Book Review: I am Legend

Book Review:

I am Legend!

by Richard Matheson

So I figured it was the perfect time to bring up a book review on the Gray Pen. I struggled a bit picking which one it should be; I settled on I Am Legend.

I am Legend is a science fiction novel written by Richard Matheson in 1954. It has been adapted into three films over the past fifty years: The Last Man on Earth(1964), The Omega Man(1971), and finally I am Legend(2007).

The novel tells of vampirism spreading and infecting the entire world; leaving one man Robert Neville alive in New York city. The brunt of the novel revolves around the scientist Neville, who seeks a cure to save humanity. Constantly, he seeks to find other people, or life itself, suffering from depression and loneliness. At one point in the novel he finds a companion; a dog, however the dog dies several days after him finding it.

The novel ends with the world being owned by these vampires, and Neville being executed in front of the masses as a test of their power. He is the last man on Earth, he is legend.

Matheson beautifully narrates the novel, swinging between the dark and optimistic tensions. The vampires are displayed more brutally and soon you can tell that they become more human-like, and knowledgeable. People viewed the movie, will be in for quite a surprise once they read the book, the plot is the same; however everything else is much different. It will be like you’re checking out something entirely new, and dark.

Anyone who is into dark fiction, or science fiction at all should definitely pick up this classic. Though it is old, time has not withered away at its impact and feel.I am Legend is one hell of a read!

Thank you,

Damian

The Hardest Part

For me at least, the hardest part of writing a narrative has to come when I approach the middle of it. The beginning is very easy to my mind, I simply formulate a new idea. The new idea may be changed, but the general ease of its creation is always the same. The end is the easiest for me, I just wrap up the story, let the suspense explode, or shroud it in mystery. Either or, I love beginnings and endings, the most out of the process. The middle is a son of bitch though.

Why is the middle so damn difficult?

Once you get towards the middle of a story, ‘the newness’ of it seems to have worn off. Sometimes the narrative seems old and tired; and you’re just searching for the end. This is when most errors occur, especially plot based. Even if the plot is already sketched out, the author can rush the work and end up with a disaster. Or even worse, the author can draw it out, and put everyone to sleep. Have you ever read a book and once you get to the middle you want to fall asleep? I know I have, and that’s when I put down the book.

The middle is usually the longest part of any narrative, due to it having to carry key points from the beginning and concluding them in the end.

How can I avoid letting my middle become boring?

To avoid making your narrative’s middle becoming boring and dry, take a break. Put aside the writing, and take a bit of time to regain your thoughts and ideas. This will add a breath of fresh air to your writing, and hopefully you will have mastered any plot problems. By a bit of time, I mean anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks. The way you think will have changed by that time, and you will have new ways to implement and carry on the narrative.

My short story ‘Lord Knows’ had a powerful beginning, and an ironic (and iconic) ending, however the middle felt dry to me. The middle was composed of memories, and visualization. Implementing them into a proper pace was difficult, so I left the story aside. Two weeks later when I sat down to retype the story, I had typed and retyped the middle again and again. Finally, I had found a pace which had satisfied me, and people I had read the narrative. The middle was no longer dry, and was finally done.

It merely takes time to accomplish certain tasks.

How do you feel about the middle of narratives? Do you have any tips? Leave a comment down below with your answer!

“Lord Knows” why I didn’t double check!

So it took me roughly a week and half to formulate and write a twisted horror story of a pastor gone crazy, who attacks his wife due to an illusion of adultery. The story took place inside a prison and was composed of flash backs of the murder, before and after. The story was nicely narrated in my opinion, showing the wicked pace of his mind. I wrote it, checked it over, and than typed it in less than two weeks; I should’ve known to double check!

Just as I began to pass out copies to my family and friends, desperate for comments or criticism, I felt a pride overtake me. I was finally accomplished as a writer, I would send the little story off to a publisher and reap the benefits. However, that little dream in my mind was soon washed over. Everyone who read the story gave me great feedback, and everyone enjoyed the story;something seemed wrong.

I sat back early one morning, and began to flip through the eleven page narrative, when something struck me like a brick. I found an error with the first paragraph, I misspelled one of the words. As my eyes ran over the page, I found more and more of these errors, until I through down my baby. How the hell could a word proceccor miss all these damn mistakes?

Finally it occurred to me that computers aren’t editors, and never can be. That a computer can never have the same coarseness as a pair of human eyes. A computer can never possess the same brutality as a red pen.

Moral lesson learned: DOUBLE CHECK WITH RED PEN! NOT ONCE OVER ON THE COMPUTER

Thank you for reading,
Damian

Blogging and Writing

If you’re just entering the blogging world, or you’ve been around since it’s inception, you must have noticed the connectivity of the writing and blogging world. You will not find a writer who does not have some sort of online presence, more importantly a blog. It seems the two go hand in hand on the internet, writers use blogs to network their work and establish a presence. Few authors go purely on paper, due to the massive marketing options available to us on the web.

So since I’m a writer does that mean I need a blog?

Well no, you don’t need a blog, much like you don’t need an agent, or to even go through traditional publishing. Blogging is simply a device to connect with readers, build relationships, and make your content available on the web. So by doing this, you may already establish a network which will later be prevalent to your work. Let’s say you have a fairly successful blog of around two hundred subscribers, you can expect (or at least hope) that they will in turn pick up a copy of your New York Times Bestseller the moment it hits the book shelf.

Darren Rowse from the amazing blog; Problogger, often states that “you need to build your network before you need it”. This statement is very true, why wait to gather a fan base once the novel has already been put on the market, when you can market the novel to the network you’ve had ties with prior? By blogging it is simple to establish yourself to the point, that a fan base will gather (it will take quite some work on your part) and be more responsive to purchasing your work, or even reading it.

Though it isn’t a necessity, the trend of internet based marketing and socialization have exploded over the past several years. Near endless possibilities linger across the web, and many more will follow, and more will follow that, and than even some more. The web is ever evolving, and will change and develop until we’ve moved onto something more expansive.

I don’t believe an author can ever reach his true marketing potential without possessing a blog. It is just far too simple of an idea to put forth content, and receive people who like you’re writing to jump on the bandwagon. Though it’s not a necessity, it truly is a benefit in the modern world.

The Gray Pen

Hello everyone and anyone who may be reading this post, which I suspect won’t be too many since this is the first day of the site! I’d like to take time with this post to introduce myself, my blog, and some other topics to those who may not know.

My names Damian, I’m an aspiring writer, and musician from a small town in New Jersey. I have had several blogs in the past, however it isn’t until now that I have realized the amount of effort needed for success. Initially, I entered the blogging world about a year or so ago, so I am still learning; like in life, I will always be learning something new. I primarily write fiction, a sub genre I’d like to call psychedelic, or psycho horror. I don’t even know if there is a true definition for it, essentially my stories are the kind which are filled with suspense, hidden meanings, and all the other goodies which play with your mind. For quite some time my stories have never seen the outside of my folders; now I have taken a leap, a skip and bound towards publication. I have been looking through short story publishers for some time, and I’m settling on which I wish to submit.

So enough about me, The Gray Pen is an online journal which depicts my journey from a typical dreaming writer, to a published dreaming author. This blog is thoroughly meant to educate, entertain, communicate, and to also put forth my writing. As I undergo the path towards publication, I will be documenting my day to day efforts, activities, and struggles. Of course, I will be sharing my thoughts, ideas, opinions, rants, tips, and just about everything else which could be separated with a comma!

Before I go on any farther I first must thank one blogger in particular, who was always a good source of advice and feedback. Through my year of blogging I often would feel overwhelmed and would quit, or fall behind in my blogging. The blogger is Marta from Writing in the Water. Whenever I would fall behind or get pessimistic due to my lack of activity, she would simply give me a line of advice “Just don’t stop writing”. This one line of advice has been a very important statement which I have always kept with me. Never once have I stopped writing in one form or the other, I will always be jotting something down.

All in all, this blog will be boasting daily posts, over varying topics focused around writing. There will be weakly book reviews, and some of my own writings shared.

Stay in touch, comment, and if you like what you see thus far subscribe!

Thanks,

Damian

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