Posts Tagged ‘writing’

The Third Short Story For the Collection Is Done

Posted: December 26, 2012 in ideas, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I’m on a roll! Today I finished the third short story for my scary story collection, The Quiet Game. Note: the name of the collection is The Quiet Game. The name of the short story is Samson Weiss’s Curse, and it’s a short story about a dybbuk haunting a senator over something the senator’s grandfather did several years ago. I think my father, who’s a rabbi and has told me for years to try writing something based on my experiences or on something that I know, will be happy to read this one, as it contains a spirit from Jewish folklore and two of the characters have Jewish last names, and one has a Jewish first name.

For those of you who don’t know, a dybbuk is the spirit of a dead person who comes back and possesses a living human being. Dybbuks have been featured in a few plays and stories, and the recent horror film The Possession, which I reviewed, is about a dybbuk. After watching that film and another film with a dybbuk as the antagoinst, I wanted to write a dybbuk story for myself, but I couldn’t think of a good idea for a dybbuk story beyond someone getting possessed. But then about a month ago, I saw an episode of the TV show Ghost Adventures where the location being investigated had involved some miners breaking into a vault and how two of the miners were double-crossed by an unknown third miner in the end. I can’t remember exactly which episode it was that I watched, but I remember wondering what would happen if the ghost of one of those miners came back and sought revenge, and wondering what had happened to the third miner afterwards. I already had the dybbuk idea, so I decided to incorporate the two ideas together and I got the basis for Samson Weiss’s Curse.

Writing this one was a lot of fun, because as I wrote I kept adding in a bunch of creepy aspects that I hadn’t originally envisioned in the story, including swarming bugs and creepy telephone calls. I also had planned a darker ending for the story, but that seemed anticlimatic once I actually got to the climax, so I decided to change the climax to something happier and with a bit of mystery. I have to say, I like this new ending better, but I bet there’s a lot I could improve upon and so I’m going to hand this story off to a friend to look at and critique.

Now I’m done writing for the day. Tomorrow I’ll start the fourth short story in the collection, and maybe I’ll get it done by the end of the weekend. The way I’m writing, I wouldn’t be surprised if the final collection comes out in late March, early Apirl, right in time for Passover. Thanks for reading, and wish me luck.

The Second Short Story For The Collection Is Done

Posted: December 23, 2012 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Reflections, short story, Writing
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And it was much shorter than the first short story. This one, called “Addict”, is just under 3000 words but it’s pretty extraordinary in itself. For example, I told it all in 2nd person. It’s also more literary in nature than my previous work, but it straddles the line between literary and genre in certain ways, and I like that ambiguous nature to it. But most importantly, it’s based on the experiences of a friend:

My friend, who I’ll call SA, mostly because that’s about as far from his real name as I can get, had an addiction to pornography and sex that he only told me because he felt he could trust me. It was very difficult for him. He never told anyone, and for a long time, he denied he had a problem, believing he just had a bigger libido than most. Eventually it got to be problematic for him though, and began to interfere with his life, his work and his studies. Eventually he sought help, and he’s moving ahead, one day at a time. He’s fallen off the bandwagon once or twice, but he’s apologized for his mistakes and gotten back on as soon as he can.

I’ve known this friend for a long time, so he knew he could trust me with this secret. He told me a lot about his struggles, and he still tells me. I got his permission to write this story only after I asked if I could use some of the stuff he’s gone through as base material. He told me that I’d probably turn it into something unrecognizable (which I did), so it was alright; nobody would know it was him.

In any case, I think this short story came out very well, and the fact that it’s in second person may make it very personal for current or recovering sex and porn addicts. I’ll bring it to my creative writing class to workshop it, as I signed up to volunteer a short story on the first day. I hope to get some good feedback for it, because this is a short story I think has potential.

That’s all for now. I’ll start the third short story tomorrow, but first I’d like to take a shower and then spend the night reading “Silence of the Lambs”. All for now. Blog on you later.

Rami Ungar’s On Facebook!

Posted: December 22, 2012 in Living and Life
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I’ve always been against Facebook for personal reasons. It’s a long story, so I’m not going to bore you with the details. But guess what? I’m now on Facebook. Why? Because it’s a great way to let people know I’m a writer and I’m going to let everyone know when something comes out. I don’t know how active I’ll be with FB, but I’ll definitely use it as much as I feel comfortable. So far I have 60+ friends and counting. Soon I may have even more.

If you’d like to friend me, please do so (but send a message first so that I know who you are). I’d love to have you as a friend. And could someone tell me how to link my blog to my facebook? I’ve no idea how to do it.

The First Short Story For The Collection Is Finished

Posted: December 20, 2012 in ideas, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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And what a short story it was! It scared me a little during the writing process. Me! And I’m the guy who thanks Mrs. Voorhees for her hockey-masked son Jason. Tells you what sort of a story it is.

Now, how can I tell you about this short story without giving too much away? Well first, it’s longer than the average short story. But then again, this is for a collection. Most writers who release collections will make their short stories a little longer than usual just because they can. Stephen King definitely does it a few times, even if his stories end up as novellas in the collection. Thankfully this one didn’t get to novella length (20k-40k words) but it’s longer than usual.

But like I said, this story scared me. Why? Well, imagine yourself placed in a situation like The Hunger Games, where you’re in a battle you don’t want to be in and someone else is controlling everything that’s going on. Even worse, it’s a psychological battle. No weapons, just some crazy crap that’s messing with your head. It can be taxing, especially if you’re in a space that doesn’t get much bigger than your high school campus.

And then I added a few other things. For one, I added a religious zealot with a bit of charisma and a thing for power? Well, after every disaster–real or just percieved in your head (I’m talking to Clint Eastwood and Chuck Norris on the latter)–there’s always someone saying the world’s about to end and we better do as s/he says or we’re all going to hell in a shopping cart. And occasionally, people believe them. Which leads to a bunch of problems.

Add a little doom and gloom, a bit of Celtic/English mythology, and my disturbed mind, you get a rabbit’s hole that scares the person who dug it. Nice!

Oh, I forgot to tell you the name of this short story. It’s called “The Quiet Game”, and I think I’ll also make it the title of the collection. It feels like the right thing to do, and it was the right choice to write this story first. I like it, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

But first, I’ve got some editing to do, including turning a male character into a female character, because if the character’s male, there’s a romantic element in this story, and I just don’t want that there. So I’ll take it out and turn the character female. No romantic element, but still plenty of emotion and psychological terror. It’ll be awesome.

Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to take a shower and then watch the original Die Hard movie, because the new one is coming out in two months and I’m psyched to see it. Tomorrow I’ll do the editing, send it off to a friend, and then I’ll start on something else.

Trust me, this next story will be something else. It’s based on a friend’s experience, but it’s given the Rami Ungar treatment, so you know it’ll come out twisted and freaky!

I’ll Write A Collection of Short Stories

Posted: December 17, 2012 in ideas, Progress Report, short story, Writing
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“Doth quoth the raven, ‘Write some short stories. CAW!'”

With the first draft of Snake done, I want to work on short stories for a while. And since Reborn City is taking a little longer than expected. I don’t want to work on RC‘s sequel until RC actually comes out, and I won’t get to Snake for a while, I’ve decided to take the short stories I write during this period and make them into a collection, which I’ll release as an e-book for a $1.29 download fee–the same price as a song by a popular artist on iTunes. In addition, I also plan to publish each short story individually, though if you get the whole book there will be extra goodies that don’t come with the short stories alone.

What sort of extra goodies, you may be asking? I’ll let you know another time. First, I got to get to work on the five short stories I plan to include in the collection. Then I have to have the short stories critiqued and edited, then I have to come up with a name for the collection, get some illustrations, purchase copyrights…you understand where I’m going with this, right? Publishing is never easy, even with free e-book creation and distribution.

Oh well. That’s the price we pay, and I’m certainly happy to pay it. Wish me luck and I hope to have more news soon.

Snake: First Draft Done

Posted: December 16, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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I saved the best for last: a Biblical snake!

I don’t like doing online rants about gun control. It’s something I’m passionate about and that I wish more people backed, but I don’t like doing it. I prefer to talk about my writing, about the short stories and novels I write and the ideas I come up with. I love discussing the writing process and nitpicking my work and others’ work. Why else is my blog name Rami Ungar The Writer?

This is why I’m happy to say that this post isn’t about gun control or Newtown or asking people to contact their representatives. No, this post is about how I finally finished my thriller novel Snake, about a serial killer hunting mafioso in New York and the reason why he hunts them. It took me about six months and four days to write this novel, a personal best for me, and I’m really satisfied with this first draft. I think it starts out like a regular thriller in the respects of James Patterson or Stephen King, but then it morphs into something else, especially when we start to realize that the Snake, the titular killer, is actually the protagonist and not the antagonist!

How is this possible and why do I do this? Well, you’ll have to read the novel when it comes out to find out. However, that won’t be for a while; I first have to put off editing Snake for a few months. After I edit it, I’ll see if I can find someone who’ll take a look and critique it. If that happens, I’ll incorporate their suggestions into the text and then I’ll start the process of copyrighting the novel and then releasing it as an e-book online. Of course, no idea when that’ll happen, so don’t go onto Amazon looking for my name.

I enjoyed writing Snake; it was scary and exciting at the same time. The plot changed several times throughout the writing process, and it’ll probably change a bit more when I get to editing the story, but I think every change made the story better. I had the oppurtunity to write in ways I’d never written before, like writing a thriller instead of a regular science-fiction or horror novel and writing a sex scene that I planned to keep to the final draft. I also was challenged to write my female lead, whose head I sometimes had trouble getting into, and I got to practice writing fight scenes, which are not always my specialty.

All in all, this novel has a special place in my heart, and if I ever write a sequel (which I have an idea for), I will enjoy writing that too. Of course, it’ll be a long time before I write the sequel; my philosophy on sequels is to take a break and work on something else between books, or you’ll find yourself in a creative rut staying in the same fictional world for too long.

Now for the page and word count. Remember, I write my drafts in 12-point font, Times New Roman, and double-spaced. When the final version comes out, the page count will be a lot shorter. Now the Epilogue, the final part of the novel, was 23 pages and 5,164 words. Let’s add that to the other parts: the Prologue was 14 pages and 3,979 words; Part I is 41 pages and 10,177 words; Part II was 96 words and 23,801 words; Part III was 126 pags and 30,733 words; Part IV was 86 pages and 22,288 words; Part V was 29 pages and 7,576 words; and Part VI was 28 pages and 7,095 words. Total it all and…

Holy long thriller, Batman! This first draft ends at 443 pages and 110,813 words. Hope you like drawn-out storie, because I definitely succeeded in that capacity!

Well, I have to stop writing for now, because I have to get up early for work. But wait for tomorrow; I’ve got a special announcement to make. Thanks for staying with me so far and I hope to put Snake, my sci-fi novel Reborn City, and a whole bunch of other stuff, out soon.

Stephen King and e-books

Posted: December 15, 2012 in Living and Life, Writing
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Presenting the King of Horror!

While I was trolling the Internet, looking for something to listen to as a background noise, I came across these videos that feature my idol, His Royal Highness Stephen King, discussing various topics, including the power of e-books and how it’s changing the industry, with the folks at CNN Money. It was very interesting, not just because his voice is higher than I thought, but because King has some very good wisdom to share, and he was one of the first authors to get on the e-book wagon, publishing his famous novella Riding the Bullet as an e-book (and I recommend it for anyone who hasn’t read it; it’s available in print format too, if you’re interested). Now all his books are probably available as e-books, but he still says there are drawbacks to this new innovation to reading, namely what happens when you drop a Kindle in the toilet.

Snake: Part VI Done!

Posted: December 14, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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I’M ON A ROLL!

Today, at around a quarter to four in the afternoon, I finished writing Part VI of Snake, two days after I finished the previous part! I had to cut out one chapter and combine two chapters as I was doing the writing, but that’s okay, because this part is awesome! I had an idea for a regular fight between the main antagonist and the Snake, but I changed it so that they fight not in an office or across the city, but in a controlled environment like in The Hunger Games. How did I do that? You’ll have to read the novel when I put it out to find that one out.

So now I have only four chapters in the Epilogue left, and then the first draft of this novel will be finished. Can I get a whoop-whoop?! Anyway, time to do a count-up (my favorite part of reporting the Parts are done). Remember, I write my drafts double-spaced, with 12-point Times New Roman font. When I finally publish this and Reborn City, they’ll probably be much smaller in terms of page count. Probably.

So, Part VI of Snake ends up being 28 pages and 7,095 words. Adding it to the rest of the Parts: the Prologue was 14 pages and 3,979 words; Part I was 41 pages and 10,177 words; Part II was 96 pages and 23,801 words; Part III was 126 pages and 30,733 words; Part IV was 86 pages and 22,288 words; and Part V was 29 pages and 7,576 words. Add it all up, and you get a staggering amount of 420 pages and 105,649 words. Does anyone want to place a bet on how long the first draft will be after I add the Epilogue?

Well, I’ll take a break till tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to spend time with my family and read some good books too.

Wish me luck.

A Paper-Clip of Short Stories

Posted: December 12, 2012 in ideas, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I’ve received a lot of support from friends, family, and readers on the possibility that after I finish Snake, I could work on some short stories and possibly turn that into a collection, and publish it before I publish Reborn City or Snake. Well, I’m still a little undecided on that, but I’m definitely taking some time this vacation to write a few short stories. I actually picked out five of the fifteen ideas I had amassed on my tack board and put them on a paper-clip. And I don’t mean I had some ideas, wrote them on pieces of paper, and paper-clipped them together. What I meant was, I put down some short story ideas on pieces of paper, and then poked them with the business end of a paper-clip. I’d take a photo with my camera and post it here on my blog, but my writing is big and recognizable. There’d be no point if one of my stories gets stolen.

So I’ve selected my short stories. When I get home tomorrow and I finish Snake, I’ll start working on them. Shouldn’t take me too long, especially if I’m not distracted by anything. Unfortunately I tend to get very distracted somedays, so hopefully I can keep my mind on work long enough to make some progress.

So, if anyone is wondering on the short stories I’ll be working on, here’s the ideas I have, without anything that’ll give away anything important:

  • An isolated girl’s school becomes even more isolated one morning, and something dark is beneath it all…
  • A man trying to go clean gets a strange and spooky experience while going cold turkey…
  • A politician running for reelection gets a very deadly and undead visitor while in an old mining town…
  • There’s an old, abandoned hospital on the outskirts of town with a bloody history. And that history is very much alive…
  • A young boy with autism gets an encounter with the spirit world, and his small world might get a shock that’ll shatter it to pieces…

Sounds pretty awesome, right? Especially with the … after every idea. And if, God forbid, the two short stories I sent out recently get rejected, I could add them to this list; they’d make a great collection. Either way, 5 and 7 are lucky numbers for me, so either way I’m good.

Now assuming I decide to do a collection, what should I call it? Definitely nothing with the word “paper-clip” in it; that’d sound too comedic for what I’m doing. Perhaps “The Bells At Dusk”? Or “Eyes in the Smoke”? Or perhaps I’ll take a title from one of these short stories. Who knows? Any suggestions would be great.

Well, I’ve got work to do. Blog on you later!

Snake: Part V Done

Posted: December 12, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Awww, isn’t it cute?

Well, that last chapter took me a while because I got distracted so many times. But I did it! I finished Part V of Snake, and I feel like partying! I only have eleven chapters of Snake left now! I just got to finish up the climax, and then I have to write the epilogue. I’m almost done!

You know, I can’t believe how quickly I’ve written Snake; when I was writing Reborn City in high school, it took me two fricking years to write the first chapter. That was partly because I believed that a novel needed to be written in years, partly because I took breaks during writing RC for homework/working part-time/Israel/writing short stories/other stuff. In any case, it took a long time to write RC, but I’ve managed to write Snake in almost six months. I feel almost like James Patterson! If given the time and the motivation and the equipment and the inspiration, I can get a novel done in a year, something I didn’t think possible for me.

So I’m going to take a short little break, veg out in front of my computer, and then I’ll see about starting Part VI.  I’m going to make the rest of this first draft simply frightening, disturbing, and slightly romantic. Wish me luck, mi compadres!

I hope that was some resemblance of Spanish. I should’ve stuck with Hebrew: Wish me luck, haverim sheli!

Oh, and before I forget, here’s the page and word count up! Part V was 29 pages total (keep in mind, double-spaced, twelve-point Times New Roman font) and the word count was 7,368 words. Now let’s add it all up: we get 392 pages and 98,346 words! Jeez louise, I’ve been busy these past six months! But it might become bestselling busywork someday.

On to Part VI, haverim sheli!

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