Do you write stories?

[Grandea GTR]

...Sounds interesting. What was it (or should it be "what is it" instead) about?

This is alot to put, so I'll separate everything with spoilers.

Spoiler: Part 1

A war begins between two races: the Espers and the Elves. During this time, a 15-year old boy by the name of Frederick Hardt escapes and runs away from a swordsmanship academy and runs in with a similarly-aged thief by the name of Galdenstein. The two boys soon end up running into the conflicts of the war, in which that alone changes its entire course. The shadow knights, a group consisting of mainly humans, foresee this an opportunity to join in the war against them, just to show who's the dominant race. Many events at this point begin to unfold.

Spoiler: Part 2

Three years have passed since the war started.
Now part of the Shadow Knights, Frederick, Galdenstein, and many other units attack an Elven fortress. After many hours of destruction and savagery, the Shadow Knights have been eliminated, and the two young men found themselves outnumbered. In order to give Frederick time to escape, Galdenstein distracts the opposing force, and allows Frederick to get away. On his way out, Frederick finds a lone elven girl named Asela in danger of getting killed by the collapsing rubble. Conflicted with thoughts of who's good and who's bad, Frederick rescues her and the two escape the fortress.

Four years later...

Frederick, now donning the alias "Garen", goes into hiding with Asela, knowing that he is wanted by his own unit for what can be considered treason towards his own race. They soon are discovered in a small village by both Elves and Humans, and a whole new story unfolds...

Spoiler: Part 3

Over the years, thanks to the efforts of Frederick and Asela and what they have done within the war, Humans and Elves soon understood their differences amongst one another, and formed an alliance, thus ending one end of the conflict within the war. Many months later, Frederick and Asela were married and had two sons, named Lionel and Griffin. Soon after, however, chaos struck once again. Espers discovered of the family's location, and in order to save their children, the couple left the two across a river.

The brothers unfortunately separated ways, and Lio is discovered in the Province of Kiersil by a Swordsmanship Academy instructor.

Twenty-five years have passed since the war started.

A 15-year old Lionel Hardt runs away from a swordsmanship academy, yearning for adventure. Early in his adventures, he meets a similarly-aged boy by the name of Mocogando Ruethgar, who is a Dwarabben, a nomad-like race known for their generally short stature. Over time, the two bonded greatly and gone through various adventures, getting themselves involved with many things, such as the Espers, the Elves, and the Humans themselves. As months have passed, Lio, determined with his sense of justice, is recruited in the Shadow Knights, where he would be spending 3 years fighting what comes his way.

Now 18, Lio narrowly escapes death in a failed mission of defending a fort. Armed with an ancient sword and his past general's longcoat, Lio returns back home, where he reunites with Moco. Over his adventures, Lio soon learns the responsibility of being an adult and the consequences.

Spoiler: Part 4

Thirty-one years have passed since the war started.

Lio and Moco begin another journey across new lands overseas, where they are attacked by Espers Dreadnoughts and narrowly escape death.

Washing up ashore in the Province of Gimalla, Lio and Moco find themselves in another heap of trouble, in and out of the war...

 

[JKgo]

...There's something that's been stumping me for a while - writing the so-called action set pieces. I want to keep it reasonably fast paced and on the nose, but also I find the need to explain certain things, like details of weapons, or movements of the participants. After reading a few fairly "action-y" scenes from other books, I just can't seem to strike certain balance.

Am I over thinking this? Can I trust the reader to understand what I'm trying to convey? I mean, describing a fire fight is a little simpler compared to a hand to hand duel, as I found out. Should I trust the audience has seen enough... oh Idon't know, kung fu movies to get what I'm saying?

 

[photonrider]

^

Try writing it as if you were describing a movie that's taking place right before your eyes. What are the technical details you would need to express to give the reader a 'feel' of the action?
The weight of a gun? It's size? The speed of a machine or how uncontrollable it is? Put the reader firmly right into the action so that they are not detoured by technicalities.

There may be other parts of the story where the lead-up to the action will educate the reader as to what the antagonist is preparing to use against the protagonist, and vice versa, so that when the action scenes are initiated the weaponry, environment, and so on are already plugged into the readers neurons.

 

[Mrs Wolfe]

I write YA (Young Adult) Urban Fantasy, YA Urban Fantasy, and YA Dystopia. I'm dabbling in New Adult Urban Fantasy with my current novel (in the outlining stage, not yet drafted). I have two novels in revisions and one complete first draft that I haven't addressed yet simply because of its drastic structural issues. Not sure my skill level is up to it! There are four incomplete novels in my junk folder (where they deserve to be, frankly), but they were great practice.

I'm a plotter, and I fast draft with a break after each to let my writing rest and to give me a chance to recover and decide what I intend to write next. Also, when I finish a fast draft, I have come to loath the piece and need a chance to take a breath, stand back, and look it over with a less emotional and invested eye. I know I've waited long enough when it becomes a puzzle to fix rather than The Worst Thing I've Ever Written.

I'm kind of obsessive about writing, and I've been studying, practicing, and watching the publishing industries closely since 2010 when I decided to take things more seriously. Fortunately @Wolfe is very patient and makes a fabulous listener whenever I want to talk about techniques or industry changes. His Journalism degree makes him convenient for desperate grammar questions at unholy hours. Not that I'd ever take advantage and pick his brain or anything. He doesn't read much fiction, so he isn't a great sounding board for plot or characterization issues, but his red pen does fabulous things to my prose! He makes me sound a LOT better than my writing actually is.

 

[JKgo]

...That sounds fantastic, @Mrs Wolfe!! Lucky you. Wish I had someone like that around me.

Oh wait a sec here, you say you "specialize" in YA genre...?? Are you.. a certain Ms. Meyer, by any chance?????

 

[Mrs Wolfe]

...That sounds fantastic, @Mrs Wolfe!! Lucky you. Wish I had someone like that around me.

Oh wait a sec here, you say you "specialize" in YA genre...?? Are you.. a certain Ms. Meyer, by any chance?????

I'm just lucky that he never gets tired of listening and looking things over. Either that or he is spectacularly good at faking interest.

Would be that I was and that I had her bank account! She writes YA Paranormal Romance though, and I don't care for her books. I tried several times to read the first one, but I couldn't push through the 'romance' part of it. Stalking isn't very romantic to me, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies! Her description is good though and nicely atmospheric. I'm weak on description, so that really popped out to me, and I was impressed. I could see why they were popular; they just weren't my cup of tea.

For action scenes, maybe you can improve the tension and pacing by writing shorter sentences and stretching the scene out longer, as paradoxical as that sounds. Drawing the scene out builds anticipation, and long sentences encourage the reader to skip ahead or, too complex, knocks them out of the story. A character in a exciting circumstance isn't going to think details about an item they use (unless they're admiring/enjoying that thing specifically and this is a point of the scene)... they would probably be focused on their efforts to reach the scene's goal. For combat, I imagine the reader can fill in quite a bit.

 

[photonrider]

OM Gosh, yes - Mrs Wolfe knows what she's talking about. Nail on the head.

Looks like we got ourselves a little Riters' Korner.

I have a stack of rejection slips (from my early days of writing) and I really don't know why we keep these things, or why we're proud of them; maybe the coals we walked must be preserved.
Now I'm on the other side of the fence, and I know how hard the book trade is being affected.
This is unfortunate. There's quite nothing like a good book.

The best part? Never needs batteries. And you can sit up a tree with it with no fear of dropping a word.

 

[Mrs Wolfe]

I never tire of talking about writing! And really I never talk much about it with anyone but Wolfe and occasionally my long-suffering dad (who does his best to sound interested by nodding periodically and making 'hmm' noises until he changes subject).

What do you write, @photonrider ?

I have to admit I've never worked up the nerve to submit anywhere, so you have my admiration!

To be fair, I've only hit 'The End' and done revisions on the last three novels, and I'm really shaky on revisions. I don't feel I'm far enough along to start the rejection slog. I'm working on finding a YA reading victim for beta reading so I can work on the big picture stuff. @Wolfe is great at line edits and grammar, but content isn't his thing.

And I'm hugely torn with the way the industry is heading. As a YA author, half of my possible audience is unlikely to have free access to e-readers or the ability to purchase books on a whim, so it seems traditional publishing is the better route to go, thus having physical, easily-loaned books that might make it into the library system. On the other hand, half of the YA reading market is adult women (like me!), who are likely to both own an e-reader and have significant spending money they're willing to drop. Add to this the fact that I'm loathe to give up rights to the worlds I create... I don't want a book that tanks and never be able to write there again.

Also, traditional publishing usually requires you to do your own marketing, and if I'm doing that anyway, why should I give up control over my worlds? Even a chance at getting a good editor prior to publication with traditional is slim now it seems. Agents don't necessarily help with editing, and it seems the expectation now is that you present them with publish-ready materials.

On the other hand, if I want to self pub, I don't have the resources to do a good cover or hire a good content editor. I can't expect Wolfe to do all of my line editing, especially at the rate I write, and while I can probably do e-book formatting myself (I use Scrivener, and there are lovely tutorials on specifically just this thing), it would be weighing time involved in learning this skill vs. cost of having someone who knows how do it format it and have it be assured as professional quality. Websites can be expensive, and even talking to people on the internet is hugely intimidating for me. @Wolfe encouraged me to join GTPlanet partially so I'd get used to talking to people and not break out in hives every time I get a post notification. I hear speaking to strangers is required.

I'm really not sure which way I'll jump in the end. If I reach that point. But this is all future pondering and doesn't currently affect my course of action. Advice is always welcome.

I write what equates to penny fiction or the old pulp science fiction novels. It's meant to be read and enjoyed but not really pondered, and it's meant to be a spur of the moment purchase. Not serious, or deep. Just a fun read.

 

[Grandea GTR]

Has anybody ever run into writer's block here? Worst feeling ever.

 

[niky]

Has anybody ever run into writer's block here? Worst feeling
ever.

Just about every single day.

Helps to walk away and approach the thing from a completely different angle. Admittedly, writing car reviews isn't quite like writing fiction, not when we're following a cookie cutter formula.

Then again, some fiction is cookie cutter, so there are still parallels.

But for the magazine, when we do full features and reviews, we have free rein. There, the most frustrating thing is working in a hook... or a point of interest to build the story around. At times, you simply get stuck midway, with no easy way out.

Since the pieces are so short (1,200 words max), I have the nuclear option... dump the piece entirely and approach it from a new angle. If you're working on a single chapter wherein this happens, perhaps hitting that wall is an opportunity to review the thing and decide if it's worth salvaging, or whether you might have to approach it from a fresh tack.

---

Shame I no longer have time to indulge in fiction. I used to write short form poetry / prosetry, but I struggled to tie anything beyond five thousand words into a cohesive whole. Instead, I found myself writing movie-style vignettes. Snapshots of larger stories that happen in the background. It was fun, and something I'd like to try again.

 

[photonrider]

I . . am beginning . . to like this thread too much. This is getting tiresome. With the Food thread I can drop in a pic and it says a thousand words, over here I have to write a thousand words to paint a single pic.

What do you write, @photonrider ?

Forum posts, of course, as a verifiable fact.

I started off as a junior Copywriter in a somewhat posh (blue chip) Ad Agency and worked myself up to Creative Director; so as you can imagine I wrote a lot of stuff that millions of people have read. And acted upon.
That'll do for a start.

Has anybody ever run into writer's block here? Worst feeling ever.

Yes. But never when writing fiction. Try planning an ad campaign, though. . .

Niky's post synopsises totally the immense stress of technical, editorial, or any sort of documentary writing.
That is hell-fire and brimstone and it is your own nose on the grindstone, day after day, column after column, article after article.


More later - there is so much to comment on and discuss in here.
Writing as work is harnessing your neurons to ace a technical racetrack.
Writing fiction is free roam.

 

[Driving Park]

I do collaborative writing. I've written a bit by myself, but nothing substantial. The grammatical/analytical part of it comes easily...having a good idea, not so much.

I've always wanted to write a sci-fi novel, but with my many other interests and passions it will likely be many years before I have time to do so. Music plays second fiddle to no one!

 

[JKgo]

The grammatical/analytical part of it comes easily...having a good idea, not so much.

... Then you're completely opposite of what I'm having a hard time with.

 

[CarBastard]

I cannot believe such an awesome thread! Allow me to drop by...

...right after I'm done with this 🤬 article I haven't written yet and is due to be published today .

 

[Grandea GTR]

I cannot believe such an awesome thread! Allow me to drop by...

...right after I'm done with this 🤬 article I haven't written yet and is due to be published today .

You work with a news company or something? Just curious.

 

[Mrs Wolfe]

Has anybody ever run into writer's block here? Worst feeling ever.

Oh, definitely! Although I'm far more likely to run into 'easily distracted writer' with a failure to get my rump in my chair and WRITE. But when I'm blocked, it usually means I've created some sort of huge error or plot hole, and I need to sit back and evaluate what I've already written to figure out what I mangled. I ran into block a lot when I was pantsing, but now that I outline and plot, it only happens when I've written myself into a problem.

There, the most frustrating thing is working in a hook... or a point of interest to build the story around. At times, you simply get stuck midway, with no easy way out.

Since the pieces are so short (1,200 words max), I have the nuclear option... dump the piece entirely and approach it from a new angle. If you're working on a single chapter wherein this happens, perhaps hitting that wall is an opportunity to review the thing and decide if it's worth salvaging, or whether you might have to approach it from a fresh tack.

Hooks are hard! There's so much you have to achieve in the first five pages of a novel, including the hook, that it often makes me want to pull my hair out.

I really wish I had the nuclear option to use sometimes. I have set aside entire books because my skill level simply wasn't up to fixing the structural plot holes I'd made, but this is hugely frustrating. Six months of effort culminating in... just the time I'd spent practicing. Not that practice is bad, but still. Frustrating! On a smaller scale though, getting blocked on a chapter is hugely useful because it tells me, before I reach the end of the book, I've goofed. Time to back up and look things over.

I started off as a junior Copywriter in a somewhat posh (blue chip) Ad Agency and worked myself up to Creative Director; so as you can imagine I wrote a lot of stuff that millions of people have read. And acted upon.
That'll do for a start.

I think that's a grand start! Copywriting is something I've looked at but haven't had to learn yet. You have my admiration for success in this field.

That is hell-fire and brimstone and it is your own nose on the grindstone, day after day, column after column, article after article.

More later - there is so much to comment on and discuss in here.
Writing as work is harnessing your neurons to ace a technical racetrack.
Writing fiction is free roam.

I worry that blogging will grind this way, and I'm hesitant to start something I can't maintain. I suppose fast drafting isn't far different so far as time spent grinding, at least in the short term. 2,000-4,000 words a day (sometimes more), every day, for two months or more to get that first draft. But I get a nice break to let it rest as soon as the draft is complete, and the subject is entirely under my control. It really is far easier than any of the technical writing I've had to do.

I do collaborative writing. I've written a bit by myself, but nothing substantial. The grammatical/analytical part of it comes easily...having a good idea, not so much.

I've always wanted to write a sci-fi novel, but with my many other interests and passions it will likely be many years before I have time to do so. Music plays second fiddle to no one!

Collaborative writing is hard, and I've had no success at it. Hats off to you! Collaborative fiction?

Good ideas come freely to me, but the grammatical/analytical part is something I'm struggling to learn. I want to be consistently good, or more realistically, consistently not horrible. After revisions, I might note. That first draft is another story entirely and probably makes my High School English teacher shudder periodically with no idea what might be the cause. I'm sorry, Mr. Z!

 

[niky]

Hooks are hard! There's so much you have to achieve in the first five pages of a novel, including the hook, that it often makes me want to pull my hair out.

I really wish I had the nuclear option to use sometimes. I have set aside entire books because my skill level simply wasn't up to fixing the structural plot holes I'd made, but this is hugely frustrating. Six months of effort culminating in... just the time I'd spent practicing. Not that practice is bad, but still. Frustrating! On a smaller scale though, getting blocked on a chapter is hugely useful because it tells me, before I reach the end of the book, I've goofed. Time to back up and look things over.

If you've been taking notes and have everything properly indexed and footnoted and whatnot, and if you think that some parts of the book are good... it might not be a waste... Not having experience writing novel length fiction (though editing novel length theses is pretty similar... ), but having read quite a bit on writing by my favorite writers... sometimes you can recycle scenes and ideas from stillborn works into full stories.

 

[JKgo]

...I haven't been writing for long, compared to many others here, but I'm quickly discovering a few things about myself. After speed-writing my first book, I realized I'm utterly hopeless at writing in sequence. So I've begun to write individual chapters first, treating each as its own little short story, and then trying to piece them in order when I'm somewhat satisfied with the initial draft. So far, it's been moderately successful (I think) so I'm gonna stick with this approach.

I encounter a block everyday - only way to unblock my head is to do things unrelated to writing. Vacuuming, washing dishes, brushing my teeth, stopping by a store to buy soda; the best time for me come up with stuff!! Weird, right?

 

[photonrider]

A good example of technical writing that can really have one tearing hair out by the clumpsful is the stuff that needs to be prepared for the NEWS Section of GTPlanet.
This is writing that requires a lot of hard work.
There is only one caveat to that - a person who loves to write will not only enjoy it but may give you a most creative piece that looks like it was effortless to write.

A good writer is never 'present' in their writing. It is only the subject matter that grabs the reader.
Experienced technical writers know this and capitalise on that - making the subject so colourful (with the appropriate language) and finding snippets of attention-grabbing information that readers cannot help themselves reading.
Advertising copywriters are handed this challenge on a platter every day.
After all, who wants to read advertisements?

One has to start out with something that grabs.
Instead of saying:

FREE!!

the ad copyrwiter may say something like:

SAVE 100%!! Hurry before it's all gone!

Then everybody comes running to give them their money (because after the ad gets their attention they find out that they have to 'Buy 1 - Get 1 free') to 'save' the 100%.

Simple bait and switch.

 

[Mrs Wolfe]

If you've been taking notes and have everything properly indexed and footnoted and whatnot, and if you think that some parts of the book are good... it might not be a waste... Not having experience writing novel length fiction (though editing novel length theses is pretty similar... ), but having read quite a bit on writing by my favorite writers... sometimes you can recycle scenes and ideas from stillborn works into full stories.

I lost my earliest novel attempts to a computer failure which may be why I obsessively back things up, online and offline, in multiple locations now. It was quite a learning experience! But of my newer works, two of the trashed novels are things I definitely intend to use over again, and I've kept good notes on them. I was using yWriter to write them, so I'll have to move them over to Scrivener, but that's fairly straightforward. The ideas in these two works were sound, but my skill level and execution were simply not advanced enough to write them well. I do intend to gut them in the future and reuse.

The earliest novels though are a total loss. Considering I wrote the first one when I was 14... this may not be a bad thing!

 

[Mrs Wolfe]

...I haven't been writing for long, compared to many others here, but I'm quickly discovering a few things about myself. After speed-writing my first book, I realized I'm utterly hopeless at writing in sequence. So I've begun to write individual chapters first, treating each as its own little short story, and then trying to piece them in order when I'm somewhat satisfied with the initial draft. So far, it's been moderately successful (I think) so I'm gonna stick with this approach.

I encounter a block everyday - only way to unblock my head is to do things unrelated to writing. Vacuuming, washing dishes, brushing my teeth, stopping by a store to buy soda; the best time for me come up with stuff!! Weird, right?

Makes sense! Each scene should have the full goal/conflict/resolution (yes, goal achieved/no, goal failed/yes, goal achieved BUT), and each chapter should have a larger arc of the same, building into the novel. It's perfectly reasonable to use your approach. And if it's working, it's working! I'll not argue with success. I am entirely sequential in my writing, and I wonder if shaking it up wouldn't help me learn new things.

Dishes and weeding are my best writing productivity times, followed closely by folding laundry. A clean house means I'm either blocked or inspired. Or both.

A good writer is never 'present' in their writing. It is only the subject matter that grabs the reader.
Experienced technical writers know this and capitalise on that - making the subject so colourful (with the appropriate language) and finding snippets of attention-grabbing information that readers cannot help themselves reading.

---------

Simple bait and switch.

So there's no 'voice' in technical writing? Or just in this particular type of technical writing? Or is it just a voice that makes the author disappear?

Oh, bait and switch, you must hang out with click bait and compare techniques at the bar or some such.

 

[JKgo]

...Way back in early years of high school I remember a class about baiting "techniques" or some such... Not that I remember school days in detail but I get the theory behind on how to reel in unsuspecting folks with a clever play of words.
Getting it and applying it are two different things though...

 

[Driving Park]

Collaborative writing is hard, and I've had no success at it. Hats off to you! Collaborative fiction?/

Yep, collaborative fiction. Usually in the form of roleplaying...so a combination of writing and D&D (which I've never played). I enjoy it a lot, but it would be nice to not have to wait for someone else to decide to continue the story all the time. Apart from music, it's my main creative outlet these days.

 

[JKgo]

Yep, collaborative fiction. Usually in the form of roleplaying...so a combination of writing and D&D (which I've never played). I enjoy it a lot, but it would be nice to not have to wait for someone else to decide to continue the story all the time. Apart from music, it's my main creative outlet these days.

...What happens if you don't like what your partner has come up with? Or vice versa?

 

[Driving Park]

...What happens if you don't like what your partner has come up with? Or vice versa?

Typically you'll know if you won't gel with another writer just by initial out of character posts and applications and such, so you can avoid getting into those. With larger groups it's not much of a problem because you can associate with the writers you want to in character, but with 1x1s (what we call two-person stories) you generally know a lot about how that person writes before you set anything up. After that, you just have to go with it and fit into the story that's been molded.

 

[JKgo]

Typically you'll know if you won't gel with another writer just by initial out of character posts and applications and such, so you can avoid getting into those. With larger groups it's not much of a problem because you can associate with the writers you want to in character, but with 1x1s (what we call two-person stories) you generally know a lot about how that person writes before you set anything up. After that, you just have to go with it and fit into the story that's been molded.

...Hmm. Sounds like a lot of work. I'm too lazy for that...

But I think I get the gist of it. Thanks. 👍

 

[Driving Park]

...Hmm. Sounds like a lot of work. I'm too lazy for that...

But I think I get the gist of it. Thanks. 👍

It can be pretty time consuming. With the amount of time I spend doing it I could probably get my solo writing going, but...I'll just ignore that logic for now.

 

[photonrider]

So there's no 'voice' in technical writing? Or just in this particular type of technical writing? Or is it just a voice that makes the author disappear?

'Voice' is a whole different concept to 'presence' - though I have to admit there are some writers - especially Automotive writers - whose articles or columns I would read first because I'm familiar with their lifestyles, or a particular chtuzpah that colors a certain twist of words that can be read and reread conceiving many different mental constructs.
'Voice' is a fascinating subject . . . oboy, we could burn the midnight candles over that one.

Oh, bait and switch, you must hang out with click bait and compare techniques at the bar or some such.

Try here for a better overview:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch

...What happens if you don't like what your partner has come up with? Or vice versa?

Collaborative writing is really tough. I'm always boggled when I read stuff that two or even three people have got together to write - a combined voice that can keep one totally distracted.
And writers who can achieve this together, as well as have a superfine editor that makes sure they've crossed their t's and dotted their i's . . . that makes for powerful reading of even complex texts.

 

[CarBastard]

You work with a news company or something? Just curious.

Naww, not at all. Just a small website I founded with a couple of "mates", sort of a local-centred SpeedHunters. I write articles about the local racing scene, owner clubs, tuning shops, etc. It's been a :censored:ing roller-coaster.

Anyways, I've always had a penchant for story-telling. I don't think I'm very good at it though and I'm really looking for ways to improve. One story I've had in the backburner for a long time is, obviously, related to a car and a seriously depressed man.

It takes place in my city...in a residencial unit too similar to mine. Honestly, that's how I pictured it initially. Our character wakes up early and doesn't even have the motivation to take a shower, he has a sip of budget scotch, curses his life and goes to get dressed. His high-school sweetheart smiles like nothing happens and wakes up to cook him breakfast while he gets dressed with a cheapskate suit because he works at an office but can't afford anything better. He walks towards the dinning room and gets lost looking at couple of pictures hanging by the table, specifically one that portraits the epic moment when Hans Hermann drove his Porsche under the railroad barriers in front of a speeding train at the '54 Mille Miglia. His wife comes with his breakfast and interrupts his musings, infuriating him. He holds his anger, eats his breakfast and askes her for the car keys to which she responds angrily. He's been less than passionate as of lately and seems distraught, hopeless. She calls his attention to these facts but he only picks up the keys and leaves with a grim mood.

That's up to where I've written.

I haven't quite figured out his back-story but he's supposed to be a business gradute who failed and ended up working for a prick. He's always loved motorsports but was never able to afford it and he ended up buying a crappy car for commuting to work, a Sandero GT Line, a Dacia Sandero with some stupid pinstriping and with an advertising campaign that cried "RACING CAR!!!". He gets into the car and bursts into tears, he then begins to bang his head against the steering wheel 'til he loses his conscience for a second. He opens his eyes, looks around and finds he's sitting in Penske's Porsche 917/30, you know, the blue and yellow one with DieHard sponsorship. He revs the engine in desbelief and sets off with a smile and a cloud of smoke. He drives to his workplace driving like a madman, seeing a racetrack full of competitors before his eyes. He does what he believes are awesome manouvres and he comes close to his workplace which is nearby, you guessed it, a railway crossing. It's an office building that does exist in real life close to the place where I went to high school. He notices the barriers are dropping and guns the accelerator with a confident smile, assured he'll live in Hermann's footsteps. The Porsche shoots at high speed and spears through under the barriers and in front of the only speeding locomotive we have in Bogotá. He's made it. The car gets to the other end of the railroad and does a 180* turn, allowing our driver to look at the passing train with a smile of pure bliss on his face and his eyes closed. The story cuts to a cafe where two old men are having some coffee and reading a newspaper with a headline that reads "Maniac smashes train" above a picture of the Sandero destroyed by the locomotive. The men comment about how the modern life turns people crazy and how everything was better back in the day...and that's about it.

So, hand on G27, I mean, heart, do you think it's worth writting?

 

[photonrider]

Good for a short story.
Maybe 2500 words and submitted in the Horror genre.

Some magazines still buy a good short story from a writer - just as a feature.
You may be paid anything from $200.00 to $500.00 for the story - depending on the magazine.
Sometimes they'll buy the story and just hang on to it.
Sometimes they'll buy the story and actually publish it years later.

As for turning it into a novel - there are only so many plots - and that is one of them.
Originality is nothing but judicious imitation, says Voltaire.
And I've read enough to know he's right.