Everybody is prone to think their own job is the toughest. IT customer service people complain about ignorant customers (is the tower plugged in?), stay at home parents talk about how they never leave 'work,' and air traffic controllers. What a bunch of whiners. In comparison, the pro novelist has it easy. Those people can hang around the house in their underwear and make crap up all day. But you guys, seriously. Writing is hard.
My reading list this year has been primarily a mix of classics and local authors. Therefore, I have been subconsciously comparing C.J. Weiland to Joe Haldeman, Adria Waters to Henry James, and Eric Praschan to... Stella Gibbons? Sylvia Plath? I don't know, that's the only thriller I've read this year. Anyway, I've been coming away from these locally produced books thinking they just aren't quite cutting it, but the comparison has been unjust. I recently finished "The Accidental Demon Slayer," which made the NYT Bestseller's list, so that I could contrast it to Amanda Booloodian's "Shattered Soul" published earlier this year. I do see why "Slayer" made the list. It's fun and has strong, distinctive voice. The same things that bothered me about "Soul," and other books I read this year, however, plague "Slayer" as well.
This has caused some self examination on my part. I think I have to accept that I am a picky reader, and an atypical one at that. The things that concern me about books don't seem to bother most people. That said, I have been way too harsh on my fellow small time authors. We've put hundreds of hours into what we do, and we're still not writing perfect stories because perfect stories are a tough thing to pull off. We have to create palpable settings, but not get bogged down in the details. Inject Truth and Meaning, without getting preachy. Make every plot point relevant, and make it long enough, but not pad for time. We can't make it too long, either. Make readers care about people who are only figments of our imaginations, by instilling them with a cogent worldview and idiosyncrasies that are not necessarily our own. We have to tell big, twisted, complicated lies, and keep our stories straight. If we don't, nobody will read our book. Then, after all that, it boils down to taste. One review of "Slayer" tore into it because it was written from First Person. Well calm down lady, most people don't think this warrants a warning label.
Moving forward, I think I'll maintain high criticism for paid work and my own work, but I'll suspend my harshest judgement for the rest. It's not like people are counting on this, anyway. All we're doing is providing a handful of people with a good time, anyway.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Conference
The local writer's community has worked really, super hard and put together a second annual writer's conference for November. I already missed the early bird price due to not being on social media and generally acting the hermit. That was my fault. I'm wondering whether I should go this year.
Morally speaking, I probably should. Support the local scene, their success is mine, etc. The more attendees, the more funds they raise, the better speakers they can recruit, the better experience they can create, the more buzz they generate, it all builds on itself. Then there's the networking. I wouldn't have published a dang thing without networking and look at me, I've published two stories. Plus there's classes, of course. I know how to write, but it takes a special kind of arrogance to think you know it all. Heck, some of the best, most succinct instruction I have ever received regarding both plot and character development, I got from that conference last year. Finally, there's the motivation. Everybody needs a good kick in the pants every once in a while, and hanging out with other writers and talking about how special we are is a great way to get that done. You get the encouragement, the inspiration, the hope, the tough love, all at a conference. I should probably go.
On the other hand, if I do go it will negate all the earnings I've made writing this year. Not because it's an expensive conference, either. On the contrary, it's the best value I've ever seen, not that I shop conferences a lot. It's in town, so I don't have to worry about lodging or anything. It's just that I haven't made much money this year. Or any year, for that matter. And I know what to write and how to write it. I have a plan. I just need to get over myself and find a way to get it done. Weekends are (sometimes) a great time to get some writing finished, and if I'm at a conference that means, by definition, that I am not writing. I probably shouldn't go.
I don't know. Maybe I'll just read some Brandon Sanderson and write some stuff about dog-people forcing young adults to fight to the virtual death in simulated combat or something.
Morally speaking, I probably should. Support the local scene, their success is mine, etc. The more attendees, the more funds they raise, the better speakers they can recruit, the better experience they can create, the more buzz they generate, it all builds on itself. Then there's the networking. I wouldn't have published a dang thing without networking and look at me, I've published two stories. Plus there's classes, of course. I know how to write, but it takes a special kind of arrogance to think you know it all. Heck, some of the best, most succinct instruction I have ever received regarding both plot and character development, I got from that conference last year. Finally, there's the motivation. Everybody needs a good kick in the pants every once in a while, and hanging out with other writers and talking about how special we are is a great way to get that done. You get the encouragement, the inspiration, the hope, the tough love, all at a conference. I should probably go.
On the other hand, if I do go it will negate all the earnings I've made writing this year. Not because it's an expensive conference, either. On the contrary, it's the best value I've ever seen, not that I shop conferences a lot. It's in town, so I don't have to worry about lodging or anything. It's just that I haven't made much money this year. Or any year, for that matter. And I know what to write and how to write it. I have a plan. I just need to get over myself and find a way to get it done. Weekends are (sometimes) a great time to get some writing finished, and if I'm at a conference that means, by definition, that I am not writing. I probably shouldn't go.
I don't know. Maybe I'll just read some Brandon Sanderson and write some stuff about dog-people forcing young adults to fight to the virtual death in simulated combat or something.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Will Work for Free
What makes a person buy a book? Is it the plot, the genre, the brand, the advertisement? Is it the title, or the blurb?
Back in olden times, authors didn't sell books to readers. Authors sold manuscripts to publishers, who would take those stacks of awkward phrasing and stilted dialogue, edit them to their own liking, change the title, slap an unrelated illustration on the cover and flip them into bona fide, genuine, honest to God books. Publishers didn't buy manuscripts because they loved the stories. They bought them as an investment. They made the decision based on myriad criteria, including how much work it would take to make it presentable, if there was a brand to be exploited or built, and if they thought the market was looking for that kind of thing at the moment. Whether or not the novel was a good one was not part of the equation; it was whether the novel would appeal to the masses.
Consequently, writers didn't have to worry about how to sell to readers. That was the publisher's job. All they had to worry about was selling to the publisher, which has a different set of criteria.
Then the Technological Revolution hit us like a sack of mealy potatoes, and books would never be the same.
There are so many changes, good and bad, that have been wrought by the advent of self publishing but the one I want to focus on here is how readers buy books. Readers used to go to brick and mortar stores, browse the displays, pace through aisles, thumb through pages, and examine handwritten staff picks scrawled on index cards taped to the shelves. The books they used to examine were universally pre-approved and professionally edited, guaranteeing a certain degree of quality. They started with genre, scanned titles, looked at covers, read blurbs, perhaps surveyed the table of contents, read the first paragraph. Maybe the first chapter. At any time, if they lost interest they could shelve it. Nothing lost but a little time. Selecting a book was part of the rite, part of the pleasure. Now it's all searchwords and algorithms, and 'customers also enjoyed' and 'frequently purchased with.' There can be pleasure in this process as well, but it now carries more risk. You would spend fifteen dollars, but you could be assured that the writing would at the least be competent. Now you pay five, or two, or even one dollar, but the market is riddled with landmines. You never know if the self published author took the time to polish their work, hired an editor, listened to and applied constructive critique, or if this book was just their ill informed vanity project. This has made readers suspicious. They want assurance that their next reading experience will at least be bearable before they plonk down their hard earned clams. They prefer known quantities with their authors and, barring that, they want a free trial.
It's not fair to ask someone to work for free, but I'm over it. Life is not fair. I'm not in a rush to get paid anyway, so I'll go ahead and work for free. That's exactly what I am doing with this new short I am working on. It's essentially a long advertisement for the series, an extended blurb. The question is, what part of the series should I represent?
I'm already writing in first person, like the main series. I'm introducing the conceit of the sci-fi elements, inhabiting the same world, using pop/gamer culture references and using characters in the same age range. I'm foreshadowing plot points that were originally designed as standalone for the book, which is a skill I never suspected I'd use or even existed, but that's fun. What I'm worried about is if the whole thing will work because, despite our professional compatibility, J.C. Ahren and I are still different authors. We have different names and different authorial voices. Should I ghost write this, or does this not matter to readers?
What do you think?
(I inevitably have to plug something, so here it is)
In order to help you out here, I suggest looking at the Juniper Tales project. Author Aaron Michael Ritchey created a wonderful book series in the Juniper Wars series, and an incredibly rich universe for the series to inhabit. Then he invited other authors to play in his sandbox. There are currently four short stories only obliquely related to the main plot, all featuring different characters, all written by different authors, but all in the same Dusterpunk universe. They are available for free in pdf. here. Do these make you want to check out the series, or at least make you feel like you can make an informed decision to not check it out?
Back in olden times, authors didn't sell books to readers. Authors sold manuscripts to publishers, who would take those stacks of awkward phrasing and stilted dialogue, edit them to their own liking, change the title, slap an unrelated illustration on the cover and flip them into bona fide, genuine, honest to God books. Publishers didn't buy manuscripts because they loved the stories. They bought them as an investment. They made the decision based on myriad criteria, including how much work it would take to make it presentable, if there was a brand to be exploited or built, and if they thought the market was looking for that kind of thing at the moment. Whether or not the novel was a good one was not part of the equation; it was whether the novel would appeal to the masses.
Consequently, writers didn't have to worry about how to sell to readers. That was the publisher's job. All they had to worry about was selling to the publisher, which has a different set of criteria.
Then the Technological Revolution hit us like a sack of mealy potatoes, and books would never be the same.
There are so many changes, good and bad, that have been wrought by the advent of self publishing but the one I want to focus on here is how readers buy books. Readers used to go to brick and mortar stores, browse the displays, pace through aisles, thumb through pages, and examine handwritten staff picks scrawled on index cards taped to the shelves. The books they used to examine were universally pre-approved and professionally edited, guaranteeing a certain degree of quality. They started with genre, scanned titles, looked at covers, read blurbs, perhaps surveyed the table of contents, read the first paragraph. Maybe the first chapter. At any time, if they lost interest they could shelve it. Nothing lost but a little time. Selecting a book was part of the rite, part of the pleasure. Now it's all searchwords and algorithms, and 'customers also enjoyed' and 'frequently purchased with.' There can be pleasure in this process as well, but it now carries more risk. You would spend fifteen dollars, but you could be assured that the writing would at the least be competent. Now you pay five, or two, or even one dollar, but the market is riddled with landmines. You never know if the self published author took the time to polish their work, hired an editor, listened to and applied constructive critique, or if this book was just their ill informed vanity project. This has made readers suspicious. They want assurance that their next reading experience will at least be bearable before they plonk down their hard earned clams. They prefer known quantities with their authors and, barring that, they want a free trial.
It's not fair to ask someone to work for free, but I'm over it. Life is not fair. I'm not in a rush to get paid anyway, so I'll go ahead and work for free. That's exactly what I am doing with this new short I am working on. It's essentially a long advertisement for the series, an extended blurb. The question is, what part of the series should I represent?
I'm already writing in first person, like the main series. I'm introducing the conceit of the sci-fi elements, inhabiting the same world, using pop/gamer culture references and using characters in the same age range. I'm foreshadowing plot points that were originally designed as standalone for the book, which is a skill I never suspected I'd use or even existed, but that's fun. What I'm worried about is if the whole thing will work because, despite our professional compatibility, J.C. Ahren and I are still different authors. We have different names and different authorial voices. Should I ghost write this, or does this not matter to readers?
What do you think?
(I inevitably have to plug something, so here it is)
In order to help you out here, I suggest looking at the Juniper Tales project. Author Aaron Michael Ritchey created a wonderful book series in the Juniper Wars series, and an incredibly rich universe for the series to inhabit. Then he invited other authors to play in his sandbox. There are currently four short stories only obliquely related to the main plot, all featuring different characters, all written by different authors, but all in the same Dusterpunk universe. They are available for free in pdf. here. Do these make you want to check out the series, or at least make you feel like you can make an informed decision to not check it out?
Sunday, October 2, 2016
"Magpies" Released!
Here's a free story. It's about a girl and her dad, and there's a steam powered truck and some prairie dogs and an adjustable wrench or something. While you're there, you have access to three other stories, also available for the low, low price of free. Also taking place in the same steam driven universe. One has sky pirates, one has explosions and Richard Nixon, and the other has missiles and stuff.
If you find yourself intrigued or even possibly captivated by the setting in which these stories take place, there is this full length novel about machine guns, grenade launchers, and a post apocalyptic cattle drive in a world almost devoid of men, and this second, excellent followup, so you can be assured this is an actual legit series that will keep releasing novels on a regular schedule instead of getting sidetracked with TV shows, UNLIKE your favorite epic fantasy series. You're welcome.
I've done a lot of writing and complaining about other people's fiction, so that first one, "Magpies," is my offering. It's entirely self contained, so you don't have to read anything else to 'get' the story, and once again, it is free. Did I mention that it won't cost you anything but time? Wouldn't you rather spend your time reading escapist fantasy fiction than some guy talking about himself?
No?
Fine. "Magpies" is more accessible than my currently only other offering, "Fool's Game" (a short sidequel to "Pawn"), and I also think it will be more successful, in terms of reader enjoyment. That's because it's more formulaic. The protagonist in "Magpies" is a typical teenage girl thrown in an atypical situation. She has a little attitude in the beginning, but you learn that it's kind of justified. I tried to make sure the reader wants a happy ending for her.
This was accomplished through a few tricks I picked up at last writer's conference, right here in my hometown. The fabulous Angie Fox, author of the Accidental Demon Slayer series, laid out how to do a great character and plot arc with easy simplicity.
For character, find out what your protagonist wants at the beginning, more than anything in the world, and offer it to them at the end. This ensures two things. First, in the beginning when your characters are most fuzzy in your mind, you have to figure out what motivates them and show it. This helps to shape them, and it's more efficient than just starting to write ad figuring it out along the way. Second, it gives you a chance to ensure that their desires change over the course of the narrative. There are so many wonderful endings you can give with this choice, nearly all of them solidifying character arc.
For plot, figure out the worst thing that could possibly happen to your character, the thing they fear most, and make them face it in the climax. Strip their beauty, strip their power, kill their loved ones or let them be betrayed. Discover the deep, existential dread lurking in the darkest recesses of their soul, and force the reality of it on them. Again, what happens next is rife with possibilities, but there are few ways to get it wrong.
I did these two things, and made the protagonist a teenage girl, similar to the protagonist from the main series and tadaa! Successful story. The only question is the execution. A little canned? Maaaaaybe, but we like canned. Just ask Hormel Foods Corporation.
In contrast, "Fool's Game" is not canned, and not as impactful. I've talked about this before, but I had significantly less freedom to craft a narrative. I also had to use a protagonist that is not only inhuman, he's a despicable entity. I had to make the reader believe he's smart, even though he's ultimately outwitted. His motivations are cloaked. His deepest fear is confronted, but it's not clear what that is, and we don't get to see what he does with it. Despite all this, I think it works. But of course I would think that. I wrote it.
Both "Pawn" and "Fool's Game" are free with Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program, so there you go. Or, if you feel like supporting our creative efforts in hopes that we produce more, that option is available as well.
If you find yourself intrigued or even possibly captivated by the setting in which these stories take place, there is this full length novel about machine guns, grenade launchers, and a post apocalyptic cattle drive in a world almost devoid of men, and this second, excellent followup, so you can be assured this is an actual legit series that will keep releasing novels on a regular schedule instead of getting sidetracked with TV shows, UNLIKE your favorite epic fantasy series. You're welcome.
I've done a lot of writing and complaining about other people's fiction, so that first one, "Magpies," is my offering. It's entirely self contained, so you don't have to read anything else to 'get' the story, and once again, it is free. Did I mention that it won't cost you anything but time? Wouldn't you rather spend your time reading escapist fantasy fiction than some guy talking about himself?
No?
Fine. "Magpies" is more accessible than my currently only other offering, "Fool's Game" (a short sidequel to "Pawn"), and I also think it will be more successful, in terms of reader enjoyment. That's because it's more formulaic. The protagonist in "Magpies" is a typical teenage girl thrown in an atypical situation. She has a little attitude in the beginning, but you learn that it's kind of justified. I tried to make sure the reader wants a happy ending for her.
This was accomplished through a few tricks I picked up at last writer's conference, right here in my hometown. The fabulous Angie Fox, author of the Accidental Demon Slayer series, laid out how to do a great character and plot arc with easy simplicity.
For character, find out what your protagonist wants at the beginning, more than anything in the world, and offer it to them at the end. This ensures two things. First, in the beginning when your characters are most fuzzy in your mind, you have to figure out what motivates them and show it. This helps to shape them, and it's more efficient than just starting to write ad figuring it out along the way. Second, it gives you a chance to ensure that their desires change over the course of the narrative. There are so many wonderful endings you can give with this choice, nearly all of them solidifying character arc.
For plot, figure out the worst thing that could possibly happen to your character, the thing they fear most, and make them face it in the climax. Strip their beauty, strip their power, kill their loved ones or let them be betrayed. Discover the deep, existential dread lurking in the darkest recesses of their soul, and force the reality of it on them. Again, what happens next is rife with possibilities, but there are few ways to get it wrong.
I did these two things, and made the protagonist a teenage girl, similar to the protagonist from the main series and tadaa! Successful story. The only question is the execution. A little canned? Maaaaaybe, but we like canned. Just ask Hormel Foods Corporation.
In contrast, "Fool's Game" is not canned, and not as impactful. I've talked about this before, but I had significantly less freedom to craft a narrative. I also had to use a protagonist that is not only inhuman, he's a despicable entity. I had to make the reader believe he's smart, even though he's ultimately outwitted. His motivations are cloaked. His deepest fear is confronted, but it's not clear what that is, and we don't get to see what he does with it. Despite all this, I think it works. But of course I would think that. I wrote it.
Both "Pawn" and "Fool's Game" are free with Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program, so there you go. Or, if you feel like supporting our creative efforts in hopes that we produce more, that option is available as well.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
When I Grow Up I Want To Be A...
We have more than one book lying around that encourages my kids to ponder their future vocation. Doctor, race car driver, generic 'scientist,' and on. They all focus on what you want to do with your life, and never include the soul killing details. When we grow up, we find it isn't so simple as "do what you want to do." There are so many factors at play, conflicting with what we want.
Take the classic option of fireman. I'm sorry, fireperson. Fire people are the most beloved of public servants. Politicians want to tax you to oblivion and strip your civil liberties, the police are only interested in writing traffic tickets, arresting you for public intoxication and being generally racist, but fire people? They just want to put out your fire, and who doesn't love that? They get to ride giant red trucks and everyone has to get out of their way because, you see, there is a fire. They get to haul hoses, whack down doors, use the awesome Halligan tool and be BDH's*, all while wearing a bitchin' pair of pants. If that's what being a fire person is all about, where do I sign? But, and there's always several buts, there's more to the story than the good stuff. They have a risky job and terrible hours, and oh yes, the compensation is abysmal. This means nobody wants to marry a fireman. But if the calendars are to be believed, plenty of women want to sleep with a fireman, and that counts for something. Right? You guys?
Or, let's look at another popular option; astronaut. Sounds great, right? Be one of the few people to actually see the world from space. Play zero gravity tennis, eat freeze dried turkey, say "countdown to launch" without irony, and have you seen those pants? How does one become an astronaut, anyway?
Turns out, becoming an astronaut is like joining the Rockettes, if Radio City were more interested in how you rocked your math thesis more than your pair of five inch heels. If you happen to have the right combination of favorable genetics, acumen and work ethic to make you into a perfect candidate, there's still a long list of other perfect candidates in front of you. Not happening.
How about archaeologist? But when you learn that archaeology is less about bullwhips and melting Nazi faces, and more about grant writing and scraping potsherds with a toothbrush, it kind of loses some appeal. And oh yeah, the long, expensive education for a less than glamorous paycheck. You still get a neat pair of pants, though. Cargo pockets.
It turns out career 'choice' is awkward compromise of ability, location, compensation, aptitude, and convenience. Otherwise, I assume we'd all be Batman and none of us would be insurance salesmen. I mean insurance salespeople.
Even when we are lucky enough to find a vocation that we are good at, pays well enough, is available in the area we want to live, and doesn't have so much competition in it that work is unavailable, there's still the question of whether you like it. I tried respiratory care, as an example. It made all kinds of sense. Anywhere there's a hospital, there's work. It only requires a BS. The pay is not amazing, but good enough. I was even decent at the actual work, but some aspects of getting the degree itself drove me insane.
Instead, I found myself with the aptitude and enjoyment of writing. Fiction, mostly. This is great, because you can do it anywhere, although coffee shops seem to be the preferred location. Extra points if it's NOT a Starbucks, but a locally owned joint. The problem is the sometimes stiff, but mostly overwhelming competition, and the pay. There isn't any.
To make matters worse, I keep blogging instead of working.
I don't even know where I am going with this, other than to say that that "be what you want to be!" line is a dirty, stinking lie. At least for me, the thing I want to be doesn't exist in reality.
Take the classic option of fireman. I'm sorry, fireperson. Fire people are the most beloved of public servants. Politicians want to tax you to oblivion and strip your civil liberties, the police are only interested in writing traffic tickets, arresting you for public intoxication and being generally racist, but fire people? They just want to put out your fire, and who doesn't love that? They get to ride giant red trucks and everyone has to get out of their way because, you see, there is a fire. They get to haul hoses, whack down doors, use the awesome Halligan tool and be BDH's*, all while wearing a bitchin' pair of pants. If that's what being a fire person is all about, where do I sign? But, and there's always several buts, there's more to the story than the good stuff. They have a risky job and terrible hours, and oh yes, the compensation is abysmal. This means nobody wants to marry a fireman. But if the calendars are to be believed, plenty of women want to sleep with a fireman, and that counts for something. Right? You guys?
Or, let's look at another popular option; astronaut. Sounds great, right? Be one of the few people to actually see the world from space. Play zero gravity tennis, eat freeze dried turkey, say "countdown to launch" without irony, and have you seen those pants? How does one become an astronaut, anyway?
Turns out, becoming an astronaut is like joining the Rockettes, if Radio City were more interested in how you rocked your math thesis more than your pair of five inch heels. If you happen to have the right combination of favorable genetics, acumen and work ethic to make you into a perfect candidate, there's still a long list of other perfect candidates in front of you. Not happening.
How about archaeologist? But when you learn that archaeology is less about bullwhips and melting Nazi faces, and more about grant writing and scraping potsherds with a toothbrush, it kind of loses some appeal. And oh yeah, the long, expensive education for a less than glamorous paycheck. You still get a neat pair of pants, though. Cargo pockets.
It turns out career 'choice' is awkward compromise of ability, location, compensation, aptitude, and convenience. Otherwise, I assume we'd all be Batman and none of us would be insurance salesmen. I mean insurance salespeople.
Even when we are lucky enough to find a vocation that we are good at, pays well enough, is available in the area we want to live, and doesn't have so much competition in it that work is unavailable, there's still the question of whether you like it. I tried respiratory care, as an example. It made all kinds of sense. Anywhere there's a hospital, there's work. It only requires a BS. The pay is not amazing, but good enough. I was even decent at the actual work, but some aspects of getting the degree itself drove me insane.
Instead, I found myself with the aptitude and enjoyment of writing. Fiction, mostly. This is great, because you can do it anywhere, although coffee shops seem to be the preferred location. Extra points if it's NOT a Starbucks, but a locally owned joint. The problem is the sometimes stiff, but mostly overwhelming competition, and the pay. There isn't any.
To make matters worse, I keep blogging instead of working.
I don't even know where I am going with this, other than to say that that "be what you want to be!" line is a dirty, stinking lie. At least for me, the thing I want to be doesn't exist in reality.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
The Process
Some writers adore their first drafts while writing them. They feel like literary geniuses, authorial divinity as they lavish their empty pages with words fit to make Olympus rejoice. Then, next day, as they review their work with an editorial eye, they retch a little because first drafts are nearly always atrocious. This is not how I work. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I'm so slow in writing is because I abhor my first draft, even as I strike the keys. I loathe it, weeping in frustration at the despicable hack who dares pose as an author*. Then, next day, the editor in me breathes a sigh of relief because he can at least work with this. Usually.
This most recent project was especially frightening. I started it not because I was inspired to write a special story, but because it needed to be done. I want to offer a free introduction to the Strategy Series, essentially an elaborate advertisement. I had a bare plot, and only a narrow, ill defined notion of character. I know what needs to be included to make a compelling story; crisp, distinct voice, likeable, charming characters. Knowing what to do, however, and executing, are two different things. I began writing and ground my teeth at the absence of soul or cheer or incisiveness, or anything that makes a story interesting. It was shaping up as both long and boring, the opposite of what we need to sell the series.
However
I can work with this. I see where I have gone wrong. I've adjusted details at least half a dozen times. Characters are taking shape now, in the bottom 1/4 of the draft, so I have time to wrap back around and infuse it in the top 3/4. I'm confident. It's going to be great.
*perhaps I'm being a teensy bit hyperbolic
This most recent project was especially frightening. I started it not because I was inspired to write a special story, but because it needed to be done. I want to offer a free introduction to the Strategy Series, essentially an elaborate advertisement. I had a bare plot, and only a narrow, ill defined notion of character. I know what needs to be included to make a compelling story; crisp, distinct voice, likeable, charming characters. Knowing what to do, however, and executing, are two different things. I began writing and ground my teeth at the absence of soul or cheer or incisiveness, or anything that makes a story interesting. It was shaping up as both long and boring, the opposite of what we need to sell the series.
However
I can work with this. I see where I have gone wrong. I've adjusted details at least half a dozen times. Characters are taking shape now, in the bottom 1/4 of the draft, so I have time to wrap back around and infuse it in the top 3/4. I'm confident. It's going to be great.
*perhaps I'm being a teensy bit hyperbolic
Monday, September 12, 2016
Inspiration
I mentioned that I read Earnest Cline's "Ready Player One" recently. It was both invigorating and disheartening, because the book is so good.
Reading this incredible breakout novel reminded me of a few things. Foremost, beyond plot, character, setting, pacing, structure and even voice, the main thing we are after is immersion. I've read a lot of good books this year. Aside from Plath, who I mentioned last week, I've read Octavia Butler, Stella Gibbons, and William Goldman. I've also read local authors Adria Waters and C.J Weiland, and these are just a few. All fine books. They are thought provoking, clever, sometimes a lot of fun, but aside from that one I've been talking about four posts running now, the only one that got close to the same immersion was Weiland's. "Player One" shouldn't have, either. It was a stock protagonist, and from page one, any half-savvy reader could predict the end. It is packed with long digressions into eighties pop culture, full of inside jokes and references I could see being made, but couldn't appreciate because I was four years old in 1989 and my mom was so uptight she wouldn't even let me watch TMNT. It's a wish fulfillment fantasy, but I bought into it part and parcel. It reminded me of the magic of books.
Cline's first novel also reminded me to stick to my instincts. I liked this book, and a lot of other people liked this book. They like it a lot. He sold the manuscript in a bidding war; major publishing houses smelled success and tripped over themselves for the privilege of publishing it. It won awards. It's an NYT best seller. The paperback is in its 17th printing, and it's being made into a film. Maybe if I write something I like, those same people will like it, too.
But let me return to earth for a second. In all honesty, I don't think my own work is that good. I know, that novel was probably years in the making. The author mentioned several lesser drafts, and it was a major house with major editors, ensuring he did stick with that predictable plot and wish fulfilling ending. That's what sells, honestly, and I have not the luxury of an editor to hold my artistic sadist in check. Additionally, success like that is incredibly rare. Not every huge seller like this deserves the attention it gets, and not every book that does deserve attention receives it. Life is not fair. If you build (or write) it, they may or may not come.
Still, if you don't write it, it's a guarantee they won't.
Reading this incredible breakout novel reminded me of a few things. Foremost, beyond plot, character, setting, pacing, structure and even voice, the main thing we are after is immersion. I've read a lot of good books this year. Aside from Plath, who I mentioned last week, I've read Octavia Butler, Stella Gibbons, and William Goldman. I've also read local authors Adria Waters and C.J Weiland, and these are just a few. All fine books. They are thought provoking, clever, sometimes a lot of fun, but aside from that one I've been talking about four posts running now, the only one that got close to the same immersion was Weiland's. "Player One" shouldn't have, either. It was a stock protagonist, and from page one, any half-savvy reader could predict the end. It is packed with long digressions into eighties pop culture, full of inside jokes and references I could see being made, but couldn't appreciate because I was four years old in 1989 and my mom was so uptight she wouldn't even let me watch TMNT. It's a wish fulfillment fantasy, but I bought into it part and parcel. It reminded me of the magic of books.
Cline's first novel also reminded me to stick to my instincts. I liked this book, and a lot of other people liked this book. They like it a lot. He sold the manuscript in a bidding war; major publishing houses smelled success and tripped over themselves for the privilege of publishing it. It won awards. It's an NYT best seller. The paperback is in its 17th printing, and it's being made into a film. Maybe if I write something I like, those same people will like it, too.
But let me return to earth for a second. In all honesty, I don't think my own work is that good. I know, that novel was probably years in the making. The author mentioned several lesser drafts, and it was a major house with major editors, ensuring he did stick with that predictable plot and wish fulfilling ending. That's what sells, honestly, and I have not the luxury of an editor to hold my artistic sadist in check. Additionally, success like that is incredibly rare. Not every huge seller like this deserves the attention it gets, and not every book that does deserve attention receives it. Life is not fair. If you build (or write) it, they may or may not come.
Still, if you don't write it, it's a guarantee they won't.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Traction
I've had surgery, which means I've been laid up on my easy chair and only able to type with my left hand again. Therefore, writing isn't nearly as time efficient as it was before, so I've been doing other things, namely reading. It had been a few months since I read, but I just knocked out literary poet Sylvia Plath's novel "The Bell Jar" followed by Earnest Cline's NYT bestselling "Ready Player One."
It's a departure from what I've been reading this year, which has been mostly local authors. I've been making it a point to read and review as many of them as I can for the karma. It is my hope that, if I review all these books, when I publish my own full novel they will feel obligated to review mine. Yeah, that's a compromise from my original high minded ideals. All things being equal, I wouldn't want anyone to read a book unless they good and felt like it, but there's a problem with that for the new author. The market is absolutely choked with books, and it has never been enough to simply write a brilliant one. It has to be noticed.
Take "Pawn" as an example. It's a pretty great book. Everyone I have convinced to read and later been able to inquire has agreed; they were pleasantly surprised. However, they would never have read without my fanatic campaigning. It's a self published first novel from a local author. You wouldn't know to type her name in the Amazon search engine, because you've never heard of her. The title is a nice fit for the story inside, but it's so common it shows up on the third page of an Amazon book search. Be honest, you never look past page one, because there are plenty of other books with the word "pawn" in the title, with a lot more favorable reviews. Speaking of which, over a year after its release this one only has eleven, which means it has incredibly little chance of showing up in the "recommended for you" or "customers also bought" columns. The only reason I read it was because the author is in my critique group, and I read the first couple pages of the first draft of the second book in the series, "Royals." I couldn't have read it before, because I didn't even know it existed. It struggles for traction.
I liked "Pawn" so much, I wrote a supplemental short story for the series, with the author's blessing of course. It has an equally common title. It's published under her account so I don't have direct access to the data, but last I checked it had eight (mostly free) downloads, two reviews (one was my mom), and generated just a couple new downloads and one review for the actual novel (also my mom). Does this mean I suck? That we suck? That the only people who can tolerate our crapburger stories and novels are people who know us and are invested in a personal relationship? Well, maybe. But I posit that it is because nobody has a reason to pick our stuff up in the first place. See, I wouldn't have given "The Bell Jar" a second glance if I hadn't heard Sylvia Plath mentioned seven or eight times in the course of my education, and had the opening line,
"It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenburgs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York,"
quoted by multiple sources as one of the best opening lines in literature, ever. I enjoyed "The Bell Jar." Four point five stars, would read again. I only read "Ready Player One" because it's an NYT bestseller, and a friend loaned it to me. Five stars, immersive experience, reinvigorated my passion for writing and my awe for what can be accomplished with the written word. Wouldn't have read either of them if I just stumbled over them in the marketplace which, in the case of "Pawn" and "Fool's Game," would be unlikely since hard copies of the former appear only in one book store, and digital copies of both appear only in the backwaters of the turbid Amazon.
I am of the opinion that "Pawn" would be a bestseller if it came from a well established brand, so let's test that theory. If you have enjoyed soft sci-fi action before, give it a shot. If it isn't as good as "Divergent" or "The Maze Runner," or any of those other touted titles, denounce it. For the low price of $3.99 and a few hours, your faith in the system can be reaffirmed and you will be justified in sneering at any title not offered by a major publishing house. If you enjoy it, though, and want the next installment, please, please leave a review. It's not fanmail, and it's not redundant. Reviews mean traction, and if there aren't at least fifty, there aren't enough.
It's a departure from what I've been reading this year, which has been mostly local authors. I've been making it a point to read and review as many of them as I can for the karma. It is my hope that, if I review all these books, when I publish my own full novel they will feel obligated to review mine. Yeah, that's a compromise from my original high minded ideals. All things being equal, I wouldn't want anyone to read a book unless they good and felt like it, but there's a problem with that for the new author. The market is absolutely choked with books, and it has never been enough to simply write a brilliant one. It has to be noticed.
Take "Pawn" as an example. It's a pretty great book. Everyone I have convinced to read and later been able to inquire has agreed; they were pleasantly surprised. However, they would never have read without my fanatic campaigning. It's a self published first novel from a local author. You wouldn't know to type her name in the Amazon search engine, because you've never heard of her. The title is a nice fit for the story inside, but it's so common it shows up on the third page of an Amazon book search. Be honest, you never look past page one, because there are plenty of other books with the word "pawn" in the title, with a lot more favorable reviews. Speaking of which, over a year after its release this one only has eleven, which means it has incredibly little chance of showing up in the "recommended for you" or "customers also bought" columns. The only reason I read it was because the author is in my critique group, and I read the first couple pages of the first draft of the second book in the series, "Royals." I couldn't have read it before, because I didn't even know it existed. It struggles for traction.
I liked "Pawn" so much, I wrote a supplemental short story for the series, with the author's blessing of course. It has an equally common title. It's published under her account so I don't have direct access to the data, but last I checked it had eight (mostly free) downloads, two reviews (one was my mom), and generated just a couple new downloads and one review for the actual novel (also my mom). Does this mean I suck? That we suck? That the only people who can tolerate our crapburger stories and novels are people who know us and are invested in a personal relationship? Well, maybe. But I posit that it is because nobody has a reason to pick our stuff up in the first place. See, I wouldn't have given "The Bell Jar" a second glance if I hadn't heard Sylvia Plath mentioned seven or eight times in the course of my education, and had the opening line,
"It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenburgs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York,"
quoted by multiple sources as one of the best opening lines in literature, ever. I enjoyed "The Bell Jar." Four point five stars, would read again. I only read "Ready Player One" because it's an NYT bestseller, and a friend loaned it to me. Five stars, immersive experience, reinvigorated my passion for writing and my awe for what can be accomplished with the written word. Wouldn't have read either of them if I just stumbled over them in the marketplace which, in the case of "Pawn" and "Fool's Game," would be unlikely since hard copies of the former appear only in one book store, and digital copies of both appear only in the backwaters of the turbid Amazon.
I am of the opinion that "Pawn" would be a bestseller if it came from a well established brand, so let's test that theory. If you have enjoyed soft sci-fi action before, give it a shot. If it isn't as good as "Divergent" or "The Maze Runner," or any of those other touted titles, denounce it. For the low price of $3.99 and a few hours, your faith in the system can be reaffirmed and you will be justified in sneering at any title not offered by a major publishing house. If you enjoy it, though, and want the next installment, please, please leave a review. It's not fanmail, and it's not redundant. Reviews mean traction, and if there aren't at least fifty, there aren't enough.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Plugging Along
I had decided a long time ago that, if I ever were to develop that fairy idea, I would use the City in Plato's "Republic" as a model for the fairy culture and political structure. Maybe that's a terrible idea. It's probably been done to death, but I don't have anything better so it's going to be done again. I do possess a copy of that famed tome from freshman philosophy but, well, let's just say Plato was writing for political science instead of entertainment. The material is positively desiccated, and poorly organized to boot. I have been researching it online and I'm making much better progress.
I'm relatively certain that both philosophy and political science have moved on since "Republic," which is a good thing because the ideas in it are... interesting. I'm all for his assertion that the practice of justice is good on its own merit, not only for the positive results it yields. While ultimately it's just a tool, I adore the idea of the Forms. His notion of a truly just society, though, is highly impractical and ridiculously authoritarian, not to mention self contradictory. Kind of like Marxism, but with more homo-eroticism and fewer bloody uprisings. It's fun.
Meanwhile, I'm working on another short story for the Strategy Series. It's coming along, and I do so love this universe. If you haven't checked out "Pawn" yet, please do. If you have read it, reviews are much appreciated. Keep in mind, they aren't just for leaving feedback for the author or a helpful bit of information to help fellow readers make a choice; sheer number of reviews helps Amazon decide which books to promote with their 'also viewed/purchased' algorithms.
I'm relatively certain that both philosophy and political science have moved on since "Republic," which is a good thing because the ideas in it are... interesting. I'm all for his assertion that the practice of justice is good on its own merit, not only for the positive results it yields. While ultimately it's just a tool, I adore the idea of the Forms. His notion of a truly just society, though, is highly impractical and ridiculously authoritarian, not to mention self contradictory. Kind of like Marxism, but with more homo-eroticism and fewer bloody uprisings. It's fun.
Meanwhile, I'm working on another short story for the Strategy Series. It's coming along, and I do so love this universe. If you haven't checked out "Pawn" yet, please do. If you have read it, reviews are much appreciated. Keep in mind, they aren't just for leaving feedback for the author or a helpful bit of information to help fellow readers make a choice; sheer number of reviews helps Amazon decide which books to promote with their 'also viewed/purchased' algorithms.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Still Broke; Some Observations
#1. Parenting small children with one functional arm is difficult.
#2. Writing with one functional arm is also difficult.
#3. Maybe I should look into dictation software?
#4. Or maybe just read instead?
#2. Writing with one functional arm is also difficult.
#3. Maybe I should look into dictation software?
#4. Or maybe just read instead?
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Brevity Is The Soul of Wit, and the Result of Injury
In the interests of remaining consistent with weekly updates, here is another post.
I am now developmentally editing in an official capacity. It's like peer review, only more in depth because I have the entire book to work with instead of a chapter or two. I feel like something of a fraud, since I have written no book of my own, but I have read a lot and know a technical thing or two about theory. I can tell when something is or is not working for me, and why. Usually. I also can sometimes come up with a way to fix it or make it better. Or more to my liking, anyway. My chief concern has been trying to keep my own voice out, or at least down to a dull roar. We will, of course, keep you all posted.
The fairy idea has also secured a vote. I'm working on fleshing that out beyond setting.
And finally, the reason this post is succinct in comparison to my typical, long winded pomposity, I dislocated my right shoulder and sustained a Hill-Sachs lesion. Thus, I am typing exclusively with my left hand. And now I am tired of it, so I will stop.
I am now developmentally editing in an official capacity. It's like peer review, only more in depth because I have the entire book to work with instead of a chapter or two. I feel like something of a fraud, since I have written no book of my own, but I have read a lot and know a technical thing or two about theory. I can tell when something is or is not working for me, and why. Usually. I also can sometimes come up with a way to fix it or make it better. Or more to my liking, anyway. My chief concern has been trying to keep my own voice out, or at least down to a dull roar. We will, of course, keep you all posted.
The fairy idea has also secured a vote. I'm working on fleshing that out beyond setting.
And finally, the reason this post is succinct in comparison to my typical, long winded pomposity, I dislocated my right shoulder and sustained a Hill-Sachs lesion. Thus, I am typing exclusively with my left hand. And now I am tired of it, so I will stop.
Saturday, July 23, 2016
What Next?
One project is done. I'm just waiting to get the ebook. The other project is on ice. It's difficult to do a good self edit, because after writing and reading the material so much, so often, your brain knows what to expect and automatically fills it in. You miss errors that way, so I'm giving myself plenty of space before I print it off one final time and read through it.
In the meantime, I'm helping to developmentally edit the next book in that series. It's informing a few minor changes I should make as well, so that's great. And the more time I spend with the series, the more excited I get about it, even though it isn't really mine. The author and I work well together, and I think when we collaborate, it has a synergistic effect on both of our work.
So have to make a choice. I was originally going to take a long break from writing altogether, because of parenting/work balance/self control issues. I still need to work on that, because rationally speaking, I would rather be a great parent and not write at all than be a mediocre parent and an amazing author. However, one too many sources have cautioned me against stopping completely, so I'll have to gingerly proceed and choose a project.
I have a variety of ideas. The first, of course, is First Monday Park. I think that will always be my favorite, but I don't think I want to pick that up for two reasons. First, I agree with all the assessments made about it from the beginning. It isn't commercial. I do want to make money. Hopefully, one day I can make enough to allow my wife to cut back on work. That's the new long term goal, so the short term goal is to produce something that will generate a tiny trickle of cash flow, and First Monday is not it. The second reason is that I love the idea so much, I think I want to sharpen craft a bit more before I pick it up again. I refuse to compromise and say "good enough" with that book. I want it to be perfect, and I keep worrying at it until I am satisfied. But that takes a long time. I need to work on something I don't care about quite so much, something I am willing to say "good enough" for.
I had been thinking about C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia" and how much it would have sucked to have been any one of the Pevensie children. Go on a fantastic adventure, save the world. Become a kind and benevolent king, conquer the outer reaches, go on diplomatic missions and hunts and tournaments. Or be a queen, loved and adored by all, same thing with the missions and tournaments, and be ardently courted by exotic princes... and then return to mid war England. Return to being a commoner with no magic gifts, and have to go through puberty all over again. I developed an idea with that as the basis. A lot of differences, of course, but so cool. Same problem as First Monday, though; too literary. Won't sell. On to the next.
Another idea would be the fairy book. I have no characters, and no plot for that in mind, just the fabulously rich setting of a normal riparian forest at an insect scale. I want the correct flora and fauna in the correct proportions, with correct properties and behavior, and just throw some tiny winged people into the mix. Maybe from Missouri, maybe Costa Rica, I'm not sure. However, that would take ALL of the research, and I just don't have time.
Or, I thought I could do a vaguely historical fiction book set in 10th or 11th century England, but with all the witchcraft and folktale monsters being real. Naturally, the Catholic church would maintain an order of monk/knights, or paladins, to keep the bugaboos at bay. So all the fantastic elements would be there, alongside the normal political jockeying and such... but it feels like something like that has probably already been done. The same concept in 6th century Eastern Roman Empire, though, that's probably up for grabs. How cool would that be?...
How much research would that be?
So that's out, but there's an idea for a missing person's crime novel I developed for my advanced creative writing class, and it has some promise. The plot is, I guess, so-so for the genre. There's some motorcycles and bribes and rogue FBI agents, all standard fare for crime. The narrator is amazing, though. It's basically me, if I gave myself all the time in the world to be eloquent and didn't balance my snark with kindness. I wrote everything with that voice, the outline, the summary, and the first and last chapters. Everybody loved it. My instructor, the only one I had who scoffed at literary pretension and encouraged us to write commercially, said it could sell.
But it has nothing to do with anything else I'm interested in writing, and... research. I don't really know exactly how the FBI works, and I don't even know how to go about finding out.
Then there's the paranormal idea. Graduate students of the coincidentally necessary disciplines find an ancient spellbook. The religious studies one insists that it's all superstition, and offers to do a spell to prove it. Of course, it works. I don't know what the spell would do, but isn't that a great opening? But paranormal isn't my genre, either. Some have been telling me that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, but is that really good for building a brand?
There's the possibility of continuing work on one of the series that I have already written a short for. Originally I wanted to do several shorts for the series, then compile them in an anthology and sell that. Anthologies don't sell, though, so I'm back to square one.
Finally, there's always that Warcraft fan fiction that I can dust off, rip all the licensed material out, and repackage in an original setting. I know, the term 'Warcraft fan fiction' sounds a little scary, but I truly believe my concept is legitimate. I'm just not jazzed about creating my own world. I like limits. I like knowing what I can't do, or even better, tight parameters for what I can. Tell me that anything is possible, and I get crushed by the potential to do everything wrong or stupid or worse, derivative, and I want to hide in my shell like a gastropod.
So if anyone has an opinion on what they'd like to see most, or an inside track on the Byzantine Empire or the FBI, let me know. I'm just sitting over here in the corner, being non committal.
In the meantime, I'm helping to developmentally edit the next book in that series. It's informing a few minor changes I should make as well, so that's great. And the more time I spend with the series, the more excited I get about it, even though it isn't really mine. The author and I work well together, and I think when we collaborate, it has a synergistic effect on both of our work.
So have to make a choice. I was originally going to take a long break from writing altogether, because of parenting/work balance/self control issues. I still need to work on that, because rationally speaking, I would rather be a great parent and not write at all than be a mediocre parent and an amazing author. However, one too many sources have cautioned me against stopping completely, so I'll have to gingerly proceed and choose a project.
I have a variety of ideas. The first, of course, is First Monday Park. I think that will always be my favorite, but I don't think I want to pick that up for two reasons. First, I agree with all the assessments made about it from the beginning. It isn't commercial. I do want to make money. Hopefully, one day I can make enough to allow my wife to cut back on work. That's the new long term goal, so the short term goal is to produce something that will generate a tiny trickle of cash flow, and First Monday is not it. The second reason is that I love the idea so much, I think I want to sharpen craft a bit more before I pick it up again. I refuse to compromise and say "good enough" with that book. I want it to be perfect, and I keep worrying at it until I am satisfied. But that takes a long time. I need to work on something I don't care about quite so much, something I am willing to say "good enough" for.
I had been thinking about C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia" and how much it would have sucked to have been any one of the Pevensie children. Go on a fantastic adventure, save the world. Become a kind and benevolent king, conquer the outer reaches, go on diplomatic missions and hunts and tournaments. Or be a queen, loved and adored by all, same thing with the missions and tournaments, and be ardently courted by exotic princes... and then return to mid war England. Return to being a commoner with no magic gifts, and have to go through puberty all over again. I developed an idea with that as the basis. A lot of differences, of course, but so cool. Same problem as First Monday, though; too literary. Won't sell. On to the next.
Another idea would be the fairy book. I have no characters, and no plot for that in mind, just the fabulously rich setting of a normal riparian forest at an insect scale. I want the correct flora and fauna in the correct proportions, with correct properties and behavior, and just throw some tiny winged people into the mix. Maybe from Missouri, maybe Costa Rica, I'm not sure. However, that would take ALL of the research, and I just don't have time.
Or, I thought I could do a vaguely historical fiction book set in 10th or 11th century England, but with all the witchcraft and folktale monsters being real. Naturally, the Catholic church would maintain an order of monk/knights, or paladins, to keep the bugaboos at bay. So all the fantastic elements would be there, alongside the normal political jockeying and such... but it feels like something like that has probably already been done. The same concept in 6th century Eastern Roman Empire, though, that's probably up for grabs. How cool would that be?...
How much research would that be?
So that's out, but there's an idea for a missing person's crime novel I developed for my advanced creative writing class, and it has some promise. The plot is, I guess, so-so for the genre. There's some motorcycles and bribes and rogue FBI agents, all standard fare for crime. The narrator is amazing, though. It's basically me, if I gave myself all the time in the world to be eloquent and didn't balance my snark with kindness. I wrote everything with that voice, the outline, the summary, and the first and last chapters. Everybody loved it. My instructor, the only one I had who scoffed at literary pretension and encouraged us to write commercially, said it could sell.
But it has nothing to do with anything else I'm interested in writing, and... research. I don't really know exactly how the FBI works, and I don't even know how to go about finding out.
Then there's the paranormal idea. Graduate students of the coincidentally necessary disciplines find an ancient spellbook. The religious studies one insists that it's all superstition, and offers to do a spell to prove it. Of course, it works. I don't know what the spell would do, but isn't that a great opening? But paranormal isn't my genre, either. Some have been telling me that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, but is that really good for building a brand?
There's the possibility of continuing work on one of the series that I have already written a short for. Originally I wanted to do several shorts for the series, then compile them in an anthology and sell that. Anthologies don't sell, though, so I'm back to square one.
Finally, there's always that Warcraft fan fiction that I can dust off, rip all the licensed material out, and repackage in an original setting. I know, the term 'Warcraft fan fiction' sounds a little scary, but I truly believe my concept is legitimate. I'm just not jazzed about creating my own world. I like limits. I like knowing what I can't do, or even better, tight parameters for what I can. Tell me that anything is possible, and I get crushed by the potential to do everything wrong or stupid or worse, derivative, and I want to hide in my shell like a gastropod.
So if anyone has an opinion on what they'd like to see most, or an inside track on the Byzantine Empire or the FBI, let me know. I'm just sitting over here in the corner, being non committal.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
How I Landed the Gig
I wrote a story and it will be published, but the story behind that story is kind of cool, too.
It all began just before the birth of this blog, at the Pikes Peak Writer's Conference of 2012. I was green to the core; not a scrap of formal craft training in me, all I had was raw, undirected talent and the notion that I should probably do something with it. I also had an idea for a book, and eagerly chattered about it with several people as green writers are wont to do. They all smiled at my enthusiasm, and gently told me that the idea was "unmarketable," which is trade vernacular for "it sucks and you are wasting my time talking about it." But I didn't know about trade vernacular. I just knew they didn't think some of my most cherished elements of the novel would work, and I was kind of bummed.
Then I met Aaron Ritchey.
He taught a class, I forget what the title was. As he spoke I could tell there were quite a lot of significant differences between us, but somehow through it all I detected what Lucy Maud Montgomery calls a "kindred spirit." I decided to try my idea out on him, so I roped him into a conversation. He fiercely rubbed his chin as I prattled about the large cast of protagonists and the multiple points of view, and the world just a few degrees closer to reality than our own. Then he weighed in his opinion.
"Yeah," he said, "that wouldn't sell at all. You should write it anyway."
Then he told me about his favorite project. He'd just released a YA novel, said he was working on others, but his real passion was a book, no a series! about three sisters on a cattle drive through a post apocalyptic wasteland. It would be like Bonanza, but with machine guns. And the protagonist would be a girl, but like a normal girl, you know, and he didn't want to give away too many details, but this is what he was excited about.
We parted ways. I bought his book. Then I disappeared into the halls of academia for two years. You can read about that here. I finished just a little too late for PPWC 2014, so it was a full three years before I crossed paths with Ritchey again.
This time, I was not so green. I now knew a whole heap about craft. I'd even had it confirmed in review that, while my novel sounds wonky in theory, it really does work in practice. Meanwhile, Ritchey had released two more novels. A lot had happened since we'd last met, so I wasn't offended that he didn't remember me right away.
"Oh yeah!" he said, "You were the one with that surreal, literary, other world thing."
I reminded him that he told me it wouldn't sell, and that I should write it anyway.
"I did? That's terrible advice!" Then he smirked and nodded, "but it sounds like something I'd say."
I didn't get a chance to ask him about his post apocalyptic cattle drive. He was emceeing that year, so he was a busy guy. However, I did get a friend invite on Facebook a few days later. That's how I found out about his progress.
It was finally time. The book had been written, but he wanted to stack the odds in his favor. He was giving out Advanced Reader Copies in exchange for a pinky promise to give it a review when it came out, because reviews on Amazon are like precious jewels to a fiction writer. I remembered how excited he was about this project, and how his other books, all of which I had read, were actually pretty good, and how we were kindred spirits, after all. So I said sure, I'll get an ARC and leave a review.
The book, "Dandelion Iron" is the first in a series called "The Juniper Wars." It's pretty OK, by which I mean it has potential to breakout and go big. I'm saying you should probably buy it now for the hipster cred, if nothing else. It's also a really great book. I'm not sure what broad philosophical questions are going to be leveled by the end of the series, but as far as storytelling goes it's solid. Have you at least checked out the link yet?
How about now?
OK, good. Now we can continue. At the end of that ARC was an announcement that several other authors had been recruited to expand the already rich and complex universe in one-off short stories, and I immediately knew I wanted in. But there was no way. The announcement was definitely a "stay tuned" type thing, not a casting call. It was pretty clear that he'd been out begging for far more notorious names than his own to lend a little of their prestige to this venture. I dropped a private message anyway, asking if he was scouting talent or if this thing was by invite only, which was the most polite way I could think of to ask for a shot.
Now, keep in mind, Ritchey had never seen anything I had ever written. My portfolio was empty. My resume was blank. And if there is one thing I have learned from all my time at writer's conventions and creative writing classes, it's that the vast majority of aspiring writers out there aren't that great. Contrary to popular belief, crafting an elaborate, inventive lie that other people are willing to spend time and money on is actually pretty hard. There's a reason publishers used to reject 90% of the submissions they received, back in the bad old days of the publishing house. However, I also knew that I had the ghost of a chance because, if nothing else, Aaron Michael Ritchey is a nice guy. That day he proved he is nicer than is probably good for him in the long run, because he said sure. Send in a story.
I didn't expect that, truthfully, so when I got it I realized I was not equipped to write a story. I had to pester for details; what kind of story did he want, details about the history and universe that hadn't shown up or been fully explained in the novel. He finally gave me the world bible and I crawled into my hole to write.
I slaved away at that thing, ignoring my family, sometimes staying up late into the night. I finished just in time to show it to my monthly critique group, and then sent a revised draft off for submission. Then I waited.
I felt pretty good about it, but I wasn't sure it fit the feel and general voice of the universe. "Dandelion Iron" is chock full of guns, sex, drugs and outlaws, and my piece, titled "Magpies," is relatively understated. There's no drugs, barely any flirting, and one scene with a gun that felt desperate and fearful and dirty, not flashy or gloriously justified. I was afraid I was leaning in that literary direction instead of commercial, and if you have read some of the other articles in this blog, you know I don't believe in the latter over the former, if we have to choose. But I didn't hear back. So I contacted another local author. This short story accompanying a full novel thing is a really cool idea. It's like legitimized fan fiction, and I had a lot of fun doing it. She agreed to a deal, and I started work on a second short, this one for a sci-fi fantasy series that is also well worth your time. Check out "Pawn" here. I'll wait.
OK, so there I was, pecking away at this second story, which wound up being a far, far tougher piece than I initially credited, and I finally heard back from Ritchey. He said all the things a first time submitter wants to hear.
He said he had planned on only reading a few pages, but was captured.
He said it might be the best piece of non professional writing he'd ever read.
He said it fit the universe perfectly, and that it is commercial in all of the best ways. Best of all, he said he'd pay for it.
Then the rest is the ugly part where he actually wanted to replace the gun scene altogether, and I got all entitled and fought him on it. The kind of thing I hear is common between editors and authors, though I really wasn't in much of a position to protest and he graciously gave me the room to do so anyway. After much hand wringing and angst we arrived at an accord, by which I mean he was right all along and I just needed time to see it.
So it's done. I'll let you know when it is released and provide a link. It will be available for free, so if you can't bring yourself to pay for "Iron" just yet, read mine and the three other shorts that have been released so far and see if you can resist after that. Likewise, I'll let you know when my other short, "Fool's Game," becomes available.
The point is, I've reached my goal. It's not a full novel, but I am a published author. I guess I don't have anything to blog about, anymore.
It all began just before the birth of this blog, at the Pikes Peak Writer's Conference of 2012. I was green to the core; not a scrap of formal craft training in me, all I had was raw, undirected talent and the notion that I should probably do something with it. I also had an idea for a book, and eagerly chattered about it with several people as green writers are wont to do. They all smiled at my enthusiasm, and gently told me that the idea was "unmarketable," which is trade vernacular for "it sucks and you are wasting my time talking about it." But I didn't know about trade vernacular. I just knew they didn't think some of my most cherished elements of the novel would work, and I was kind of bummed.
Then I met Aaron Ritchey.
He taught a class, I forget what the title was. As he spoke I could tell there were quite a lot of significant differences between us, but somehow through it all I detected what Lucy Maud Montgomery calls a "kindred spirit." I decided to try my idea out on him, so I roped him into a conversation. He fiercely rubbed his chin as I prattled about the large cast of protagonists and the multiple points of view, and the world just a few degrees closer to reality than our own. Then he weighed in his opinion.
"Yeah," he said, "that wouldn't sell at all. You should write it anyway."
Then he told me about his favorite project. He'd just released a YA novel, said he was working on others, but his real passion was a book, no a series! about three sisters on a cattle drive through a post apocalyptic wasteland. It would be like Bonanza, but with machine guns. And the protagonist would be a girl, but like a normal girl, you know, and he didn't want to give away too many details, but this is what he was excited about.
We parted ways. I bought his book. Then I disappeared into the halls of academia for two years. You can read about that here. I finished just a little too late for PPWC 2014, so it was a full three years before I crossed paths with Ritchey again.
This time, I was not so green. I now knew a whole heap about craft. I'd even had it confirmed in review that, while my novel sounds wonky in theory, it really does work in practice. Meanwhile, Ritchey had released two more novels. A lot had happened since we'd last met, so I wasn't offended that he didn't remember me right away.
"Oh yeah!" he said, "You were the one with that surreal, literary, other world thing."
I reminded him that he told me it wouldn't sell, and that I should write it anyway.
"I did? That's terrible advice!" Then he smirked and nodded, "but it sounds like something I'd say."
I didn't get a chance to ask him about his post apocalyptic cattle drive. He was emceeing that year, so he was a busy guy. However, I did get a friend invite on Facebook a few days later. That's how I found out about his progress.
It was finally time. The book had been written, but he wanted to stack the odds in his favor. He was giving out Advanced Reader Copies in exchange for a pinky promise to give it a review when it came out, because reviews on Amazon are like precious jewels to a fiction writer. I remembered how excited he was about this project, and how his other books, all of which I had read, were actually pretty good, and how we were kindred spirits, after all. So I said sure, I'll get an ARC and leave a review.
The book, "Dandelion Iron" is the first in a series called "The Juniper Wars." It's pretty OK, by which I mean it has potential to breakout and go big. I'm saying you should probably buy it now for the hipster cred, if nothing else. It's also a really great book. I'm not sure what broad philosophical questions are going to be leveled by the end of the series, but as far as storytelling goes it's solid. Have you at least checked out the link yet?
How about now?
OK, good. Now we can continue. At the end of that ARC was an announcement that several other authors had been recruited to expand the already rich and complex universe in one-off short stories, and I immediately knew I wanted in. But there was no way. The announcement was definitely a "stay tuned" type thing, not a casting call. It was pretty clear that he'd been out begging for far more notorious names than his own to lend a little of their prestige to this venture. I dropped a private message anyway, asking if he was scouting talent or if this thing was by invite only, which was the most polite way I could think of to ask for a shot.
Now, keep in mind, Ritchey had never seen anything I had ever written. My portfolio was empty. My resume was blank. And if there is one thing I have learned from all my time at writer's conventions and creative writing classes, it's that the vast majority of aspiring writers out there aren't that great. Contrary to popular belief, crafting an elaborate, inventive lie that other people are willing to spend time and money on is actually pretty hard. There's a reason publishers used to reject 90% of the submissions they received, back in the bad old days of the publishing house. However, I also knew that I had the ghost of a chance because, if nothing else, Aaron Michael Ritchey is a nice guy. That day he proved he is nicer than is probably good for him in the long run, because he said sure. Send in a story.
I didn't expect that, truthfully, so when I got it I realized I was not equipped to write a story. I had to pester for details; what kind of story did he want, details about the history and universe that hadn't shown up or been fully explained in the novel. He finally gave me the world bible and I crawled into my hole to write.
I slaved away at that thing, ignoring my family, sometimes staying up late into the night. I finished just in time to show it to my monthly critique group, and then sent a revised draft off for submission. Then I waited.
I felt pretty good about it, but I wasn't sure it fit the feel and general voice of the universe. "Dandelion Iron" is chock full of guns, sex, drugs and outlaws, and my piece, titled "Magpies," is relatively understated. There's no drugs, barely any flirting, and one scene with a gun that felt desperate and fearful and dirty, not flashy or gloriously justified. I was afraid I was leaning in that literary direction instead of commercial, and if you have read some of the other articles in this blog, you know I don't believe in the latter over the former, if we have to choose. But I didn't hear back. So I contacted another local author. This short story accompanying a full novel thing is a really cool idea. It's like legitimized fan fiction, and I had a lot of fun doing it. She agreed to a deal, and I started work on a second short, this one for a sci-fi fantasy series that is also well worth your time. Check out "Pawn" here. I'll wait.
OK, so there I was, pecking away at this second story, which wound up being a far, far tougher piece than I initially credited, and I finally heard back from Ritchey. He said all the things a first time submitter wants to hear.
He said he had planned on only reading a few pages, but was captured.
He said it might be the best piece of non professional writing he'd ever read.
He said it fit the universe perfectly, and that it is commercial in all of the best ways. Best of all, he said he'd pay for it.
Then the rest is the ugly part where he actually wanted to replace the gun scene altogether, and I got all entitled and fought him on it. The kind of thing I hear is common between editors and authors, though I really wasn't in much of a position to protest and he graciously gave me the room to do so anyway. After much hand wringing and angst we arrived at an accord, by which I mean he was right all along and I just needed time to see it.
So it's done. I'll let you know when it is released and provide a link. It will be available for free, so if you can't bring yourself to pay for "Iron" just yet, read mine and the three other shorts that have been released so far and see if you can resist after that. Likewise, I'll let you know when my other short, "Fool's Game," becomes available.
The point is, I've reached my goal. It's not a full novel, but I am a published author. I guess I don't have anything to blog about, anymore.
Saturday, July 9, 2016
The Blurb
I haven’t updated the blog for two reasons. First, I’ve been busy raising kids. We currently have three, no older than four and no younger than five months. I don’t get a lot of time to write. Second, when I do get that time, I spend it writing fiction. I’ve quit going to writing groups, don’t spend much time reading, don’t browse the Internet for writing or marketing articles. I just write. Even then, it’s slow going. I have been working on two separate short stories since about February. It is now July, but we’re getting close to finishing. Now it is time to write The Blurb.
A lot of writers hate The Blurb. It’s not like writing a story; it’s a tiny genre unto itself. It’s not a narrative, it’s an advertisement, and it needs to show genre, target audience, a hint of the prose inside, and perhaps a suggestion of the plot. However, it can't contain spoilers, and it has to spike intrigue in the space of two to five sentences. Worse, it’s asking you to attempt to pack all of the awesomeness of the project you have been bleeding into for the past however long, all into a handful of words. That project has taken time, it’s taken headaches, it’s taken research and getting lost on bunny trails and real emotional angst as we agonized over the fates of our beloveds. It deserves more than a handful of words. And to top it all off, it just feels cheap. Blurbs are the barkers in a crowded, chaotic midway, begging the masses to take a look, maybe drop a few bucks at their own booth. It’s not dignified. It shouldn’t be necessary.
For all of these reasons, most authors sneer at The Blurb. We talk about spectacular opening sentences and character building and plotting and all that other fine stuff, while The Blurb gets relegated to the backseat as the chore, the dreaded requirement, one of the arduous and humiliating prices we pay for producing art.
But not me.
In all seriousness, I'm a little excited about The Blurb. One reason is HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS I’M PUBLISHING A STORY! After all the hours and the money and the conferences, and all the times I said “I’m a writer” and felt like a fraud because I haven’t actually published anything, I’m actually publishing my story. No, better than that; somebody else is publishing my story. I’m embracing all the annoying accoutrements of writing because they are rites of passage. I am legitimized. I get to write The Blurb. A second reason is, I am a writer. I can write anything. You want a story about a scavengers in steam powered trucks salvaging the copper wiring and pipes from abandoned homes and businesses in a post apocalyptic wasteland? Done. You want a story about multi eyed puppet master aliens backstabbing their way into political prominence using a chess/video game hybrid employing elves, humans, and cat people as their pieces? Done. You want blurbs for those? Son, you came to the right place.
See what I did there? And I’ll do it again, I don’t care. I’ll rephrase it, spin it, wrap it up in a nice bow and sell it to your grandma; if the goal is to sell a story using words on a page, I won’t stop trying until I get it done. Because I am that good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)