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Old 04-19-2009, 04:21 PM   #121
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That's the wrong way to think about it. Those "pages and pages" can have plenty happening, even if it's just a discussion that clarifies a point that's past, or one that is coming up. That's not "nothing"... it's an important part of the story. And in periods where, in fact, nothing is happening, you note that and move (write) past it. If you need additional material to fill seemingly empty areas, develop a sub-story that can develop in parallel to the main story (and, if possible, dovetail together nicely at the end).
Yes yes, but you know as well as I do that oft times these substories are not essential to the main plot. I don't mind them, but I've grown up in a media culture (movies, television, Internet) that tells their stories quickly and directly, without a lot of wandering around. I'm not saying you can't make the filler enjoyable; I'm just saying you have to write a hell of a lot of enjoyable filler.
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Old 04-21-2009, 02:09 PM   #122
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Don't think of it as "filler"... you're right, no one wants filler! But you can flesh out areas, and provide background that makes passages more meaningful. That's not filler... it's embellishment!

Actually, if you've got 200 pages of story already, you've already got a full story. There's no law that says it has to be 50,000+ words to qualify as being worth the trouble of writing (or reading). Embellish it where it will help sell the story, but beyond that, consider the story told.
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Old 04-21-2009, 03:19 PM   #123
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Yes, but there are laws that say it has to be 90,000+ words for it to be published in a manner that will be worth my time to have written it. It's not a matter of writing this story or not; it's a matter of writing this outline as a novel or writing a different outline as a novel if the first outline isn't going to make it.
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Old 04-21-2009, 03:42 PM   #124
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[smartass]It's not so much a law as a guideline.[/smartass]

I think that the length of what you write is not as important so much as what the passion is that you pour into it. There are a lot of examples out there of short stories that have been expanded into novels. There are good and bad results.

Nowadays there are more venues for publishing and being read than before, so if you want to do an internet self-pub, and the stories are all short, then go for it and don't try to flog yourself into writing what you aren't wanting to write.
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Old 04-21-2009, 03:45 PM   #125
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Self-publishing is a last resort for me, but one which is a lot more viable today than it was a few years ago.
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Old 04-21-2009, 03:46 PM   #126
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Self-publishing is a last resort for me, but one which is a lot more viable today than it was a few years ago.
Yeah, I can understand that. But, as you say, self-pub is actually gaining a lot of steam in the Internet Age.
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Old 04-21-2009, 04:10 PM   #127
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Yeah, I can understand that. But, as you say, self-pub is actually gaining a lot of steam in the Internet Age.
We refer to it as *cough* indie publishing nowadays, don't ya know, old bean (In Terry Thomas voice). Pip-pip, cheerio, and all that!
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Old 04-26-2009, 05:41 PM   #128
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Teaser!

Below: The entire introduction as it will appear my next novel*.

NA Newsfeed—Breaking News—05Aug2229.16:23GMT


The U.S. Geologic Survey outpost in Bozeman, Mt. reported this morning that four vents identified to be directly connected to the Yellowstone Caldera erupted within eighteen minutes of each other. The skies immediately over the region have begun to fill with volcanic ash and various sulfuric compounds, immediately widening the safety cordon around Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding environs.

Evacuations have been sounded throughout the Yellowstone region of Wyoming, and evacuation alerts have been widecast throughout Wyoming and the surrounding states. Scientists at the U.S.G.S. outpost have reported that the eruptions agree with their projections of the imminent eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera, an event that has been widely anticipated over roughly the past two hundred years, though scientists had no way of knowing the ultimate moment, nor the magnitude, of the eruption.

Yellowstone National Park has not allowed visitors since 2163, when the heat and fumes from the park’s famous vents and geysers became either too hot for human and animal toleration, or began to spew sulfurs and other volatile chemicals that suffocated the animals in the vicinity. In 2140, a permanent outpost was set up in Bozeman, tasked specifically to monitor the Yellowstone Caldera in an attempt to identify the approximate time of eruption, and to monitor the air quality and current weather patterns in the area to provide early warning in the event of an imminent eruption.

Live data from the Global Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is being sent to the U.S.G.S. in order to provide an accurate projection of the movement of the volcanic residue being ejected into the atmosphere by the caldera. Volcanic ash and soot is known to shut down aircraft and some aerospacecraft engines, so a no-fly zone is being established in the surrounding area. As the area of the ash cloud widens, air traffic in the North American region will be heavily impacted. The danger will not be lessened until the cloud has largely dissipated, and scientists have no way of estimating at this point whether that will happen in days, weeks, or months.

Scientists worldwide are responding to the event. Many of them are referring to the historic report delivered by Mohamar Reed to the U.N. in 2180, saying that this will be the environmental “straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

Current evacuation and alert notices

Detail on Yellowstone Caldera

Detail on U.S.G.S. Yellowstone Caldera Research Program

Text of Report #UN44089/MR02052180, delivered by Dr. Mohamar Reed on 2 May 2180: On the threat represented by the Yellowstone Caldera to destabilize the environmental state of the globe

*Copyright 2009 Steve Jordan. All rights reserved.

Last edited by Steven Lyle Jordan; 04-26-2009 at 11:03 PM.
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Old 05-02-2009, 11:06 AM   #129
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Currently i'm working on a series of three science fiction short stories called "Gray", "Green" and "Thallo's return".
"Gray" is nearly finished and is about the struggle against a strange, extraterrestrial power who is trying to efface all human living from the universe. For that power mankind is just "a bad vermin in universe". A vermin that kills all planets it does afflict. (the story gets along without space battles and some other typical sf-elements btw.)
"Green" will be about the conflict with the "dark brothers of mankind" who are "afflicting" the terraformed moon and it's young species.
"Thallo's return" will try to finally answer the question whether the mankind and it's "children species" will get effaced or if they can get their place within the galactic system.

Nothing special and maybe just old wine in new wineskins. But as always i write it mostly for fun and for learning. I decided to write these stories as short stories to find out two things:
  1. Whether i'm able to compress complex plots into 6000 - 7500 words or not.
  2. Whether the "Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot" can really work for most kinds of stories or not.
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Old 05-04-2009, 09:49 AM   #130
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Old 05-04-2009, 10:32 AM   #131
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Below: The entire introduction as it will appear my next novel*.
Way cool, Steve.
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Old 05-04-2009, 10:55 AM   #132
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Yeh ! Steve, 2229 - Global warming and Swine flu, notwithstanding, we're still here !
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Old 05-04-2009, 12:19 PM   #133
Steven Lyle Jordan
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Disclaimer: Although it sounds like my next book will be a typical "Lava! Run away!" adventure novel, the intro is actually designed to set the urgency of the tone. The story actually reaches a bit further than that.
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Old 05-04-2009, 01:39 PM   #134
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Disclaimer: Although it sounds like my next book will be a typical "Lava! Run away!" adventure novel, the intro is actually designed to set the urgency of the tone. The story actually reaches a bit further than that.
It's a love story? No, wait. It's a story about a dog who finds an beloved eight-yearold victim of the calamity. No, wait......

Okay, I'll shut up now.
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Old 05-05-2009, 12:47 PM   #135
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It's a love story? No, wait. It's a story about a dog who finds an beloved eight-yearold victim of the calamity. No, wait......
(Note to self: Change age of victim... uh-oh, now the ice cream angle doesn't work...)

Rewrite!

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