NationStates Jolt Archive

I may have mentioned on here before that I am writing a book (maybe I haven't) but, anyway, I was thinking about how I am writing a book. Me, the person who probably has no "real" experience with anything but life in general, no college degrees, no professional experience to speak of, not much but my loud mouth and my annoying opinions.

You know what though? I bet I can sell it. People will buy anything, and what I got, is what a lot of people are looking for. LOL

so....

I was thinking about all the super educated (or should be for all the money you are shelling out, am I right?) people on NSG, and wondering, if you were writing a book what would it be about? what do you think qualifies you to write your book? do people really need qualifications to write books?


*I am actually writing a non-fiction book, and that is what I am asking about, but if you are/would write a fiction book, you can talk about that too.

Coincedentaly I started to write one myself this very morning.

II was thinking about all the super educated (or should be for all the money you are shelling out, am I right?) people on NSG, and wondering, if you were writing a book what would it be about?
Considering which is my passion, I'd probably write a science-fiction book.

what do you think qualifies you to write your book? do people really need qualifications to write books?
1) Nothing, really (or perhaps talent, but in that case we should burn lots of books).

2) No.

What will your book be about?

I was thinking about all the super educated (or should be for all the money you are shelling out, am I right?) people on NSG, and wondering, if you were writing a book what would it be about? what do you think qualifies you to write your book? do people really need qualifications to write books?


*I am actually writing a non-fiction book, and that is what I am asking about, but if you are/would write a fiction book, you can talk about that too.
What qualifies someone to write a book? The ability to write. And, preferably, the ability to spell correctly and use correct grammar.

I don't think you need any qualifications to write a book - if you know your subject area well enough, and you can write coherently, that's qualified enough.

BLOOD!

*cough*

A recipe book, eh?

I was thinking about all the super educated (or should be for all the money you are shelling out, am I right?) people on NSG, and wondering, if you were writing a book what would it be about? what do you think qualifies you to write your book?

A practical guide to setting up an anarchistish collective, getting premises and how to keep it all running. My qualifications? About ten years of doing that kind of thing for forty hours a week. Would include a handy guide to repairing plumbing with epoxy resin and gaffer tape, why mixing concrete is a rite of passage and why alcohol and angle-grinders don't mix.

What will your book be about?

My book is for parents, it's about how to organize your life in such a way that you can spend time doing what you want, instead of wasting time doing what "needs" to be done. It's mostly aimed at parents of young children, there are chapters on cooking, cleaning, and how to communicate with your children in a way that they understand. It's going pretty good so far.

I started writing it about 2 months ago after a lot of people (about 12) told me "hey, you should write a book"

My book is for parents, it's about how to organize your life in such a way that you can spend time doing what you want, instead of wasting time doing what "needs" to be done.

Does it comprise entirely of the words 'put your children up for adoption' in very large type?

What qualifies someone to write a book? The ability to write. And, preferably, the ability to spell correctly and use correct grammar.
That's why I have someone to proof read it.

I don't think you need any qualifications to write a book - if you know your subject area well enough, and you can write coherently, that's qualified enough.
how do you know who knows enough though? (that wasn't too coherent, I realize)

What qualifies someone to write a book? The ability to write. And, preferably, the ability to spell correctly and use correct grammar.

I don't think you need any qualifications to write a book - if you know your subject area well enough, and you can write coherently, that's qualified enough.Aye the only thing that qualifies you to write a book is the ability to articulate yourself in the format required of book (as opposed to a letter or a speech or an essay or or a conversation or an article or a script or anything else).

I haven't the patience to write a book. My temprement doesn't suit booking writing at all. I might just have the ability to write a play or a film. My mind is pretty visual. So if I just recorded all the ideas I have for scenes and shots. And then tried to put them together as a story and practiced at wrting script to pull the ideas together. Then I'd probably have a good chance at writing a decent play or screenplay.

i've been writing a fiction for the last... 4 years or so, though the last 2 years of that have been incredibly slow. its a complex plot, and one i'm quite proud of - the few people i have discussed it with have thought it quite intelligent and unique, and i'm sure as hell not sharing it here (though a copy is on my website so i suppose i can't stop anyone...:rolleyes: )

anyway, its about 100 pages so far, edited, and a sci-fi time-travel yarn involving a whole bunch of different time periods (and eventually writing styles and things), and should eventually get to about 3 books.

what qualifies me to write it? its based on my knowledge of physics (including some research into the field) so its not total bull and has some basis in reality, and other than that i've just spent years mapping out the world, technologies, peoples, characters, etc in my head. i always had an active imagination, and used to be pretty good at english in school (used to get merits and things all the time for creative writing, and won the trophy 'for the arts' (an ambiguous title :P) too). since then my mum, who writes on occasion for the Times and edits a magazine, has complimented me often on my writing, and the two people who i've let read the story so far have been more than complimentary (one of them "couldn't put it down" heh). i'd like to share it with more people but i don't take criticism too well...
so... i don't know if anyone can be "qualified" to write a fiction - i suppose i am as much as any :p


currently i'm at an impass (writers' bloody block... for the last 2 years, pretty much) where i can't seem to fit where i've got to in with the overall plot... i need a mid-term plot and its just so important to set up the rest of the book i can't decide on what to do... grr...
can't find the time either :(

I haven't the patience to write a book. My temprement doesn't suit booking writing at all. I might just have the ability to write a play or a film. My mind is pretty visual. So if I just recorded all the ideas I have for scenes and shots. And then tried to put them together as a story and practiced at wrting script to pull the ideas together. Then I'd probably have a good chance at writing a decent play or screenplay.

I don't know, I wrote 2 screen plays it took me like 10 years. It was terrible, and annoying. I got them done now (only because I refuse to look at them anymore, if I did though I would start all over with the revisions)

Does it comprise entirely of the words 'put your children up for adoption' in very large type?
You're looking for the word "consist". "Comprise" doesn't take a direct object. /nods and tries to look educated/

Anyway, I've written several books, or started them and then left them to rot in the back of my hard drive. Mostly because they became incomprehensible by Chapter 3 or so (it was impossible to tell which character was which in one... I lost interest in another... and so on). I'm thinking of going back and finishing that tale of outcasm, though.

id write a book about how to really live within your means or how to save money

the typical moronic advice of "dont buy your $4 coffee at starbucks every morning" gets on my last nerve. not that it isnt good advice but because its both so obvious that anyone who doesnt know it is hopeless and because its never going to save you much money.

id give GOOD advice like "dont buy a $50,000 car when you can buy 2 $5000 used cars." sure does take alot of $4 coffees to save $40k.

currently i'm at an impass (writers' bloody block... for the last 2 years, pretty much) where i can't seem to fit where i've got to in with the overall plot... i need a mid-term plot and its just so important to set up the rest of the book i can't decide on what to do... grr...
can't find the time either :(

when I used to get writers block when I was writing my screenplays I would stop and write a short story about something completely unrelated. It helped to get my mind off the movie, but still kept me writing. After a few really badly plotted yet hilarious short stories, I was ready to write again.

My book is for parents, it's about how to organize your life in such a way that you can spend time doing what you want, instead of wasting time doing what "needs" to be done. It's mostly aimed at parents of young children, there are chapters on cooking, cleaning, and how to communicate with your children in a way that they understand. It's going pretty good so far.

I started writing it about 2 months ago after a lot of people (about 12) told me "hey, you should write a book"From what you've said on NS children about raising kids your book should be excellent. You seem to have your life completely under control.

Good luck with the book. :)

<snip>
Hmmm. It doesn't happen to involve the dystopian future, an evil sentient AI, lots of strange law codes, exams, and a red crescent?

If so, I'll have to revise a bit to avoid breaking some kind of copyright laws... ;)

Umm... I've got three on the go at the moment technically - a sci-fi one, a fantasy one and *cough* a fanfic *cough* who said that?

The fantasy one I started maybe three or four years ago, got maybe sixty pages (typed) into it and lost it all (damn computers) rinse and repeat until I did it by hand. Have about fifty pages, and haven't done much to it in a year or so.

Sci-fi started quite recently, and haven't been working on it much, and so consequently only have maybe fifteen pages done so far. Possibly going to be my favourite of the three should I ever get round to really writing it.

Fan-fic... well, unfortunately it's the longest of the three - what can I say? It's so much easier to write when someone else has already sorted out your entire universe for you :D Haven't done a lot to it in a while though... should probably get round to finishing it at some point - it totals about 250 pages at the moment, probably looking at arou 300 when it's done I hope. Oh it's Halo based by the way *looks slightly ashamed*.

As to what qualifies me to write... uuh - I'm pretty good at it I suppose (though I say so myself naturally lol). But it's not just me - my english teacher said I was good, the people who've read my stuff say it's good, so yeah... uuh... there you go.

You're looking for the word "consist". "Comprise" doesn't take a direct object. /nods and tries to look educated/

Hey! I was going to say that (in a far less educated way). :mad:

I grew up thinking I would be a writer when I grew up. Then life happened. I was always partial to fantasy and figured I'd be a fantasy author. However, there's the fact that I don't spend any time actually writing... kind of an important step.

Nowadays, if I were to write something about 'what I know', I'd definitely write something about the moving industry (the business I'm in.) There are thousands of stories that movers can tell you, most of which will get you busting a gut. But the industry itself, and the way it operates is kind of sad and funny at the same time. It might not appeal to everybody, but I think every one has moved at one time or another, so it would give the reader an insight into the machinations of those guys in the blue shirts who show up to 'move your shit... I mean furniture.'

I'd really like to write historically based, or alternative history novels, but there are people out there who are just going to do an infinitely better job than I could ever hope to do.

how do you know who knows enough though? (that wasn't too coherent, I realize)

Not too coherent, but a fantastic rhyme-scheme though :D Maybe you should do poetry...

Hmmm. It doesn't happen to involve the dystopian future, an evil sentient AI, lots of strange law codes, exams, and a red crescent?

If so, I'll have to revise a bit to avoid breaking some kind of copyright laws... ;)
haha no, but that sounds like the kind of book i'd enjoy reading! :p

I don't know, I wrote 2 screen plays it took me like 10 years. It was terrible, and annoying. I got them done now (only because I refuse to look at them anymore, if I did though I would start all over with the revisions)Maybe, but I just tend to get ideas quite frequently, but I let too many of them escape and disapear.

A slightly unrelated example:
I went to see and exhibition of lithography with my Mum. It had lots of Toulouse Lautrec's work. We sat down outside the gallery and talked for an hour about colour. We talked about the psychology of colour, the physics of colour, we slipped into philosophy at one point and talked at length about what makes red red. Whether the colour exists outside out perception of it.

My mind is like a runaway train sometimes. I'm thinking about one idea, then another related idea will pop into my head followed by another. It makes me confusing to talk with sometimes as sometimes I can't articulate my ideas as fast as I think of them. I seriously need to train my mind on how to hold thoughts.

Hah, that sounds so self-agrandising. Oh well.

haha no, but that sounds like the kind of book i'd enjoy reading! :p
Oh. Then you should remind me to finish it. I've been planning it for two years, have written half a chapter, and that's it.

It also features an organisation called "The Republic of Plato" (which is not what you think it is -- it stands for "People's Liberation Army of the Outlands", which means the lands outside the City, that being the centre of the action).... roving mercenary bands... good stuff.

While I plan to use a pseudonym, you'll probably recognise my signature present-tense writing style (check some of my past RPs for instance).

Right now I'm righting a 5 ch. autobiography for school. It's actually pretty interesting, because I didn't realize how much writable stuff has happened to me in only 14 years. So I guess it goes to show that everyone has something to write about.

My mind is like a runaway train sometimes. I'm thinking about one idea, then another related idea will pop into my head followed by another. It makes me confusing to talk with sometimes as sometimes I can't articulate my ideas as
fast as I think of them. I seriously need to train my mind on how to hold thoughts.

I get the thing where my mind works faster than I can talk, so I jump from one subject to the next and back again, I can keep thinking of one thing while talking about another too, so I may jump back and clarify something that I felt was unclear about an hour ago then jump back into the recent conversation like I never stopped. It confuses about everyone except for my husband, he has started to figure it out.

My book is for parents, it's about how to organize your life in such a way that you can spend time doing what you want, instead of wasting time doing what "needs" to be done. It's mostly aimed at parents of young children, there are chapters on cooking, cleaning, and how to communicate with your children in a way that they understand. It's going pretty good so far.

I started writing it about 2 months ago after a lot of people (about 12) told me "hey, you should write a book"
This looks like a potentially very interesting subject (especially for the young parents, of course). I hope you'll make lots of money - and help some people in the process. Good luck! :)

I'd like to write books, but I lack the ability to properly articulate my thoughts.

Why? Because all my english teachers wasted all my time with bloody Shakespeare instead of teaching me how to write!

You're looking for the word "consist". "Comprise" doesn't take a direct object. /nods and tries to look educated/

You are correct, 'comprising entirely of' or 'composed entirely of' are other valid options.

I get the thing where my mind works faster than I can talk, so I jump from one subject to the next and back again, I can keep thinking of one thing while talking about another too, so I may jump back and clarify something that I felt was unclear about an hour ago then jump back into the recent conversation like I never stopped. It confuses about everyone except for my husband, he has started to figure it out.:eek: That's exactly what I do! Normally it's about an hour, but the longest time, which only happened once,
was a month. I was talking my friend about the holidays, and suddenly the thought popped into my head. I said something along the lines of 'you remember when you said that such and such, well if you consider this then that completely undermines your argument'. All he said was 'what?' and looked at me blankly. I had to spend the next 10 minutes explainly what I was talking about.

I'd like to write books, but I lack the ability to properly articulate my thoughts.
Keep practicing on these forums, then. ;)

You are correct, 'comprising entirely of' or 'composed entirely of' are other valid options.
I believe "comprise" is used rather differently however. A group of students comprises a class; the class consists or is composed of a group of students. I've never heard "comprised of" used in this way, and Strunk & White claim it to be incorrect, but I suppose it's really a matter of style.

[/grammar nazism]

My book is for parents, it's about how to organize your life in such a way that you can spend time doing what you want, instead of wasting time doing what "needs" to be done. It's mostly aimed at parents of young children, there are chapters on cooking, cleaning, and how to communicate with your children in a way that they understand. It's going pretty good so far.

I started writing it about 2 months ago after a lot of people (about 12) told me "hey, you should write a book"
Cool. Good luck!

I don't know what makes a person qualified to write a book. Interest and knowledge in their subject area, I suppose. If I wrote a book, it'd probably incorporate my experiences growing up as a TCK (third culture kid) in some manner, but beyond that I really don't know. I don't have the patience to write anything fictional other than short stories.