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CommanderROR · 11-23-2006, 04:37 PM

Bob, I think you hit the mark with this one...:-)

I've been playing with the idea of writing a book since before I even COULD write...really! When I was a little kid, I went to the Typewriter and actually started my first book...I never got beyond the first line of course since I couldn't actually write yet, but I had the drive to do it...my mother never gets tired of telling that story...

From then on I've had occasional "attacks", but I never managed to write a book. I did some short stories, the last notable one was for the school-paper and actually came out quite well (if I say so myself). My problem is, that I am not somebody who creates a plotline and then fills it with details.
When I had to do presentations at school, I usually didn't prepare any text. I just read a bit about the topic and then made a littel handout for my fellow students. Then I went there and just opened my mouth and waited what would come out.
It worked every time...
It's a bit of a strange feeling, doing a presentation and not knowing what you are going to say, but it's the only way I could do it. The more I wrote down aforehand, the harder the presentation was for me...I can stumble my way through a text I read from paper, but I can wax eloquent (excuse my old english...^^) on most topics with only the slightest idea of what I'm talking about...

My other problem when contemplating the whole book-thing is language.
I'm not a native english speaker. I grew up in an english/german speaking society and thus have more knowledge of the english language than many of my peers, but my parents were both germans so my roots are still more on the german side. However, I believe that english is the far superior language and writing something in english seems the better choice...if it were not for the fact that my english is probably not sufficient for the story I would like to create...

I have more than enough ideas, but I think I should maybe try a short-story before I spend all that time and effort on a novel that would probably be dissappointing for everybody...especially since there is so much great literatures out there.
I just read "Farmer Giles of Ham" by J.R.R. Tolkien...it's a little lighthearted story, but it is still a work of art...and a beautiful one. Even childrens stories like the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C.J. Lewis are so beautifully written that they make me want more, make me want to create more of the same stuff, but also make me realise that the way those "wordsmiths" can spin a tale will probably be far beyond my reach for ever.

11-23-2006, 04:37 PM	#12
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	Bob, I think you hit the mark with this one...:-) I've been playing with the idea of writing a book since before I even COULD write...really! When I was a little kid, I went to the Typewriter and actually started my first book...I never got beyond the first line of course since I couldn't actually write yet, but I had the drive to do it...my mother never gets tired of telling that story... From then on I've had occasional "attacks", but I never managed to write a book. I did some short stories, the last notable one was for the school-paper and actually came out quite well (if I say so myself). My problem is, that I am not somebody who creates a plotline and then fills it with details. When I had to do presentations at school, I usually didn't prepare any text. I just read a bit about the topic and then made a littel handout for my fellow students. Then I went there and just opened my mouth and waited what would come out. It worked every time... It's a bit of a strange feeling, doing a presentation and not knowing what you are going to say, but it's the only way I could do it. The more I wrote down aforehand, the harder the presentation was for me...I can stumble my way through a text I read from paper, but I can wax eloquent (excuse my old english...^^) on most topics with only the slightest idea of what I'm talking about... My other problem when contemplating the whole book-thing is language. I'm not a native english speaker. I grew up in an english/german speaking society and thus have more knowledge of the english language than many of my peers, but my parents were both germans so my roots are still more on the german side. However, I believe that english is the far superior language and writing something in english seems the better choice...if it were not for the fact that my english is probably not sufficient for the story I would like to create... I have more than enough ideas, but I think I should maybe try a short-story before I spend all that time and effort on a novel that would probably be dissappointing for everybody...especially since there is so much great literatures out there. I just read "Farmer Giles of Ham" by J.R.R. Tolkien...it's a little lighthearted story, but it is still a work of art...and a beautiful one. Even childrens stories like the "Chronicles of Narnia" by C.J. Lewis are so beautifully written that they make me want more, make me want to create more of the same stuff, but also make me realise that the way those "wordsmiths" can spin a tale will probably be far beyond my reach for ever.