# New Writer In Need of Advice



## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Hello, fellow writers, I am Jacob Alexander Hinsvark (I go by Alex). I am seventeen years old (please do not disregard taking me seriously because of that) and an aspiring writer. I am currently working on several projects, and need some advice with a tricky one of them. First, however, I will quickly tell my story below.

When I was a young child I never imagined myself writing books. I played a lot of video games as a kid and always had a dream of become a video game designer. It was only on a whim that I began the writing that changed my life; not long ago, just after my seventeenth birthday, I was walking the fields of my uncles farm, engaging on one of my favored activities: daydreaming. I was thinking about several occasions in middle school where I had written random stories without any reason other than boredom. I thought about it and realized that I always greatly enjoyed those writings; I wondered to myself why I had gone so long without writing. So, on that day, I decided to test myself by writing the opening chapter of a book. I wrote one chapter and was immediately hooked.

My first book was a simple fictional fantasy story. I took an extra effort to reflect my own life within it; I based the main character largely after myself, I based important story plots after my own fantasies, but most importantly I used my own trials and hardships in life to create the challenges the main character faced. I got seven chapters into it before I took an intermission in my writing; a great personal hardship arose in my life that struck the motivation out of me and pulled me into a depression. I ceased to write for exactly seven months (to the day, I just realized upon giving it some thought) and allowed my own negativity to pull me away from my dreams.

Two days ago I saw a motivational speaker that changed my life. Jake French, author of LIFE HAPPENS Live It, spoke at a inspirational seminar I attended at a business camp I go to every summer. His story was both beautiful and tragic; he had broken his neck in a freak accident and lost his ability to walk. He spoke of how he fell into a deep depression and lost all motivation in life for a very long time. He could never walk again, how could he be successful? That's what he thought at the time. With the help of his family and friends, however, he was eventually able to return to his old self and regain confidence in himself. He went from rock bottom; depressed, demotivated, derailed from the tracks of life; to being an author and motivational speaker. He not only motivated himself to do so much, but not he goes around motivation and inspiring other people! Amazing, huh?

With the new found motivation his speech inspired in me, I was ready to pull myself out of my own metaphorical pit. At first I thought to continue writing my original book, but a new idea popped into my head that once again changed my entire outlook on life (that seems to be happening a lot lately, huh?) and caused me to put my other book off a little longer. I decided to forget about money, forget about fame, and concentrate on my second biggest passion: philanthropy. Now I know my idea is nine million, nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine thousand, nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine out of a million (a gross exaggeration, I know, but you get the point). Spending life as a philanthropist; what writer hasn't thought of that at some point in their life? Despite the cliche that is my idea, however, I've decided to stick with it, because this idea means the world to me. Now here comes the part you've all been waiting for: why I made this post; I need help (more like advice, really, I have some questions) with this new idea. I'll explain further in the next large paragraph.

*Too long, didn't read? I need help with a book I am writing and I feel this is the best place for it. Details below:*

The premise of my book is to raise awareness of a specific charity function I greatly support. I will not currently be explaining the specifics of my book, for I am unfortunately haunted by lingering paranoia about idea-thieves (not to say that anyone here is one, I just don't want to risk it). The book itself is about what the charity supports; it describes in raw, graphic detail the problems which said charity exists to solve. The idea is if people were to read a book, not about the charity workers helping fix the problem, not about what people are doing about it, but about what happens behind the scenes, before the heroes arrive, that they would feel a more direct connection of empathy towards the victims.

The idea is that upon reading this book and feeling the aforementioned empathetic connection towards the victims in the scenario, they would be more inclined to help the cause themselves, whether through volunteer work or simple donations. The profits from the book itself will go one-hundred percent to the charity in question. I feel that if I can raise even a simple ten-thousand dollars, I will have accomplished more in my life than most people; not because that's a lot of money, it obviously isn't, but because it is going to a good cause rather than someone's pocket. I do apologize for keeping you waiting for so long; I hope I didn't bore you to death with my story; but now is the moment you've been waiting for: my problem.
*
Too Long, didn't read again? I am writing a book to promote a charity and donating its profits to said charity. Here is my problem:

*The idea behind my book is an inspiring one; however, not all inspirational ideas are complex enough to fill a one-hundred-thousand word count novel. I've been writing for two days and have gotten to a word count of thirty-four hundred and completed four-and-a-half chapters. My end goal is to reach roughly twenty-thousand word count. I feel like if I can reach that goal I can publish a small novella of about one-hundred pages with a word-per-page average of two-hundred (I plan to have large font size and few words per page to make the book accessible to readers of all intellectual levels; I feel this would be a good strategy in order to maximize profits and thus maximize positive impact).

My real issue is that I worry; is a twenty-thousand word count book going to be enough to make an impact? Do you, as much more experienced writers than I, think that I can achieve my goal with such a small book? It would be small even for a novella. I've seen books before that are barely over one-hundred pages, and they seem to sell fine; that gives me hope. However, I still find myself doubting the effectiveness of my plan. Do you believe that a twenty-thousand word count novella is enough to sell well if I couple it with the added aspect of a philanthropic cause? I need a professional opinion if I am to ever stop worrying about this. What are your opinions, as seasoned writers, about my predicament?


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## The Backward OX (Jul 19, 2012)

er...


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## Bloggsworth (Jul 19, 2012)

Too long didn't read! Well, not all of it. Welcome nevertheless, I'm sure you will get good advice here.


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## Potty (Jul 19, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> (I plan to have large font size and few words per page to make the book accessible to readers of all intellectual levels;



"Excuse me, what time does the pub shut?"
"Keh? I no speak da englesh!"
"Oh, that's OK I know how to communicate on your level." He clears his throat and lifts his arms up like a conductor ready to lead a synphony. 

"WHAT"
He shrugs his shoulders.
"TIME"
Points to his wrist.
"DOES THE"
Wonders what the signal for this could be
"PUB"
Drinks an imaginary pint.
"SHUT"
Waves his arms to mimic closing doors.


Bulking out your word count by making your font bigger wont work. And if your reader is an idiot, no amount of shouting at him is going to change that either. My advice to you? Forget about your word count, write your story and make it perfect for what it is... THEN find out how big it is and try to find someone to buy it at that length.


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## philistine (Jul 19, 2012)

Riveting tale, chap.

TL;DR


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## bluewolf301 (Jul 19, 2012)

Potty said:


> Bulking out your word count by making your font bigger wont work. And if your reader is an idiot, no amount of shouting at him is going to change that either. My advice to you? Forget about your word count, write your story and make it perfect for what it is... THEN find out how big it is and try to find someone to buy it at that length.



True, it won't work no matter how smart or stupid the reader may be there is no point in just aiming at certain people, i would say that follow Potty's advice and forget the word count just write to your hearts content and improve and when you think there is no more improvements to be made then think about, how big it will be when on sale and try to find someone who will buy it for what it is.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Potty said:


> "Excuse me, what time does the pub shut?"
> "Keh? I no speak da englesh!"
> "Oh, that's OK I know how to communicate on your level." He clears his throat and lifts his arms up like a conductor ready to lead a synphony.
> 
> ...



I appreciate your advice and support, but I must express that I take slight offense to the fact that you equate lack of knowledge of the English language to a lack of intellect. I know many extremely intelligent people who took English as a second language, and the clearly still possessed such intelligence prior to their learning of our language; besides that, you still misunderstand my reasoning, I think. I am partially at fault, I think, for I no longer believe the word 'intellectual' was particularly proper; what I more meant was that I wish to cater to the average American, someone who doesn't have either the time, patience, or motivation to often read challenging books. I don't believe the human race is in any way innately unintelligent; however, in my personal experience discussing reading with non-writers, particularly teens to young-adults, people find it more inviting and unintimidating when they open a book to find large, easily legible print.

I believe the average, non-avid reader is much more likely to be attracted to a book that is presented in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. I know many young readers who would much rather pick up a Harry Potter book than anything by Shakespeare. Is it because the story is better? OF COURSE NOT (and if you disagree, please keep that opinion to yourself, for I will either argue with you or ignore you, and the latter is more likely)! I have the unique ability here in that I, being a high-school student, have daily access during the year to regular interactions with teens and young adults; more often than not, when I am sitting in my English class and I overhear that someone didn't read the book, I hear them complain that there were too many words on the page; that it intimidated them so they didn't bother reading it. 

Since I want to raise awareness for a cause, in addition to worrying about how many people buy my book I must also take into consideration the different communities my book will influence. It is my belief that while large fonts and medium line spacing are not a major selling point of any book, they play a large role in how accessible said book is to the average reader. The average human can only process a certain number of concepts at one time, and generally the end of a page is a milestone where one can let go of many of the concepts they picked up on the previous page and start fresh, so to speak. I don't want to be one of those books with ten-point font and six-hundred-or-so words per page, because in my experience the average reader passes over such books; generally more complex books cater much less to the average reader and much more to the avid reader.

I do very much appreciate your advice, please don't take me the wrong way. You're absolutely right, if someone doesn't like my book for the way it is, they can, for lack of a more eloquent way of putting it, go screw themselves. However, the fact remains that I must, if I want to spread my cause effectively, cater to anyone and everyone, whether they be a literary professor at a university or the janitor at my high school.

I do hope this puts you at a better understanding of my reasoning behind this theory. Thank you for your time and your input is greatly appreciated.

*P.S. I do very much apologize for my long messages, and this apology goes to all readers of this thread. I have this weird habit of writing not enough when I want a lot and writing way more when I want a lot less; to put it simply, I am bad at explaining stuff (a very unattractive quality in a writer, I know, but believe me when I say I am working on it).*


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## JosephB (Jul 19, 2012)

Well, the “Three Cups of Tea” guy managed to pull something like this off. He had a very compelling story also – too bad it turned out to be mostly BS. Looks like a lot of the money from the book and personal appearances went into his own pocket – or was mismanaged, at best. That whole thing might make people skeptical about a similar kind of project.

Otherwise, I know a guy who is doing something similar. He found an inspirational story and wrote about it and somehow connected it to his own spiritual journey. He has a website and a promotional video too. He does speaking engagements and the money raised from that and book sales goes to various causes. I think he's done pretty well with it -- although his wife confided in my wife that she thought he was chasing windmills -- at one point he quit working to devote time to this book project and she was obviously worried about that and his obsession with it in general. Last I heard, he was trying to make a movie too. But he is or was a pretty well-connected guy in the entertainment industry -- so he has a leg-up.

 It all depends on how much time you want to put into it and how much you believe in your cause, I guess. It's like anything else though -- you need to do your homework, and especially look at other people who have done similar things. There's no point in reinventing the wheel.

PS -- if you want to raise awareness and money --you're going to need a concise "elevator statement" so you can tell people what you're trying to do without putting them to sleep. In other words, you're going to have to learn to get to the point.


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## Potty (Jul 19, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> but I must express that I take slight offense to the fact that you equate lack of knowledge of the English language to a lack of intellect.



Nope, I equate the lack of an interllect as a lack of an interllect. I just don't patronise my reader by making the font nice and big for their tiny minds to grasp 



> what I more meant was that I wish to cater to the average American,



Must... not... make sarcastic... remarks! 



> challenging books.



See Spot run. Run Spot run! Spot ran fast.




> I don't believe the human race is in any way innately unintelligent



Then you're in for a big let down in life my friend!




> I hear them complain that there were too many words on the page; that it intimidated them so they didn't bother reading it.



I think I remember using a similar excuse when I went out and played in the stream rather than do my homework



> while large fonts and medium line spacing are not a major selling point of any book, they play a large role in how accessible said book is to the average reader.



Go into a local book store... You will find that large fonted books can only be found in the childrens section and the section for the visually impaired.




> I do very much appreciate your advice,



Happy to help!




> (and if you disagree, please keep that opinion to yourself, for I will either argue with you or ignore you, and the latter is more likely)!



Harry Potter could kick shakespears proverbial any day!


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## Terry D (Jul 19, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> I appreciate your advice and support, but I must express that I take slight offense to the fact that you equate lack of knowledge of the English language to a lack of intellect. I know many extremely intelligent people who took English as a second language, and the clearly still possessed such intelligence prior to their learning of our language; besides that, you still misunderstand my reasoning, I think. I am partially at fault, I think, for I no longer believe the word 'intellectual' was particularly proper; what I more meant was that I wish to cater to the average American, someone who doesn't have either the time, patience, or motivation to often read challenging books. I don't believe the human race is in any way innately unintelligent; however, in my personal experience discussing reading with non-writers, particularly teens to young-adults, people find it more inviting and unintimidating when they open a book to find large, easily legible print.
> 
> I believe the average, non-avid reader is much more likely to be attracted to a book that is presented in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. I know many young readers who would much rather pick up a Harry Potter book than anything by Shakespeare. Is it because the story is better? OF COURSE NOT (and if you disagree, please keep that opinion to yourself, for I will either argue with you or ignore you, and the latter is more likely)! I have the unique ability here in that I, being a high-school student, have daily access during the year to regular interactions with teens and young adults; more often than not, when I am sitting in my English class and I overhear that someone didn't read the book, I hear them complain that there were too many words on the page; that it intimidated them so they didn't bother reading it.
> 
> ...



Welcome to the forums, J. Alexander, but there are a couple of things you should understand before you decide to bless the world with your work.

#1 -- Your "average reader" is just as smart as you are and does not need you to make your ideas "more accessible" to him/her.

#2 -- Nobody is going to steal your ideas.  Writers are full of ideas and they all have equal weight; it's in the expression of those ideas that writers shine.

#3 -- If readers were more attracted to large print, low word count per page books publishers would be offering them by the truck-load.


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## Euripides (Jul 19, 2012)

I can tell you as a reader....if I pick up a book and its got large font (and I didn't get the book from my nearly blind aunt, and I'm not in the 'large print book section') my thoughts are this
"author needed to pad the page count"

But I'm also a cynic, so I would never pick up a motivational/support my cause book.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Potty said:


> Must... not... make sarcastic... remarks!



No, trust me, I'm not proud of it either. I was born here though so I have no choice. As for my reasoning behind marketing here, it is a primarily American-based charity. 



Potty said:


> Go into a local book store... You will find that large fonted books can only be found in the childrens section and the section for the visually impaired.



Let me begin:

I. Harry Potter
II. Twilight (I hate it but it's sadly a popular example)
III. Eragon
IV. Narnia
V. Series of Unfortunate Events

The list goes on. All great titles, all with the same larger, more easily accessible font size that I plan to write my book with; most importantly, all not children's books (well, in some respects they are, but adults read them too).



Potty said:


> Harry Potter could kick shakespears proverbial any day!



You misunderstand me. Personally, I enjoy reading Harry Potter much more than Shakespeare's novels; I've read ever HP book seven times, in fact. However, Shakespeare's name has been known worldwide for hundreds of years; that kind of lasting impression alone proves that Shakespeare is a better writer, regardless of personal opinion.

Once again, thank you for your time and advice. Believe it or not, despite my habit of debating with people too much, I am taking much of your advice into consideration. Well, except the font size thing, I still argue that teens and young adults are much less likely to be interested in reading a book that has small print and six-hundred words for page, rather than a simple, two-hundred-word-per-page-average book that is on the same level as the average American teenager; here in America, sadly, most teenagers are as immature, uneducated, and lazy as the rest of the world says they are (I say they because I shame myself for being counted among them), so I see your reason for wanting to be sarcastic, but you must understand that the innate uneducatedness of American youth is also much of my reason behind the apparently controversial topic of slightly enlarged font size.

(Darn, yet another oversized post. I cannot emphasize my apology for my lack of summarizing skill enough, I feel bad for making you read through these enormous paragraphs every time I post)


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## Gamer_2k4 (Jul 19, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> My real issue is that I worry; is a twenty-thousand word count book going to be enough to make an impact? Do you, as much more experienced writers than I, think that I can achieve my goal with such a small book? It would be small even for a novella. I've seen books before that are barely over one-hundred pages, and they seem to sell fine; that gives me hope. However, I still find myself doubting the effectiveness of my plan. Do you believe that a twenty-thousand word count novella is enough to sell well if I couple it with the added aspect of a philanthropic cause? I need a professional opinion if I am to ever stop worrying about this. What are your opinions, as seasoned writers, about my predicament?



The shorter it is, the more likely people are to read it.  After all, that's less time the have to sink into something they're not sure about.  The only people who really care about book length (in my experience) are the ones who aren't going to be satisfied by anything less than a 2,000 page tome anyway.  If your story is compelling, that's all it needs.  Let the word count fit the story.


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## Bloggsworth (Jul 19, 2012)

I don't think Potty was criticising your English, which is far better than the average English school-leaver, but more at your bold sentences which appear to be telling us to pay attention as you repeat yourself. Short and to the point is far more likely to be read in its entirety.


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## shadowwalker (Jul 19, 2012)

One thing to remember is not to talk down to your audience - and the big font says just that. You're going to have enough difficulties with a book of this sort without adding to them unnecessarily.


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## Potty (Jul 19, 2012)

The shakespear/harry potter comment lost on you 

The only reason J.K Wotsit isn't (In your eyes) a better writer than shakespear, is becuase her books haven't been out as long. In 400 years I imagine J.K's books to be taught in schools as classic fiction. 

But back to the original post: I stand by my opinion that worrying about word count is pointless and counter productive at this stage. I would just write the book, then let the publisher decide what the best format for it will be. Chances are that if you demanded various things like this from whoever agrees to publish your work... they will drop you faster than a bar of soap in a homoerotic porn film.


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## Juganhuy (Jul 19, 2012)

So, a fictional tale about a real (?) charity and you want to talk about how to start writing?

Two simple ways (There are others but they are not as strait forward.)

1. Follow a single character before they get involved with the charity. Lets say he's healthy with healthy family then he/family/friend gets sick/loses home/job. They are helped by the charity so show it from a 'needing' stand point. Then he wants to give back and shows the real issues and challanges that need to be faced in order to offer services. It makes him better appreciate blah, blah, blah.

2. Follow multiple people who intertwine and are involved with the charity directly and indirectly. Example: sick child receiving help, a volunteer at the charity, a donator, a survivor, someone forced to do charity work, ect. This lets you write im different "voices" and lets you see all angles of the charity.


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## Potty (Jul 19, 2012)

Bloggsworth said:


> I don't think Potty was criticising your English, which is far better than the average English school-leaver, but more at your bold sentences which appear to be telling us to pay attention as you repeat yourself. Short and to the point is far more likely to be read in its entirety.




Yea pretty much this. Basically, in assuming your audience won't understand a sentence unless the font is bigger is a little patronising (Like saying something louder to a non English speaker assuming they will understand it now you've yelled at them). If the sentence makes no sense, it won't matter how big the font is.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Terry D said:


> Welcome to the forums, J. Alexander, but there are a couple of things you should understand before you decide to bless the world with your work.
> 
> #1 -- Your "average reader" is just as smart as you are and does not need you to make your ideas "more accessible" to him/her.
> 
> ...



First of all I would like to say thank you for welcoming me. I am very glad I have found this site; the people here seem very intelligent and are quite nice to have a debate with about various writing tactics. I plan to use this forum very much throughout my future career as a (hopefully successful) author. 

Secondly, if my average reader is just as smart as me, all the more reason to promote said _slightly_ (emphasis on slightly, because I think that's what people are missing here) enlarged word count. I consider myself quite an intelligent person (and modest to a point), and yet even I, upon encountering books with too many words-per-page, find myself sometimes overwhelmed with information. It's hard for the brain of the average teenager to process that much information at once. As cliche as this is to say, the youth of America are the foundation on which this country sits (which is why I am moving to London after college), and when spreading the word of an important cause, it is imperative to spread it primarily to those who will carry it their whole adult lives. I guess if I had to choose a target audience it would be teens to young adults.

Thirdly, I see your point that no one will steal my ideas. The only reason I was paranoid is because I have an innate problem with trusting people; I've been betrayed a lot in life. I really need to work on that though, and seeing the intelligent, respectful people on this forum I think it is safe to reveal my idea. I am writing a book about a cat in an abusive home, where she lives with all the other suffering animals, being tortured daily by her cruel master; it's to raise awareness of the efforts of the American Humane Society, and I plan to donate one-hundred percent of profit to said charity. I've always loved animals and this idea means a lot to me.

Thirdly, I go to high school; I spend every day of my life interacting with my target audience. Trust me, when I say that most American teenagers hate books with small font, I am basing that on real evidence provided to me by real experience with real people. I have good reasons for that ideas, and even if some adults will be put off by the large font, I still feel the positive effects will outweigh the negative.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Gamer_2k4 said:


> The shorter it is, the more likely people are to read it.  After all, that's less time the have to sink into something they're not sure about.  The only people who really care about book length (in my experience) are the ones who aren't going to be satisfied by anything less than a 2,000 page tome anyway.  If your story is compelling, that's all it needs.  Let the word count fit the story.



You know, I think that's just what I needed to hear. I have been considering doing just that, and forgetting about word or page count, but I wasn't sure what other writers would think. It's good to have that kind of support. Thank you.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Potty said:


> Yea pretty much this. Basically, in assuming your audience won't understand a sentence unless the font is bigger is a little patronising (Like saying something louder to a non English speaker assuming they will understand it now you've yelled at them). If the sentence makes no sense, it won't matter how big the font is.



I believe you misunderstand me. Trust me when I say I am writing my book in a way anyone can easily understand; my reasoning behind my font theory has nothing to do with peoples intelligence. As I said in a previous post, I regret using the word 'intellectual' in my original post; it was a very inappropriate word and did not match my actual point. What I mean is, I've found that, at least in teens at my school, an actual psychological response is triggered upon seeing a book with larger font (not to large, I cannot emphasize that enough, only large enough for aforementioned response to occur) that makes teens more likely to read it. Larger font gives the illusion that the book is shorter; this is good when dealing with American teenagers because, I don't know about other countries' teens (I sincerely hope they're better than ours), but American teens are quite lazy, bringing me back to my point that they are less inclined to read a book that appears large.

Look back at my Shakespeare novels v. Harry Potter example; Romeo and Juliet, for example, is quite a small book; it's very thin; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, for example, is quite a large book, it has a lot of pages. Next to each other, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire would appear to be the bigger book, but when a lazy American teenager opens both books up, what do you think s/he will be more inclined to read: the larger book with the large print that makes it appear much shorter than it is; or the smaller book with smaller print that makes it appear much larger than it is. In reality, I would imagine Romeo and Juliet has a similar if not smaller word count than Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; however, in the eyes of said lazy American teenager, Romeo and Juliet is a much bigger book. Why? Because of the smaller font size; it makes it appear much larger than it is, and regardless of intelligence, most american teenagers would rather play video games and watch television than read a large book.

That is my reasoning, I hope it clarifies things for you. Once again, thank you for your time.


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## Potty (Jul 19, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> I am writing a book about a cat in an abusive home,



That _paw_ cat, what a _cat_egorically _cat_astrophic life for the mog!


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## Potty (Jul 19, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> I believe you misunderstand me. Trust me when I say I am writing my book in a way anyone can easily understand; my reasoning behind my font theory has nothing to do with peoples intelligence. As I said in a previous post, I regret using the word 'intellectual' in my original post; it was a very inappropriate word and did not match my actual point. What I mean is, I've found that, at least in teens at my school, an actual psychological response is triggered upon seeing a book with larger font (not to large, I cannot emphasize that enough, only large enough for aforementioned response to occur) that makes teens more likely to read it. Larger font gives the illusion that the book is shorter; this is good when dealing with American teenagers because, I don't know about other countries' teens (I sincerely hope they're better than ours), but American teens are quite lazy, bringing me back to my point that they are less inclined to read a book that appears large.
> 
> Look back at my Shakespeare novels v. Harry Potter example; Romeo and Juliet, for example, is quite a small book; it's very thin; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, for example, is quite a large book, it has a lot of pages. Next to each other, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire would appear to be the bigger book, but when a lazy American teenager opens both books up, what do you think s/he will be more inclined to read: the larger book with the large print that makes it appear much shorter than it is; or the smaller book with smaller print that makes it appear much larger than it is. In reality, I would imagine Romeo and Juliet has a similar if not smaller word count than Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; however, in the eyes of said lazy American teenager, Romeo and Juliet is a much bigger book. Why? Because of the smaller font size; it makes it appear much larger than it is, and regardless of intelligence, most american teenagers would rather play video games and watch television than read a large book.
> 
> That is my reasoning, I hope it clarifies things for you. Once again, thank you for your time.




I get that, I was just making sure there was no confusion that I was saying people who don't speak English aren't intelligent. Coz this obviously isn't so.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Juganhuy said:


> So, a fictional tale about a real (?) charity and you want to talk about how to start writing?



You misunderstand my issue. I started writing two days ago, in fact, and am currently four-and-a-half chapters into it with a word count of thirty-four hundred. I have it all planned out already and the writing is a non-issue; my real problem hasn't really even been discussed much yet, and it is that I worry that the book will be unattractive to buy if it has too small a word count.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Potty said:


> I get that, I was just making sure there was no confusion that I was saying people who don't speak English aren't intelligent. Coz this obviously isn't so.



I apologize for a confusion. It was just a bit of misunderstanding I was having about your first post with the example of the non-English speaker.


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## Potty (Jul 19, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> I apologize for a confusion. It was just a bit of misunderstanding I was having about your first post with the example of the non-English speaker.



Apparently I get more confusing the more you get to know me!


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

JosephB said:


> Well, the “Three Cups of Tea” guy managed to pull something like this off. He had a very compelling story also – too bad it turned out to be mostly BS. Looks like a lot of the money from the book and personal appearances went into his own pocket – or was mismanaged, at best. That whole thing might make people skeptical about a similar kind of project.
> 
> Otherwise, I know a guy who is doing something similar. He found an inspirational story and wrote about it and somehow connected it to his own spiritual journey. He has a website and a promotional video too. He does speaking engagements and the money raised from that and book sales goes to various causes. I think he's done pretty well with it -- although his wife confided in my wife that she thought he was chasing windmills -- at one point he quit working to devote time to this book project and she was obviously worried about that and his obsession with it in general. Last I heard, he was trying to make a movie too. But he is or was a pretty well-connected guy in the entertainment industry -- so he has a leg-up.
> 
> ...



Wow, I didn't know about the Three Cups of Tea guy being a scammer. That actually really disappoints me, he was a big inspiration to me ever since he came to my middle school once and help an assembly; I even got to sit next to him, and now I feel ashamed of that. I guess those kind of things happen in life, and I know I can't assure anyone that my intentions are good, but I hope you will all take my word for it. I care greatly about the cause I support and would never breach my moral code for something as trivial as money.

As for your friend, I think that is very noble of him. I could imagine it would be hard when even your own wife doesn't believe in you. He sounds like a very inspirational man.

As for your postscript, I am aware that I need to learn to do that. I have been working on that for a while and, believe it or not, I have actually improved. I know that's hard to believe with my foot long posts, but I used to be much worse. 

Thank you so much for your information, advice, and time.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Potty said:


> That _paw_ cat, what a _cat_egorically _cat_astrophic life for the mog!



Just going to note here that I absolutely love puns. I also believe bringing humor to a bad situation alone can make it better.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 19, 2012)

Thank you so much, everyone, for your advice, feedback, and especially for your time.

I unfortunately must go now, as I am currently at a business camp that requires my at this time to leave my dorm and go do some work, so I will not be posting for a while. I will, however, be on in several hours if anyone would be interested in continuing this conversation then; I always appreciate good advice.

Once again, thank you for your time and farewell for now.


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## Juganhuy (Jul 19, 2012)

To be honest, it depends on what you plan on doing.

If you try to get it published, then I think word count may count.
If you self publish in physical print, the cost may be hard to justify.
If you ebook it, then it would not matter much as long as the book is good.

Remember, word count is unimportant if the book is already crap. 

Go to a book store and a library and look at the topic you are writing about to get a better idea.

Some people like short and sweet books, others like long books. It's a pretty mixed bag.

Just write it and you can make decisions later. Basing a book off of word count may lead you to an uninteresting book even if the concept is good. Fluff is bad.

Personally, four and a half chapters in 3,400 word count seems a little low, but people write on their own speed. I have chapters 4 pages long, all the way to like 20 pages. The key is to end chapters at the right time.

In summary, write and do not worry about word count.


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## Deleted member 49710 (Jul 19, 2012)

Alex, I think your comparison between _Harry Potter_ and _Romeo and Juliet_ is actually quite instructive here. It's not the font size or the word count that makes Shakespeare more difficult, it's the style: the syntax is complicated, the vocabulary unfamiliar, and the action far slower than that to which people are now accustomed. If I were trying to write for a wide teen-aged audience, I would focus on cultivating a style that is simple, focused, and to-the-point, using vocabulary that the average teen would recognize easily. You might look at some of the classic young adult novels - S. E. Hinton's _The Outsiders, _if you haven't already read it, is a good one. Cried my eyes out over it when I was in the target demographic.

Best of luck.


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## JosephB (Jul 19, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> Wow, I didn't know about the Three Cups of Tea guy being a scammer.



Yes, it’s sad. He grossly exaggerated his story and just plain  fabricated part of it.  Apparently an episode where he was held by the  Taliban isn’t true – and that’s just one example. He’s also built a  fraction of the schools he’s claimed to have built – some are vacant or  are being used for other purposes.



J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> As for your friend, I think that is  very noble of him. I could imagine it would be hard when even your own  wife doesn't believe in you. He sounds like a very inspirational  man.



I didn’t say she didn’t believe in him. She was just expressing her  concerns to my wife – and rightly so. A don’t know exactly what went on between  them of course, but my wife had the impression that his wife made the  decision to go along with it -- to trust and support him.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 20, 2012)

Juganhuy said:


> To be honest, it depends on what you plan on doing.
> 
> If you try to get it published, then I think word count may count.
> If you self publish in physical print, the cost may be hard to justify.
> ...



I'm self publishing, so high word count is a non-issue; however, I will still aim for around twenty-thousand words for the sake of my own satisfaction with the book.

On another note, my book is only thirty-four hundred (thirty-eight now, actually) words long at the moment. I certainly do not intend to publish it as such, for then it would only qualify as a short story. I only started writing it three days ago, and I've been too busy at business camp lately to write regularly, so I haven't had much progress. I understand that thirty-eight hundred isn't a high word count after three days, I myself have written stories upwards of two-thousand words in a matter of hours; however, this is all I am currently capable of writing at once with my current schedule. I just thought I would clarify that.

I appreciate your advice and I think you are right in saying I should just write and forget the details at the moment. I think I will take said advice and worry about such things as I have been on a later date. Thank you for your time.


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## Potty (Jul 20, 2012)

3800 words in three days is good going. Don't sell yourself short. I'm happy if I write that in a week.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 20, 2012)

lasm said:


> Alex, I think your comparison between _Harry Potter_ and _Romeo and Juliet_ is actually quite instructive here. It's not the font size or the word count that makes Shakespeare more difficult, it's the style: the syntax is complicated, the vocabulary unfamiliar, and the action far slower than that to which people are now accustomed. If I were trying to write for a wide teen-aged audience, I would focus on cultivating a style that is simple, focused, and to-the-point, using vocabulary that the average teen would recognize easily. You might look at some of the classic young adult novels - S. E. Hinton's _The Outsiders, _if you haven't already read it, is a good one. Cried my eyes out over it when I was in the target demographic.
> 
> Best of luck.



Thank you for your wishes of luck and your advice. I do indeed plan to write the book in a simple, easy-to-read format that will cater to all audiences; however, the slightly modified font size is an important aspect of my plan. The thing people seem to misunderstand is that I have one very simple reason for this tactic; it's not that I underestimate anyone's intelligence, nor do I believe a larger font size would help in that respect even if I held such a belief, it's just that after spending the last three years in high schools full of lazy teenagers, I have come to gather that small font size is intimidating. The human mind can only grasp a certain number of concepts at once, and the turn of the page is a milestone at which to let go of the previous page's concepts (while maintaining a general understanding, of course); using this logic, I have concluded that a _slightly_ larger font size (I put 'slightly' in italics because I wish to emphasize a point that many seem to miss: I only plan to ramp up font size a few points) will psychologically resonate with the average, non-avid reader.

Thank you for your time.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 20, 2012)

JosephB said:


> I didn’t say she didn’t believe in him. She was just expressing her  concerns to my wife – and rightly so. A don’t know exactly what went on between  them of course, but my wife had the impression that his wife made the  decision to go along with it -- to trust and support him.



I apologize for the misunderstanding. Your friend's story is very inspirational; I hope to achieve the same one day. It would make me exponentially more proud every time I was able to inspire someone with my book; not to mention, every animal I save with my donations would bring me just so much joy. I am glad I finally decided to do this, as it is my dream, and I know I can achieve it with enough effort. I wish your friend luck with his dream, people like him are the ones who fuel my inspiration to follow my dream; for that, I thank him and you.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 20, 2012)

Potty said:


> 3800 words in three days is good going. Don't sell yourself short. I'm happy if I write that in a week.



I can't help but set high expectations for myself, it's just who I am. I do appreciate your words, though, believe me; I tend to beat myself up a little too much over such things, so complements are like medicine to me. Thank you.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 20, 2012)

To those of you who have been following this thread, I have a request. I recently uploaded the first chapter of my book to the Writer's Workshop forum, but unfortunately I have yet to receive any feedback or comments on it. I would greatly appreciate it if any one of you were to go to the address below, read my story, and leave any feedback, advice, or even criticism for me to contemplate.

http://www.writingforums.com/writers-workshop/131358-how-unloved-still-love.html

Thank you very much for your time and support.


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## Baron (Jul 20, 2012)

If you haven't received any feedback on your work the most likely reason is that you haven't given any to anyone else.  The site works on a reciprocal basis.  Go and comment on some of the other posted works and you'll find people will respond in kind.


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 20, 2012)

Baron said:


> If you haven't received any feedback on your work the most likely reason is that you haven't given any to anyone else.  The site works on a reciprocal basis.  Go and comment on some of the other posted works and you'll find people will respond in kind.



This is a fair point and I understand it; I was planning to get around to that. To explain my lack of activity in any other part of the forum, I have been very busy lately and have barely had time to post and reply to my two threads. I am currently attending a business camp and am essentially working from seven AM to eleven PM. When I get some time to myself I will explore the forum further.


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## Deleted member 49710 (Jul 20, 2012)

One more reading recommendation occurred to me: if you've never read the original _Bambi_ by Felix Salten, it's actually quite a lovely book and had a similar goal of addressing cruelty to animals. If you tear up over the Disney movie, the book will make you bawl. Well, unless you're into deerhunting.


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## Lacelet (Jul 20, 2012)

J. Alexander Hinsvark said:


> *P.S. I do very much apologize for my long messages, and this apology goes to all readers of this thread. I have this weird habit of writing not enough when I want a lot and writing way more when I want a lot less; to put it simply, I am bad at explaining stuff (a very unattractive quality in a writer, I know, but believe me when I say I am working on it).*



Hello, Alexander. I am not a professional, and I cannot give you any legal nor true writing advice, however I must make a point in response to your post altogether. In a forum, there is no room for discussion if you must take up a whole thread with incredibly and indubitably long paragraphs. If you must work on explaining stuff, then please use less sentences and elegant words, or else one's brain will possibly be overloaded with too much information for one sitting.

And I must admit one thing: Large font is not the way to go if you wish to fill up the pages of a book.


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## Potty (Jul 20, 2012)

*I dunno, I'm starting to wonder if he has stumbled onto something with this large font idea!*


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## Kyle R (Jul 20, 2012)

Potty said:


> *I dunno, I'm starting to wonder if he has stumbled onto something with this large font idea!*



Lol.

*THIS
IS
A
BOOK

THE
END.

*Make it one letter per page. haha


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## J. Alexander Hinsvark (Jul 22, 2012)

Okay, I'm done with this thread. Seriously, guys, I came here asking for advice because I actually need help and all people do is tell me my ideas are stupid and at this point blatantly mock me. The least you can do is at least tell me why you disagree with my theory that slightly enlarged font (as in fourteen point, you idiots, not forty point) is easier to handle for the average person due to less information processing per page. I don't want to have to be a jerk but if the forum mods and high-ranking members of this place are this rude, I don't think this is the right place for me to be talking about serious topics.


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## Potty (Jul 22, 2012)

No offence meant J.

I've said this before, sometimes I think I'm funnier than I actually am! My post was in no way meant as a way to bring you down, just a little observational humor that I found funny, but I can appreciate why you don't see it that way. 

I agree that it has obviously worked for some authors, you rightly mentioned Harry Potter having a larger font than say, a stephen king novel. So there must be somthing to it (As I said in my post above! ). But I think it was the publishers decision, not the authors, to make the font the way it was. I think demanding the font to be bigger to publishers might make them reject you just for telling them what to think.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Jul 23, 2012)

KyleColorado said:


> Lol.
> 
> *THIS
> IS
> ...



You could actually probably pass that off as "art" of some sort and get people to pay you millions.


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## Kyle R (Jul 23, 2012)

Well, what the heck am I waiting for?! Lol.


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## Deleted member 49710 (Jul 23, 2012)

Like all else in literature: it's been done.

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2010/09/Mallarme-Coup-de-des.jpg


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