Benjamin King's Blog
May 31, 2014
The HONEST Fifteen Minutes of Fame
I'm new to the Ebook scene. I had written a book about three years ago and decided to throw it away, but my wife liked it and persuaded me to polish it a little and have it published. It's a regional piece -set in Tennessee and Kentucky - and the first few people that read it must have been from that area because they went crazy over it. I put it on Amazon's KDP select and gave away a thousand copies.
Got all those good, 5-star reviews, and then some guy tore it a new ***hole - said the ending was TOO GOOD. I reacted the same way Dan Brown (DaVinci Code) reacted to his multitudinous negative reviews. It made me angry. Then I thought about it and cooled off and accepted this new literary age.
These days, half the population writes books and the other half critiques them. You don't need an official title or any training to do either. Everyone likes to see their words in print, and if you don't have the imagination and patience to struggle with a story line and figure out all the things that should go WRONG in your book for about a hundred thousand words, you have another choice - you can be a REVIEWER.
As Briscoe Darling of the Andy Griffith show said, "More power to ye."
By the way: the characters that ended up getting a little too happy in my first episode, WHEN A LADY LIES, now get a shot at acting a little more disappointed as the curtain falls.
I've already written a sequel, THE MIRROR DON'T LIE, and I can't wait to put it out there and give all those reviewers something to do with their time.
Got all those good, 5-star reviews, and then some guy tore it a new ***hole - said the ending was TOO GOOD. I reacted the same way Dan Brown (DaVinci Code) reacted to his multitudinous negative reviews. It made me angry. Then I thought about it and cooled off and accepted this new literary age.
These days, half the population writes books and the other half critiques them. You don't need an official title or any training to do either. Everyone likes to see their words in print, and if you don't have the imagination and patience to struggle with a story line and figure out all the things that should go WRONG in your book for about a hundred thousand words, you have another choice - you can be a REVIEWER.
As Briscoe Darling of the Andy Griffith show said, "More power to ye."
By the way: the characters that ended up getting a little too happy in my first episode, WHEN A LADY LIES, now get a shot at acting a little more disappointed as the curtain falls.
I've already written a sequel, THE MIRROR DON'T LIE, and I can't wait to put it out there and give all those reviewers something to do with their time.
April 20, 2014
Start in the Middle
When a Lady Lies
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was, "Start in the middle." When I began writing full-length pieces, I laid down tons of background and character sketches - things that put the reader to sleep on the same page every night - the first page. I finally learned to start in the middle of the action where you can hook the reader and tempt him to learn HOW the character came to be in such a tight spot. That's how my new book starts, but it didn't at first. On the third re-write I discovered my starting point. By the way, I'm discounting this book for a couple of weeks in case anyone wants to read it. Tell me about your book, its beginning, how you chose that point in the story, or correct me if you think I'm wrong. Let's talk.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was, "Start in the middle." When I began writing full-length pieces, I laid down tons of background and character sketches - things that put the reader to sleep on the same page every night - the first page. I finally learned to start in the middle of the action where you can hook the reader and tempt him to learn HOW the character came to be in such a tight spot. That's how my new book starts, but it didn't at first. On the third re-write I discovered my starting point. By the way, I'm discounting this book for a couple of weeks in case anyone wants to read it. Tell me about your book, its beginning, how you chose that point in the story, or correct me if you think I'm wrong. Let's talk.
April 12, 2014
The mechanical side of things
I'll start this blog page by saying I love the ART of language. But at the same time, I love the science of language. I believe in standards. I believe in certain rules of grammar and punctuation. These rules are almost as important as knowing which side of the road you should occupy. There is also a way to tell a story and tell it right. In his essay of 1895, How to Tell a Story, Mark Twain says,"I do not claim I can tell a story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told." That's what we're all looking for - how to tell our stories and how to do it with finesse and grace. I'd like to start a discussion on the subject with readers and writers alike. If anyone is interested I have a few little pointers I've picked up along the way, and I'm certain you do too.
