Working Writer Wednesday
is a weekly meme based on the Wannabe Writer meme hosted by Sarah at Confessions of the Un-Published.
This meme is what prompted me to start Writer Quirk, so I am
thankful to Sarah for creating it and allowing ANYONE (even a
quirkster like me) to join up. So go visit her site and the others who
participate. Do it.Where I am in the writing process: Pretty much the same as last week.
My current problem(s): I'm still not getting enough written, this week due to the time drain that real life is. I also am having those voices screaming, "THIS IS ALL DRAGON DUNG!!!" which is not all that helpful.
Sarah's ???: Thoughts on e-publishing books?
My answer: Though I know the traditional publishing route can be long and arduous, I prefer it to e-publishing if you are really wanting to sell your work to the reading public. I know there are those authors out there who have been discovered through their e-published or self-published works, but the numbers are minimal to those who get an agent and have their work shopped to publishers. And from what I have read over the two years I have been writing seriously, self-pub road can get expensive if you plan to travel to do signings or promotions, or market your work. Also, I would not want to have my book out in any kind of public print without a professional editor going over it. If you are self-publishing, either you don't get that or you have to pay out-of-pocket to get it.
If you just want to see your book in print (or e-print) and aren't worried about sales, do it. But for me, I would only e-pub if I had done absolutely everything I could to get that MS published traditionally.
My ???: I saw a question in the book blogosphere recently about weird character names and I was wondering what you guys think. Do you like strange/odd/unusual character names (or nicknames) or do you prefer more normal names? Does it bother you as a reader if a name is too weird or too generic?
That's it for this time!
Thanks for
visiting!
I don't really care for too weird. Katnis. Weird. Tamine (or whatever his name is. Tam.) Also weird. But that doesn't stop me from loving those characters. I just the name really doesn't matter. I perfer names that are slighting weird. Like Clary or Jace or Simon. (In real life I know no one by those names, but it wouldn't be impossible.) I think a good miz of semi-weird (unique) and regular works best.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't mind odd names unless they're horrible re-spellings of a common name. You know, those names where it looked somebody just smashed their face into the keyboard, but when you sound it out, it's actually just something simple like "Emily" or "David." I should not have to spend 10 minutes sounding out a name to figure out what the heck its supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteLike Sarah, I also was not a huge fan of the name Katniss. I'm not sure exactly why. It just looks ugly to me.
I agree with both of you, sort-of, lol. I like re-spellings as long as they aren't the smash-your-keyboard kind (actual, reasonable spellings I guess) and I like to be able to pronounce them fairly easily, but I don't mind originality. I know one of my WIPs has lots of characters with lots of strange names, lol.
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't mind the name Katniss except that I don't really like Kat- names. I see Kat being used often to denote a strong/tough/cool girl(like Katniss, but also Katsa from Graceling or Kat in Heist Society) so I think it gets overused. However I do think Katniss is quite original as far as names go, so I guess I'm torn. Peeta, however, still irks me as a name though I like the character.