Advice: Don't put too much of yourself into your writing

If there is one thing I learned while writing short stories and starting to write a novel is that putting too much of yourself into something you write doesn't always work and doesn't always appeal to your readers.
Yes, it's fine to distinguish one of your characters with your qualities, flaws and maybe something really exciting that has happened to you and you want to share with the world, but writing too much about yourself into a fiction piece will not work.
Why? Because, let's face it, you as an individual, unless you've been to war or experienced a truly traumatic event, will not have a story as interesting as a "fictional" character you can mold and turn into anything you like.
If you want to tell your life story, wait till you are famous and then publish it as non-fiction. Till then, let your characters be free, don't assimilate them with you.

I think I have a title

One of the best things you can do as an author, especially, an inexperienced one, when writing your first major piece is to find a title before. Of course, it doesn't have to be the one you'll use when you finish it, but something to get you started, to give you the definitive proof that you are headed somewhere.
I am, apparently headed somewhere with my novel, but didn't think of a title yet. This until yesterday. Another sneak preview I'm gonna give you regards two main themes in this book, probably one of the first two locations that I have imagined from the beginning. One that I am completely familiarized with by now, about which I sketched already entire scenes and charts of significance and another one that is just revealing itself to me. You will understand in a second why one of them can be the title of the novel and the other cannot.
"The Dump" will be one of the major "spacial" characters of the book, obviously when you will read it you will understand why. There's still some time till that happens. The second, that I think will be the title of the book is "The Glass Gazebo".
I already have in mind so many ideas about this fabulous place I have discovered that I cannot wait to share them with you.

Nostalgia

After finishing John Saul's "In the Dark of the Night", which for me has been an easy summer read I decided to stroll into one of Provincetown's libraries to get something more in-depth. After about an hour of flipping through numerous novels and non-ficition releases, I stumbled upon Mircea Cartarescu's Nostalgia.
Caratrescu is a prolific Romanian author, one of his latest books "De ce iubim femeile" (Why we love women) being a bestseller for three years in a row in the eastern European country.
This book, written only a couple of years after the Romanian revolution tells more than one story. It tends to be a non-fiction "fictionalized" novel, a style that isn't very often seen in American authors. The book is not only spellbinding but it is "unputdownable".
It is not characters or plot the keep the book together but a harmonic binding of dreams, games, inner feelings and fantasies.
Cartarescu mentions several times throughout "Nostalgia" that he does not write this for anyone else but himself. However, for any reader with a little experience, this book is absolutely amazing, even though you need a thesaurus next to you to be able to understand every single word.
I was recently talking to a published author here in Provincetown about recipes that work in non-fiction. What I have noticed is that Cartarescu does not use any of the ingredients that I have been taught in this book. So, this book will never appeal to the masses, but will definitely appeal to the intellectuals and to the dreamers, to the philosophers and ultimately writers.
I strongly recommend the book, you can find it on amazon.com here.

Writers and technology

Oh well, we've all been there, I suppose, the moment when you realize that your life and writing career would be nothing without your desktop or laptop. The moment when you wonder how the hell could people write 200 thousand word novels on paper.
Truth is that technology has made us lazy. First of all, us as a society, and second of all, us, writers. What do I mean? Well, right now it's so easy to research any subject you want to write about without ever leaving your desk, going out on the field, talking to people. Now it is so easy to edit your novel without using that big tome we call "thesaurus". There are hundreds of options, software for writers, software for editors, software for publishers etc. etc.
On the other hand, this is a good thing. Young, unknown writers can finally see their books published and test the market without having to go through the tedious process of submitting their works to major publishers.
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In more personal reactions, I have been slacking off for the past few days, as my upcoming novel is regarded. I will resume work on that, as soon as I fix my notebook. Oh well, technology...

Coelho's hype

I was in one of Provincetown's bookshops the other day and I almost bought this book. But then I thought, why read Coelho again? Haven't I had enough reading his last books, didn't I feel enough pain reading Zahir?
I mean, let's face it Coelho is not the most brilliant author in the world, he writes book using a recipe, so, after you've read a few of his books, you kind of know what's gonna happen or what philosophical reasoning will be used in the next one.
Of course Coelho appeals to so many because it's not only easy to read and understand but his words seem to disperse some kind of reasoning beyond what you can usually read on the bestseller list.
I mean, just imagine how many 17 year old girls thought and still think that Coelho is the most brilliant writer ever, an incredible philosopher, maybe even better that Aristotle. Of course, this image is provided by the fact that he is able to hide very bad fiction behind really good wording.
But, unfortunately that's all there is to Coelho, he can fool some, he hasn't been able to fool others yet.
I am in the category in the middle. He did fool me in the beginning but right now, I've made the decisive step. I have not bought "The Witch of Portobello". And neither should you.

Advice for newbies

How hard is it to be published when you never wrote something before? That's a question I have been asked quite frequently in the past few weeks. The truth is, I usually tell them, that I have no clue.
There's something to do with imagination and intelligence, but there is a great deal related to sheer luck. Sometimes it's just NOT gonna be published. What my advice is for anyone trying to find its way into the publishing spectrum is "try as much as you can". Stephen King submitted two novels to publishers until "Carrie" was finally accepted. Rejection doesn't necessarily mean that you are not good, it might just mean that you are not writing what the publishers have to send to the market.
So, check the bestseller lists and see if any of the genres of literature there are appealing to you. If so, you're on the right path.

The good versus the really bad

Couple of weeks ago I decided to start entertaining myself with some easy reads, not the usual Kafka or Hemingway. So, I spent a couple of hours in the Barns and Noble in Boston on State St. till I found two novels that appealed to my senses.
First was named "Harvard Yard", written by William Martin, an author that places all his novel in the Boston - Cape Cod area. "Good", I said to myself, at least I have something to relate to. I live on the Cape. The book, however is excruciatingly painful. Bad is just a small word for it. Without trying to offend Mr. Martin, I couldn't read something like that. Even for a beach read this is way too complicated and not making any sense.
So, after I was 100 pages into Martin's novel, I decided to start Saul's book, given the fact that I had read many things by him before.
Oh well, as you can guess, we have a whole different situation this time. "In the Dark of the Night" is exciting, contemplative and pleasant. It's that kind of easy read that you enjoy, a real page-turner and virtually "unputdownable". Saul is a master of thriller and suspense, while Martin is a master of making his reader's fall asleep.
So, a very good recommendation from me is get any of Saul's 33 novels. I read about half of them, never have I been disappointed.
No, John did not pay me do write this. :)

My problems with Google

I finally resolved all the issues with the website domain. For the past few weeks I wasn't the most content person in the world, especially regarding Google. How? Well, let me explain.
I bought www.alexnick.com from Google, for a reasonable $10 per year. That includes Google Apps, a very nice set of applications that really enhance what you can do with a domain. Next step was to redirect alexnick.blogspot.com to that domain, right? Well, Google doesn't make it specifically clear HOW to do this. So, I called Godaddy.com twice, first a guy talked to me and tried to tell me that there is nothing wrong, that I just have to wait for a while so my domain gets activated and the DNS settings get settled (whatever that means).
After waiting for a couple of days a call again, this time I talked to a chick named Stephanie that seemed a little more knowledgeable that that guy, but ultimately wasn't.
In the end, I figured it out myself using Google Groups.
This leads to the conclusion of this post: "If you want something done well, do not rely on phone tech support.
Anyway, from now on just type www.alexnick.com and there I am.

Life experience

There are some experiences one can go through that will change one's entire life. It does not matter if they are good or bad, it does not matter if everything seems wrong, because at one point, maybe later on in life, you will realize that every single experience does matter a lot and can enhance your view on everything that surrounds you.
I have had a couple of non-inspirational days, in which I dod not write anything, I read a lot, but that's all I could do. After last night, however, I have so many new ideas for my new project, that I believe will turn into a very appreciated story. I showed my scribbles to a friends, the diagrams, the characters' timelines and dialogues I've set up till now and she said that she would definitely read it. It seems interesting and ultimately believebale.
I like to write from my own life experience and sometimes use actual dialogue.

And now for whoever is interested here is a sneak preview of a few lines of my upcoming novel:
"'What was wrong with you last night?'
'Nothing' he said, not even himself believing the words coming out of his mouth. But, well, he had to act strong. He decided the night before that he wouldn't care anymore. He cared enough. 'I don't really want to talk about it right now'
She smiled and gazed into his eyes.
'Jealousy kicked in?'
What the heck, he thought, I might as well say it.
'Maybe...'
'Just so you know, I'm not exclusive' she whispered, expecting his reaction. 'I really don't want you to take this seriously'
'Uhm, all right, OK, got it. It's not a problem for me.' He was a good liar. But it just didn't feel right.

Places that tickle my muse

It's interesting in the beginning of the writing process of something like what I'm about to do to get to know your characters and find out what they're made of - what they feel and who they are. I sometimes imagine that they are real people and not just figments of my imagination. However, never before have I felt more attached to a couple of character like I am to Chris and Anna. I really believe that this will be a journey filled with adventures and the final result will be more than pleasing.
I don't always find inspiration everywhere, there are some places that tickle my muse, like the little shack on Fisherman's wharf in Provincetown's old harbor or under the old trees in Cambridge's Harvard Yard. The key word is old. Even if I'm still young (or at least I like to think of myself as such) and I know how to use all the miracles of technology, I still feel the need to write on paper, my characters are better brought to life in my own handwriting, using my favorite golden pen.

Welcome

I begin here, with you, a voyage, a demanding and mind-shattering voyage that probably no author has done before. Through this blog you will be able to explore everything that goes behind writing, editing and finally publishing a novel. From start to finish.
Let me introduce myself. My pen name is Alex Nick, the "Provincetown Banner" says I have a "sheer imaginative force". I sure hope they are right, otherwise this would be a waste of time, right.
Well, anyway, I welcome you all to my blog and hope you'll enjoy what I will be writing in here.