have nothing to do with the actual place they advertised. I just thought they were funny and got excited waiting for the next one coming up.  I've just recently had an update to my YouTube app where it allows you to crop a picture to use as a thumbnail. This was a hard t

Everything Happens For A Reason

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Everything happens for a reason.  I'm not going to get religious, or too philosophical. That's for another place and time, perhaps. But I feel that everything you go through and learn is getting you ready for something.  You can learn from everything in life.  I do art, writing, play drums and other artistic outlets. Throughout my life, as well. And now I'm utilizing all of it to fast track my way into what I want to do.  See I've been a procrastinator. And that's OK. Dean Koontz says to wait until your somewhere around your 30s to write a novel. You have more experience. Yeah, that's definitely true. But there are still possibilies for anything, and everyone, at any age.  The question is how bad do you want it?  I want to write. I want to create stories that alow someone to escape. I know how that feels, growing up in the Bronx. My mom passed when I was young, thirteen I believe. Crazy things happened.  I write horror.  Thankfully I never us

Don't Let Hate Consume You

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You’re giving it your best, and just when you lift your head to look around, you find someone is trying to cut you down. Or trying to copy something you’re doing. (Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.) Don’t let hate consume you. Half the time those perpetrating the hate are just jealous, or have some mental problem. It’s best to just steer clear of them and let them fizzle out.  It will eventually happen. I’ve seen it. When you get angry you get flustered, and nothing comes out right. And most of the time this is what that person wants to happen. And it stings even more when it’s someone you were buddies with. I say, just go with the flow. Do your best. Don’t worry about what anyone is saying. If they are copying you, so be it. They can’t be you. Take a turn, go in a new direction. Just don’t look in the rearview mirror, keep your eyes on the road. You’ll see your goal and get where you’re going. How do you deal with haters, and

Imposing Rules Opressive?

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Say what you will about rules, but sometimes, I feel, they can bring out the creativity in you.  Allow me to explain.  I don't love rules. Maybe it's my rebel years growing up in the Bronx. I grew my hair very long and... Well, there were a lot of other things that shaped those years, but that's for another post--perhaps a book in itself.  But for certain things, rules can help. Of course you have to know where to break them, yet still respect them.  See, I guess it also matters who makes them. Or, even, how they are broken.  Something that comes to mind is my teen years listening to Howard Stern. Love him or hate him, Howard has an interesting story.  He had feuds with many, but one of the ones that stood out the most was the ongoing battle with the FCC.  This agency used him as one of the main examples when it came to lewd remarks and cursing. And he gave them hell for it.  Yeah, he had some sticky situations where lawyers got involved, but for the mos

Where Am I Going With This? Evolution

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So eventually I will transition over to writing about different things. I will still keep the essence of what I've been writing about here, and even that upbeat motivational post here and there, but things will change.  Mature a bit.  It will be the same, but different.  We were talking about this on the last show with me and Gary Buller. The guest was Adrian Medina, co-owner of Aphotic Realm. You can listen here  Horror with: Marchese & Buller We know there has to be change for success. And it doesn't necessarily mean you have to do a 360.  You can keep true to the essence of what made your work what it was. But new fans will want more. Older fans will need new content.  Entertainment.  You have to move on and up. It's a process to the top and even there you keep changing.  Not only is it necessary, but it's healthy.  And don't get me wrong  a lot of the aspects you love, that your fans love that works can stay. Heck, that's what the

You Have it in You

Whatever brought you to this stage in your writing journey, you got here. Then you saw how things really were, perhaps, and slowed down a bit. You dipped your toe into the pool and realized the water isn't half bad, actually. You may just step in.  You can do this, you have it in you.  Now do it.  Don't listen to this one or that. Rise up and leave them in the dust with their negative comments. Sometimes they attack because they see something they don't have, they are jealous.  You have to remember, this group will label you this, that group will call you other things. But you will always have an audience, and as long as there are those who are willing to listen to your words, who wait for more of who you are.  You have nothing to worry about critics. They don't matter, ultimately its who believe in you. Those who you spark a jolt in their world.  Someone can have all the fans in the world who wait on their every word, yet be chained down by that one person

Surely This Isn't You!

Do you write a post and feel the energy and everything just seems right. You pump your fist in the air thinking this is going to change the world! But when you open the post later to edit it you realize it's not you. Everything is wrong.  Maybe the feeling isn't there, or what you were trying to capture. How could you have been so forceful? So arrogant?  Surely this isn't you!  Well, this happens sometimes. And when it does I try to keep going and and keep the feeling, even a shred of it.  That was one of the reasons I wanted to post thoughts on here off a whim, because this, for me, for the time being, is supposed to be a learning experience. Thoughts that can change because I learned something new, or just realized maybe I had an incorrect point of view about something.  It happens to all of us.  But who is confident enough to admit that? Well, perhaps that's another post.  So you get that post ready, and it's slated to go out on a certain date, and y

How Many Eyes Look At Your Work?

This midweek  I'm thinking about editing.  Some may feel that they are not capable of editing someone elses work, but everyone can contribute something when it comes to fixing up a paper.  Some may just pick up simple things, plot-holes and such. And some may go through the work thoroughly.  You don't have to take all of the advice given, but it's good to take heed and see what they're saying. Sometimes what they catch can be useful, even if you don't use all the input they give.  Sometimes you want a really professional opinion, and sometimes you just want a readers perspective.  I guess the point that's different with this post, from other editing posts I've done, is what part of the editing I'm thinking of.  Any edits can be good, and push you more in the direction of a polished manuscript, but you don't want to get just one opinion. Unless they are an author that's been in this and has a pretty good idea of what they're doing. 

Do You Get Overwhelmed?

So the poll said I should keep doing the written blog.  Which is cool. I like this format.  The video would have been interesting, but I can still do it, grow the YouTube channel in a different way.  But as a writer, this is probably the best format to express thoughts anyway.  So, I was thinking  and listening to podcasts, and reading articles about the industry.  And I got to a question.  Do you get overwhelmed by all this info? Like, does it bombard you?  This one did that, that one does it this way. Did you hear? Oh, he's a blah blah, and such.  I see how it can drive someone crazy.  I had to take a break from the news because of a similar reason. I didn't want to hear all the crap anymore.  Is this similar? I mean, you can glean a ton of info from these articles and such. Even if some is negative, just look past it. Take what you need.  But what about those starting out? They are new to the game and might take the wrong bit of advice. What do you th