(no subject)
Ok, so I didn't end up sitting down and work on my writing last night, instead I went over to my brothers and hung out. However, I did make use of my time (and his DSL) last night and tonight. I've been doing some research on publications that would be likely to accept contemporary/modern fantasy, seems very few publications do, and those that I could find that printed them, printed an exceedingly wide range. None exclusive to modern fantasy. So I suppose I'll be sending any manuscripts to General Fiction publications and perhaps to some Sci-fi/Fantasy mags. On another note, it occurred to me that I'll have to use a fictional city/town in any modern fantasy I write, as after living in Ashland for 8-9 years and in the general area for another 4 or so, I still don't know enough of Ashland to use it as a setting, not that it would make that great of a setting for any kind of fantasy, but if I can't get a good feel for the place where I live, I highly doubt any amount of research will give me a good handle on other cities to which I've never been.
I suppose it would be wiser to have a story before I start looking for a buyer, but now I have a general idea of what constraints need to be placed on my writing, such as length, and various style aspects. I already know a few of my difficulties in writing, such as a penchant for run-on sentences, and I'm fairly sure I dangle predicates... or is that prepositions... actually, after refreshing myself on what exactly they are, I don't think I dangle all that much. And on that note, I should probably be careful not to abuse the elipsis, or start a sentence with And, unless of course it's a quote, in which case I can get away with bloody nearly anything as long as I'm consistent between characters I suppose.
The writing may end up going nowhere in the end, but damnit, I've always wanted to write. The most I'll be out is perhaps a few printer cartridges, some paper, and postage. I enjoy writing... just about anything, as may be obvious from my consistently long posts, I just need to work past the initial blocks which I always have, as is also likely obvious from my sporadic posting rate and extreme delay before writing anything (though that was only partially block). I need to come up with some way to actively brain storm some ideas, perhaps a little TLC or discovery would be good, both for fantasy and sci-fi (some of the speculative nature shows TLC shows from time to time are VERY interesting for either genre). Some of the Science Newsfeeds I've been storing up and mostly not reading for the past 4 months oughtta be good to.
And of course, if anyone knows of any magazines and such (I have absolutely no problem with pulps, I rather like them), that publish any of the aforementioned genres (sci-fi, fantasy, contemporary fantasy), and any related genres, please let me know. Of course hard copy publications are preferred as they tend to have better pay scales, and I'd rather use my time with the potential of making some money, because... well... I like money... it tastes good with a little mustard. And if said publication has a website an address would be useful too (as the names of many mags I have ran across tend to be rather common words, making them tricky to hunt down).
On another note entirely, here's an interesting article for anyone interested in evolution and genetics ( Genetic Divergence Of Man From Chimp... ). Basically, what it's saying, is that part of the 1% of genetics difference between humans and chimpanzees, is involved in the reproductive system. The human male's sperm is more likely to survive longer, creating a higher sperm count, which assists with a higher human fertility rate. Incidentally, the same mechanism which aids our sperm in surviving longer aids cancerous cells in surviving. Personally, I think we got the bum deal, not only do we have a higher chance of having kids, when, for most people that's the farthest thing from their mind when they get them, but we also have less of a chance to fight off cancer. And for that matter, from the way the article reads, the genes in the differing 1% don't really explain the differences in human and chimp brains. So we coulda probably kept the lower birth rate, higher cancer survival rate, and still gotten our shiny new brains.
I suppose it would be wiser to have a story before I start looking for a buyer, but now I have a general idea of what constraints need to be placed on my writing, such as length, and various style aspects. I already know a few of my difficulties in writing, such as a penchant for run-on sentences, and I'm fairly sure I dangle predicates... or is that prepositions... actually, after refreshing myself on what exactly they are, I don't think I dangle all that much. And on that note, I should probably be careful not to abuse the elipsis, or start a sentence with And, unless of course it's a quote, in which case I can get away with bloody nearly anything as long as I'm consistent between characters I suppose.
The writing may end up going nowhere in the end, but damnit, I've always wanted to write. The most I'll be out is perhaps a few printer cartridges, some paper, and postage. I enjoy writing... just about anything, as may be obvious from my consistently long posts, I just need to work past the initial blocks which I always have, as is also likely obvious from my sporadic posting rate and extreme delay before writing anything (though that was only partially block). I need to come up with some way to actively brain storm some ideas, perhaps a little TLC or discovery would be good, both for fantasy and sci-fi (some of the speculative nature shows TLC shows from time to time are VERY interesting for either genre). Some of the Science Newsfeeds I've been storing up and mostly not reading for the past 4 months oughtta be good to.
And of course, if anyone knows of any magazines and such (I have absolutely no problem with pulps, I rather like them), that publish any of the aforementioned genres (sci-fi, fantasy, contemporary fantasy), and any related genres, please let me know. Of course hard copy publications are preferred as they tend to have better pay scales, and I'd rather use my time with the potential of making some money, because... well... I like money... it tastes good with a little mustard. And if said publication has a website an address would be useful too (as the names of many mags I have ran across tend to be rather common words, making them tricky to hunt down).
On another note entirely, here's an interesting article for anyone interested in evolution and genetics ( Genetic Divergence Of Man From Chimp... ). Basically, what it's saying, is that part of the 1% of genetics difference between humans and chimpanzees, is involved in the reproductive system. The human male's sperm is more likely to survive longer, creating a higher sperm count, which assists with a higher human fertility rate. Incidentally, the same mechanism which aids our sperm in surviving longer aids cancerous cells in surviving. Personally, I think we got the bum deal, not only do we have a higher chance of having kids, when, for most people that's the farthest thing from their mind when they get them, but we also have less of a chance to fight off cancer. And for that matter, from the way the article reads, the genes in the differing 1% don't really explain the differences in human and chimp brains. So we coulda probably kept the lower birth rate, higher cancer survival rate, and still gotten our shiny new brains.