This rabbit hole has been something else everyone.
My first experience with Theresa happened with:
Mr. Norman made waves more from how he reacted to reviewers then anything else. From what I've read of the book, (The amazon sample that is.) this is def. a first draft that needed more baking time. More TLC. Less of the character being an exposition dump. So much exposition.
And this is what he has as the blurb:
*****
( IT'S INTERESTING THAT OUT OF THE FIRST 37, ..YES 37 !!!.., ONE-STAR REVIEWERS, ONLY 6 ACTUALLY READ THE BOOK AS INDICATED BY AMAZON'S ' Verified Purchase' FLAG. WHY ARE THEY HERE? READ ON. )......Theresa is a star baseball pitcher in high school. Internet trolls viciously her. A teacher tells Theresa why they do that, and she understands.
............. "I saw why the trolls were angry. They knew they couldn’t go where I was going. I’d have a good life. They wouldn’t."
.........If I had intended to write a story that the internet trolls would hate, I couldn't have done better than Empress Theresa. It's a natural internet troll target.......
....How many stories can make you feel good? Can you think of any? Add Empress Theresa to the list.......
............In chapter 1 ten year old Theresa admits she doesn't have a clue about anything, but nine years later she confidently says, "I can do anything". "How did I come so far?" she asks herself, and considers a list of influences on her life. She had good parents and family support, she had natural gifts of beauty and intelligence, she has a good, loyal husband, but the most important influence are her own actions. "I'm very simple. I follow my conscience. I am what I do."
.....Of what is Theresa the empress? She's empress of her internal self, described by Henry David Thoreau as 'a realm besides which the empire of the Czar is a petty state', a land too vast to be explored in a lifetime. Theresa rules her inner self.
........What is Empress Theresa about? If I wrote it correctly it's about YOU!.............
....A teenage Catholic girl from Massachusetts acquires limitless power over the whole world.
What will she do with it?
What would you do with it?
....On page two, Theresa sums up the human situation in a single sentence:
"We're lost in this confusing world unless we follow the directions of its Maker."
.........Theresa knows that the world is not a complete explanation of the world. There's a lot more. This gives her the strength to get through everything.........
....You want a strong female? Try "Empress Theresa".
....After reading page 1,
no, never mind that, after reading the second paragraph on page 1,
you know nothing will stop this girl!
...................
....In the cultural wasteland of today's heartless media, Empress Theresa is a breath of fresh air. Show it to your 8 year old daughter and show it to your grandmother. They'll both enjoy it.
……Empress Theresa is a very different kind of story, incorporating situations never seen before. It is a beautiful story of how Theresa deals with her "impossible problems" and how people react to her. It is full of meanings, for Theresa doesn't act like this world is all there is. "I was sure I was immortal and that gave me courage."
……This is a book about a heroic teenage American girl winning against impossible odds and changing the world.
……So is Empress Theresa a 'Young Adult' novel? Not really. Theresa doesn't deal with the problems of a teenager's life. She deals with problems that involve all humanity. It should be called an 'Old Adult' novel because old people, having seen everything, will see its meaning. It has themes seldom seen in other books. But the story itself is worth reading just as a story.
....
…… DESCRIPTION: Theresa is honest, courageous, brilliant, happily married, powerful but harmless, thoughtful of others' welfare not just her own, a believer in God, and an inspiration to the young and old. She attacks "impossible" problems with everything she's got and she never gives up.
……Empress Theresa is what some people would consider impossible, a book about a good girl, with no sex, foul language, or violence, but still giving the reader an action-filled fascinating story.
..........Do something good. Give young people something worth reading.
*****
Excuse me, I'm gonna have to be buzzed for this next part.
I feel his pain. I will tell tru-facts. My first few attempts at getting things onto paper for my own series had quite a few of Theresa's mistakes. Too much telling. Repeated sentences from characters. It takes time to develop your craft. By no means give up, things will get smoother. Hell, at this point, by the end of the year, I'll probably be even better then I am now with my own abilities. That's why its good to have first drafts, finish the projects/series, then go back with new eyes and reshape that clay again.
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2014
Yea, that's what this book is. Again, rough drafts are amazing. Because its a foundation you can build upon, shape into something really really fun. It's ok if they end up being a stepping stone. Sometimes you can keep some of it, some times it gets restructured in editing. Doesn't mean it wasnt worth while though.
It can hurt that your book can get caught in a landslide but I think most readers really wanted Mr. Norman to make a better book. At least in the beginning, before he went all axe-crazy on people in the comments.
I get it, you are protective of your work too. But once you put it out there, people will leave some sort of feedback, some will enjoy it, some will meh, others will have a disconnect, even more might indeed leave one star reviews.
When all my stuff launches, Ill mostly be happy to get it out to the readers, hope for the best but realize that 1 stars happen. Readers have different expectations depending on factors:
- Did you pick a genre that reflected your book properly enough?
- Are the characters, setting, world building on the same page?
- Have a balance of Exposition and Showing.
Here's what this book is listed in. Right.
- #28122 in Suspense (Kindle Store)
- #258783 in Literature & Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #44077 in Suspense Thrillers
That should be slice of life. It has no conflict, like Emp. Theresa.
Things I have learned so far:
- Have active Protags
- Have active Antags
- Make sure the chapters move the overall plot forward.
- Find a balance between detail dumps, character dialog, action and quiet moments. Wheel of Time nearly drowned me in Detail. To the point where I was skipping stuff to find the plot again.
- Its ok to have a very simple conflict. You don't have to re-invent the wheel. Readers love genre tropes.
- Some try so hard to subvert everything to be "original" that the work becomes unrecognizable. Don't sweat that. Some elements are prevalent because they work so well. Because they are a part of our cultural radar.
So much explaining and not showing. Pick events that shape your character. In my limited experience. The Anthology I am doing is giving me lots of practice with character moments. Events that would slow down the main plot so I am putting them in a side story format. Its also giving me an understanding of my own setting and characters.
Feels like Theresa is one giant synopsis of a book. But if you want to see the run down of Mr. Norman vs Everyone:
It's something else. To live long enough to become a meme of sorts. He's probably the part of indie publishing most would want to forget but I find valuable information on what not to do. Esp when it comes to reader feedback.
This is also tru-facts. In my opinion. Like a train wreak that keeps expanding outward. If its true that he worked on this for 20 years, I can totally really reaaaaaaaaly understand his super protective mode over his book. But that wont stop people from giving input.
I know the first inclination is to be like: OH this wasn't for them! Only the TRUE READERS GET ME! (In Mr. Norman's case esp.)
Dont do that. Gatekeepers do that.
Bake your book cake to the best it can be. Ideas are awesome. Just try to understand that the draft is the base of the cake. It needs trimmings too.
- Dont throw the drafts out either. To me that's all a part of the process. It's not a waste. It's like learning to ride a bike. Don't give up.
- Don't say aspiring writer either. If you put words to the page you are a writer.
- Get those worlds out there. Don't care if its screen writing, prose writing, technical writing, script writing, comic book writing. The list is endless.
- You don't need anyone to bless your writing. Not Hollowwood, not Gatekeepers, not anyone. Just write. Sure, sometimes things turn out like Empress Theresa. Then you bake the cake again and again and again. Just like any chef would. It might be messy at first but even in a few short months to even a year, you will see improvement.
By Crom, life is too short to lament all the time. Just do it. Drive the words before you.
No comments:
Post a Comment