On the Verge

The revision of my first novel (the one I will resubmit to the publisher that is interested) is nearly complete. I'm down to two chapters and some miscellaneous edits.  So I'll be writing to her soon and asking how to resubmit the story.

In the meantime, I'll not we wasting my momentum.  It's onto the second novel, which continues the story. I should be able to pull that book together over the summer and get it out.  Let's keep our fingers crossed on that one, boys and girls.

The real challenge is novel 3.  I only have a very rough and very old draft and lots a new material to write. Not sure how long that will take.  I would love to finish it next year but that may not be realistic.  I'll have to wait and see how it goes.

Even though I've been at this point in my schedule and writing projects, I notice a difference this time.  That's because I'm not rushing anything.  And if novel 1 does not sell, I will release it as a self-published novel through all the channels I established a few months ago.

And because I know what I will be doing and how I will handle the release of the book, there's less stress and more a sense of the routine which helps to keep me calm and prevents rushing.

So I should have an announcement about book 1 in a few weeks one way or the other.  I'll keep you posted.

Is Social Media Really an Improvement?

As a thought experiment, I found myself wondering the other day whether social media is really an improvement for writers and our readers.  Here's my thinking on the subject:

For readers, social media is large improvement because of all the information about writers and novels that is now available.  You can find your favorite writers' blogs and learn about new work that will be releasing.  You can also subscribe to blogs and newsfeed for your favorite booksellers and learn about special events, author signings, author readings, and when new novels that might interest you will be available.  For readers, there's a treasure trove of information, a literal glut of data of the subject.

The picture isn't as rosy for writers in my view.  For writers, social media is both good and bad.  For example, social media let's you tout your work and attract an audience.  That's good because it should mean sales.  Without sales, we won't last long.  But promoting your work can also be bad if you find it a chore or have no marketing skills.

Likewise, blogging, tweeting, and all the rest can be good or bad depending on whether you have something to say or not.  As writers, the natural assumption is that we do have something to say or can find something, but the simple fact is some people are more comfortable with it than others.  Some people are naturally shy and would prefer a quiet room to write in than composing a tweet.

Another concern is loss of privacy.  To a certain extent, writers need to make themselves public figures so that readers can learn about them.  That's good; when readers connect with writers the potential for sales goes up.  The problem is some people might use that information inappropriately.  So writers need to be careful about the information about themselves that they release to the public.

Bad reviews and ill-informed comments are another issue. Dealing with the public can really suck.  Ask anyone who has given technical support or who has to answer phone calls all day.  With social media, all these comments are visible and public.  Depending on the site you might have control over these comments and you might not.  So be careful and remember everyone has a right to free speech, even if the comment being made is lame or silly.

Lastly, there's the risk of intellectual property theft.  By this I mean social media enables such theft to go viral.  A stolen book on a torrent can spread around the world is seconds.   There's not much you can do about this if it happens to you and you can't really protect yourself either.  All it takes is one person paying for one legal copy to post your work on a site and recommend it highly.  Other avid readers/computer users will do the rest.

But even though I cite many drawbacks stemming from social media, the truth is all these things existed before.  Writers are always facing a loss of privacy as their recognition increases and they become more popular among readers.  Likewise, bad reviews have always been an issue; they used to be printed in the newspaper now they are electronic.  So you'll need to learn how to deal with the criticism.  And theft of our work has always been an issue.  It is easier now because of the technology but corrupt people at print shops have stolen the work of popular writers for years.  That's why there are copyright laws in the first place, to help protect us.

So where does that leave us?  Well, when I came out of my reverie, I realized that is not social media that is the issue.  It is people.  That no matter how much change we endure and what the tools we are using, people are still people, good, bad, and indifferent. And the struggle of getting along with each other has not stopped, it's just changed a little.

Movitation

One of the hardest challenges a writer faces is staying motivated.  Sure, you were excited when you had the idea for the story and you wrote the first draft in no time at all.  But now, after all revision (and rejections) the story is stale and you want to move onto something else.

Or: you've been working on your novel for a year, no, two years now.  You think it is ready,  but you keep getting feedback that there are problems with it.  Character A seems flat.  You need some better description in chapter ten.  The ending isn't quite right.

Or: you've sold a few stories or a novel and you don't know where to go from here.

What can I tell you except keep writing.  This happens to all writers.  Sometimes I skip a day or two on my novel or current project.  I do that either to think about it some more or because to many other things distract me.

Distractions are rampant these things.  Shall I tell you how many games I have in my phone that I play daily?  But I need this time to rest and recharge.

And then there's the house, dogs, car, computers, wife, and my own personal health that all need attention. And all are important.

But none of that matters.  Keep writing.

Some writers need inspiration to write.  I certainly need a good idea or general notion of what I want to say or what the plot is before I sit down at the keyboard.  But this isn't a requirement if you are just trying to keep your skill sharp.  Free write.  This is a technique to let the juices flow that I learned to college years ago and it works well.

How does it work?  For a period of 15 to 30 minutes write about whatever comes into your mind.  Don't edit it.  Just write.  If you think 30 minutes is too long, start with 15 minutes and add a minute or two each day.  Before long you'll be writing for 30 minutes or more.

What you might find is that issues that you are unaware of are keeping your motivation at bay.  You might be scared of success or failure or something else.  You may have a personal issue that is sucking so much of your energy your motivation to write is gone.  Or you may hit on an idea that will propel to your next big project.

So try it and see. And above all keep writing.

April is National Poetry Month

One of the great losses of the 20th century, in my view, is the decline and interest in poetry.  In the 19th century, many famous writers wrote poetry at least until the novel and the short story became popular. That trend continued in the 20th century and rules our lives today as well.

One reason for this is probably that poetry is harder to understand and takes longer to absorb and we don't have the time for this.  I know that in college I struggled all through my poetry analysis classes to really understand Shakespeare sonnets and modern poets.  I thought there was something wrong with me, but I know now that it wasn't me, at least not entirely.

It's the nature of our lives.  The reason movies and computer games are more popular than novels is that it takes less effort to appreciate.  They are immediate.  Novels (reading) takes effort.  If you make that investment, you want a payoff for your time.  A novel of genre fiction can do that more easily than a poem with deep and hidden meaning because the novel is more immediate.  You read it, you understand it, and you are done.  No deep thought, no deep meaning.

Of course, this is a misconception.  Many poems are easy to understand and have no deep meaning.  My poems, for example, generally don't have a deep meaning (or at least I'm not aware of any).  And poetry can be classified by the same genres that fiction is.  I think many people associate poetry with literature which they avoid.  That does a disservice to poetry because a poem can take many forms.  All you need is some imagery, maybe a metaphor or simile and you are well on your way.

So let's get out there and write some poetry.  Experiment!  Take some risks with it.  See what happens. With luck, we can spark a poetry renaissance and kindle an new appreciation for the art form. 

How Often Should One Blog?

I don't think there's a correct answer to that question.  I've read that you need to blog at least twice a week.  But I know people who blog daily or as the mood hits.

The point of blogging twice a week is to keep your audience, assuming you have one, interested and to keep your name in their short-term memory.  Once your name is in short-term memory long enough it goes into long-term memory, which is where you want it so people will remember your name and recognize later.

Of course, this assumes you are writing a novel and want to sell it later.  Frankly, I started blogging for my first novel way too late.  You should be blogging when you start your first draft because, as long as it takes to write a book, it takes even longer to bring an audience.  So you want to start that process as early as possible.

But it is important to remember there are no rules with blogs.  So when you start and how often you post to it is really up to you.  On the other hand, once you set a rule, stick with it.  For example, I decided to blog twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.  And for the most part I've held to that.  This lets the people reading my blog know when to expect it and when to check it.

The downside of this is that I get little activity mid-week but I live with that because I'd fall over dead if I had to blog more than twice a week.

See you Monday.