Committment and Co-Authoring

I am famous for not following through with the millions of projects that I start (as you can probably tell by the fact that I haven’t posted in so long). It is not something I am proud of, but rather something I have been working on fixing.

One of the most frustrating experiences I can imagine is trying to write a book. Fun, yes – exhilarating at times. But often frustrating. The reason is that writing a book represents a huge commitment. Authors have to push through each and every chapter no matter how good their writing is, because if it is not complete, it won’t sell. A story without an ending is not a story.

All but a couple of my stories do not have endings. They start well, they have good parts and bad parts, but they don’t end, they just fade away. As I read my old material, I can see myself behind the words, growing more and more exhausted, getting bored of a great story.

In the past, I haven’t tried to find a solution to the problem, I have simply kept writing half-stories. Recently, though, I learned that a good friend of mine is also a writer, and so we both decided to do something a little different. We decided to co-author a novel. It has been a huge help. Now I’m tied to the story, I have made a commitment, and not just one to myself.

 

(Check out my awesome cover :D) 

 

That being said, not everything is hunky-dory. Putting two teens together and telling them to write a complete, intricate, and believable story (which involves agreeing on everything - literally!) is not an easy task. It is more like a psychological lab experiment. For the most part, we have kept the peace, but there have been disagreements here and there that divide us. And DIVISION IS NOT GOOD. I am constantly paranoid that she will lose interest or disagree with one of my ideas so fundamentally that she refuses to help anymore. She is my lifeline for this project – a lifeline with its own will and opinions and ego. The same thing goes for me. Sometimes I don’t even trust myself to do my fair share (but maybe that’s a good thing – it persuades me to work more and to have better ideas).

The point is, writing a book is already a complex process. Throwing feelings and chemistry and communication into the mix brings it to a whole new level of difficulty. If your biggest struggle as a writer is perseverance, you may benefit from partnering up; however, if you have a hard time keeping your temper under control or you have an ego thing where you only like your own ideas (I wouldn’t blame you), then maybe your best option is to walk the path alone.

 

QUESTION: What do you think about co-authoring? Would you ever try it?

Ye Olde Faithful Kindle

This weekend I bought a Kindle Paperwhite on a whim. I had watched my friend since the start of school enjoying his e-reader device, and thought, “Why not? I’m an avid reader, too!”

Admittedly, not the wisest financial decision.

I went for the newest model because A) I’m kind of a tech-snob, and B) it was shiny. Literally. The Kindle Paperwhite is the first of Amazon’s e-readers to utilize e-ink technology and have a lit screen.

At first, it seemed too good to be true.  Wouldn’t built-in light cause eyestrain, and therefore defeat the whole purpose of using e-ink? Turns out, the Amazon design team is a little smarter than that. Eyestrain occurs when a device is backlit, meaning that the light comes from directly behind the screen and is pointed at the viewer’s eyes. The Paperwhite is not backlit. It is lit from the sides of the screen, pointing inward. And so, to my delight, I was able to read deep into the night with a perfectly illuminated screen and not suffer through an eye-piercing headache.

The list of “pros” also includes a Chuck-Norris battery, a surprisingly useful vocabulary-builder application, integrated access to Goodreads (a reading-based social network), and an awesome X-Ray tool.

... It's hard to explain the awesome.

Unfortunately, it’s not as pretty as I’d hoped. In all the advertising, the screen is shown radiating with angelic whiteness, casting godly rays in all directions. The reality is that the lighting feature gives off a mostly-white-but-slightly-blue glow that seems a little colder than it should (at least on the lower settings). Not that the look really matters – it functions exactly as it’s supposed to – but upon realizing that the packaging had exaggerated, my inner raccoon died a little.

Aside from that minor disappointment, the only thing I would say is this: if you are thinking about buying a Kindle, you should probably get a case as well. I used mine for two days before I decided that the device felt too thin and fragile, even though it’s not. It is actually pretty sturdy, but feels thin and breakable, so much so that I was afraid to put it in my backpack. After spending ten bucks on a low-end leather case, however, I am much more comfortable bringing the device with me to school and on drives. With the case, it weighs about as much as a small book and feels just as comfortable in the hand (possibly even more so, because you don’t have to fight the binding to keep it open).

Overall? Not sparkly, but built and designed well, hence the "Ye Olde Faithful". 

 

Possibly my new best friend.