Tag Archives: publishing

NaNoWrimo – What to do next…?

1 Reply

Winner-2014-Square-Button

So, I completed NaNoWriMo (congratulations to everyone else who did too), which always gives me a nice sense of accomplishment to round off the year. I’m now faced with the dilemma of what to do next.

Much of the information (and there are many useful articles) about the next steps after hitting 50,000 words are aimed at people who have only written this much for the first time. It’s all about how to finish the novel you’ve started or how editing works. For me – and perhaps for you – the dilemma is slightly different.

You see, 50,000 words is not a complete novel. My story got a little bit beyond that as part of the writing for the month, but it is still not complete. However, I still have two books I should be editing instead, both of which should ideally go back to my proof readers before the madness of Christmas starts to descend. But editing is, in comparison, boring to writing new stuff. Shiny! Squirrel! Chase it! That is the mentality of my brain unfortunately, and something I really need to kick in the butt in 2015.

More importantly, there is a worry that if I lose momentum on the writing, then it will become harder to come back at some point, maybe a few months down the line, and just pick up again where I left off. I don’t want to have to battle with inertia in order to rediscover my characters and the tone for this particular book.

Normally, I might have a bit more time on my hands in order to accomplish both, but December is so far shaping up to be another travel-intensive month. I have spent more of the last 30 days in hotel rooms than I have my own bed. Which is fun, sometimes exciting, but it puts the kibosh on having some kind of routine and structure to just write. Sitting down with my bullet journal and looking at all the outstanding and new writing tasks I have listed there just made me realise what a juggling act this is all becoming. And I really don’t want to have to cancel Christmas…

So, do I do what I should do (edit) or what feels more natural to do (finish of the book)? Sadly, I suspect this is a dilemma for which there is no correct answer!

Apologies for the whining in this post. Here, have a complimentary hedgehog to make up for it:

baby-hedgehog-cup-mug-pics

Understanding Your Inner Writer

Leave a reply

This is a sabbatical post while I am away on my mini writing retreat

As I am currently focussing inward, I thought I would draw your attention to this post on how we can get closer to our true selves. I know that I usually stick to the topic of writing rather than over-arching personal development stuff, but given that I feel this is part of informing who we are, and therefore what and how we write, I thought it was appropriate.

I travel a lot. There is something unsettling, on some level, about so much time on the road. It stops you from getting comfortable and complacent. It is hard to be motivated and inspired to write every day when your life is routine and comfortable. Perhaps that is why so many great books come from people who were going through a bad spell? As much as the experience itself informs what they write, that sense of urgency which comes from not knowing what life will be one day to the next is a powerful tool. It is there to all of us, to some degree, if we choose to use it. Travel doesn’t automatically have to be to some far flung part of the globe (although that is always nice). It can be a bus ticket to somewhere, anywhere, that you haven’t been before and looking at this new place with new eyes.

The easiest one, I suppose, is embracing time alone. Most writers work in a solitary fashion, but more often than not, we do so whilst surfing the net claiming to be writing. Yes, you know what I’m talking about. I’m not talking about that time alone. I’m talking about the truly quiet time, when we think about not only writing itself, but where it fits in our lives. Is it a hobby, something secret that you want to keep just for yourself? Or do you have dreams of being published some day? Would you like to be traditionally published, or self-published? Take the time to truly visualise your dream.

I suspect that although I have scheduled this post, that is what I will be doing right now. I don’t feel guilty or selfish about it. I do it because it needs to be done, because it will not only make me a better writer, but also a better person.

And who doesn’t want that for themselves, really?

Taking a writing sabbatical

Leave a reply

I always have a few weeks a year where I escape for a little while to unwind and really focus on writing. This is never anything to do with the business side of things. Okay, that’s a small lie, it’s mostly not to do with the business side of things. It’s all about creation. That means plotting and planning new projects, working out when they can be done and what I want to do next. In other words, the fun stuff.

In the next few days, I will be off to do just that. I have a collection of notebooks (one for business, one for new ideas and another specifically for the series I have been working on for several years). It used to be that my suitcase was filled with books for these trips, but now I have replaced them with a kindle and notebooks take up the extra space instead.

I like to take a sabbatical to focus on writing because that is the thing I love. It is the thing that, if I won millions on the lottery, I would still continue to do with as much time and energy. But if writing is not your thing, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take some time off from regularly scheduled life and reset for a while. Research is continually showing that the most successful people in all areas of life regularly take a break to recalibrate.

The value of taking a break has been apparent to me for years. Juggling two work streams, family, relationships and other commitments can be exhausting, and I know I am nothing special. This is the reality most of us live in now; the 9-5 is dead and most moms can’t afford to stay at home full time even if they wanted to when the cost of living is so high. Life has become about fitting too much in and it is no wonder that most of us feel like we’re on the edge of a precipice just getting through each day. So no matter what it is that takes up the space in your mind, escaping it all for a while (by that I mean for more than just Sunday afternoon when the only thing you are capable of doing is watching TV) is one of the best things you can do to look after yourself.

There may be cocktails, there will hopefully be sun. There will be guilt-free reading and some time to look after my body as well as eat and drink nice things. Mostly, there will be time to vacate the real world, digitally switch off and get back in touch with what I really want from life, not what life is wanting from me.

If there is one thing you do for yourself over the next year, try to do the same. Trust me, it’s worth it. So are you.

Writing Goals 2014

6 Replies

I realise now we are one full week into November. That means, unfortunately, that before we know it, December will be upon us. Then we will positively hurtle towards the New Year, that time of resolutions.

Which also means I have that sneaking sense of 2014 coming to a close, along with my opportunities to make good on those writing resolutions I made back in January. Whilst it is easy to fall back on the excuse that this year threw me a lot of curveballs in the amount of time I spent either on the road or in strange locations, I know that if I use that as a reason then I will always have something to justify those areas where I didn’t achieve my goals.

That doesn’t mean it was a year of failure. I self-published a short story, largely to see if I could, and that will set me up for when I am ready to publish my urban fantasy series. I have started my own company and I have made some amazing new writer friends who really get me. I have completed novels, I have been forced to abandon a few.

But overall, I have made progress. Even if I haven’t hit every marker I set, I have certainly made more progress on my writing than I would have done if I had left everything to chance.

So I would urge you not to wait until the hangover is clearing on New Year’s day. Start thinking about what you want to achieve with your writing – or any other key areas of your life – for 2015. Goals that you think of in two seconds because you feel like you should do something – anything – are the ones most likely to fail anyway. Start thinking now and work out what really matters. Once you’ve worked that out, then write it down. Go into 2015 with a sense of direction that you’ve got the heart to truly believe is the right one, not the first one that came to mind.

2014 may nearly be over, but it is never too late to start living your dreams.

 *****************

‘Four lives. Three lifetimes. A Venn diagram of possibilities.’ 

Samantha has been through so much already. Not in this life, but in the one before. Worse was the one before that. Now, faced with history quite literally repeating itself, she is determined to do what needs to be done before he kills her again.

Before they kill each other.

Amazon.com (US)

Amazon.co.uk

RebirthFinal

Does FanFiction Count?

Leave a reply

This is just a quick post in response to a question someone asked me the other day: does fan fiction count as writing?

Well, of course it does. If you are putting words down, then it is writing.

I think there used to be some stigma attached to being a fanfic writer – in many ways there still is – but I think that is becoming less of an issue. People quickly start to dismantle their prejudices once someone starts making money from something, and in the emerging world of self publishing and the internet in general, some very well known (and rich) authors have started out in fanfic forums. Many of them have even used it to build their initial fan base.

You can see why. There are actually many advantages to writing fan fiction when you are starting out. You have a ready built audience, often in the niche pairing you want to write in. I’m not going to lie, there is a monumental amount of really, really bad fanfic out there, but there is also some quality writing. And to write good fan fiction you have to be good at all the basics: character, plot and suspension of disbelief. Not to mention spelling and grammar. If you don’t know how to do that well, it doesn’t matter how great your plot twist is, you’ll turn readers off.

Working with characters that are already pre-defined have advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, your audience doesn’t need everything spelling out for them, because it is already someone they know and presumably love. However, you have to either get that character spot on or give really compelling reasons as to why you are writing them differently. Either forces you to really think about being a better writer.

The same goes for plot. Often, in order to do something original with the characters, you have to send them off down a different route to that chosen by their creators. Often, that route was chosen for a very good reason – it was the best route for the characters to go. For some slash pairings, it’s actually not the best route, but the networks have always had a very strong influence on this issue. Slash fanfic was some of the earliest, simply for that reason. Xena and Buffy were the trail blazers here in at least heading off in the right direction on the show, but others still haven’t caught up (not naming any names, but I can think of one Fairytale based show out there that has a natural opening there which I suspect the House of Mouse is not letting them go through).

Of course, all of this is irrelevant if you’re writing PWP, because if that’s what people are looking for, smut ratings are all that count anyway. And I’m not going to give any advice here on how to get the experience for that writing…

Why do NanoWrimo?

3 Replies

So, this is the last weekend before NaNoWriMo begins. I will be signing up for it again this year (or rather, my alter ego will be, but when it comes to being the one getting words down onto the screen, that pretty much accounts for the same thing). November is, for me, my busiest month of the year, so why do I do it in the first place?

The challenge. This has to be the biggest driver for me. I love the competition, trying to get in as many words as possible. I try to keep up with the leaders of whatever regional lounge I’m in, which has varied over the years depending on where I’m living at the time. There is always a handful of power writers in each forum and I like to put myself right up there with them.

Despite the competition, there is also the camaraderie. Writing is a lonely sport – or can be if you let it – so November is that one time of year when it is easy to find a kindred spirit. Many of them in fact, all handily grouped in one place. As more and more people have signed up, often just to be part of it with no real intention of actually writing a damn word, this has been harder and harder to do, but it is still very much possible. Just be wary of the people talking on the forums too much if their word counts aren’t moving. NaNoWriMo can be a really useful tool for the beginning writer, but only if you get the words down.

Finally, it moves my next project along. In everything I write, there is a point between about 30,00 and 40,000 words where I get disheartened. That bit right there is where I tend to just think ‘this is all crap’ and want to consign it to the great trash bin in the sky. With Nano I don’t have time for such self indulgence. It doesn’t matter if I think it is crap or not, by that point I am close enough to 50,000 words to just keep ploughing on regardless. Just keep putting words down. In reality, when I go back over the finished piece, there will be no real difference in quality between what I wrote during and after. There may be more spelling mistakes – a natural consequence of me trying to move my fingers faster than the human body was designed to do – but that is hardly an issue in the world post-typewriter. An extra twenty minutes using spellcheck is nothing compared to the extra 20 hours of doing it more carefully.

nanowrimo-logo

I use Scrivener as my main writing tool, because it allows me to do as much pre-writing as I need to make the whole process as speedy as possible. I think a lot of people run out of steam because they haven’t actually worked through their idea and done the groundwork prior to November 1st, so either write themselves into a corner or have no idea what happens next. That can be challenging and if you don’t have the mental tools to get out of it, you’ll grind to a halt. So that would be my final comment on why do it: if nothing else, it will force you to think like a writer as well.

So, if you’re a beginner or a newbie, I think NaNoWriMo is a fun but challenging way to kick start your writing. Don’t delay, sign up today!

The Value Of Writing Groups

3 Replies

Writing groups can fall into a couple of categories.

Sometimes there are ones that are too large, which means in order for everyone to get a turn they can only read 500 words and get 2 minutes of feedback. Not exactly useful.

There are ones that are too friendly, where all feedback is positive and no one actually grows as a writer. It gives you the warm and fuzzies, but it’s no more beneficial than the one above.

writing group

Of course, the counter side to that is the writing group that is full of pretentious arseholes who think that scathing literary critiques are required because they’ve been sitting in that chair – usually going nowhere – for the past twenty years so they must be qualified to do so. This is my least favourite kind of writing group. It kills any joy you have in creating, undermines your self-confidence and when you leave all you want to do is have a stiff drink.

Given that most writing groups seem to fall into one of the above categories, it seems pertinent to question whether it is worth being part of one at all. To which I would answer, yes it is.

The key is to find the right balance and right group of people. Just because you have this one thing you like to do in common, doesn’t mean you automatically fit as a group. You don’t have to have anything else in common, but you do need to all get on well enough to allow the barriers to come down. Sharing your WIP is an intimate experience, one which needs to be built on trust. If you fear getting shot down, or being given meaningless praise, then the group will fizzle and die. You need people who will give encouragement, whilst still offering suggestions and let you know when something isn’t quite working for them. That trust will grow over time, but the personalities involved count for a lot.

You also need to have a mix of experience. Five writers locked in a room who have never networked, never sent anything off, never been published, will by design have a limited perspective. A writing group with people at all stages of the journey helps everyone get a perspective that is not (or may no longer be) their own. This is beyond a doubt the most useful element there is.

My final ingredient would be to make sure you’re not all writing in the same genre. Not because of the competition – just because one person succeeds doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t – but again because of the limitations of your perspective. If you write in the fantasy genre, being able to persuade someone who writes YA or literary fiction will force you to write better and more thoughtfully than if you are already preaching to the converted.

The benefits of getting these factors correct are endless. I would urge anyone who is seriously considering becoming an author to find a group that works for them. It stops writing from being a solitary experience, where your only friends are the keyboard and your drink of choice. But it is more than that. It will open doorways to new worlds and perspectives more than anything you can do yourself or even as part of a writing community online.

Are you part of a writing group? Let me know if there are any additional elements you think are necessary so I can make this post more useful to those starting out.

Fixed Schedule Writing On A Fluid Travel Plan

Leave a reply

It’s no great secret that I don’t spend all day, every day in one place. Travel is my passion, my way of recharging, my way of getting the most out of my writing. I love the newness of it all.

I love the sun.

So whilst that makes me sound like the committed adventurer who lives some kind of scattered life, the one thing I value above all else is routine in my writing. These things, sadly, do not seem to mix very well.

Some days I’ll be writing from my home desk, other days it will be a hotel room. Increasingly I am finding myself fond of knocking out a few hundred words in a coffee shop by hand. Regardless, it means that some of the rigidity in my schedule that I require to actually 1) produce material, 2) stay sane, is becoming more difficult to maintain. My output, unfortunately, has drifted off a little and I need to find a way to get it back.

Solutions

A couple of things have started to help get this back on track:

Being honest about my energy: If travel commitments mean a late night and exhaustion one day, getting up an hour later should be allowed. This doesn’t always work for me though, so I’ve found that getting up and focussing on more routine tasks, like website maintenance and reading articles, is a better way to get those tasks off my list that I would usually do at the end of the day or weekends.

Write when I don’t feel like it: I prefer to do creative tasks first thing in the morning when everyone else is asleep. When that’s not possible, as above, it means either stuff doesn’t get written or I make myself do it later in the day. It’s still all about carving out time. As this isn’t my naturally creative time, that means spending more time in places that do add a spark of inspiration. Hence the increase in coffee shop exploits.

Becoming better at taking notes: If I’m on the road, with a mixed up schedule, ideas come to me at odd times. Flashes of inspiration or sentences that I know will one day become the start of something bigger. I’m trying to make sure that these always get captured in a notebook so I can dig them back out when the right time comes.

So that’s what I’m trying to achieve. Creating some kind of balance in a crazy world. I feel like I’m still grasping the basics of this, so I’m totally open to new ideas and suggestions if there is something working for you?