Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Published yet again??

Hello dear readers!

You may wonder why there are question marks on the title of this post. Here goes.

Shortly after I had finished polishing up the short story titled “The Darkening” (I mentioned it on last week’s post) that will appear on Voluted Tales, I wrote another short story (though longer by far compared to any other short story I had written), borrowing certain elements from my country’s mythology. The story takes place in our current timeline but it features two rather prominent characters from Greek mythology, Hades being one of them, ruler of the Underworld.

This particular story is the only one that I have deleted and re-written more than five times so far and in most cases due to the ending. I never seemed to be satisfied with the way the story ended. After a while, I just gave up (shocking, I know) and decided that I would either get it published as it was or that it would simply never make it and perhaps I could get back to it at a later time when I would self-publish all those short stories that no one wanted. I hoped that as the years would go by, I should be able to spot the mistakes and refine it even further.

Luckily, while searching for a magazine to send some other short stories that haven’t been made public yet, I came across a magazine that in its submission guidelines stated they were interested in stories with ancient gods. You can understand my excitement when I saw it. I thought to myself, if this magazine turned me down as well, then the story was doomed to be for ever rejected, an outcast of sorts. Well, the good news is the editor of the magazine wants to run the story for their autumn issue. The bad news is that it needs polishing up. She offered to send notes and suggestions, provided I was ok with that. Obviously, I replied that I would be more than happy to look over anything she sent. I thought this would be a great chance to see how magazine editors think and point out things that annoy them in a story (the instances where one can learn new things are so many after all!).

The problem is that it’s been almost a week since then and I still haven’t received her notes and suggestions, to the point where I’m getting worried she may had second thoughts about the whole thing. I asked a friend of mine, who is far more experienced in the matter – since he has been published so many times – for any insights on what this delay might mean. So, the plan is to send a follow up email tomorrow and ask about the notes. If she says no to the story, well, no harm done I guess, though I wouldn’t mind having another story published šŸ™‚

In other news, the novel progresses steadily. Word count indicates that I wrote just over 6700 words this week, which is not great but considering the alternative of not being able to write anything at all (I just shuddered at the thought), it’s ok-ish :/ Grand total so far is 48000 words, so I’m a little under 43% of what the final word count for the 1st draft should be.

Hopefully, next week I will have some good news to share with you, namely another upcoming publication. Cross your fingers for me please šŸ™‚

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 4 Comments

Published again!!!

So many things happened in the past week and all of them great!

I have good news my friends; I’m going to be published again. Voluted tales, a literary magazine, has honoured me by accepting a short story of mine and it’s scheduled for publication before the end of the year. I don’t have a definitive date yet but once I have one I will let you know and give you a link to the story itself. For the time being, if you are interested in taking the time in checking the magazine out, their web address is at here.

I’m very excited about this acceptance, as this story is dearest to me and also the one that sparked the novel I’m currently working on. I spoke about it here. It’s the one short story I have worked the most on and it’s also the very first one that I ever sent out to magazines, not to mention that it’s also the second story I had ever written in my life (the first one was just so I could practice some exercises I had read about and I needed a completed story). As a result it’s also the one that has accumulated the most rejections. I was lucky enough for some of them to be personal rejection letters, which had very helpful comments that I later used to improve not only that story but also the ones that followed. It was thanks to this story that I managed to be published earlier in the year by Beyond Imagination. So you can understand how partial I am to this story.

Over the past months that I have been trying to find a home for it and ending up getting rejected, I very often thought about hiring an editor to help me pinpoint the mistakes I was unable to see. It would have been of great help to me to see how proper editing is done and see the small details he/she would add and make the story shine. I think it would have helped me considerably, cause I would have learned something new. Guess I’ll have to wait a little longer for that to happen but at some point down the road (not too far down the road, mind you) I hope will have the chance to work with such a professional. I think I can learn things from it.

In other news, the novel I’m working on progresses somewhat slower but hasn’t stopped. Writing on a cellphone is not easy (my eyes can testify to that, lol). I finished two more scenes, so that’s about 6200 words in total. It’s not great but it’s not bad either. Currently I’m stuck because of my nemesis, the dialogues. I can never seem to get them right or at least good enough. If you have any insights to offer with material on how to write good dialogues, please share šŸ™‚

I also came up with an idea for another story (whether it will be a book or short story or something in between is something that I haven’t decided yet). Never before had I ever felt the need to wake up because of an idea getting lodged into my head (no, it wasn’t a dream), but it was enough to get me out of bed and start taking notes about it, while my eyes were still closed. To be honest, I hadn’t had a new idea for a while (I have taken notes on many things and ideas since I started writing) and this one was god-sent. The only bad thing is that I can’t (or rather, I shouldn’t) work on it any more, until the current project is finished. Otherwise I’m risking not finishing anything. I am very excited about it though. Seems promising but only time will tell if it will be good enough.

Finally, a friend I came to know through this blog that has supported me considerably during my darker mood swings or when I got discouraged by rejections, has just published her first novel. Her name is Dee King and her book is a YA novel. The author’s blog is here. You can find all the necessary information about the book there. If you have the time or the curiosity, stop by her blog and check her book out. I’m really proud of her. Finishing a book is not an easy thing to do, as I’ve now come to understand šŸ™‚

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 3 Comments

The story I’m currently writing

A few weeks ago I had mentioned that I was working on two novel-length stories; a medieval fantasy and a post apocalyptic one. I had also mentioned that the medieval one was going to be a very long one, since it dealt with 6 different POV characters and a great deal of things happening.

Since then, I’ve read a fair amount of articles written by agents on how easy it is for a newcomer to break into the industry with anything longer than 100k words. I have yet to find one article that says it can happen (if you have read one, though, and you happen to remember it, please send me a link. I’m interested in things like that). The reason is that even if the agent likes the story, they have a hard time convincing a publisher to back it up financially, since the writer isn’t an established one. They fear (and it makes sense, to a certain extent) that without an established audience the book will fail financially.

For this reason, I decided it was time for me to focus on the post apocalyptic story. That doesn’t mean that I have discarded the other one; far from it. I still come up with ideas and take notes whenever I can. When the times is right, I will tackle that behemoth of a story but probably not before I have managed to have some novels under my belt.

So, what’s this post apocalyptic story about?

The title will most likely be “The Darkening” and it will deal with the difficulties one particular survivor faces, his isolation and the madness that creates and hidden secrets from his past that will slowly emerge as the story goes one. So far, there are two twists in the story, one of which is directly related to the main character. Oh yeah, I should probably mention this: the shadow each person casts is alive and it kills the person that created it. So, humans have to live in darkness. Interesting setting, don’t you think? šŸ™‚

The story started off as a short story, no more than 2000 words in length and it’s one I’m still trying to find a home for in a magazine. It’s difficult though, since editors so far insist that it opens too many arcs and it feels to them like the part of a book. I didn’t get the idea to make it into a novel until long after I had finished it. In my eyes, the short story is complete and I’ll be extremely happy to see it published somewhere, since, as far as short stories go, this is my favourite one. It’s also the one I have worked the most on and the one that has gotten the most rejections so far.

So, this is what I’m working on at the moment.

Would you be interested in reading a sci-fi novel like that? Comment below and let me know what you think.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 7 Comments

Filter Words and their role in the ‘Show Don’t Tell’ rule

One of the most important advice I ever got in the past year and a half that I’ve been writing, was about “filter words”. Filter words are descriptive words that we very often tend to use when we write, especially if you are like me and have no previous writing experience or if your educational background has nothing to do with literature. It is also the one that is directly related to the so well known rule “show don’t tell.”

When I first read about the “show don’t tell” rule I saw the importance of it immediately but even though I always had in my mind when I wrote, I hadn’t really gotten a full grasp of it. For me at that time that rule simply meant “Don’t tell me he was angry, show me his reactions based on the character being angry.” It made sense and it still does; there’s nothing wrong with it, in fact, that’s the right way to do it. There is a however a great difference between writing “Jenny felt her rage bubbling” and writing “Jenny’s rage bubbled.” Similarly, writing “Tim heard the wolf cry in the distance” may not be wrong BUT writing “the wolf cried in the distance” is far better and more captivating for the reader. After all, everything we write is the reader’s pleasure, right? Well, most of the times anyway.

The first example in each case uses a filter word (felt and heard). The second doesn’t and goes for a more direct approach and description. In fact, in the second example, the second phrase by omitting the filter word “heard” also forces us to remove the subject from the sentence (Tim), which can be found either in a previous sentence in the same paragraph or in a following one.

Here’s a list of filter words that I have found flooding my earlier manuscripts and my first drafts:

to sound/to sound like
to see
to consider
to hear
to note
to think
to notice
to touch
to realise
to watch
to look
to hope
to seem
to feel/to feel like
can
to be able to
to decide
to know

All of the above (and probably more than just them) are considered as filter words. There may other terms for them but that’s how I came to know them. When these words are used, they create a barrier between the reader and what the character experiences in the story and as such, they create distance.

Naturally, there are occasions where using these words as in the examples I mentioned earlier, it’s necessary. They are particularly useful when one writes about a dream and want to show that distance of what is real and what isn’t. Use with moderation, though, cause a dream often has a profound effect. Generally speaking, whenever you want to add tension and want the reader to feel immersed in the scene or in the feeling, avoid them. I’ve come to terms with using them during my first drafts, though the more I write and I practice, the more I find myself to be aware of them making their way into my writing and rearranging my thoughts as I write them down. Remember last
week’s post about the importance of writing on a daily basis? It helps a lot in cases like this, because you get to practice.

Have a look at your current and older manuscripts. Do these words appear anywhere? Were you aiming for tension when you used them? If yes, have you considered revising that part and adding more tension by simply removing that filter word? I know my writing has gone up a level since I learned about it and implemented it on my manuscripts. I’m sure yours could benefit from it too. Also, have you found any other filter words like the above? If so, please post them in the comments below, so more aspiring writers can benefit.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 3 Comments

The importance of writing on a daily basis

Now that the excilaration, thrill and happiness of the previous (and so far only) publication eases, I found myself not knowing what to write here in the blog. So today I thought it might be a good idea to say a thing or two about the importance of daily routine in writing.
When in late March 2013 I took the “leap of faith” and started writing for the first time, I kept reading advice about how important it was for not only the professional writer but for the aspiring one to have and maintain a daily routine around writing. The people who advocated that said that it helped them to be in touch with the story or finish the story in time or not get bored by it etc etc.

I on the other hand advocated at the time that inspiration and, to a certain extent, willingness to sit down and write was not something that would come to the writer whenever he/she summoned it but when it chose to visit the writer. The phrase “I’m not your whore to summon me whenever you desire me” (unfortunatelly I can’t seem to remember who said that reffering to his/her muse but I think it was a Greek poet) was the phrase that kept coming to mind back then. I knew I had to write something each day to be in touch with the joy I got out of writing but I wouldn’t push myself to extremes to write a thousand words. I did however force myself for a time to write a very short story (flash story some would say it) of about 700-1000 words almost each day so I wouldn’t get rusty, IF and only IF I had an image to describe (I like coming up with stories derived from images or photos). I did this thinking that IF I ever manage to land a contract to publish my work, I would have deadlines to follow and it would be better if I were to have some practice on writing on a daily basis. Too many ifs were in my head at that time. Not many things can happen with ifs…

All this changed when I read Stephen King’s memoir/advice called “On Writing”. In it, King said that writers should write each day (weekends and holidays included) up to 2000 word and read as much as possible. He too mentions the reasons I wrote earlier but he also argued that one couldn’t aspire to be a writer without doing that. And for some reason, it was THEN that I decided I wanted to not only write for my pleasure, content on dreaming of being a published writer (at some point in the oh-so-distant-future) BUT I also had to make it happen. I don’t know what kicked in or what happened that moment when I read that line in that book but it was enough to shove me into a different mode. If one was to argue that book failed to teach me anything new, regarding techniques used to write decently, it certainly did NOT fail to motivate me. I don’t know how or why, I just know it did.

I’m glad it did.

Now I write each day 1500-2000 words each day, unless I have some editing to do for a rejected short story (they come in heaps). But, given that I’m not Stephen King nor will I ever be, I have found that working on a project day in, day out for longer than 1 month, I get bored and when that happens I can’t produce more than 300 words. It is then that I take a break and work on something else, usually a new short story or edit something else previously done. I do that for a week or maybe two. Then I’m back at the project I took a break
from. If for whatever reason I have to miss a day’s writing, the rest of the day turns sour, I’m grumpy and I feel guilty for not writing.

Does it work? So far, yes. Does it pay off? YES! Without a doubt, yes! Once I call it a day, I start reading for an hour or an hour and a half (in addition to my reading before I go to bed which is another hour or so). Have I seen improvement on my writing quality? Yes, but that is subjective. Rejections keep coming. I know, however, that it’s probably due to me being at the beginning of a very long and arduous road and due to me writing in a different language than my own.

Knowing that most people who decide to write have day jobs, families etc, I would add to Mr. King’s statement that it’s not important just how much one writes BUT it’s important that it happens on a daily basis, even if it’s for no more than 20 minutes.

I now firmly believe this road leads somewhere. Don’t know where yet.