#219 Confidence and Writing

Life isn't easy.  Or as Wesley says in The Princess Bride, "Life is pain, Highness.  Anyone who says differently is selling something."  Circumstances in life can change quickly and can, and often do, affect a person's confidence.  As with most things, writing suffers greatly when a person's confidence is low.  So what are writers supposed to do when life happens?  Stop writing?

I've been struggling through my personal life these last few months and have seen how much it's affected my writing.  It's harder to motivate myself.  It's harder to concentrate.  I can't sustain as many hours writing at a time.  I get restless or distracted.  I actually have less I want to say.  And when I do hone in on something, I have trouble finding the right words.  All of these issues are devastating for writers.  But what's even more devastating, is when a writer stops writing.

I've been paying attention to my own struggle.  I've thought about how to regain confidence and how to get back into writing.  I can't say I've learned a magical secret.  There's no quick and easy solution to address something as complex as self-confidence.  Life will always be life.  But following are some things I've done to help get me back at my desk, because I still have stories to tell.

• Really, the only true way to address the problems in life, is to identify the specific problem that's plaguing you and tackle it head on.  If you are stressed about bills, that stress won't go away until you figure out how to pay those bills.  Or if you're having trouble concentrating because you're hungover too much, then you must address the drinking.  Or if you hate editing, and you've just finished your first draft, which is sitting on your coffee table mocking you.  Then, you must pick that manuscript up and start editing it.  There are thousands of stresses in life, and some of them you can affect by changing behavior.  So the first step is identifying what is causing the stress, or the loss of confidence.  Hopefully you'll find it's something YOUR behavior can change.  Once you identify it, change it.
• If you learn that your stress is not something you can change easily, or you're unable to understand why your confidence has suffered.  Or maybe you've had trouble with confidence for so long that there isn't one underlying cause that can be addressed.  This situation is much tougher, and it happens to be the situation in which I currently find myself.  So what do we do? Here are my thoughts:
• Take It One Day At A Time:  This is one of the biggest cliches in the world.  But it's important to remember when your confidence is low.  Don't take in the big picture.  Don't think about a lifetime spent alone, or how much it's gonna cost to repair your roof or how your child isn't coordinated enough to play your favorite sport like you'd always dreamed.  Don't think about all the bills you have to pay, plus the yard work and house work that need to eventually get done.  Don't stress over the 1000 page novel you've started writing, but you're only on page 37.  Just think about today.  What can I do today?  Make a list and pick one thing to do. That's it.  Nothing more.
• Write Something:  Everyday you must write something.  Anything.  Start a journal that works through the problems you're facing.  Write a short story about a beaver born with no front teeth, and the other beavers just laugh.  Write a blogpost on how much you like puppy videos, and list out your favorite ones.  Write a poem.  Sometimes when I'm having trouble and can't concentrate enough to do any of that, I'll open up a book written by one of the masters and just type it out.  There's something about transcribing the work of a master that helps the neurons in the brain start firing.
• Eat Regularly:  I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but when your confidence is down, changes in your eating patterns can affect your body's ability to stabilize.  I know that sometimes you don't feel like eating, or you don't feel like making food.  But it's important to figure this out.  No matter how annoying it is, just do it.  Eat at the same time every day.  Feed your body and your mind, and that will make a big difference.  This is also a great opportunity to change your diet.  If you don't feel like eating, but you're going to force yourself anyway, might as well force yourself to eat something healthy.  I've been cooking 4 chicken thighs in the oven and then will eat one for lunch everyday.  I break the chicken off the bone and put it on a salad, make a sandwich out of it, turn it into a BBQ chicken taco, or I'll eat it straight out of the oven with ranch-style beans and mac and cheese, which is one of the comfort meals I ate growing up, so it always cheers me up.  Figure out what works for you, and eat at the same time everyday.
• Take Walks:  This has helped me tremendously.  Over the last few months, I've not been able to sit at my desk as long as usual.  I found myself pacing around my house, turning on the TV, or worst yet, taking a nap.  TV and naps are the worst if you're dealing with confidence and motivation.  Don't do them.  The lack of production and stimulation drives you further into depression.  So I take walks.  Sometimes I walk so far away from my house that I get lost.  Sometimes I take my dog for a leisurely stroll around the park.  Sometimes I run.  The physical activity is good for the brain and is good for the heart.  We should be doing it anyway, but it helps when you're having problems with confidence especially.
• Schedule Things With Friends:  This has helped me more than I thought it would.  At first, I didn't feel like getting out or having to talk with friends.  But I learned that just having something on the schedule organizes the day in such a way that writing just happens.  So, if I know I have lunch with a friend, I don't mope in the mornings as much.  I feel like I have something coming up, so I must get some writing done before I go.  Or if I scheduled soccer with the guys that play in the park, I make sure my writing's done so that I won't be late.  Schedule anything.  Drinks.  A trip to the bookstore.  Watching your friend's kid play basketball.  Get out of the house, and do it consistently, and you'll see how it changes things for you in a positive way.

Life is a marathon.  So is writing.  There will be hiccups along the way.  The trick is to keep moving forward.  I'm still not done struggling and probably won't be for awhile.  But I have begun writing again.  In fact, my newest installment in the Exchange Day series will be to my editor within the next couple of weeks.  That's huge.  The things above have helped me work hard on it, and getting through the steps in my writing process has also increased my confidence.  I'm not where I need to be, but I'm getting words on the page.  And that's all us writers need to keep doing.

#216 The Zoom Lens - A Brief Look At Your Writing

There are many ways to look at improving your writing.  Here's an overview on approaching your craft, no matter what your skill level.  I like to break down the writing process by looking at it through a zoom lens.  Following are the different views:

200mm (Full Zoom) - The sentence (aka syntax):
Syntax refers to the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences.  Another way to look at this, is the use of words as tools to communicate a simple idea.  Many aspiring writers, and non-writers, feel syntax is the key to writing.  They might argue that talented writers would be masters of syntax, born with a gift for words, a clear understanding of grammar, and thoughts that can express themselves cleanly and eloquently.  I've not met a creative writing class that deals with syntax, which is why most assume it's a gift.

But there are ways to exercise syntax.

• First and foremost is to write.  The more you write, the easier it becomes to use words to convey a message.  Practice makes perfect, duh.  
• A writer can also learn from books.  There are hundreds of writing books.  Many address grammar and style.  These books can be helpful and inspirational, but still, the reality is that a writer must put into practice the principles they may learn from such a book.  
• And finally, the only other way to improve craft is to read writers who have mastered it.  Going classic is fine.  There are certainly things you can learn from Hemingway, Capote, and Salinger.  But consider reading contemporary as well.  There are hundreds of great writers, maybe even thousands, that are putting out books right now.  You can learn from each and every one of them.

80mm - The Chapter or Short Story:

If syntax is understanding the tools, then writing a short story is like building a piece of furniture.  You need to know enough for structural integrity.  You can learn this by writing something small.  A short story or chapter.  It needs to be complete, must be able to stand on its own.  You can also learn the subtleties and elaborations that make your piece of furniture look exquisite.  A carved exterior or stained shelves that give the piece a rustic look.

Writing a scene is different from syntax.  The words and phrases must string together to develop characters and conflict.  A scene embraces mood and pacing.  There must be a clear beginning, middle, and end.  Syntax can move a person about a room, or describe a storm rolling in from the ocean.  A short story tells the significance of this person or this storm.  What does this person do?  What conflicts does this storm present?  To write an effective story, there must be a build up of events.  Descriptions take a reader to a particular place, or describes a unique situation.  And in the end, a reader feels fulfilled, for he or she started someplace and ended up somewhere else.

Similar to syntax, the best way to improve The Chapter or Short Story is through writing.  Write scenes.  Any scenes.  Write a dinner scene or a chase scene.  Write a scene about two guys playing pool when suddenly, one of them farts so ferociously that he ruins his underpants.  I've seen fewer books that discuss writing scenes and short stories.  I think practice is the essence here.  But, one thing you can do is look at how masters write a scene.  Instead of reading Tolstoy's entire works, consider reading one of his dinner scenes.  What does a James Joyce billiards scene look like?

28 mm - The Book:

The widest lens I look through for this post is The Book.  Books are comprised of a series of scenes, of chapters, that fit together to tell a larger story.  No matter how many sentences you write, or short stories for that matter, nothing can prepare you or teach you how to write a novel.  The art of putting together sentences and organizing chapters, so that you can tell a complete and coherent story that is both legible and compelling, is worlds apart from syntax and short stories.  If a short story is like a piece of furniture, then a book is like a house.  There's so much more to think about.  All aspects of the short story are amplified.  Pace, mood, characterization, conflict, and resolution become more important, because a reader has agreed to invest considerable time with your project, and it must stand, intrigue and ultimately impress if you wish the reader to share the experience with other readers.

I've been writing novels exclusively now for nearly a year and a half, and so, do NOT consider myself a master worthy of teaching someone else how to complete a novel.  But I wouldn't start writing a novel without a healthy understanding of syntax and experience writing scenes and short stories.  Learning the tools and learning how to use them on a small scale is the best way to prepare for the daunting journey that is writing a novel.

There is no formula to write a successful novel.  It takes practice.  If you are an aspiring writer and wish to learn the craft, to develop the tools necessary to tell a complex story, then I recommend you begin with the zoom lens all the way out.  Learn syntax.  Understand good sentence structure and practice good grammar.  Write short stories.  Develop characters in one or two scenes.  Start small.  And soon after you'll be ready to open the lens all the way out and start writing your novel.

#215 Blurb Crafting

After this week, I will have published 3 novels.  I feel comfortable with most parts of the writing process:  I have a wealth of ideas I'd be happy to explore.  I'm happy with my outlining process.  I have not had issues finding my voice or organizing the narrative.  I can stay on a writing schedule, ensuring that I get my pages down.  I have an editor I trust and a graphic designer who impresses me. But the one part of the process where I've yet to find confidence is Blurb Crafting.

Each novel has a description, a preview, meant to persuade potential readers to open the book.  Or perhaps to one-click buy it.  This is the blurb.  I've never liked blurbs or previews.  I don't like knowing anything about a story when I begin.  I prefer to let the story teller have complete freedom, free from any expectations I might've garnered from an overzealous preview.  But I know I'm in the minority here, and few people will buy a book without knowing something about it.

As a result, I've had trouble crafting a blurb for each of my 3 novels.  This is an area in which I MUST improve if I'm to sell books.

So I did a lot of research and a lot of blurb reading in preparation for writing the blurb to my upcoming book.  Here are key things I learned, which I think are vital to a successful blurb.

• The blurb must establish genre.  Many readers need to know what sort of book they are getting themselves into.  Readers are less concerned with the monetary investment, anywhere from $1-$15.  But they are concerned with the time investment.  Readers do not want to spend weeks reading a book that does not fit into a genre they typically like.  So the blurb must identify the genre so that it can find its proper readers.
• The blurb should hint at the style of the book.  Is it a quirky story with fun characters?  Or is it a dark story with serious characters.  Readers have moods too, and a blurb should reveal a book's mood so that a connection can be made.  It can be off-putting to a reader to be in a playful mood, only to open a serious book with a depressing agenda.
• Be succinct.  This is tough.  I once compared a blurb to explaining why someone married his/her spouse in only one sentence.  A book is a complex thing, and a blurb is meant to whittle it down into a short paragraph.  Though it's not easy, it's imperative to keep the blurb concise.  Some readers will be turned off of a long description, thus knocking your book from consideration before it's even had a chance.
• The blurb should introduce the main character.  We like books because we can relate to the characters.  Nothing will keep us turning pages like a character we care about.  So, let's meet this intriguing character.  As soon as possible.  First impressions are important, so make sure your character is dressed accordingly...
• Don't give away too much.  This is the biggest problem I have with film previews.  Too many previews reveal the major plot points, which can diminish the affect of the story.  When I was a kid, I remember seeing the preview for Jurassic Park.  It showed a storm, a dark forest, a footprint, and the roar of a T.Rex.  That was it.  And that was all that was needed to get me into a theater to see the movie.

I'm far from an expert Blurb Crafter.  I've toiled over the descriptions for my three novels, and I expect I'll toil over the rest of them as well.  The blurb is an essential piece to the puzzle and must be carefully crafted to draw readers in, to making them click that button that will download your novel to their e-readers.  

#213 Missing The Point

Earlier this year, a widely known indie writer named JA Konrath participated in a debate over the following statement:  Amazon is the reader's friend.  JA Konrath agreed with the statement, believing that Amazon has proven over years of consistent business practices that they seek to keep prices low and their customers happy.  Readers, in this instance, qualify as customers.  Scott Turow disagreed with the statement, offering the alternate view that too much power in one entity's hands will not be good for anyone, readers and writers alike.

I watched the debate.  If you haven't seen it, and you care about the changing landscape of literature, then I suggest you watch it as well.  Here is a link, that also includes JA Konrath's thoughts on the debate.

I don't wish to dive into the points of the debate, as Konrath and Turow did a good job of that already.  But I do wish to talk about a problem I've noticed in our political system that this debate exemplified.  The problem is this:  the way we discuss major issues (the debate format) allows us to quibble over the specific words used to frame the argument, instead of focusing on the point of the argument itself.  Turow exemplifies this with his first argument in this debate when he says that Amazon is a company whose first priorities are to make money for its shareholders.  Thus, it cannot be a "friend" to anyone but itself.  Since the debate was framed around the statement: Amazon is the reader's friend, I believe Turow wins this debate on this single technicality.  He is correct.  The fact that it is a company means it cannot be a friend to anything but the bottom line.  Everything else is secondary.

But that misses the point of this gathering.  Konrath and Turow were not getting together to discuss whether or not a business can also be a friend to a particular segment of the population.  The heart of the debate was supposed to focus on whether or not Kindle Direct Publishing is good for readers and ultimately for literature.  Because of Turow's lawyer-esque manipulation of the statement (which he has a right to do under the debate format), no real progress was made in the debate.

I do not fault Turow for this.  I am trying to shed light on the vehicle of discussion, not Turow's specific argument here.  Because I see this technique of focusing on how something is poorly worded is used to ignore the point of a particular discussion, and in the end, no progress is made.

#212 The Far Side of Writing

There's an old Far Side cartoon with retired cartoonists sitting on a porch reminiscing about the old days.  One cartoonist, with his arms spread wide open, says to the others, "I once drew a nose this big!"

I've always liked this cartoon, probably because I have a big nose that only a cartoonist could love.  Now that I'm a full-time writer, however, this particular cartoon has taken on a new meaning for me.  I devote much of my time to my craft and only some of my time on self promotion.  I spend NO time with other writers, sharing the burdens creativity, solitude, insecurity, and hours trapped inside my own head can create.  I follow several writers on Twitter and will spend time perusing their tweets.  I take comfort in their messages and enjoy the occasional line back and forth.  I like the online culture exercised by hundreds, even thousands, of indie and traditionally published writers.  But it isn't enough.

I've joined a writer's group in Dallas, but the focus of this group is writing.  Not the writer.  We spend our time critiquing and discussing publishing like Sunday morning bible class.  I still go occasionally, and I'm happy to discuss stories with other writers.

But I'd like something a bit different.  I'd like something more personal.  I'd like to get to know other writers and share in their experiences as I would want them to share in mine.  I want to drink wine or beer and discuss the writer life.  The act of writing is a solitary endeavor.  But it seems to me that writers like to live and experience things.  So I'd rather be out with writers experiencing life instead of cooped up in a room discussing the proper way to write a query letter or the importance of active verbs.

I've begun searching meetup.com for other writers interested in something similar, but have only found writing groups focused on critiquing.  I've not yet posted my own meetup group, and don't know that I will.  Writers are a tricky breed, the porcupine of humanity, and I'm not sure how to coax one out without risk of serious injury.

#211 Eyebrows On Fleek

I went to get a haircut today.  After she finished, she spun me around and studied my face closely.  She focused on my eyebrows and said, "Do I normally trim your eyebrows?"  I shook my head.  "Well, honey," she said, "I'd recommend you let me take care of these for you."

I'd never had someone tell me how unruly my eyebrows were.  Well, except for my wife, who tells me how unruly everything is.  This woman had no qualms with telling me exactly how she saw me.  There was no fake politeness.  There was no rose-colored glasses.  There was only me and the simple fact that my eyebrows needed to be trimmed.  She wasn't gonna let a little thing like politeness get in the way of improving the way I look.

This exact relationship should exist between a writer and an editor.  There should be no fake politeness.  No rose-colored glasses.  The editor must focus on the writing and feel free to communicate the blemishes without reserve.  Feelings should not factor into the equation.  All that matters is the brutal truth.  If you aren't getting that, then you need to adjust your relationship with your editor.  Or consider finding another one.

The revision process is not an easy one.  But it's an important one.  You want your writing to look as good as it possibly can.  You want someone to look at your eyebrows and tell you they're out of control.  That way, you can get them cut so that they'll look like this:

#204 Sick Days

Growing up, I rarely got sick.  I missed so little of school that my mom would let me take one sick day per semester to use how I pleased.  I dedicated these days to horror movies, macaroni and cheese and 4 hour-long games of Risk, when my friends were able to join me.

As an adult, things haven't changed much.  In 12 years at various advertising agencies, I would take 2-3 sick days a year (out of 10 that were given), though I was rarely sick enough to warrant using an entire day to get better.  If I was unfortunate enough to get sick, I would throw my hands up in the air, send a mass email, and set up a cozy pallet on the couch so that I could watch a day's worth of movies.  I'd order pizza, toss thousands of snot rags in the general vicinity of the nearest trashcan, and nap whenever I felt like it.  I didn't feel great, but I didn't let that spoil the good time.  Being sick was like taking a pit stop.  The race was still going on around me, but I was allowed to take a break.

Now that I write full-time, illness has become something different.  It has become a gigantic hurdle, a real pain in the ass.  My head doesn't feel right, my nose won't stop running, and I have too much writing to be done to simply sit on the couch and watch a movie.  I can't concentrate well, but I can't ignore the story either.  The resulting emotion is pure frustration.  I want to work but can't.  It's the exact opposite of when I was in advertising.  Back then, I was glad to take a break, even if it meant I was a little under the weather.  Now, I truly hate it.  I don't have time to be sick.  I have stories to write!

My passion for writing has turned sickness into... well, sickness.  I no longer shrug my shoulders and jump on the couch.  Instead, I frantically take medicine so that I can get better.  That's how I know I'm going in the right direction in life.  So I'll take more medicine, try and clear my head, and write a couple of pages today.  And I hope that all of you out there view sickness as sickness.  Cause if you do, it means you like what you do, and you don't want sickness to take you away from what you like.

#195 A Brave New World

We headed to the south of Dallas for Cody's first critique meeting with the Dallas Area Writer's Group.  Critique meetings are the favorites of most DAWG members.  It gives writers a chance to share their stories with other people.  In the life of a writer, stories remain pent-up for so long that they can cause discomfort, oftentimes pain, if they aren't released.  Critique night allows for the pleasant release of inspiration in the loving company of fellow writers who are polite and understanding.

We left an hour and a half early so we could account for traffic -- get there in plenty of time to get Cody's name on the list.  To be honest, this was a bit excessive, but Cody had been stressed all week because he missed his previous attempt to read his story because we showed up 5 minutes before the meeting instead of 30 minutes before.  The list had already been filled.

We made good time until we hit the intersection of 75 and 35.  All progress stopped.  Road construction caused the convergence of several freeways to transform into one massive, confusing cluster.  The traffic was so bad that several bums littered the freeway, begging from people who were parked on the highway instead of driving home to their families.  Seemed to me to be the worst time and place to beg. Angry people stuck in traffic wouldn't be as generous.  But I could be wrong about that.

Cody crossed his arms and groaned.  "We're probably gonna be late," he said.  

I tried to remain positive, but I worried he might be right and I'm not a rose-colored glasses type of person.  I assured him we would do our best.

For 54 minutes we crept along the interchange to 35, which was especially annoying when driving a standard.  But we finally made it beyond the construction and had 36 minutes to travel 30 minutes of road between us and critique night.  I tried to cheer Cody up with talk of music and movies.  But he wasn't having it.  In his mind, he'd already missed his chance to read his story.  In a sarcastic, yet not-so-sarcastic tone, he said, "Next time we're leaving at 2p."  That would have gotten us there approximately 4 and half hours early.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we made it on time to get him on the list.  He was the last reader they accepted.  He read his story, took his criticism and for the first time in his life he felt like a real writer.  That's an important feeling.  Like being able to pinpoint the moment when you become an adult.  Everything changes after that moment.  It did for me.  And I hope it does for Cody.  Because after a writer realizes he or she is a writer, then the world opens up and becomes a new place altogether.  A better place.

#191 Chore Of Solitude

Every spring the wife and I plant a vegetable garden filled with peppers, tomatoes, squash, and herbs. We spend several hours a week monitoring sun exposure, watering, and pruning.  It's a joint effort that's fun and rewarding.  And when our first harvest comes, we are ecstatic to be eating food from our own garden.

Every year, without fail, one of us gets too busy and the responsibility of the garden falls on just one of us.  This year, it fell on me.  Most evenings, when the temperature drops to a manageable degree, I step outside and water those plants that look dry.  I pick random tomatoes and peppers, and I'll remove pesky caterpillars seeking to destroy our crops.  But without the wife, this process ceases to be fun.  It's become a chore.  As a result, the garden suffers.

Writing can be very much like this.  The writing process is a solitary one.  Some days I write fabulous pages and I tell the wife, "I can't wait for you to read what I did today.  In five months when I am actually finished with this project, you're gonna be so impressed!"

Writing is a patient endeavor.  The reward comes with the process itself.  Or it comes only when the project is done and you're passing your story around to people who must devote several hours to the work you've been toiling over for months.  This is not an easy way to live.  You must be happy with yourself.  You can't rely on the day-to-day praise one might experience in other industries.

I write this post for myself and other writers who have felt the chore of solitude.  A writer must understand this is part of the deal.  It's part of the lifestyle.  If you require constant positive reinforcement, you'll be disappointed as a writer.  But if you can remain diligent, even when your spouse gets too busy to help, you'll end up with a beautiful garden.  Or you'll end up with a few random tomatoes and peppers, and the knowledge that you are doing something you love...which will be enough and will make you happy.

#189 Small Victories

I became a full-time writer in late October of 2013.  I began with a couple of ideas, my wife's laptop, and no clue how this adventure would play out.  I had no process.  No benchmarks.  No short-term goals to keep the train rolling day to day, week to week.  I knew I wanted to write a series consisting of at least 3 novels, and I wanted to complete it by the end of 2014.  Combined with this monumental task, an Indie Writer must also develop a website, engage in the social media trifecta (FB, Instagram, Twitter), write a blog, develop relationships with graphic designers and editors, and read more books than ever before.

That's a lot to take on.  And a writer must do it with little help.

I'm ten months in and can't tell you how many times I've been overwhelmed by it all.  I've had to keep my frustration in check.  I've had to battle the intimidation with small victories, taking small steps -- marking off assignments from my to do list one at a time.  No step is too small to celebrate, as long as it gets you closer to your final goal.

Following is a list of small victories that, when added up, equal the great accomplishments in the life of a writer: novels.

• Finishing a chapter.  Breaking up a novel into chapters gives you natural milestones to strive for.  Understand that finishing a chapter is a good thing.  It's a great thing!  Feel proud that you are one step closer to finishing that project.
• Weekly word counts.  I set manageable weekly word counts instead of daily word counts.  If you have a particularly difficult writing day, you can make up words on a different day.  Likewise, if you have an aggressive Monday and Tuesday, then taking a Friday off every now and then is not such a bad thing.  Of course, I've found that when I have aggressive days early in the week I tend to have great days later in the week as well.  In this profession, success breeds more success.  I write 10,000 words per week.  If you have another job and you scramble to write on the side, look to get 5000 words per week.
• 5 blog posts per month.  Keeping up with a blog is a great way to engage readers, practice writing and develop content (outside of the novel) that will help connect you to readers.  Blogs can be fun.  Let your personality shine through.  Explore your passions and connect with readers who like the same things you do.  But you must keep up with it.  You must be consistent.  If readers like what you have to say, they will stay with you.  If they find you quiet for extended periods of time, they will find something else to read.
• Finishing the first draft.  This is a big one for me.  I celebrate this more than I celebrate the novel actually being published.  Not sure why that is.  The novel is far from finished.  There are many remaining steps that must be taken after the first draft.  But there is nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of a new novel, no matter how imperfect it is at that point.
• 5-7 tweets per day.  I'm still new to twitter and have not mastered engaging prospective readers through social media.  All I know is from what I experience.  When people over tweet, it can get on my nerves.  When people do not tweet enough, I'll miss them in my news feed.  There is a balance in here somewhere.  I'm still searching for that balance.  Until I learn definitively what that number is, I generally tweet 5-7 times per day.  Check out my post on tweeting for more info on what to tweet about.
• Read 2 books per month.  Ideally you should read more than this.  Reading is essential to becoming a better writer.  It's part of a writer's life that can easily be overlooked.  Many writers read for fun, and NO writer should be having fun when there's a novel to be completed. Not true!  An inspired writer having fun puts out a higher volume of better work.  Reading other writers helps develop your own style, and it inspires.  Don't get so bogged down in your own work that you ignore the work of others.

#186 Tinkering

Sales have dropped drastically for my first novel Exchange Day.  I've read time and time again that there are three major factors (that combine with luck) to the success of an indie published novel.  Those are: the quality of the novel, the cover, the blurb.  What will it take for a new reader to take a chance on a writer he or she has never heard of?  What will it take for a new reader to spend his or her hard-earned money on an unknown novel?

As an indie published writer I MUST be willing and able to tinker with all the variables that could potentially lead a reader to my work.  So, as I publish my second novel Hand In The Dark this week, I have decided to tinker with my first novel.  I have changed the blurb to focus on one main character instead of trying to cram the premise into two short paragraphs.  I have also dropped the price from $2.99 to 99¢.  And finally, I have a graphic designer working on a new cover.  I am tinkering.  I am changing the things I can to see what is going to make a difference.

I know there are other writers out there facing the same problems.  I encourage all of them to remain positive and to focus on the variables.  Be willing to tinker.  And with a little luck readers will find your novels.

#180 Editing

I started writing full time nearly nine months ago.  I'm in the third trimester and have learned a lot about writing and myself.  With my first novel, the most difficult part of the process was revision and editing.  I'm not detail oriented in general, and combing through line after line of text I just wrote proved to be more difficult than I imagined.

I am nearly done with my second novel.  THANKFULLY, editing for the second novel has been MUCH easier.  I don't know the exact cause, but I feel it is probably due to a combination of factors.  I am getting slightly better at writing, so there are fewer areas of the novel that need complete overhauls.  I think I am getting better at reading my work critically.  The improved attitude allows me to comb through the text with less frustration.  And I think it's possible that I simply like this book better.

If you are like me and have trouble with editing and revision, then you will be happy to know that it DOES get easier.  Keep pushing on and don't let this essential part of the writing process be the reason you do not finish projects.

#179 Spinning Wheels? Change Direction

My brother has been with me as I've embarked on my journey to become a self-sustaining writer.  My struggle has inspired him to pursue a similar dream.  He wishes to write comics, graphic novels and movies.  He LOVES superheroes and revamped comic book stories from Grimms Fairy Tales to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Recently he told me he wants to write a new Power Rangers movie.

For the past several months he has focused on this genre.  He has produced a rough draft to a novella, a handful of comics and a couple of short stories.  I have read most of his work and believe in my heart the work is not quite ready to be sold.  I want him to improve his craft on two major levels 1) Grammar 2) Composition.  The first level is self explanatory.  Words, punctuation, grammar are tools the writer must understand in order to build a story from the ground up.  My brother works well with some tools.  Others he has little to no experience.  Composition is a different animal. Composition includes character development, pacing, description, dialogue and the overarching strategy used to reveal and advance key aspects to plot, conflict, climax and resolution.  There are no rules for composition.  Its all fair game.  A writer can do whatever he or she wishes, which makes this extremely difficult to teach, learn, cultivate, improve and judge.  This is the area of writing my brother has the most opportunity for improvement.

To become a better writer, one must read and write.  Seems obvious, doesn't it?  I've encouraged my brother to keep writing, hoping that practice, practice and more practice would be his path to improvement.  However, after 8 months of writing, I have seen little improvement in his grammar or composition.

So recently, I decided to explore a different strategy.  I am trying to get him to write outside of his preferred genre.  He's been stuck in the same conventions that make up superhero stories so long now that his writing has not advanced.  He is spinning his wheels.  Staying in the same place.  I have him doing two things:  1) Writing beer reviews.  2) Creative writing exercises you might see in a high school classroom.  He has been at it for a few days and I can already see how his approach to writing has shifted.  We are still early in this process and have not seen immediate improvements in his writing, but I believe we have taken a good first step.

The moral of my story is this:  If you find yourself stuck, your wheels spinning needlessly in place, try writing something completely different for a change.  Break out of your chosen genre just to see what comes out.  You may be surprised to discover that you are not as good of a comic book writer as you thought.  You might just discover that you are an excellent beer reviewer!

#178 Inevitable Change

The world of publishing is changing before our very eyes.  I am new to this world.  I entered less than 8 months ago when I devoted my full time to writing.  I published my first novel on May 25th.  All the while, Amazon and Hachette have undergone a stalemate in negotiations which could very likely set the tone for the immediate future of publishing.

Many writers have addressed this issue.  I follow two who share similar world views as I do and who are much more informed, researched and smarter than I am.  If you would like to spend time educating yourself, I suggest start with them.  They are: JA Konrath and Hugh Howey.

For those who want the dumbed down version:

Amazon - Largest retailer of books in the world.  Pioneered the sale and distribution of ebooks seamlessly to kindles of all shapes and sizes.  Has developed a platform for any writer to publish a work direct to consumers.  Writers meeting directly with readers, without the middleman.  The writer is responsible for when the novel is released, content, price, marketing, everything.

Hachette - A top 5 publishing firm that represents several big name writers, along with many mid-list writers.  For more than a century the top 5 publishers have been the only viable option for aspiring writers.  They possess superior knowledge and skill in printing, distributing and minimizing risk in an industry that can be awfully dangerous for those companies who consistently back less than worthy novels.  They've followed a successful business model that has dominated US and worldwide print culture.

Amazon put out in a statement this week that they desire to keep ebook prices low while offering more royalties for authors.  Readers get books cheaper and writers make more money.  It's a win-win.  Well, except for the publisher who would make less money with this new set up.  However, in the ebook world, publishers deserve to make less money.  They perform less work!  They no longer need to worry about printing, warehousing, shipping, reshipping, re-warehousing and they do not need to worry about a book potentially flopping, leaving them with thousands of unwanted books.  Less work.  Less risk.  It's only fair they receive less of the royalty rate.

Of course, the big 5 do not see it this way and have been fighting Amazon for awhile now.  Their tactics include using big name writers (like James Patterson) to condemn the retailer for their proposed desire to corner the market and take control of the industry, control the big 5 have enjoyed for more than a century.  If Amazon wishes to take control in order to get books to readers cheaper and pay authors more, then I am rooting for Amazon.

But I'm an indie writer.  I admit my bias.  If you are a writer or a reader, you should be rooting for Amazon.  You should be rooting for the inevitable change that connects readers directly to writers, the only two people who should be participating in this lovely dance we call reading!

#169 Desert Island Book List

For the indie writer, finishing a novel is NOT enough.  Us indie writers are responsible for finding editors, graphic designers, formatting, and marketing.  So much to do.  So much to worry about!

My first book Exchange Day was published 2 short weeks ago and I have been toiling over marketing ever since.  I posted on FB, asked friends to share the book page I created, begged friends with twitter accounts to tweet something for me, and have told everyone I know to share the book by good ole fashioned word of mouth.  But I knew I needed to do more.

I've been reading Indie Writer Blogs to learn as much as I can about other forms of marketing that I can explore.  A few days ago I learned about KBoards.  These are discussion forums designed to share info on books.  I am unfamiliar with the KBoard culture, but have enough common sense to know not to annoy everyone with self-promotion.  However, I do not really understand the point of most forums and have a difficult time understanding how they can be used.  So I decided to start small.  I found one forum titled "Your Top 10 Desert Island Books," and read all the posts.  Seemed straight forward enough, though I don't know why strangers would care what books I would take with me on a deserted island.  So I decided to pop my KBoard cherry.  I made a list of 10.

I have posted this list below, not so that you can judge the books I would take with me.  I posted to show you how much of a social media lame-o I am.  I numbered my list like everyone else.  However, for number 8, I unwittingly typed a sunglasses emoticon.  Not sure if this comes across as a square trying to play on the newfangled computer.  Or if it looks like I am cool and especially like Game of Thrones (which I do.)

Oh well.  Live and learn, I guess.