Suck it up, Buttercup

 

 

How many times have you heard, “I’d love to write a book/paint a picture/make a film/learn an instrument/learn how to weave baskets underwater, but I just don’t have the time?”  If you are someone who does any of those things, or many others (which also includes exercising, working out, starting a fitness plan), you probably hear it a lot. 

 

 It usually goes like this:

 

Me:  “I’m a writer”

Person at party: “Oh, I want to write, I just don’t have the time.” 

 

The implication being that obviously I’m doing something wrong since I do have the time and along with writing I am probably laying around eating bon bons and making daisy chains. The other person is ignoring the fact that I MAKE the time. (Usually)

 

 Time is like a vortex, you won’t have it unless you make it, unless you fight for the time to do what you must do for you.  This is the same if you have a day job, family, other time conflicts- you FIGHT for the creative time. You make your unmovable  obligations (job, family) then fit in everything else around them.  But you make them work.

 

That's sort of where I've been lately, evil day job taking over my soul again, and my little mental voice giving me excuses such as, "I don't have the time, I'm just too exhausted when I get home."

 

Well, I'm going to give that little voice in my head some hard advice, and advice I'd share with everyone who "doesn't have the time" (to write, paint, create, help a friend, whatever).

 

Yes. You. Do.

 

If something is important, you make the time.  The little time fairy has gone awol with the money fairy and they ain't coming back. Either you put your effort into making time (and yes, I'm talking to myself here as well--it's ok, I'm not sane anyway) or you shut up about it.  No whining, no bitching, no, "I'd really love too BUT...." You do it, or move on. 

 

People will always find excuses for why they aren’t doing what they really want, or what they think they should really want. Sometimes the excuses of not enough time are simply so the person doesn't have to face a hard truth.

 

But the bottom line is, we need to suck it up, make time for who we are.  Who we will be. 

 

 No Excuses.  (It's not just for jocks any more ;)).

 

 

Readers get pissed when you lie

Happy Wednesday all!

Fairly short rant today, offsetting last week's long one ;).

No one likes to be lied to. Readers really don't like to be lied to.  I don't like to be lied to, and that's what I feel just happened with a book I just finished.

Writers can mislead readers, that's a big part of what we do--but we shouldn't lie.

In this case the author ( a NYT bestseller who is quite awesome even though I'm annoyed with this one book) set up a nice little paranormal mystery.  We had a small town with lots of who did what to whom in the past, murder, mayhem, possible satanic rituals.  Very well done.

Now comes the annoying parts- one- I figured out who the person behind it all way too early.  Two- I got it wrong.  Now I'm not mad I got it wrong, because I did get the right body- but the author did a body switch for a person of massive evilness in the main character's past. It was a cheat in my mind.

But what really annoyed me?  All of that "who killed who, who slept with who, why they did what they did", was all throw away.  ALL OF IT.  The evil one who took over the body was just trying to lure the heroine out. None of the people in that town meant a thing to the "actual" story.

So that left the reader (aka me in this case) feeling like I'd been working on a really great puzzle, then had all the pieces taken away because they didn't matter.

I was lied to by the author.

Now, like I said, this was a big name, very good selling author.  Will it put me off from all of her future books?  Probably not, I'll give her one more chance, but if this happens again, you betchya she's going into my "do not read" list.

Now what if this had been a new author?  Directly to the "do not read" list.  This was, in my mind, an awful thing to do to a reader and left a bad taste in my mouth about the author. 

So, fellow writers- DON'T LIE.  Nuff said ;).

Freebies and thinking outside the box

Today I want to look a bit at the business side of writing- being as all writers are business people and Indie writers are even our own bosses.  (I really hope the self-publisher-me never has to fire the writer-me.)

I recently went to a convention, never you mind where, it could have been any show.  It was a full geek con: actors, artists, toys, and authors and books. LOTS of books. This convention had more writer interaction than some and a number of book publishers where there as well.

Two things really struck me in the marketing end of things.  My first observation was a tale of two publishers.  Both big names, both there with the idea to get folks excited about their books and grab new readers.

One publisher gave it all away- they must have shipped in tons of books as pretty much they were always running titles through their table- many times the author was there as well.  Smiling, chatting, signing, and putting that free book right in the hand of a reader.

The other publisher had a lot of "stuff"....stickers and whatnot.  And while they had books out- didn't really give them away.  One signing was a raffle, another I saw had a sad looking author sitting next to a man with a credit card machine-aka- they were selling the books.

Guess which booth saw the most traffic by a landslide? The one giving away usually first books in series, designed to draw us poor saps into to buy more?  Or the one who raffled off some copies and sold others? (Yes, I was stalking them. ;))

Now, don't get me wrong, as a writer I know we need to sell our books.  BIG TIME.  But which publisher do you think made the biggest impact on those thousands of readers?  I have found many a new favorite author through free books at conferences. (I am very excited about some of the free books I got, as well as those I bought at yet a third publisher). 

Free books, especially when the author is there signing said free item of book lovliness, make an impact on a reader- more importantly it makes the reader connect with the author and the publisher. Many times I hear authors say they won't give away their work- we spend a hell of a lot of time on a single book, and now we're supposed to give it away?  But once we have a few books out there, we (as Indie authors) can do what that first publisher did- give first books away to bring folks in for the long haul. Traditional authors might need to be more creative, but they might be able to work in free novellas or other items.

Even when I got a book that really wasn't for me, I was so impressed by the author that I made sure to find a friend who would really like it- by meeting that author, and having him put that free book in my hand, I felt responsible for it finding a good home. 

The second observation from this convention was a group of writers going outside of the box in their panel.  They had a "writing" panel that wasn't at all about writing- but about the Taco Church (not going to explain it here-go search them out http://www.holytacochurch.com/).  Basically, they had a lot of fun, pulled in a fairly full room of readers (many writers, but we're readers too) who got to see them NOT talking about their books. But being witty, articulate and sort of goofy human beings.

And guess what that fun, non-book, interaction did?  Made me want to find those authors and see if their books were my cuppa tea. Again, a connection with the writer, even outside of the book world, really acts to make a connection to the reader and makes them seek the books- even when they aren't even sure what that person writes.

Ok, this post was long, and it rambled a bit- but the main points here were 1) for all writers- traditional and Indie to realize their readers are people, not "fans" and to think outside the box for ways to interact with them, and that 2) free is good.  As the editor at the freebie publisher said, "the first hit is free".  But once a reader gets hooked, ya got them!

IWSG: Crossing that line

Happy Insecure Writers Support Group day!

 

 

Once a month, writers from across the land set forth to shout their fears, concerns, insecurities, and joys into the Universe- come join us!

 

Today I'm talking about crossing lines.  More importantly, crossing the great genre divide.

 

Knowing what genre you write in is fairly basic and something a writer really needs to understand.  Many an agent or editor has bemoaned the "mystery/romance/SF/historical/adventure" manuscripts they end up getting.  And sometimes it is difficult to narrow it down.  If you have a classical romance story, with classical romance characters and plotting- you're pretty safe in knowing you have a Romance.

 

But there are books that subtly combine genres. Sort of like a Reece's Cup, they take elements of two genres (don't really know if more than two would work- never seen one, but you never know!) and combine them into something stronger.

 

Now, the traditional publishing world sometimes is ok with this as long as it's clear that one element is dominant (the chocolate let's say) and they know which side of the bookstore to go in.  They will label that book in that genre and package it accordingly.

 

But what of those folks from the other genre (the peanut butters)who might really want a nice mixed genre book.

 

Here's where going Indie has an advantage- Indies can promote in both.  Example- SF/Romance.  An author may be in the SF section (Linnea Sinclair is a great example) BUT not only would SF fans like her books, but some romance fans might as well.  However, they may not realize such a hybrid exists since they don't go to THAT (aka SF/F) side of the bookstore.

 

But an Indie can market it under both.

 

Which is very cool.  But also, after years of hearing "one genre only!" from the traditional publishing world, a bit scary.

 

I write fantasy, space opera, and steampunk with romantic elements. What that last part means is that while my books wouldn't live in the romance isle, they all have romantic sub-plots that are really essential to the books.  All of them.

 

I work character first- meaning, the people pop in my head then I start figuring out the story and how I can screw up my people.  And couples are always there.

 

I love reading books like that- the ones with a great plot, fun adventure, awesome characters and romance. But, as I approach next year, and the launching of my fantasy with romantic elements series, I start to wonder if crossing the genres is going to work.  Well, I'll keep writing them- but will others buy them?  Love some peanut butter in their chocolate?  I sure hope so.

 

Want to find more Insecure Writers?  Go to the source!  http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

Writers are the craziest peoples!

I would like to present a hypothesis today that we are crazy (at least in part) due to lack of definition in our field. IE- it's not completely our fault :).

For today’s demonstration I will present two scenarios with similar goals:
Graduate student (with thesis as the final “product”) and Fiction writer (with agent/editor/published book as final product)

We’ll start with the graduate student (Example is for a Psychology program- so don’t go jumping in my face that yours was different- work with me!)

Step one: GRE- ok for folks who haven’t experienced this little monster of modern day horror, count yourself lucky. This test is designed to measure skills you supposedly learned in your undergraduate studies (right ;)). It’s a messy test with no real validity (in terms of predicating success in graduate school) but it’s required for most programs. Point is- it makes it more difficult to get in (in theory ;))

Step two: You are accepted into the program. You engage in structured seminars that are aimed at creating, proposing, and defending your thesis. There are paid professionals there to guide you.

Step three: You design, propose, conduct (or research), and defend your thesis. Again, paid professionals send you back to the drawing board with concrete examples of what didn’t work. Repeatedly.

Step four: Thesis is successfully defended and goes on to live happily in the campus library (or submitted to an academic journal, but we won’t go there ;).

Step five: The graduate student graduates and much celebrating is heard throughout the land.


Writer
Step one: No test, no criteria, no nothing. You string words together, anyone can do it.

Step two: You flounder about, trying to find out the “rules”…find out there are three but no one can agree what they are. You go crazy re-editing your work every time it comes back from a contest or critique group…

Step three: You finish book, you send out queries and get form letter responses- when you get a response.

Step four: You repeat step three. Maybe moving up to “thanks but no thanks” letters with your name. Still not sure what you’re doing wrong.

Step five: You either start digging your way through the junk, to find ways of getting and understanding feedback. Through trial and error you find helpful writing resources and groups. You contemplate going Indie and all the hard work and funds that entails.  Or you give up.

Step six: You keep at it, what choice do you have?

The sad thing is, and the part that makes us crazy- is path two sounds better ;)

So what do you all think? Are we crazy? Or just devilishly clever?

Going for broke...every single time

Today I'm going to be using some TV show season finales to illustrate some writing points- so fair warning on spoiler possibility.  I'll try to not disclose details but if you watch Castle or Agents of Shield  and haven't seen anything about the season finales, turn back now.

Ok, so everyone settled in now?  Spoiler-phobic people gone or come to terms?  Excellent!

I'd like to talk about going for broke in our writing- every single time. This doesn't always happen, both with us novelists and our screenwriter brethren.



First up, The not good- "The phoning it in" writers: Castle.  I love this show.  I love Nathan, I usually enjoy the writing, the other characters, etc.  This finale had me very annoyed.  Now, to be fair, these writers are secure in a top rated show, they know they are coming back, they've been doing this for a while.  But there was no excuse for the weak writing. A cutesy, kinda, "been there, seen that" adventure while trying to get a wedding underway.  Then, at the last minute they throw in what appears to be a major death.  Really?  Was that the ONLY way you felt you could pull folks into the next season?  First off, unless they are changing the name of the show, what they want to make us think happened, didn't happen.  Secondly- killing or making it look like a character is dead as a season finale has been done to death. And in far better ways. 


Second up, The well done- "The Bring It" writers:  Marvel's Agents of Shield.  For those of you who don't watch- just see the word "Marvel" and know it should be a bit over the top, fun, and heart-pounding.  And it was.  Those writers pulled out everything and went for broke with more one-liners than at a stand up comic convention.  They built the tease for next season by giving a sound emotional resolution, introducing us to what we'd have going forward, and throwing in a few mysteries. The reader (in this case watcher) has been on a great run, had it mostly resolved in a satisfying way, and is intrigued to want to keep "reading".

Now for our side of the writing world.

 Some novelists hold back, thinking they should save some of the good stuff  for later.  I'm thinking the mind-set behind this is that they will run out of the "good stuff" and need to ration it out like candy.  "There's only so much good stuff in this head of mine, I need to make sure I keep something back for the next book!"

No, no, no. Just, no.  For one thing,  you're a creative person.  The well of "good stuff" isn't going to vanish.  Everything in your life, every time you go somewhere, see something, read something, you're adding to your store of good ideas that your brain can pull in on. Even a badly written TV episode can spark and idea. ;)

Secondly, if you hold back you may never sell your book- or if you're going Indie, you may never build a reader base.  Throwing "held back" books into the void is just a waste of time for you and your readers.

Another reason, I think, that authors hold back is laziness- "This is good enough, I really don't need to make it awesome every time."  Um, yes, yes you do for the same reasons the holding back folks need to pour it all out there- the lazy folks need to step it up.  Good enough usually isn't. Look at that Castle ep.  I know they have very good writers on there- but they sure didn't show it. Don't become the writer who will never publish a thing because they are NEVER good enough, but at the same time make sure you have done the absolute best you can.

As writers we owe it to ourselves and our readers to always put everything we have into each book- into every line, paragraph and page.  Play big or stay home.

First time writers....

Not too long ago a friend of a friend of a friend asked me how to become a writer. Not a published writer (although that was the final goal), but a writer.

Simple question- right? How do you become a writer? Well, you just start writing! My first response wasn't really all that helpful. Akin to telling someone to learn how to ride a bike by just riding ;).

However my reaction was valid- like bike riding, once you’ve been writing for a while (and let's face it, for many of us this has been a VERY long term disorder) it’s automatic. We can’t think of that vague, distant time when we didn’t write.

For example- right this moment, without stopping to ponder- describe how to tie a shoelace. Unless you’ve got a small child you are currently teaching how to do that, chances are you’re going to have a hard time explaining it quickly. It’s something we do all the time and it’s become automatic. But we don't think about the process.

So, how does one become a writer?

I thought it might be interesting to toss this question out to the lurking masses on this blog. If you were talking to someone who had never written, they had the longing, but hadn’t put pen to paper yet, what advice would you give them? To that lost, long ago self who first decided they needed to start creating their own worlds to play in? When I first started writing there was no Internet, writers didn’t have the same resources they do now. But they still need help ;).

My comments to that friend of a friend of a friend (once I got the idea settled anyway ;)) would be:

1)Write. Seems simple really, but there are still folks out there who think that they can come up with ideas and work with someone else who will write them down. I once had a boyfriend who seriously thought they hardest part of writing was coming up with the idea, “anyone can just write”. Needless to say he’d never actually written anything- and we broke up a LONG time ago. Lots of folks will give you writing “rules”- the only one that really matters is that you have to write.

2)Read. Ah- the flip side. Read in your genre. Read out of your genre. Read about writing, with the caveat that you take “rules” with a grain of salt. You’re going to get conflicting information. You can’t let it make you quit or give you self doubts. Just bring in as much legit writing info that you can- eventually you’ll start to realize what feels true for you. NEVER stop reading or learning- EVER.

3)Be realistic. You aren’t going to get rich. Seriously. Your odds are akin to winning a lottery big enough to quit work. DO NOT look at the exceptions and think they are the norm. You write because you love it, or just don’t even start.

4)Build your craft. Go to conferences, join groups, pick up writing mags, books, webinars, whatever- but constantly improve your craft!

5)Don’t give up. This is a brutal field equal to acting in terms of rejection. You are going to get the emotional crap beaten out of you- that is a promise. BUT you can survive. Don’t quit your day job, but don’t give up either. A screenwriter friend once told me “You can’t fail, you can only quit.” In other words, as long as you keep up the fight- you’re never a failure.

So now it's out to you fine folks- what would you tell a new writer?