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headers already sent by (output started at [ROOT]/includes/functions.php:3815) [phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/functions.php on line 4670: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at [ROOT]/includes/functions.php:3815) [phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/functions.php on line 4671: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at [ROOT]/includes/functions.php:3815) [phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/functions.php on line 4672: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at [ROOT]/includes/functions.php:3815) Horror World • View topic - The Writing Process Blog Tour
I've been asked to contribute to this series. We are to blog about our writing process. The thing is, I don't have a blog. Not yet anyway, but I'm supposed to have one by the beginning of next year. So, in lieu of being technology deficient, I am going to post my blog here, at what I consider my home. ***************************************************************************
THE WRITING PROCESS BLOG TOUR
Hello! My name is Tony Tremblay and I’m the author of horror stories who writes under the pen name, T. T. Zuma. My short stories have appeared in a number of anthologies, websites and print magazines. I have been called brilliant, talented, and creative (I’d like to thank my mother for that blurb). I am also one of the editors, along with Nanci Kalanta and Chris Jones, of the Eulogies series of horror anthologies for HW Press. I’ve also been known for a review or two of dark fiction for the Horror World website, for Cemetery Dance Magazine, and for Beware The Dark Magazine.
I was tagged by Roxanne and Karen Dent to join the Writing Process Blog Tour. Roxanne and Karen are not only cool people, they are also excellent writers, and you can read their Writing Process Blog Tour submissions (as well as lots of other cool stuff about them) at:
I have been working on a novel for almost two years. It doesn’t have a proper name but for the purpose of this blog I’ll call it, The Saga of Mattie Dyer. The novel is split into two parts, the first section is a weird western and the second section is an apocalyptic urban fantasy. They share a common character, a florescent orange monster, and for me, that monster had been the crux of my problems with this novel. I couldn’t figure out if I was getting across what the monster looked like, and if the battle scenes between Mattie and the monster were as vivid and realistic as my imagination made them out to be. I had the same difficulties in the second section where some young adults are doing battle with the monster.
My writers group was great in helping me shape the novel, but they are not all that familiar with genre, so I wanted someone’s opinion who worked in the horror field. David Dodd, a friend, and one of the editors at Crossroad Press, offered to look at it for me. He gave me some great suggestions on how to improve it, and I went to work on them right away. In the meantime, Chris Irvin, another friend, offered to take a look at one of my short stories. While Chris didn't have a whole lot of comments on the story, he did say one thing to me that changed my entire outlook on that story, and my novel. He told me he thought the narrative was too passive. And, he was right. With that in mind, I went back and reworked the novel (and the short story, which was accepted for publication). When I finished with those changes, I asked another friend, Keith Minnion if he could take a look at the first part, to let me know if I did a fairly decent job with the monster, i.e., if he could picture in his head what I was trying to write. I was never so happy when he said, yeah, you got it, but, he said, there are some other area’s you should address. He was right. So now I’m currently editing the novel once again.
Am I listening to too many people? I don’t think so. This will be my first published novel (don’t look in my trunk) and I want to get it right. The way I look at it, when it’s ready, it’s ready. Besides, I am having a lot of fun writing short stories, and I’m continually learning from those.
HOW IS MY WORK DIFFERENT THAN OTHERS IN SAME GENRE?
Other than staying away from tropes, it really isn’t all that much different. At least I don’t think it is. My objective is to write a story that entertains while making people feel uneasy; I believe that’s every horror writer’s goal.
WHY DO I WRITE AS I DO?
While I have my own voice, I am constantly experimenting with style, trying to learn from other writers who have made an impression on me. If you look at my short stories, three authors in particular, Tom Piccrilli, Steve Vernon, and Jeff Strand have influenced me. They’ve taught me a lot when it comes to structure, atmosphere, and dialog.
HOW DOES MY WRITING PROCESS WORK?
I am a very slow writer. One reason for this is that can’t write more than two or three paragraphs without constantly editing them. I might get 250 words done in a day, but it takes me hours to get those 250 words done.
Another reason is that usually I have no solid idea where a story is going, and that’s because I never know the ending of a story when I start one. I’ll get an idea and kick it around in my head for a while, but usually my thought process is on making that idea believable to readers. I’ll go through every scenario I can think of to prevent someone from reading a plot device and think that it doesn’t make sense, or that it was too convenient, or that it was so unrealistic it was laughable. Once I figure that out, I’ll start writing and see where the story takes me. One major problem with this approach is that the story always takes me to places that necessitate editing…sometimes a lot of editing.
Once I have the ending figured out and the story written, I take it to my writers group. They are a great group of people who not only line edit my stories, but discuss the logic of the plot. What I really appreciate about the group is that if they have a problem with something, they usually offer a solution. It’s very easy to tell someone that their story is no good, but it’s entirely more productive if they explain why it’s no good, and what you could do to improve it. Every published story of mine has been critiqued by my writers group, and they’ve always made an impact on the story.
After I make the edits from the suggestions of my writers group I let the story sit. Usually it’s for a few weeks, sometimes for month or so. When I eventually pick it back up I’ll read it and decide if it’s worth a re-editing or submission. If not, it’s off to the trunk. Either way, it doesn’t take long for me to start thinking of a new one.
PASSING THE TORCH:
Once again, thanks to the Sisters Dent for involving me in this project. I would like to pass the torch to, Janet J. Holden, and Tim Arsenault.
Janet Joyce Holden is a writer of contemporary dark fiction, her novels include Blood Paternal, Carousel, and The Only Red Is Blood. She also has a number of short stories in various speculative anthologies. She is originally from the North of England, and has lived in Southern California for the last nineteen years. Her website is at janetjoyceholden.com
Originally from Auburn, Maine, T.G. Arsenault retired from the U. S. Air Force after 22 years. His first novel, Forgotten Souls, was published in 2005 by Five Star Publishing, and his latest novel, Bleeding the Vein, was released in 2012 from Gallows Press. His short fiction has also appeared in multiple online venues and anthologies. T.G. Arsenault resides in Western New York with his wife and son.
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