There are No Failed Books 3 Ways to Save a Trunk Novel - Freewrite Store

There are No Failed Books 3 Ways to Save a Trunk Novel - Freewrite Store Today’s guest post is by author Jeff Somers.  He has published nine novels, including the  Avery Cates Series  of noir-science fiction novels from Orbit Books, the darkly hilarious crime novel  Chum  from Tyrus Books, and most recently tales of blood magic and short cons in the  Ustari Cycle.       When Truman Capote died in 1984, he hadn’t published a major work since the absolute classic In Cold Blood in 1965. He’d produced material, yes; mainly short stories and some screenplays. Some of that work had been highly regarded, but nothing on the scale and ambition of In Cold Blood or Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Over the course of those two decades, Capote had transformed from a predominantly literary figure into a general celebrity, a man known for his parties, his circle of famous friends, his wit, and his television appearances more than his writing. But Capote hadn’t been idle. In fact, in January 1966 he signed a contract with Random House for a new novel, receiving a $25,000 advance (nearly $200,000 in 2017 money). The book proposal was ambitious: A modern reworking of Proust’s immense In Search of Lost Time. Capote worked on the book (titled Answered Prayers) for the next twenty years, occasionally publishing chapters from it, and renegotiating his contract twice (getting a further $750,000 in 1969 and a promise of $1 million if he ever finished the book in 1980, money he never saw). He once remarked about the book â€Å"either I'm going to kill  it, or it's going to kill me,† and history shows who won that struggle. The unfinished draft of the novel was published posthumously. There are many possible reasons why Capote couldn’t finish this novel. Maybe his celebrity was too enticing and he lost his drive to create. Or it might have been the reaction early chapters received: Much of the book was a thinly veiled depiction of his high society friends and their very embarrassing behavior, which cost him those friends- something that Capote reportedly took very hard. Or maybe it was just one of those books that all authors begin and then lug around with them for years, even decades- sometimes their whole lives. We call them Trunk Novels- novels that start off with so much promise, so much excitement, and then proceed to consume hundreds of thousands of words and huge tracts of time without ever coalescing into something resembling coherency. Every author has at least one. Most of us have several.       Too Good To Fail The problem with a Trunk Novel is there’s something there. A premise or an experiment, an energy, a challenge- something that brings you back to it again and again even though you can never get it to work. You revise, you scrap and start over, you recast it in different genres, you try to put it away and forget about it, but you can’t. And even if you are eventually able to put the book aside, should you? After all, you put a lot of good work into it. A lot of time, ideas, and solid writing. Instead of abandoning Trunk Novels, rethink them- here are three strategies for getting them out of your trunk and into publishable shape without losing any more of your sanity or precious time. Method 1: The Mashup If you’ve got more than one Trunk Novel cluttering up your hard drive with its imperfect sadness, one ambitious but potentially brilliant strategy is to combine them. This requires a certain amount of overlap in terms of genre and style, of course (though it doesn’t have to be a perfect match, as many genres combine wonderfully well- like romance and horror) and will probably need quite a bit of fix-up revision, but it can work. (Photo by  Erwan Hesry  on  Unsplash) The reason why it works is simple: Many Trunk Novels have great stuff in them- and it’s often complementary stuff. One novel I was working on for years had a solid plot, a good framework of events and motives, but it lacked interesting characters and lush description. A second book, separated from the first by several years, had a cast of characters I loved spending time with, but meandered through a plot that barely qualified. Taking the two and combining them resulted in a strong novel that popped off the page. I haven’t sold that novel yet, but my agent is enthusiastic. Method 2: Call It Sometimes you can get caught up in the supposed â€Å"rules† of professional writing. One of those rules concerns the marketability of a novel, and specifies that in order to have any chance your novel has to hit a certain word count (80,000 words is usually the quoted number, though you’ll hear variations on that). And thus, were a million Trunk Novels born because writers are reluctant to admit that what they’ve actually written is a novella or a short story. Writers sometimes desperately try to turn works into novels because they think novellas are impossible to sell, and short stories aren’t worth it in terms of money or attention. But novellas are actually easier to sell these days than in the past, thanks to digital platforms that don’t really care about word counts, and short stories have been having a Moment as increasing numbers of them are being adapted into film and television- see Arrival, The Grey, and Total Recall- leading many agents to reevaluate the wisdom of writers spending time and effort on shorter works. (Photo by  Simson Petrol  on  Unsplash) So, if you have a novel that’s been sitting in the Trunk for a while, consider whether the problem isn’t the story or the writing, but it’s girth. Is it a novella or short story that you’ve been trying to bulk up to novel size? Try cutting it mercilessly down and see what you have. You might be surprised. Method 3: The Inversion Another way to save a Trunk Novel from oblivion is to run a critical eye over your assumptions about the book. That initial moment of inspiration we experience is often powerful- one of the best things about being creative is that rush of energy when you have â€Å"the idea.† That power also burns certain things into your brain, like who the main or POV character should be, or the tone the story needs, or the precise pacing of the plot events. Over time, these turn into assumptions- no matter how often you attack the book unsuccessfully, you never think about changing the bedrock of that initial inspiration. You become blind to the possibilities offered by other characters who might be promoted or explored, other stylistic choices, or other third acts that go off in crazy directions. (Photo by  Dardan Mu  on  Unsplash) The secret sauce in this approach isn’t so much that you were wrong about everything from the beginning, but in the thrill of the unknown. By the time you’re ready to admit that a book is a Trunk Novel, there’s a very good chance you’ve been over each scene, every line of dialog, and every plot twist many, many times. It’s familiar, and familiarity breeds contempt and blindness. You can’t see it any more. Changing something fundamental about the book forces you into unknown territory, bringing back some of that electric buzz of discovery and revealing new ways forward. With a book stuck in Trunk Mode, that can jump-start the creative process and get you over the finish line. Not every novel can be saved, and writing a bad book is just part of being a writer- but if you’ve got a novel that just won’t go quietly into that dusty drawer, consider trying one of these techniques to rescue it once and for all. So, how many Trunk Novels are you hauling around with you? Have you ever managed to make one work? Let us know if you did, and if so, how you did it!    Jeff Somers (www.jeffreysomers.com) began writing by court order as an attempt to steer his creative impulses away from engineering genetic grotesqueries. He has published nine novels, including theAvery Cates Series of noir-science fiction novels from Orbit Books (www.avery-cates.com) and theUstari Cycleseries of urban fantasy novels. His short story â€Å"Ringing the Changes† was selected for inclusion inBest American Mystery Stories 2006,his story â€Å"Sift, Almost Invisible, Through† appeared in the anthologyCrimes by Moonlight edited by Charlaine Harris, and his story â€Å"Three Cups of Tea† appeared in the anthologyHanzai Japan. He also writes about books forBarnes and Noble andAbout.com and about the craft of writing forWriter’s Digest, which will publish his book on the craft of writingWriting Without Rules in 2018. He lives in Hoboken with his wife, The Duchess, and their cats. He considers pants to always be optional.

Realistic representation of psychological concepts in the film A Essay

Realistic representation of psychological concepts in the film A Beautiful Mind - Essay Example The story of the film is devoted to what can be evaluated as a heroic life story of an outstanding mathematician John Forbes Nash, haunted by both his genius and manifestations of insanity so prominently coexisting in him. On this background, a careful viewer can discern in the film fine elements characteristic to several psychological concepts and theories, such as for instance a depiction on the concrete example of Nash of various symptoms related to a psychiatric condition of schizophrenia, the involvement of the films protagonist into social relationships network that often challenges his mental disorder, and the psychological processes associated with what is known as cognitive dissonance. The film "A Beautiful Mind" opens when John Forbes Nash (Russell Crowe) is struggling to come up with some original concept at Princeton. We can immediately see the sign of genius in him, but at the same time it is clearly visible that Nash is often weird, uneasy in terms of social interaction, and painfully competitive. In fact, even though John has friendly relationships with several students, his only faithful friend is his roommate Charles. After some time, the mathematician comes close to elaboration of an original, pioneering and promising approach to game theory, and his successful scientific future seems warranted. John obtains a position at MIT, and gets involved into a hush-hush governmental program aimed at code-breaking research. During his such a secretive occupation, Nash is dealing with William Parcher, a top-level governmental agent who attempts to employ Nashs talents for national security tasks. At MIT Nash gets acquainted with Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), a lovely and remarkable student. They marry eventually, but their happy life gets under the threat when John is diagnosed with schizophrenia and is apparently falling into insanity. In a psychiatric hospital Nash undergoes therapy through electroshock to get rid of his delusions, but he nevertheless finds it next to impossible to work or be a proper husband. Besides, as soon as he ceases to take his medication, the delusions come back. But despite all that, his wife Alicia provides a great support to him as he does not want to be again hospitalized, and with time John learns how to control his delusions. Finally, when John Nash is granted a Nobel Prize in economics he can be said to have gained the greatest victory of his life, but the one which he could hardly achieve without the love and help of Alicia. Psychological concept #1 Perhaps the most stunning display that the film provides is that of a debilitating condition of a person suffering from schizophrenia, a psychiatric term that is used to describe a mental disorder with various symptoms that in combination lead to changes in the reality perception and to consequent impairments in common social functions of an affected person. The very word

To what extent, Salford University lecturers & under graduate students Essay

To what extent, Salford University lecturers & under graduate students adopt the idea of social network communication - Essay Example The important key factors of communication are accuracy, time consuming and readable content. â€Å"Most impotent factors when transferring data from one computer to another or telephone call are time – consuming, quality and connection † (Jordon & Churhill 1987). Digital communication is defined according to the free dictionary by Farlex â€Å"electronic transmission of information that has been encoded digitally† (www.thefreedictionary.com). Education organisation uses communications to build a strong relation between lectures and students. Student can gain maximum level of knowledge, improving their skills and get the kind of support they need from their lectures using the gate of communication. In the UK, Salford University the main communicate between students and lectures are Salford University website (Black Board) or university email account. However, as individual effort some lectures at Salford University are recently trying to use social network to com municate with student. â€Å"Social network defined as a â€Å"users can send messages to public or particular group in different form as text, media etc. In this case social network can communicate with one or multi members† (Price at al, 2009). For the last three years studying at Salford University I found many students checking their social network first before they start their main work. Also in my first academic year in business school I learned from emerging technology lectures the use of social network for the benefits of education. This observation gives me an idea of the research topic. Some education staff at different level of education round the word use social network for the benefit of education with a limitation due to the risk and lack of awareness. In the other hand social network in not used in Salford University by all lectures this is my main reason for my research which I will try to cover to what extend Salford University will adopt the idea by student s and lectures. 2. Aims My intention is to find out to what extend Lectures and under graduate students at Salford University are interested in social network communication during their academic year. 3. Objective 3.1. Primary objective a) Discussing the topic with my supervisor. b) Finding previous research reports, article, and books. The research framework c) Develop and run questionnaire d) Get in contact with lecturers using social network within Salford University for more knowledge. e) Data analysis with the help of math scope at Salford University. f) Final report. 3.2. Secondary objective a) Finding and study the method of an education organisation adopting the idea. b) Get in touch with lecturers using social network outside Salford University and discuss the concept. 4. Literature Review How social net work is used? â€Å"Today there is a lot of thematic social networks that are trying to get the attention of new visitors and members every day†. â€Å" Education i s an evolutionary realm; it has been changing and including new practices since its beginnings in order to support changes in society, from the most recent technologies one of the most popular are society networks especially among youngsters† (A. Mora-Soto, 2009). Many people use social network for different purposes. Table 1 below shows how many people use social network spicily above the age of 15 years. In table 2 shows a statistic figure of important cities in UK like Manchester using social netw

Drug and Crime Prevention Essay Example for Free

Drug and Crime Prevention Essay The purpose of the Final Project is for you to demonstrate your understanding of crime prevention programs and the role crime prevention plays in the overall criminal justice system. You may select a crime prevention program that addresses law enforcement, the courts, or corrections; or it may be a comprehensive program that addresses all three. The program may address the adult justice system, juvenile justice systems, or both. For the purposes of this assignment assume, you are preparing a proposal to a city, county, or state governmental body to recommend the implementation of a crime prevention program within their jurisdiction. You need to demonstrate the value of the crime prevention program and its effectiveness in reducing crime thus reducing the overall costs to the jurisdiction or building value that improves the effectiveness of crime prevention to the community justifying the additional expenditures. Your proposal will include: 1. A summary of the jurisdiction (i.e., city, county, or state) and the portion of the criminal justice System your proposal is designed to address. 2. An analysis of the current trends from three comparable cities in population size, utilizing the SARA Model and the Crime Analysis Triangle. (Note: Crime Analysis for Problem Solvers in 60 Small Steps , Steps 7 and 8). You will compare the data from three comparable jurisdictions and compare it to national data. 3. A determination of the appropriate crime prevention strategy for the jurisdiction based on this analysis. 4. A review of academic literature and studies on the various crime prevention programs to address the needs of the community. How does the crime prevention program address social justice issues To download this material Click this link https://bitly.com/1wyPezy There is no one to clean up after you and cook healthy meals at college. Some indulgences are okay, but still maintain a nutritious diet, get proper sleep, and take care of yourself and your possessions. Take care of yourself well, study appropriately, attend all your classes and follow a regular schedule. You can get ill from being too stressed or not eating healthy enough.

The Irony Of Lord Jim :: Essays Papers

The Irony Of Lord Jim Lord Jim was written by Joseph Conrad in 1900. Lord Jim’s tale is a lesson in life. It includes many key literary aspects; the main one, nevertheless, would be irony. With parts of the story exhibiting heroic redemption and others cowardice and shortcomings, it shows the vast conflicts that take place in the story. Lord Jim shows the many hardships the main character,Tuan Jim or Lord Jim, had to go through with great detail. Lord Jim tests the basic worth of a man and the truth that lies within one’s soul. The central irony in this book balances itself upon morality and guilt with a tragic result. Jim’s soul continued to torture itself for the betrayal he performed when he left the Patna to sink. Jim’s soul would forever punish him for the unspeakable act he committed when he left the Patna to sink. As so, Jim was destined to live the rest of his life in misery when he left the eight hundred passengers to die. The Patna incident caused a chain of self hatred and self loathing that would go on until Jim’s death. Jim’s ever churning soul made him very unhappy. Fighting constantly within himself made Jim experience extreme guilt and anguish. The way Jim struggled on the inside caused Jim to seem lack luster and lazy on the outside. If Jim would have been more at peace with his soul he would not have been in such pain. Being that Jim was somewhat innocent when he first became a water clerk aboard the Patna; he lacked the mental toughness that would be crucial in key situations. With virtue and perseverance Jim struggled on. Trying to find his inner self and to become a good sailor was important to Jim. Forced into maturing because of the importance of his job; Jim often felt isolated and alone. But his love for the sea kept him going even in tough times; ironically it would be the same love that would lead to his destruction. Indeed, Jim had a great love for the sea. He respected it and its powers. Although it took a tragic event to learn the seas authoritative powers , Jim still admired it. The sea was Jim’s motivation and his passion.

Body Mass of Earthworms Essay

Earthworms play an important role in the turnover of organic matter in soil and maintaining a good soil structure (Lavelle, 1988). Physical properties in soils improved by earthworms include improved aggregation, stability, and porosity. The soil biological and chemical properties of soils that may be modified include nutrient cycling (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus), organic matter decomposition rates, and chemical forms of nutrients in soil and their availability to plants. They also change the soil pH, organic matter dynamics in terms of quality and quantity, microbial and invertebrate activity, and diversity of the microflora and fauna (Lavelle et al., 1998). Therefore, they are essential for plant growth especially in an extensive agricultural system, such as organic farming, which is based on nutrient release from turnover of organic matter. Earthworms can also be used as a source of protein for animal feed which had been reported to increase the growth of fish, chicken and piglets (Guerro, 1983; Jin-you et al., 1982; Edwards and Niederer, 1988). The mean amounts of essential amino acids recorded in earthworms are found to be very adequate for a good animal feed. Moreover, earthworm tissues contain a preponderance of long-chain fatty acids, many of which cannot be synthesized by non-ruminant animals and an adequate mineral content (Edwards and Niederer, 1988). Recently, the enzymes derived by the earthworms, lumbrokinase or earthworm fibrinolytic enzymes (EFE) which has anticoagulant (blood thinner) property is extensively being used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Following these valuable application of earthworms, the management of earthworm communities provides a promising field for innovation in agricultural practises. There are many factors affecting the growth and body mass of earthworms that need to be considered during cultivation of earthworms. The soil moisture obviously has an effect on the growth and activity of earthworms. Earthworms lose moisture through their cuticles, so they are very dependent on soil moisture. When soil moisture is optimum, earthworms increase in mass and in their activity if food sources are available (Lee, 1985; Edwards and Bohlen, 1996). Another important factor is the additions of organic matter in the form of farmyard manure which have been found to increase earthworm populations under favourable soil conditions (Lofs-Holmin, 1983a; Hansen, 1996). Several studies found that the mass of earthworms were the highest in manured soil compared to unfertilized and mineral fertilized soils (Hansen and Engelstad,1999; Marhan and Scheu, 2005). The purpose of this study is therefore, was to identify the optimum soil moisture and level of fertilizer that can be used to increase the body mass of earthworms, Pheretima sp. during cultivation. The worms of the genus Pheretima are indigenous to Southeast Asia (Edwards and Lofty, 1972), and widely distributed in tropical rainforests with strongly acid soils. There were two treatments being tested in this experiment. In the moisture content treatments, four different levels of moisture level in soil were compared. As for the fertilizer treatment, the goat manure was added at two different levels and was compared with an unfertilized control. Aim The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effects of moisture content and fertilizers on the body mass of earthworms, Pheretima sp. under laboratory conditions. Any observed difference in body mass may then indicate the optimum soil moisture and fertilizer content which can improve the mass rearing of this species for commercial use. Materials and Methods Study site The study was carried out in the Animal House which is located at Level 8 of Building 3, Monash University, Sunway Campus commencing from 19th April 2010 to 10th May 2010 (22 days). The rearing conditions for Pheretima sp during the study consisted of containers (paper cup) held in continuous darkness at room temperature (25oC). Experimental design The earthworms, Pheretima sp. were obtained from a shop in Klang Valley. Each test container (paper cup) was inoculated with a sample size of five worms (n=5). Before the experiment commences, the initial body mass (Mi) of the worms in each containers was weighed using an analytical balance. Then, each container was added with 500 g of clay-brown soil which was obtained from the Green House of Monash University. Treatments used in this experiment are combinations of two factors, the level of fertilizer application and water application. The treatments were within a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with 3 replications. All replications of treatments are assigned completely at random to independent experimental subjects. The relationship between three different levels of fertilizer treatment and four different levels of moisture treatment as they relate to the changes in the body mass of earthworms was examined with a split-plot factorial ANOVA, where fertilizer was a between group factor, and moisture content was a within group factor. This resulted in 12 (4 treatment level x 3 replicates) moisture containers in each (three) groups of different level of fertilizer, which made a total of 36 experimental units.

A Comparison between To His Coy Mistress and Sonnet 116...

A Comparison between To His Coy Mistress and Sonnet 116 The poem To His Coy Mistress was written in the mid 17th century by Andrew Marvell, being written in this time Marvells poem was unable to be published as its taboo content was unfavoured by the puritans in power at the time. Whereas Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare was written in the late 16th century, a time of liberation and freedom for the stage and literature. Both poems are similar in theme and yet different in approach, they both pursue the theme of love although Marvell in a satirical Carpe Diem love style whereas Shakespeare in a traditional sonnet style. To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell is about a young mans attempts to lure a woman into bed†¦show more content†¦The title To His Coy Mistress implies a certain falseness as the word coy is almost an insincere form of modest, it indicates that this mistress were indeed not coy rather falsely coy in order to gain assurance of his feelings towards her for her own validation. The first line Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness lady were no crime. introduces the theme of time and lack of a crucial theme in the poem, the lover also accuses this coyness of being criminal by saying HAD we but world enough and time, this coyness lady were no crime implying that they do not have time therefore this coyness is a crime, this is clever use of irony which is also a constant theme throughout the poem. Marvell also uses soft alliteration such as long loves to lull the reader into believing his intentions honourable, he uses flattery all throughout the first section of the poem though he changes his tactics throughout the poem. The lover tries to create the image of himself as a committed patient lover with promises of waiting for her if she should travel to the Indian Ganges without complaint andShow MoreRelatedEssay on Amer. Lit2033 Words   |  9 Pagesassigned sonnets, Herrick’s â€Å"To the Virgins,† and Marvell’s â€Å"To His Coy Mistress.† Although their images differ, what do all these poets seem to be saying about time? Be specific when referring to the poems. The imagery is very different, but all of the poems and poets seem to be saying time is important in life. In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 he says, â€Å"And every fair from fair sometime declines,† when explaining the inevitable decline in appearance of his friend (Line 7). In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 heRead MoreHow the Negative and Positive Impacts of Love Are Explored Using Various Main Characters in the Play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’5155 Words   |  21 Pagesgenders as equal. Consequently as the play progresses the Elizabethan audience would relate a lot more to the courtly love that Hero and Claudio comprise. The more unconventional relationship between Beatrice and Benedick may relate more to the relationships in this day and age. The strongest bond of love is between Beatrice and Benedick due to their cerebral relationship, a meeting of minds, as well as having a fun relationship grounded on loyalty. They experience negative impacts of love before the