Interruptions to Your Writing

Most authors have heard that they should ‘write every day’. I don’t always manage to do it, and sometimes when I do write, it isn’t on my current Work in Progress. I might have a blog post coming due, so I write that. Or I work on a piece for an upcoming newsletter. Typically, these ‘also wrote’ items are not very long, and adding them to my Writing Journal doesn’t make my stats look any good. But it is writing, and so I count it.

But sometimes, something comes along that knocks you right out of the idea of writing. It might last a couple of days, a couple months, or even longer. For instance, last year when my right arm was broken in a car accident, I could not write longhand nor by keyboard for at least 6 weeks. Even then, I had to have weeks of physical therapy to get that arm used to doing things again. But I remember plotting out several scenes in my head while my hand was otherwise occupied, and as soon as I could type again, those scenes flowed out of me easily.

Another example: My hubby was facing surgery this past Monday. All surgery has its risks. Neither one of us got anything productive done that Saturday and Sunday. I couldn’t even focus enough to plot upcoming scenes. But on Monday, after his surgery was done, and he was sitting up and eating his supper while looking for something to watch on the hospital tv, I wrote. Even though I didn’t have any scenes thought out, I wrote for 3 hours, putting more than 1,200 words on the page. Not bad.

And now the worst example. At one point during my first marriage, my then-husband criticized my writing. Not in a good way, he meant to be mean. I gave up writing for 10 years. I wasn’t going to let him be mean to me in that way again. Eventually I divorced him and moved on. And after a few more years, I started writing again. It took me time to get back in the groove of writing, but I enjoy doing it, and I miss it when I don’t get to do it.

Just because you have things crop up that intrude on your writing time doesn’t mean that you aren’t a writer. It’s whether or not you pick yourself up and get back to putting words on pages.

Advice For Writers

Writers are given lots of advice. Sometimes the advice is good, sometimes it’s not. And sometimes it can only be described as, ‘well-intentioned’.

The first piece of advice I ever got when I was first trying to spread my wings was that I should write every day. I admired my cousin Roy a great deal, and I really thought his writing style was great. But I never could manage to write the thousand words a day that he kept advising me to do.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have to labor long and hard to get a thousand words written. Most days the words just flowed out of my pen and onto my tablet, and I might get 2 or 3 thousand words written in a day. But then something would happen. A bout of flu kept me down for a few days. I somehow wound up with a multitude of chores to do one weekend, or a big amount of homework to get done. Possibly the family decided to drive up into the mountains on Saturday. I was afraid of heights, so I was allowed to take books to read, but not books to write. Of course, my notebooks never stayed in good shape long enough to finish them, and I certainly didn’t want to lose any pages, so I didn’t think that was a big problem. Except I never seemed to get my thousand words written that day. I had failed!

But in hindsight, I had bigger problems than that. I would start a story and work on it for a few dozens or even hundreds of pages. Then I would lose interest in that story, hide it in a drawer, and start a new one. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I actually finished a few stories. And shortly after that, it occurred to me that SOMEbody needed to go through those stories and edit them. I started working with other authors to get some critical feedback.

Eventually, I arrived at the point where I could retire, and I did, anticipating that I would take the 8 hours a day I had spent working and use them to work on my writing. Somehow, that hasn’t happened. I am at my computer daily, working for at least 8 hours, but I am not necessarily working on a story for 1000 words. I have too many other things to do. I am head of a small press, and I am editor, layout person and publisher for my husband. Ditto with my own writing, and editing is much tougher when it’s your own work.

So if you ever see me at a convention, conference, or transportation hub, and I’m pounding away on a laptop, it’s only me, trying to get 1000 words written that day.

Marketing - the Bane of Writing

I decided to write about marketing this week. It's been on my mind quite a bit lately, and I'll tell you why.

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a blog about how authors could market themselves and their work globally. Nothing they suggested in their blog seemed too far out there or difficult to do. So I took their 10 suggestions, broke them into small chunks, and scattered them throughout my infamous To Do List to be tackled over the next couple of months.

Four days ago, I was cleaning out my email box when I found I had been sent Lesson 1 in a 7-part series of lessons on how an author can best and most easily market their goods. I was familiar with the teacher, so I went through that first lesson and took copious notes. Turns out those are DAILY lessons for a full week, so I have been going through each lesson every day, taking detailed notes. I have to take notes, because the lessons take up so much of my time, I can't actually act on what he wants me to do.

And I'm not very tech-savvy. When I set up my last website, following his instructions, it took me 3-4 months to get it ready to publish. He had at least twice as many books to include as I did, and got his done in an afternoon.

And unfortunately, I don't get a lot of support for my marketing efforts. Granted, they haven't done much good so far, but if you want to get anywhere, you have to persevere, right?

I have a good friend (who also writes books), who tells me to forget about marketing. "Just write your books, get 10 or 12 printed, hand them out to friends and family and be done with it." He has a different philosophy about writing than I do. I want to entertain people by telling them stories. And yeah, I'd like to make some money doing it, if I can.

This friend has no concept of what I'm telling him. Every time this subject comes up between us, he gets mad because I won't give in and live life the way he thinks I should. "But you hate marketing! Life is too short to make yourself miserable. Just do the writing, which you enjoy."

It's true, I haven't found any 'fun' in marketing. So far. Maybe because I haven't yet managed to find anything that works. But now I am gathering new steps to take, things to research, tweaks to make... I have a goal to reach for.

It's hard to make progress when you don't know where you're going.

 

A Tell of Caution

It’s easy enough to do. But just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should do it. Especially when you are trying to establish yourself as an up-and-coming author.

I’m sure most working mothers know what I’m talking about: Spreading yourself too thin. Most working mothers are still expected to do (most, if not all of) the housework, get the groceries, do the cooking, take care of the kids, AND do their job. Even without adding any hobbies to help them stay sane, they are spread mighty thin. It gets to the point where you have to get sick, just to get some time to yourself.

Been there, done that.

When I took early retirement, I wanted my next ‘career’ to be ‘author’. I had been working at it for years. I had numerous short stories already written and polished, but none had found a home yet. I had a novel ready for submission, one in the polishing stage, and another drafted, besides several started, and many more ‘stewing’ in the back of my mind.

But suddenly finding yourself without a job to go to can leave you floundering. Without thinking about it, I dithered through my days watching tv, surfing the net, half-heartedly doing aspects of house cleaning I had never bothered to do before. (BTW, I hate housekeeping. It never gets done!) I signed up for six or a dozen newsletters on writing, and more on ‘promoting your book’. Anything to keep from actually writing, it seemed.

I even hired myself out as a free-lance editor. I told myself I needed to do that; I no longer belonged to a writing critique group, and editing would give me a chance to recognize ‘problems’ and try to solve them. Yeah, I can find other people’s problem areas, but I’m not sure I’m any better at finding my own.

I started new hobbies, took classes on leatherworking, theatrical makeup and making prosthetics, photoshop and illustrator… you get the idea. I volunteered for a position with Broad Universe (broaduniverse.org). And because I was frustrated with my pace in the writing world, I started my own publishing company. Why not? It seems like everybody else is doing it.

Somewhere in there, when I wasn’t paying attention, I got thin. Not physically, although I have lost a few pounds. But in terms of energy, I have none. In terms of organization, that’s pretty sketchy. I start each day with breakfast, doing my Broad Universe chore, and checking through my (main) email account. After that…

I have a loooong list of Things To Do. And unfortunately, ‘writing’ is not very high on that list.

How can I be an author if I don’t write? Why are all these other things coming before ‘writing’? I’m juggling a multitude of activities, but what I really want isn’t even in the mix.

I think it’s time to snap back and not be so thin.

No Words

So, here we are, in the middle of October, and I have not written anything this year.

Oh, I've re-written parts of one of my stories, edited part of another, and I've edited, copy-edited and proofed stories for others. But I haven't worked on any rough drafts. NO words have been added to any of the stories sharing camping space in my mind.

Believe me, it's getting crowded.

I spent last night wondering why. Today, I don't care why. Why doesn't really matter; all the whys I came up with really boiled down to; I didn't bother to make the time.

Starting today, I have resolved to MAKE the time. One isn't a writer if one doesn't write.

It's not that hard to find the time; the tv gets shut off at 8 or 9 pm, and I don't go to bed until at least midnight, so that's 3-4 hours when I need to be quiet. I'm already in my office, on my computer, but I've been spending those hours playing games. 'Relaxing', I told myself, but if you've ever been stuck on Level 27 of Fritz for weeks at a time, you know that playing games is not necessarily relaxing.

When I was employed, those hours used to be prime writing time. I see no reason why they can't be again. Those hours are much better (for me) for writing than the morning, when my brain is still trying to figure out what day it is. I have never been a morning person, I have always been a night owl.

So it's simple. Use those hours for rough drafts. Why didn't I think of that before?

No, don't get distracted by 'why'. Just write!

Right! Now, which story idea should I start with first? Telepathic horses? Cali 2? Reincarnation & the NeverEnding War? Or maybe-

Toss a pair of dice! It doesn't matter; they all want to get told. Just write!

Okay. Will do. Ummmm, right after I tell my Little Men in Tribez how to keep busy for the next few hours.

Sigh.

Strangers vs Relatives

I do free-lance editing, and there are differences between editing the work of a stranger and editing the work of a relative, like a spouse.

Some things stay the same; I am always careful not to make changes just to suit my style. I haven’t written this manuscript; it belongs to somebody else. But I don’t have problems taking out unnecessary commas, or putting one in where it is needed; of keeping verb tense consistent; of changing ‘shuttered’ to ‘shuddered’ when a character is cold - of making sure they really are saying what they intended to say.

When I edit, I try to give some guidelines to help them improve as a writer, so I won’t have to work so hard with their next manuscript. If I want them to change a sentence, paragraph, or scene, I explain why, and give at least one example of how (I think) it could be improved.

Strangers, so far, have been pretty easy to convince. Relatives... not so much.

There have been other challenges when editing for a relative that - so far - have not happened with a stranger. Like the time I was editing a 400+ page manuscript, and asked my relative to clarify/change a paragraph on page 151. He had already changed that paragraph and had apparently given me the wrong version of his manuscript. I had to start over.

Another time, I explained to a relative that when a planet’s moon is in the ‘new’ phase, it is (relatively) between the sun and planet, and so would not be in the sky at 1 AM, the middle of the night. I don’t think he believed me.

The difference might be a matter of perception. To the author who doesn’t know me, I am an editor, one who respects him/her as an author, and they listen and return that respect, especially if they are fairly new. To the relative, I am a sister, cousin, parent, daughter, or even a spouse. Yes, I’m intelligent, but they are, too, and while they love me, they don’t necessarily view me as knowing what I’m talking about.

Despite the challenges of editing the work of either a stranger or a relative, I would rather do that than edit my own work! Because in that case, I turn into an idiotic despot... on both sides.

Learning New Tricks

There is a drawback to waiting for retirement before starting a new career as an author. These days, you are expected to do your own marketing. And, in this Age of the Internet, a lot of that marketing is in cyberspace. I’ve read enough marketing articles to figure that out.

In my first career, I worked my way up to secretary, which meant I knew grammar and punctuation, and when to ask for clarification when doing an assignment. On a computer, I knew Office Word and Office Excel, and was actively discouraged from using the internet at work. Now I have a lot of catching up to do.

I thought I was. Catching up. I started - years ago - with MySpace. Does anybody use that anymore? No, I don’t, either.

Eventually, I got on Facebook with a personal page. Now those articles tell me I need a fan page. They are full of reasons for having a fan page, but they don’t explain HOW to set up a fan page. And I still don’t know how to post pictures to my personal page. Guess I’ll have to take an afternoon see if I can figure it out.

Twitter is another big ‘must be on’ to do marketing. MoonPhaze has an account, but the thought of only having 140 characters sends me into a tizzy fit. Remember when I set out to write a 6,000 word short, and ended up with 15,000 words? Yeah, I tend to run off at the keyboard, as I’ve said many times. I don’t suppose half-sentences will do the trick, huh?

And Pinterest. I have some ideas for that, actually, but I’m not an artist. And I don’t want to surf the net for hours, looking for one perfect picture. Chances are, I won’t find it. And if I do, how does the licensing for that picture work when you just want to pin it?

And always, those articles encourage using photos and inforgraphtics. Right.

I got Photoshop installed on my desktop today. I took a couple Continuing Education classes for it, but the program was on the old computer, and I haven’t been able to play with it recently. I have done basic drawings in Paint. I know how to fill an area with a color in Paint. It’s nowhere near the same in Photoshop.

The more I learn about Marketing, the more questions I have, the more things get put on my To-Do list. And most of the things getting put on my list involve a long learning curve. We’ll see if this old dog can learn any new tricks.

Non Fiction Writing

I keep getting told that I need to write non-fiction. “Write some articles for all those magazines out there; women’s mags, fitness mags, finance mags- it doesn’t matter what kind,” the advice goes. “Get your name out there in those formats, and you’ll develop a group of readers who will follow you when you delve into fiction.”

Excuse me? Yes, I know that’s how countless authors have done it, but what makes these people think that I have anything to offer the readers of magazines?

Women’s mags? Please. I don’t read them. If I’m stuck in a waiting room, I might flip through one, looking at the pictures of uncluttered, clean homes that bear absolutely no relationship to my home, but I have no interest in whatever articles they print, so how am I supposed to write some?

Fitness mags? Yeah, there’d be nothing hypocritical about that. Yes, I have lost 40 pounds so far this year, but that still leaves me on the wrong side of 200, with a long way to go. I’m not even sure how I’ve managed it, so I can’t write any “How I Lost...” articles.

Finance mags? When we got married, we were comfortably located in ‘Middle Class’, but we have definitely fallen to the bottom rung and are trying NOT to make that magical leap into ‘Poor’.

Actually, I have written non-fiction, as part of my job before I retired. I wrote things like instructional newsletters on how to correctly fill out the new internal forms so that the full and correct data could be input into the database; how to use this new-fangled contraption to repair film; step-by-step instructions on how to do the various parts of my job, which got disbursed to the rest of the clerical staff when I went on maternity leave or recovered from surgery. I did not find these subjects very interesting, but at least I knew the topic. I knew where to start, what had to be included, and where I could end.

Even these days, I am writing non-fiction. When I contacted local conventions about doing panels, I offered as many as 4 topics I thought interesting and not already beat into the ground by other panels. All four topics, it turned out, were snapped up. Most of these ideas were inspired by an article I had read on that subject, so now I’ve been gathering more background, trying to break each topic into smaller bits, and organizing those bits into a logical page for an informational hand-out. I don’t expect these to land in any newsletters or magazines, but it is non-fiction. Most of them

Still, I feel like I’m writing 4 different term papers at the same time. I will no doubt tweak these between conventions, but I’d really rather be writing fiction! In fiction, I have my whole imagination at my disposal, and I don’t have to stick to the ‘facts’ if I don’t want to!

What magazines do you read? Would you be willing to write an article for them?

Gardening Your Stories

I spent part of Saturday doing lawn work. I wanted to get grass seed down before it rained that night. I have seen other bloggers compare some aspect of their daily lives to writing, and it seemed terribly philosophical to me. But on Saturday, something clicked, and I could see a type of connection between lawn work and writing. Maybe you’ll see it, too.

Before I put down seed, some of the bald spots needed raking to get up the last leaves that we didn’t get rid of last fall. These were mostly the small locust leaves that got left behind when we were concerned with more visible oak leaves that lay atop them. So, that could be seen as cleaning up the leftovers (unused scenes, dialogue, phrases, sentences, paragraphs) from the last story so that I have a ‘clean slate’ to work with.

There were weeds I wanted to remove; dandelions, clover, crab grass, even thistles. I didn’t get many of them, because using the rake had irritated the pain in my right shoulder, so I decided I would poison them later in the season, once the new grass was established. (It took a couple years, but that’s how we finally got rid of our wild strawberries.) Weeds like this might be compared to those leftover scenes and phrases that you absolutely loved in your previous rough draft, but aren’t going to suit your next story at all. Take the biggest, toughest of these and place them in a file for future reference... you might use them someday. Ignore the rest, unless they actually show up again in a story and again don’t fit. Then you ruthlessly edit them out... again.

I spread the grass seed by hand. I know how to do it that way. A spreader is not a complicated piece of machinery, but I just didn’t want to bother with it. I enjoy writing rough drafts, scattering words across the paper. Editing is filling bald spots, pulling weeds, making the whole thing look better.

Now I’m faced with two to three weeks of daily watering to let the grass grow and get well established. Writing a story takes time. The pervading wisdom is that you write every day, watering those words you scattered across the page until they form a strong, beautiful story.

Everybody dreams of having a beautiful lawn. Personally, I find working with words more satisfying than lawnwork. How about you? Would you like to compare your hobby or vocation to washing the dishes or mopping the floor?

Good Results; Bad Week

I tried an experiment early last week. I had decided I wanted to up my writing speed to about 1,000 words an hour, but first, I needed to have some idea how fast I currently write. So I got up, had breakfast, set my timer for 3 hours (the amount of time I had decided I could carve out of a day for my writing), and started a new story.

I can't say that I was not interrupted. The dog wanted out, or wanted to play, or the phone rang... each time, I paused the timer to take care of the interruption, and then came back to work as soon as I could. It actually took me almost 4 hours to get 3 hours of writing done.

How did I do? My 3 hours of writing got me 1,800 words of rough draft on a story where I only had a vague idea for the opening scene. It also included some brief research (How are these mythical creatures usually described?), and choosing names for characters. That averages out to 600 words per hour.

I suppose that sounds like I have a long, hard road to travel to get to 1,000 words per hour, but I don't see it like that. I was afraid that this test would have my speed at something like 600 words for the entire 3 hours, but instead, it shows me being a LOT closer to that initial goal I've set for myself. This was good news, indeed!

Unfortunately, after that day, my body started insisting I sleep 10-12 hours a day, and when I did get up, I tended to be dizzy more than not, which makes it hard to function. The ear/nose/throat specialist has put me back on a med I've been on before, but at a higher dosage. I will be on it for at least 6 weeks. I think it's working. Slowly. I haven't been doing much writing, other than that one day when I tested myself, and I hope I can get back to it. Soon!

In the meantime, my 'back burner' has plotted out the rest of that short story, worked out a thorny knot that had me stuck in another story, and started working out possibilities in a story I haven't even started outlining yet.

If I could type as fast as I think, I'd be doing a lot more than 1,000 words an hour!

An Author's Mistakes

Authors are people. (All of them I know are, anyway.) People who spend a deal of their time in some world other than 'reality'. So you shouldn't be surprised if they are sometimes confused when trying to deal with the real world. They are bound to make a mistake here or there. Following are some of the more humorous mistakes I have made.

A few years ago, I sent a short story to a magazine for consideration. It was rejected. At that time, I was trying to follow the adage, "When a story is rejected, shove it in a new envelope and send it to the next market." So I shoved it in a new envelope... and sent it right back to THAT magazine. I was so embarrassed a couple days later when I realized what I'd done and had to draft an apology letter to that editor for wasting his time. Oh! Color me blushing! (You know, I'm not sure I've ever sent another story to that magazine for consideration. Maybe I should. You don't think they have my name on some 'Never accept a story by this person' list, do you?)

Later, I saw a call for submissions and thought I had a story that would fit what they wanted, so I went online and got all ready to submit it. But I had to open the file, because I didn't remember how many words it was, and when I opened it, it was all set up for a rewrite! (Draft F, orange 16-pt Franklin Gothic font.) Did it really need a rewrite? I read through it, and only found one word I deleted, so no, probably not. So I changed it into proper manuscript form and sent it off. Can you imagine how embarrassed I'd be if I'd sent it off in a big orange strange font?

And then there was the time my dog ate-- No, wait. That wasn't me. Was it?

I get so confused out here in the big real world!

Excuse me. I'm going back inside one of my universes. If I get confused there, the characters always set me straight.

Encouragement

Years and years (and years) ago, when I was a young girl, fascinated with the notion of writing my own stories, I received encouragement from a cousin a couple years older. He told me such things as I would need to rewrite my draft, possibly more than once. I didn't want to hear it, but he was right. I found his stories funny, silly and delightful, and I basked in the knowledge that he was willing to spare a few minutes to encourage me in my endeavors.

We recently started communicating via the internet, and he revealed he had started writing again. (Again? I did give it up after a particularly horribly comment made by my first husband, and that was the blackest two years of my life.) I don't know how long he went without writing, but I was happy to hear he was re-discovering it.

And I guess we've come full circle. Now I find myself encouraging him. Have you thought about doing this with your story? Would it make more sense if your character did this? Your rough draft doesn't have to be perfect; rewriting is part of the process, remember?

Encouragement and suggestions from other writers are why authors join writer's groups and go to critique sessions. Another example is last year's critique sessions at Worldcon in Austin. I had been shopping around a fantasy, and kept getting rejected, so what I wanted to know was, is there something wrong with this opening that I'm not seeing? The comments I received gave me some direction for my next rewrite of that opening. I was thrilled.

If a writer's group or critiquer gives you the impression your writing is crap, don't go to that group or person again. My husband and I quit one writer's group because one person in the group kept pointing out our 'mistakes' without saying anything kind or nice about our efforts. That's not encouragement, and it's not helpful.

So, way to go, cousin! I really like what you've written, even though I'm not sure I like any of your characters. Your description in that story is great, it really sets the tone. Oh, and by the way... Welcome back to writing.

Finding Shiney Bits

I read a lot of newsletters. I mean, a LOT of newsletters. Some are to help me write better, some are about the publishing field in general, some give me lists of potential markets, and some are about marketing.

Unfortunately, when I had my knee replaced this summer, I got behind in that reading. Since then, I have slowly been catching up.

The good thing about being behind is that I can get through them a little faster. Whenever I see a list of classes, I don't check the titles to see if I want to take them, I check the start date. If the classes have already started, I skip the entire list. When I see a contest listed as a potential market, I scan for the deadline. If it's passed, or only a few days in the future, I haven't got a chance of making it, so I skip reading the rules.

The bad thing about being behind is that I miss a lot of opportunities; that class that might have been perfect for me, a contest that was right up my alley. I also feel a bit rushed, because I'm trying to catch up. Is everything I'm reading out of date?

Nope. The information on writing better is still applicable. The insights into the publishing field are still there, can still teach me about How Things Work, rather than me being completely in the dark. These are the Shiney Bits, the reason why I read these newsletters. And I look forward to the day when I catch up and can find even more Shiney Bits in the form of a class to take, a new market to try, a contest I have time to enter.

How about you? Do you find the Shiney Bits in your life before you throw out the dregs you don't want or can't use?

Defragging a Story

Have you ever had your computer defrag its files?

I've done it many times. I used to get a kick out of watching little squares disappear from one place on the grid and reappear in a different place, but the defragging  program no longer has that entertainment possibility. But I digress...

On Tuesdays, I post a new scene from 'Mac', a story I've been working on for - oh - about 35 years. Back then, I didn't have a computer. Heck, I didn't even have a typewriter. I wrote my stories in longhand, probably with a pencil, on anything resembling paper; scratch pads, used paper, partially used notebooks, paper grocery sacks, even unused tissues (although those required I use a pen).

When I did get a typewriter, parts of this story got typed up. When I got a computer, parts of this story got typed into that. Over the years, I've had several computers, and almost all of them had some Mac scenes as files.

At one point, I had the foresight to print out what Mac scenes I had in that computer, and boy, am I happy now that I did that. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Technology changes, and when you use a computer until it just won't go anymore, you don't always get to save what you absolutely want from the hard drive. How many times have I had to rewrite important Mac scenes because I couldn't retrieve them? I forget...

I thought I was really being smart about 2 computers ago, when I started saving Mac scenes on external drives. When I had to replace that computer, I made sure the one I got could still read those external files. But when I replaced THAT computer last year, it just wasn't possible to get a slot that would read 3 1/4 inch floppies anymore. So all those dozens of disks holding Mac scenes (and many other stories I've worked on) got thrown out when I was cleaning up from moving my office.

But something else happened when I was cleaning up from that move. I kept finding hand-written versions of Mac scenes; a couple scenes in this notebook, half a scene on a scratch pad, a scene in a steno pad... Lots of scenes, with no clue whether they were included in what I had printed out or not. I already have a 2-inch stack of these bits and pieces to go through, and I've still got a couple boxes of old papers and notebooks to clean out.

So now, I get to defrag this story. I get to type all these scenes into my computer, and then try to arrange the scenes in their correct sequence. That should keep me busy for a while!

Practice What You Preach

I read a lot of e-newsletters. Some give me tips on how to write better, some give me clues about markets I might submit to, and some try to tell me how to market my work, once it gets published. Most of them I can read fairly quickly. But one of them I read this week... !

I don't remember which newsletter I was reading, possibly one on marketing, because the article seemed to be on what type of website to make announcements, timing and the type of announcement. After almost every website type/announcement type that it listed, the author expanded by saying you should edit, edit, edit everything before you sent it off into the world. The reasoning was that if you make an impression on potential readers with poor grammar, spelling and punctuation, they aren't likely to look up your book and buy a copy.

I have to agree with that sentiment.

A lot of people never learned these things in school well enough to know how to follow the rules, and therefore, they don't think it's really important. Texting, when it required hitting the same button a number of times to get one letter, further eroded people's ability to spell, it seems. But as long as the idea gets across, anything goes these days, right?

No, I can't agree with that sentiment.

I have re-worked and proofread and edited enough to be pretty familiar with most of the rules of the English language. It doesn't bother me to get a text on my phone with 'u' for 'you' and 'ur' for 'your'. I consider that a kind of slang.

But when I'm reading something that purports to be informative and professional, I expect it to be well edited. This particular article in this newsletter was NOT. Here it was, expounding on the idea that everything you put out there should be edited, and the author did not appear to know the difference between [its] and [it's], or where commas belong, or how to spell.

Now I'm left in a dilemma. Do I believe this author was knowledgeable in the field and take the advice offered? Or write the article off as a waste of time because the author couldn't be bothered to take his/her own advice?

Spring Cleaning

Have you ever done spring cleaning? It's not something I grew up with, but every once in a while I just have to give up, shovel out my office, organize what I'm keeping and throw away everything else.

I'm in the middle of that now. We've moved all my office stuff out of the family room into the front room these last 2 days, and now I've got boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff to sort through. When I look at those boxes, I figure it will take months for me to get them all cleaned out. It's such a depressing thought, I can't cope, and I give up.

Happily, the way my desk is currently set up, I actually sit with my back to all those boxes (which are stacked halfway to the ceiling in the corner of the room). So I don't have to look at them, in the normal scheme of things. That helps me keep my mind on an even keel.

What I'm planning to do is pull one box over at a time to the side of my desk and clean out that one box. Then I'll take a break and write a scene or fill the dishwasher before I pull out the next box. And when my shredder gets full, then I'm done cleaning out boxes for the day.

It's not the kind of spring cleaning my grandmother used to do, and I'm not doing it in the spring, but it's a deeper cleaning than I usually do. Why do you think I have so many boxes to sort through? Because my usual way of 'cleaning' is to shove things I don't want to deal with into a box, to be dealt with later. Can't do that with bills, of course, but most everything else gets shoved.

Right up until times like now, when I'm tired of them trying to shove back. And frankly, when my office space is a mess, it also seems to clutter my mind, preventing me from writing. Or getting much of anything done. I really should clean more often, to keep my mind organized and my imagination purring.

Science Fiction Conventions

Science fiction conventions are frequently attended by authors of books in many different genres; sf, fantasy, horror, paranormal, even mystery, romance and erotica. Some of these genres used to be sub-genres of science fiction, others have been blended with science fiction. No attendee of these conventions is surprised to learn that these authors write in more than one field.

But why do authors pay for their own travel, lodging and a ticket to the convention in the first place? Wouldn't they be better off staying home and writing?

A lot of them would probably rather be at home, writing. But these days, most authors also have to devote time to marketing their work to the public. So they choose which conventions they will attend, they contact those conventions and volunteer to participate on panels. They give readings. They have autograph sessions.

In fact, there are several ways an author may 'profit' by attending an sf convention:

·       They meet with fans and potential fans of their work.

·       They sell a few copies of their books.

·       They network with other authors, giving them a chance to compare notes.

·       (At some conventions) They might network with editors, agents and publishers.

·       For a weekend, they step away from their work schedule, which could give their imagination a chance to 'recharge'.

There may be other things I haven't thought about. And other than all that, authors might attend a convention for the same reason non-writers attend them - they're a lot of fun!

What do you think? What's your favorite convention?

Practice What You Preach

I read several newsletters and blogs to learn how to write better; how to open a novel and grab the reader, how to involve all the senses, ... that sort of thing. One of the first things I was taught was that your first draft is not your last draft. (Took me a lo-o-ong time to learn that lesson.)

Your first draft is where you get the basic ideas out of your head and onto paper - or computer file, or whatever. Then you spend time going through that project a few times to add descriptions, select a more precise verb, make sure the reader understands what you intended to say.

And then, you polish it.

Remember back in school, when you learned about subjects, verbs, direct objects, punctuation, and all of that? That's the stuff a writer worries about in the final polish. Because as a writer, you want others to see your work in its best condition. If your work is full of misspelled words, incorrect choice of pronouns, and 'sentences' that don't make sense because you forgot your punctuation, the readers won't be able to understand what your are trying to say.

I understand that bloggers and newsletter editors have a limited amount of time, but this is a very important part of writing. Unfortunately, not every writer remembers that before they post their blog or article. And I have found some that I am thinking of not following anymore because I have to work so hard to figure out what they are trying to say. Repeated words. Extra pronouns from when they rewrote the sentence, but didn't get it completely cleaned up. Missing commas that - if they were there - would tell the reader 'I've finished that thought, now I'm moving on.'

It's sad when a group of people manage to forget the lingual necessities that they continually remind each other are so important. I hope I never get that sloppy with my blogs. If you catch me at it, feel free to call me out about it.

Story That Isn't a Story #2

Last week I told you about a story that hadn't satisfied me because the writing style was too old and it left far too many questions unanswered. The second story did not disappoint as far as writing style, but it still left too many questions unanswered.

Story 2 takes place in a world populated by various mythical creatures, some familiar to this reader, others not so much. On that world is a land populated by centaurs. The centaurs are of two types. The High Ones I see as the nobility of the country. Their strain is older and they have a touch of magic in their blood. But they mix freely with the commoners; the current king has married a commoner, and they have three children. Apparently, the High Ones' magic flows through the generations undiluted, which is just a little boggling to the science side of my mind, but I beat my disbelief into submission. I did the same for the question of if the High Ones are an older strain and magic flows through them undiluted through the generations, where did the commoners come from?

The country is about to be plunged into war. The king must lead his troops, which leaves his wife to take on the responsibility of supervising the protection of the palace. The queen is uncertain, having no background in strategy or warfare. This was something I could get into; a character who had to learn to use skills she didn't necessarily have. I settled in to see how she did at it.

The army marched off to the east. There were some troubling raids on the north edge, which kept the remaining troops busy. Then everything goes wrong, magic kills all the High Ones, the palace is overrun, and the queen barely gets away with a handful of followers to hide from their enemies until they can exact justice.

End of story.

I just about fell off my seat.

I felt somebody had just read me chapter one and then thrown the book away. I had prepared to watch the queen learn and work and become the new leader of her people, but instead, all I got was the circumstances that would put her on that path. She never actually followed the path.

To me, this is like telling the story of Sleeping Beauty, and ending it when SB succumbs to the spell that puts her to sleep. Incomplete!

Stories That Are Not Stories #1

A couple days ago, I went to bed early, but found myself too tired to go to sleep. I had enough time to read 2 stories I had recently purchased from a regional publisher.

After reading, I slept through the night and found myself thinking about those 2 stories all the next day. They had both left me disappointed. I felt I hadn't gotten any ending.

Today I will analyze why Story #1 disappointed me, and next week, I'll examine Story #2.

Story #1 was written in an old style, as something that might have been written in the 19th century. The scene was a dinner party, and the 'action' of the people attending this dinner consisted of taking bites and refusing to acknowledge the existence of a newly discovered tribe, even though one member of that tribe was seated at the table with them. The 'story' of the discovery of that tribe was told in flashback by the two anthropologists who had searched for them. The tribe had not wanted to be found, and had always - throughout the centuries - dealt with strangers coming to find them, as well as tribe members who wanted to leave. Before the entire story is told to the dinner party, there is a scream in another part of the house, which everybody rushes to investigate, and when they find ... apparently nothing, they discover the tribe member has disappeared without a trace. End of story.

No wonder I was disappointed by that one. I can drag myself through stories written in the 19th century, but it isn't easy. The style of writing has changed so dramatically. These days, authors are expected to "show, don't tell". But in Story #1, even the bits of information in the flashbacks were told to the reader, not shown. And since the scene was presented as a dinner party, it was just one big 'info dump', another thing that is frowned on these days. Finally, although the reader has a really strong suspicion what has happened to the tribal member, it is left undetermined. Like so many of today's horror movies, I was left wondering when the 'monster' would make its next appearance. To me, an unclear ending is not an ending.