tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889215628007960117.post418660608269449629..comments2024-03-21T19:29:26.241-07:00Comments on Storytelling in All its Forms: Spark of Inspiration – The GunslingerRoman J. Martelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09545497713474664555noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7889215628007960117.post-82299119649437133462011-04-17T13:13:39.522-07:002011-04-17T13:13:39.522-07:00I disagreed with old dictum “your first million wo...I disagreed with old dictum “your first million words don’t count” until I had surpassed a million words. It takes a while to find your voice. Even Gore Vidal (one of my authorial heroes), whose first novel Williwaw was a commercial success, said he didn’t find his real voice until his fourth novel. One of my early flaws (I still have plenty) was to digress into side stories unrelated to the central plot (this is more forgivable in novels than in short stories) because, for example, I had thought of some clever dialogue and wanted to work it in somehow. I’ve lately re-edited a number of my old stories and posted them along with new ones at my Richard’s Mirror site; the typical re-edit is about 30% shorter than the original.<br /><br />Heinlein and Wells were big early influences. Stylistically, Mark Twain helped me make adjustments, though I’d never claim to write like Twain. When I revisited his lectures on James Fennimore Cooper, I realized many of his complaints applied to me.<br /><br />Good post.Richard Bellushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10108081864942272619noreply@blogger.com