Over the past couple of years, I’ve come up with numerous
ideas for writing projects that I’d like to complete. Progress has generally been slow, but some of
these projects are starting to take shape and I think at least one or two of
them will be completed by the end of 2016. Here’s what I’ve been thinking of.
1. Micro Weird 2: Another collection of short, weird, flash
fiction. I’ve got three or four stories ready for this but, as you can imagine,
the total word count is still pretty small.
2. Dream stories: I’ve been toying with the idea of putting
together a short collection of horror stories that are basically
straightforward retellings of some of my dreams. I’ve only got a couple such
stories completed but I have another four or five outlined. I’m going to work
on one of these tales next, as soon as I finish an anthology project. The new
tale will be entitled “Thump, Thump, Thump.”
3. A literary collection. Contrary to popular conceptions, I
don’t write all blood and gore. I have several literary stories that have been
published that I’m thinking about putting into a small collection. The working
title right now is “Down Home and Other Stories.”
4. A “lessons” from Classic Trek. Honestly, this is a
longgggg way from being completed. I’ve outlined some ideas and rough drafted a
paragraph or two but this will be a low priority project for me.
5. The Scarred One: This is a western novella, about halfway
completed.
6. Title Tales: I’ve been toying with the idea for a
collection of horror stories in which all the tales would be inspired by the
titles of rock and metal music, such as “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Hell’s Bells,” “Immigrant
Song,” and many others. I have several pieces of this completed in rough draft
form. However, I need to find out if I have to get permissions to use these
titles. If so, I probably won’t use them.
7. A series of three longish western stories featuring “The
Man from Colt Creek.” Two of these are about halfway done. The third is just a
basic outline.
So, no one can accuse me of not having enough writing plans.
Now I’ve got to get the words down.
18 comments:
With the dreams you talk about I would say that's a sure thing. Your dreams and mine could not be more different. Which explains why our writing is too.
You are amazingly prolific Charles!
Title Tales sounds cool.
Dreams are weird enough to begin with - I'm sure you'll have fun turning yours into horror stories.
I'd read 'em!
Patti, I'm working on a dream story now that I'm calling Thump, Thump, Thump
Cloudia, in ideas maybe.
Alex, I had a lot of fun with title tales last summer but then got sidetracked.
Paul, Thanks, man!
I, too, have a lot of ideas and some partly completed works! Keep writing!
Sage, the curse of the writing man. :)
You know I am a fan of the Westerns, you finish-I buy.
One can not copyright a title but there are ways around that. for Example TWM is both copyrighted and trademarked. But the Title TWM is not truly covered because there were works of art by Rodin with the name long before I started the blog but what is trademarked is every title or header while the work itself is all copyrighted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyrights cover works fixed in a tangible format, but because titles are typically short, they don’t fall under copyright protection. So no, you can’t copyright a title to a book, song or movie. But you can trademark a title, which may give you the protection you seek.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states that a trademark protects words, phrases, symbols or designs identifying the source of the goods or services of one party and distinguishing them from those of others. Brand names like Pepsi, Xerox and Band-Aid are all protected. So is the Nike “swoosh.” But more relevant to us, book titles such as The Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone are trademarked.
Unlike copyright protection, which is granted the minute your work is written down, trademarks aren’t handed out so freely. In fact, if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t consider your title (or brand) a distinctive mark that is indisputably distinguishable from others, you will not be granted trademark protection. This is why you see so many books with the same—or very similar—titles. Many of the terms are considered too generic or arbitrary to warrant protection.
Trademarks are not only intended to protect the creator, but also the consumer. Trademarks keep others from confusing a well-known work on the bookstore shelves with others. For example, Harry Potter is such a popular, distinguishable character by J.K. Rowling that you’d expect any title with his name in it to be written by her (or, at least, a book approved by her). It’s not only her work, but it’s become her brand.
So if you use the title of your book as the title of your blog, column, etc., it could be considered your brand identifier. And if you find success, you could qualify for trademark protection
This is from Writers Digest.
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/questions-and-quandaries/copyrights/can-you-copyright-a-title
Wowee, Charles! You are really thinking ahead. If I did that, I wouldn't have time for writing.
I've especially liked a few of the Dream Tales you have mentioned here on the blog. I'd love to see a collection of those fleshed out.
What Walking Man said about titles, so go for it. :) That's why, when you're writing a story, you can say, "Joe loaded the dishwasher while bobbing his head to "Mr. Roboto," if you want, but you can't quote any of the lyrics without permission.
And hey, looks like you have enough of a To Do list to keep you writing for a long time, whee!
Angie
Mark, Thanks, man. I know there are some rules. This looks like a good place to start. I appreciate it.
Oscar, such plans and ideas usually come to me on long commutes or times when I'm not really able to write anyway.
David J., looks like that might be folks' favorite.
Angie, yep, a long time.
I would totally buy, read, and recommend any of these. Get cracking!
Sounds like a good writing plan, Charles. I'd be interested in your literary collection.
Fantastic and very ambitious, Charles ~ huzzah ~!
This year, we might also consider and behold a living nightmare/horror story call "Trump, Trump, Trump." Ba da boom.
Truly, good luck ~ !
Riot kitty, you are sweet for a machine gunning kitty. :)
Prashant, thanks, man. That one is fairly close to being done if I can get some time to put the finishing touches on it.
Erik, lol. that's too frightening for me.
Charles-You are waayyy to ambitious! But you've got a plan, so go for it!
Jodi, my energy levels do not sustain my ambition.
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