tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post4582121329657168941..comments2023-11-05T05:01:58.563-05:00Comments on Ward Six: First Novels and PancakesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-9091150722512823732008-02-18T16:42:00.000-05:002008-02-18T16:42:00.000-05:00Having taught creative writing to a class of 3rd a...Having taught creative writing to a class of 3rd and 4th graders, I can say that I would love to read a book called TOTAL EXPLOSION written by a 9-year-old. Though I'd suggest putting an exclamation mark on it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-68385317297664498142008-02-18T09:23:00.000-05:002008-02-18T09:23:00.000-05:00See now TOTAL EXPLOSION is approximately the best ...See now TOTAL EXPLOSION is approximately the best title ever. I think you could sell it for six figures based on the title alone. Especially if your agent tells all the editors in New york that if they want to talk to you, tough shit, because you're in rehab.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-10989248100561559592008-02-18T08:38:00.000-05:002008-02-18T08:38:00.000-05:00I started writing my first novel around the time I...I started writing my first novel around the time I was nine or ten. It was called <B>TOTAL EXPLOSION</B> and my sister found it and made fun of me and this is almost certainly why I don't tell anyone I write nowadays.M. Sáflohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12783971214731543500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-46027217168711787552008-02-18T07:55:00.000-05:002008-02-18T07:55:00.000-05:00Yeah, I am not advocating for the truth of the pan...Yeah, I am not advocating for the truth of the pancake metaphor, just noting that it seems true in some cases. My "first" one was never finished either.<BR/><BR/>And you know, now that I think about it -- I started a novel years before *that* one, and never finished it, but the germ of it showed up in the one I did publish. It's not a pancake, more like a big stew pot you dip into...<BR/><BR/>Ray: thanks for visiting, and I'm so happy you liked Earthquake. It's a wonderful little book.rmellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133206908895131438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-5135142738066325642008-02-17T21:36:00.000-05:002008-02-17T21:36:00.000-05:00It's true, you never know...Zoe, my crap novel was...It's true, you never know...<BR/><BR/>Zoe, my crap novel was written when I was, uh, 23? Don't despair...if you think I'm immature now, you should have seen me then...<BR/><BR/>Ray, thanks for checking in, glad you liked that book! Rhian will probably be along to comment on it...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-46002103513631169802008-02-17T20:20:00.000-05:002008-02-17T20:20:00.000-05:00Yeah, damn. That adding up thing. It is key. It is...Yeah, damn. That adding up thing. It is key. It is also (or feels like) a shot in the dark, and you just don't know for the first few years. But I don't know. I just finished a novel that took 10 years to make make sense. And I do have a first novel/pancake that is malformed and in the closet, but I never finished it, so does it count? Anyway, sometimes, if it something you really need to say, the first comes back for a revival. You never know. Isn't that the joy and hell of it?Writer, Rejectedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17241982229214057815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-12149723237626129962008-02-17T20:05:00.000-05:002008-02-17T20:05:00.000-05:00Is it too late to say something nice about a previ...Is it too late to say something nice about a previous blog? I ordered a copy of Earthquake, by Susan Barnes, because it was mentioned on this interesting site, and I read it today with great pleasure. Thank you. I came to the site because of a connection to the Raymond Carver/Gordon Lish article in The New Yorker, and I bookmarked it and have looked forward to the postings and responses since then. Thank you again.Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17013622015251884893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-4067756691766384662008-02-17T10:54:00.000-05:002008-02-17T10:54:00.000-05:00No, I never published that first one. I did publis...No, I never published that first one. I did publish the second, which had no relation to the first at all. And I still like bits of the first, and every now and then it crosses my mind that maybe I should do something with it... <BR/><BR/>I think the only thing you can do, for your first or any novel, is keeping working at it until you just can't anymore. At some point you'll either decide it's not working, or you'll decide it's done.<BR/><BR/>Hm, maybe novels aren't like pancakes; maybe they're like boyfriends....rmellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133206908895131438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-38874474773441863822008-02-17T10:06:00.000-05:002008-02-17T10:06:00.000-05:00That's actually not all that reassuring.That's actually not all that reassuring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-74670070234485853802008-02-17T09:31:00.000-05:002008-02-17T09:31:00.000-05:00Interestingly, I'm the house waffle chef...and I o...Interestingly, I'm the house waffle chef...and I only make enough batter for the correct number of waffles. If I fuck up a waffle, breakfast is ruined. Is this more indicative of my writing style?<BR/><BR/>That said, I do have a crappy first novel that never saw the light of day. I eventually turned it into a short story which I also failed to publish, and then a screenplay I never finished.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-42791173765842191632008-02-17T08:21:00.000-05:002008-02-17T08:21:00.000-05:00Oh God, I keep reading people saying things like t...Oh God, I keep reading people saying things like that about their first novels and I keep wondering whether I'm fooling myself that mine isn't a first pancake book. <BR/>Did that book turn out to be the one you published? Did you use anything (other than your experience) from the first in the second?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com