Not much moto-news today, but I'm up to Chapter 21 on my novel. You should go and check it out, as soon as possible. There's all kinds of craziness, with people getting hit by garbage trucks, guys who dress like Humphrey Bogart, someone getting locked in the trunk of a car, and repeated auto theivery!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???
5 comments:
Lucky,
I notice the comments have tapered off since you started the novel project. Why do you suppose that is?
It seems to me that people resent the fact that some other people might be able to make a living at writing, rather than getting a REAL job.
As long as you stick to writing about riding motorcycles and eating pizza, these folks can relate.
But ask them to take a literary journey with you, and it's "Sorry, too busy, thanks anyway!"
However, I must admit that I haven't read past chapter 7 myself. Too busy...
But I've got five whole days off work coming up for the Turkey Gobblin' Holiday. When I'm done riding my brains out, I'll come home, open up a 12-pack, and continue reading your novel.
Do not despair. Why? I honestly don't know...
Ride well,
=gc=
I've been getting some comments on the novel's blog (not a lot, but enough), emails, and praise on a couple of the forums I take part in. True, my comments have tapered off, but really, beyond "good job!" or "this sux," there hasn't been much to comment about on the Great Motorcycle Pizza Tour lately.
I'm willing to accept that not everyone will groove on my novel, too. Some people don't like comedy, others don't like crude language and subject matter, and still others find the idea of writing new polytheistic myths (more of a re-imagining and adaptation for the purpose of a swashbuckling good time, really) reprehensible. That's ok.
I'm also willing to concede that reading a first draft of a first novel by an inexperienced fiction writer HAS to be painful. Thanks to everyone who's playing along! :D
That said, my writing has gotten WAY better since the first 6 chapters.
Should anyone out there feel resentful that I'm making a living at writing, rest assured that I am currently making ZERO money at any of this. :D I'd like to get my novel published, but after the amount of work it takes to write a publishable novel, a REAL job will be a walk in the park by comparison.
So! Keep reading my novel, and I'll be back with pizza and motorcycles starting in December. I promise I have some groovy things planned for this blog.
Wow, this turned into a long reply. I wonder if I can work it into my novel somehow...
Anyway, thanks Gary. Please keep posting interesting articles on your blog. I've been having a great time procrastinating on my novel by reading your posts!
As for me, gary said it best:
"Sorry, too busy, thanks anyway!"
Nah, just yankin' your chain - I'm looking forward to reading the novel, I've just been mobbed with work, school, & relationship stuff lately. From my cursory glances it sounds like "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" meets "Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence" meets "American Gods", all of which is very good company. I plan on catching up with my reading over winter break, I'll be happy to give you all the feedback you can handle then if you want it...
Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was way, WAY deeper than my novel.
I've read ZATAOMM a few times (mainly because it's just so hard to get through), and I have to say that if he'd just take out all the philosophizing, it'd be a great book.
I love "Fear & Loathing" and "American Gods," and I'll take all three comparisons as a compliment.
Of course, my novel is funnier than any of those. On the other hand, Neil Gaiman and Hunter S. Thompson are considerably better writers than me. Pirsig, not so much. ;)
Yeah, ZATAOMM was just the only mainstream book involving motorcycles & road trips that leapt to my mind. I haven't read it for years, but remember enjoying it, despite thinking it was too damn long (and supposedly it was edited down from 800,000 words!) I just read an interview with Pirsig (allegedly his last) and he's a pretty interesting guy - a nuerotic wreck, but still pretty interesting:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1951397,00.html
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