writing | Rami Ungar The Writer

Posts Tagged ‘writing’

Writing in the Summer: What to Do?

Posted: May 27, 2012 in ideas, Novel, Writing
Tags: writing

Alright everyone who reads this blog or comes across it, I’m going to need your help. Wait, don’t click away! This is very easy. You just need to give me your opinion. It’s simple, it’s painless, all you need do is read the post and then answer a question. Not so scary now, huh?

Well, I’m trying to get my novel Reborn City picked up by an agent, and I’ll have some time to write this summer. However, I don’t want to start RC’s sequel yet, not until the book has at least been picked up by an agency, and I don’t always have ideas for short stories on hand (if only I did!). So I’m going to spend the summer working on a novel. Problem is, of all my ideas I’m having trouble choosing between two of them. To me, they’re both really good ideas, the characters would be awesome to work with, the research would be fun for me, and it’d be a way to polish my skills while I’m out of classes.

I just need to choose! So I’m leaving it up to you, oh-so helpful blog readers and writers. I’m having trouble setting up a poll with WordPress, so you guys are going to have to leave comments down below to participate. I’m counting on you. I also don’t mind if you tell me your reasons for picking that answer.

Here are the options:

1. A serial killer is roaming New York City and going after the mafia. Why is he doing this, and why do we want to root for him? That’s the intrigue to this story that’s inspired by Taken and inspired heavily by slasher films.

2. A young girl with a horrific past becomes the center of a manhunt when she discovers a secret plot involving some of the nation’s top intelligence officers. How does she become embroiled in this serious plot, and how does it hearken back to her dark past? I can’t remember what inspired this story, but I definitely have a soft spot for the main character.

Alright folks. Vote away. The poll ends June 10, my birthday and the day summer vacation officially starts for me. I won’t accept any comments after that. Good luck and thank you!

The Best Lines I’ve Heard In A Movie So Far

Posted: May 22, 2012 in ideas, Writing
Tags: writing

“Imagine you knew you were going to do something great. Something amazing. Perhaps the greatest thing anyone has ever done. Only there’s a catch: something terrible has to happen.”

Those lines are direct from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which I’m watching right now on my computer for the first timem and I may have gotten them a little mixed up in the translation, but what they say rings true: whether you know or you don’t know that you’re going to be a hero or a savior or just a protagonist in a story, something terrible has to happen to you. It’s true of so many literary characters: Harry Potter loses his parents and vanquishes Voldemort (twice!); Alex Cross has to take down the worst psychopaths imaginable, albeit risking the lives of his friends and family, and his social life, with every case; and Van Helsing, John Harker, and Mina Harker have to defeat Dracula, risking their lives and their humanities along the way.

Truly, the lines above ring true in so many stories. Heck, in many of the stories I plan to write (and am currently writing) terrible things happen before the hero rises up to save the day. God, I wish I could tell you the things in my stories that happen, both what the protagonists do, and the terrible events that precede what they do. Unfortunately, telling you what happens would give away the plots of too many stories, so that’s out. Still, the fact that the theme above is in so many stories, whether they be mine or someone else’s, proves how important this theme is to writers across time and space.

I’d like everyone’s thoughts on this subject, along with other examples where something terrible must happen before a character can become a hero (can be a book, TV show, comic book, or movie character, I don’t really care).

Helpful Feedback

Posted: May 21, 2012 in Writing
Tags: critique, editing, writing

As a writer hoping to be a professional, there’s one thing you must absolutely have, and that is feedback. We all hate it, we never like it when someone takes something we have poured our hearts and souls into get torn apart by someone else, usually someone who doesn’t have the same kind of experience with the art of storytelling we do. However, when you can find the right person to critique you, they can be a gold mine of help.

I have a few people whom I rely on for help with my stories. Just today I was talking to one of them on the phone about a thriller story I’d written and he pointed out things that I’d forgotten, hadn’t considered, or suspected about the story that kept it form being the best it could be. Regardless to say, in just those few short sentences, my eyes had opened up and I thought of things that could be done to improve the story. So tonight, if I can find the time, I will edit the story and hopefully have it in better shape than the rough draft.

After all, I enjoyed writing this story and I have high hopes for it. Perhaps then it’ll be ready for publication.

Oh, and to all of you whom I regularly rely on for feedback, thanks for the help. I can’t say it enough times, how your critiques are essential to my writing craft and how much they improve the plot of the stories I write, My metaphorical hat is off to you.

A Novel Idea Part 2

Posted: May 14, 2012 in Living and Life, Writing
Tags: college life, novel, short story, writing

It’s unusual for me to publish two posts in a single day, so three might be a sign of the apocalypse, but I’m going to write this one anyway, so if you would kindly not hide in your basement for fear of meteors and aliens and earthquakes, I would be grateful.

If you remember a few months ago, I attended an event funded by the English Undergraduate Organization (EUGO) called “A Novel Idea”, which was for studnets who wanted to publish novels to sit down and hear from professors with publishing experience. The event was so successful that tonight they held a “Part 2”, which I was just at. We heard from a professor who worked on reference books for librarians trying to find the best of certain genres, and we discussed the pros and cons of self-publishing, the revolution of e-books (there’s a post two back that also covers this topic), and other topics. One of the things I learned was that with the emergence of e-books, publishers are now more willing to tlak to authors who aren’t represented by literary agents. Since I don’t have an agent (yet, anyway), that definitely got my interest, so maybe tonight I’ll see if there are any publishers that don’t mind a writer without an agent.

We also discussed the use of publishing short stories before publishing a novel (still relevant, especially with e-mags) and books that have defied the usual statisitcs associated with breaking away from the usual publishing process (50 Shades of Grey being the most talked about).

So, now that I’m back in the dorms, I’ll finish what homework I have, and then do a little work on getting Reborn City into book (or e-book) form. Wish me luck, and if you have any suggestions or helpful ideas, let me know.

The E-Book Age: How It’s Affecting The Already Published

Posted: May 14, 2012 in Reflections, Writing
Tags: writing

Alright, so I’m talking to my dad on the phone yesterday, and he says there’s this article in the Columbus Dispatch about writers and e-books that I should check out. I go online and I find the article (the link for which I include below). The article, titled “Not 2 Be Missed; So you want to write for a living?”, talks about how most authors, particularly mystery, thriller and romance writers, used to publish one book a year.

According to the article, not anymore.

With e-books, and our youth becoming so fixated on having the latest stuff now, authors are pressed by their publishers to put out more novels, and even short stories and novellas, in order to keep interest in them and to keep sales up (the biggest concern for any company or manufacturer). It’s a sound strategy, as a teen with an iPad or Nook might be more interested in buying a 99 cent short story first rather than a $14 dollar e-book or a $26 hardcover. And heck, a short story is a good way to get people excited for the novel, right?

In an age where we’re used to getting what we want in an instant at the tip of our fingers, it’s made things harder for writers to say the least. Getting the novel just right (or just “done”, as my English teacher in high school would’ve said), has taken a backseat to meeting demand and keeping attention on yourself.

I’m trying to enter the industry at an interesting time.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2012/05/13/so-you-want-to-write-for-a-living.html

Spring Quarter 2012: Half-Time Report

Posted: April 27, 2012 in Journalism, Living and Life, Writing
Tags: college life, journalism, Ohio State University, writing

It’s spring quarter, the last quarter of the school year, and since Ohio State is switching to semesters in the fall, the last quarter ever. So I have one thing to say to all those listening: somebody slow the quarter down! I’m not kidding, it’s going by waaay too fast. I mean, I’m enjoying my classes, and I’m doing well in them, so why are we already halfway through? I feel like we should still be in week 3, not at the end of week 5! This is why I hate the saying, “time flies when you’re having fun”.

Alright, now that I’ve told everybody in the blogosphere how I feel this spring is going by way too fast, let’s get into the particulars: grade-wise I seem to be doing well, if my quiz scores are any indication. I’ve scored consistently in the 80’s, 90’s, and 100’s on most of them, so I’m not too worried about struggling. I’ve also learned a lot, including that I actually enjoy very old English literature a lot more than I thought I would, and that literature in any period reflects a lot of what society it was written in and what the author was aiming for with the words they write.

I’ve also been pretty busy, what with writing two articles for the Pulse, and taking part in Holocaust Awareness Week and Cover the Night. Not too mention I’m at work almost everyday, and being the financial aid office, spring is busy season, so I’m rarely without something to do. But hey, I’m learning new stuff on the job and `helping out, and getting paid for it too, so what’s not to love?

As for writing, I’ve got three short stories and a poem I’m waiting to hear back on, and once a friend of mine is done looking at the first chapter of Reborn City, I’ll start looking for an agent or submitting to contests, I haven’t decided which yet (and on that, I’d like everyone’s opinions).

So here’s hoping to a good rest of the quarter, let’s hope it slows down and brings plenty of good stuff, particularly in the realms of grades of written works.

New & Old Work: Getting It All Done

Posted: April 15, 2012 in Living and Life, short story, Writing
Tags: college life, editing, milestone, short story, writing

Well, this is my fiftieth post. A milestone by anyone’s considerations. And like all milestones, this is a time to look both back and forth. Which is what I’ve been doing lately:

These past two weeks or so, I took a look at some old short stories back in high school, one of which happened to be inspired by a very creepy dream I had. Neither one got accepted for publication, and after so long I could see some of the reasons why they were rejected. So in the meantime, I thought I’d edit them and maybe see if they were any better after a good editorial bath and polish. So far, I’m thinking they may be more appealing to publications, but I’ll have to wait and see if they actually get published, because I may just be taking too much pride in my own work. Anyway, fingers crossed.

Also, after I’ve finished editing these old stories and have found time in my busy collegiate schedule to sit down in front of the computer, I plan to pen (or type, actually) some new stories. One will be based on that Law & Order: SVU dream I had a week and a half ago, though it’ll probably end up being more of a thriller story involving events after the key evidence has been collected than your typical police procedural (I’m not sure I could write that sort of story in under 20 pages anyway without making the story too complex or full of technical details).

The other story will be based on the concept of kotodama, which is a Japanese belief that words have power and can affect the lives of people around us. This belief is found in many other cultures besides Japan, and we can see throughout history and up to today how accurate a belief it is (I tend to think that what happened to Rush Limbaugh and Sandra Fluke after Limbaugh said some very nasty things about Fluke is an example of kotodama on a large scale). I will be blending this concept with a very dark event that happened in my life recently, though I haven’t figured out how this will blend yet or how it will end up coming out. But I’ll figure that out when I get to it.

Thanks for sticking with me up till the fiftieth post. I’m so glad that people are reading Rami Ungar The Writer and I hope to bring only good news to you in the future. (wouldn’t it be nice if kotodama could take effect with that last part, huh?)

I Almost Lost It All! Why You Should Back Up Your Files If You Don’t Want To Lose Them

Posted: April 11, 2012 in Writing
Tags: computer, God, writing

I’ve always maintained that God has a horrible sense of humor (my evidence: Rebecca Black’s “Friday”). He played this prank on me today:

I was having a comments chat with one of my followers who also follows me (there’s a technical term for that, I just haven’t heard it yet) and we were discussing how frustrating it is for writers to lose something they’ve poured their sweat, blood and tears into because of a computer error or some such reason. I told her that it had happened to me, though not in a while.

Later that day, I go to put my flash drive in my computer to work on something, but the flash drive doesn’t register. I think maybe it’s just a glitch, and I go off to watch the latest episode of NCIS. On the way back, I try the flash drive on a friend’s computer.

It doesn’t register there either. (cue annoying soap opera organ music)

So I rush upstairs, feeling my heart beat, praying to God that He lets my flash drive work.

It does. I thank Him, but then I realize He’s playing another prank on me. Ha ha, Sir. You got me.

So lesson to all you readers out there: whether you’re a writer or not, BACK UP YOUR DOCUMENTS! You may end up regretting it later if you don’t.

Dreaming Up Ideas

Posted: April 8, 2012 in ideas, Living and Life
Tags: dreams, Law & Order: SVU, writing

I read when I took AP Psychology back in high school that dreams–while still so mysterious and strange–can be places to figure out problems or come up with new ideas, thanks to the fact that in dreams the rules of reality do not apply. Well, let me tell you something: the other night I had a really awesome–and vivid–dream and I think it makes a great story idea.

This isn’t the first time I’ve come up with a story idea through a dream. A while back I came up with a very disturbing kidnapping story based on a dream I had (and I should really take a look at that story again, I’m sure with some edits it could really get published). What never fails to get me though is how creepy or bizarre these dreams can be, but how helpful they are.

Anyway, the dream from the other night. I dreamt that I was a guest star in an episode of Law & Order: SVU (before you take that the wrong way, let me tell you what my part was). In the dream, I was John Munch’s distant cousin (we’re both Jews) and I was visiting him. Munch and the other detectives were trying to get proof that some teens from a neo-Nazi group had committed a rape and murder of a Jewish girl. I volunteered to go undercover because I look very much not-Jewish and infiltrated the group. Not only did I get evidence against the teens, I showed that the leader of the group–a man with a history of racism and violence–had known about the rape and kept silent. I helped to bring down the group and give justice to the family of the girl. When I woke up I said, “Man, that was a good dream!”

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I can turn that dream into a short story, if not a novel. I’ll see what I can do when I get the time.

Rami Ungar The Writer

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