Novel

Started the novel tonight. Have a very loose outline and character sketches. And I have 346 words. It's a start, and travel made that start late.

Here's what kept me from starting the novel earlier: I don't know how to write one. I finally realized the main reason I don't know: because I've never done it before.

Why Submitting Your Work Helps Your Writing Career

Why Submitting Your Work Helps Your Writing Career http://zite.to/1aU9Mst

Upward and forward and such

Haven't blogged much recently. Writing fiction is taking precedent. If I have to choose (and that is exactly what I've had to do) between the two I'll take the stories.

Good forward progress. Four short stories finished and in publishers piles. A fifth one is in progress and about halfway finished.

I read short stories and novels, and they're both what I want to write. I'm doing preliminary work for a novel, but it scares me. Still I plan to take the plunge when this story is finished. Hopefully.

Eventually I will probably work on burgh at the same time. Knowing how I work, on alternating weeks.

Anyway: still writing

Finishing

Finished the short story.  Other than how it started I had no idea where it was going.

I'm neither an outliner nor a seat-of-the-panters.  Typically I shape a story, jotting down notes, key points, questions the story should answer and what not.  I may not always know how it's going to end but I have a pretty good idea of how it's getting there.

Not this time.  I promised myself I'd write every day, and so I did.  Beyond an extremely vague idea for a character I had no clue where things were going.  The story takes two sharp turns that make sense now but surprised me at the time.

Writing the story reminded me of spinning in the car because it hit a sheet of ice.  Not that it went quickly.  I just wanted to stop.

So I did what Neil Gaiman said. I finished.  I did what Dean Wesley Smith said.  I wrote the next line.

Is it good?  I hope so.  Maybe.  The important thing is I finished it and submitted it.  I learned I could write a story even when the writing doesn't flow out of me.  And I learned actually writing.

It feels good.

Finish it (Or how I think I've stopped the cycle)

It almost happened again.

Here, in brief, is the story of my writing.  Years ago, I decided professional writing was what I wanted to do.   For now I'll spare you the previous things I wrote that led me to believe I had I shot.  Feel free to insert here the usual "If I only had the times," and the "I can write better than that's" of many like-minded young writers.

I wrote a short story.  If memory serves it was around 2500 words and took three months.  And oh, it was horrid.  I knew something was wrong with it, but couldn't figure out what or how to fix it.  So, I submitted it for publication to Fantasy & Science Fiction.

It was promptly rejected, and rightly so.  The editor even wrote a nice personal letter explaining why it was rejected.  He (or she, I don't remember and the letter disappeared long ago) advised me to keep writing.  Had I taken the advice this journey may not have taken so long.

I didn't know how.  Writing fiction was much harder than I'd realized.  Practice?  Ha!  That was for "lesser writers."  I just couldn't think of another good idea.  (Or a more original excuse.)  So I quit.

Fast forward.  Two other times I picked up the pen and put it down again.  Fortunately, both times I realized that I'd actually have to work at the craft, but even then I believed there were shortcuts.  Someone who reads as much as me should be able to write better.  I still felt (to dwindling degrees, but it was there) a sense of entitlement.

Twice more when the writing (and in the later instance, life itself) grew difficult I put the pen down.

Now the present.  I've been writing every day.  I'm open to learning.  When a deficiency becomes apparent (I loathe building the setting) I work to improve and write outside my comfort zone (my last story was built around a particular setting.  To my surprise, my first reader said that the characters were better than any previous story.)

I have multiple submissions out.  (Eventually I may move to indie publishing, but I tried that as a shortcut too.  I don't want to indie publish because my work is so bad an editor won't but it.)

And then the last two days happened.  The brick wall smacked me hard in the face.  With my latest story submitted (and the first rejection letter just arrived) I wasn't sure what to write.  I had three story ideas that seemed promising, but discarded them for various reasons.  I started one, but it didn't seem good enough.  Maybe I'd write tomorrow.  But that path leads to not writing anymore.

What is that rule?  "Finish what you write"?

I'm finishing it.  Either it will be good practice that improves my skill but doesn't sell, or it will be good practice that improves my skill and sells.  After a few hundred words the story began to intrigue me again.  Usually I at least think I know what will happen, but this time I have no clue and it's constantly surprising me.

I suspect the beginning will have to be tweaked once it's finished.  And I have no idea whether or not it's good.  But I'm writing it.  I'm finishing.  And I'm repeating.

Writer's write.  I think I'm truly becoming one.

How I broke Heinlein's rules

Here are Heinlein's rules (or as close to them as I remember) and how I've broken them.

1. You must write.

When I first started writing, I did everything but actually write.  I thought about it, talked about it and read about it.

2. You must finish what your write.

On those rare occasions I actually put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) I would get a few hundred words in and fizzle out.  Writing came harder to me than I thought it should.  Frankly, I felt entitled to become good at it without practicing.

3. You must not rewrite unless to editorial demand.

I broke this rule every chance I got.  My writing dripped out of the faucet.  Then, the few words I managed to compile would be rewritten again and again.  I wouldn't even wait to finish the story, since I was breaking rule 3.  I'd rewrite each sentence and paragraph until no life remained in them.

4. You must put your writing on the market.

Only a small percentage, maybe 10%, became submissions.  Not a recipe for success.

5) You must keep it on the market until someone buys it.

The vast majority of that 10% was rejected, and rightly so.  Some of it I resubmitted elsewhere, but not consistently.  Furthermore, I wouldn't write while waiting.  I was too busy waiting to receive my rejections.

There.  The formula for failure as a writer.  Now go do the opposite.  Heinlein knew what he was talking about.

Word Count and Dean Wesley Smith

Dean Wesley Smith's Writing in Public blog fascinates me.

I'd taken to heart the necessity of writing each day.  Also, I'd already figured out the need to simply "write the next line,"  as Dean has said multiple times.

Over the last several weeks I've focused on that.  Travel, work and family have limited my opportunities, but there is never going to be a time when that is not true.  Not unless my career gets to a point where the writing is the only work, and that's years away (if it ever happens.)

Some of my days have included massive (for me) word output.  I figured I was doing much more than I actually was.  Yesterday I decided it was time to take a look at Dean's website.  I've enjoyed his novels in the past, and his advice on writing.  It thrilled me to see the new daily word count feature he is writing.

It settled my internal debate on whether or nor to track my daily count.  I was able to figure out what I'd done for the entire month.  On average- 400 words a day.  That's pretty far away from where I want to be, although it is substantially better than my previous sporadic attempts at writing.

So I'll keep tracking and I'll get the average up.  Thanks Dean.

Here is the link that feature on his website.

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=9659

Trust the cats

Author Tim Powers Says “Trust the Cats” http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/author-tim-powers-says-trust-the-cats

Newton's 2 laws of writing

I'm sure the following insight is not unique.  For that reason, I'm blogging it without checking google.  I'd hate to come across it elsewhere and not be able to claim originality.

And yes, I'm aware that Newton had three laws of motion.  Furthermore, I'm aware that my two rules here comprise only the first law of motion.  Every illustration has to break down at some point.  This one just breaks down quicker than most.

Nevertheless:

1. Writers in motion tend to stay in motion
2. Writers at rest tend to stay at rest

There is inertia in writing.  If writing is hard then starting to write is harder.  Once you're doing it though, it's easier to continue.  That's why I make sure I start another scene or story in each writing session.

I suppose you could add a third law

3. Writers who never write are not writers.

Impostor?

Almost every time I sit down to write, I feel like I'm an impostor.  "Who am I kidding?" I'll think.

It's strange.  I can speak to large crowds.  Or sing.  Or act.  I do all those things with varying regularity and not once in the past several years has it made me the least bit nervous.

"If you're not afraid when you get in front of people and do this, you're not human," I'll hear from time to time.  Uh-oh.  What does that say?  Hopefully it says the people making that claim are mistaken.

The validity of the statement aside, I'm not usually given to self-doubt.  What I lack in humility I make up for in confidence.

Until it's time to write.  Why is that?  It may be that, as I explained to a friend recently, "I may not be a good writer yet, but I'm a great reader."  And my works, particularly the rough drafts, don't feel like great reading.

Then I think of another quote from Neil Gaiman.  Sorry, but I've been devouring his interviews and speeches on youtube recently.  I'm 95% sure this came from his commencement speech, but I can't be bothered at the moment to look it up or link to it.  This time all you're getting is a paraphrase.

Someone wanted to record an audio book but wasn't sure she could do it.  He advised her to pretend she was someone who could do it, and then act like that person would act.

Brilliant.

So when I feel inadequate, I pretend I'm a writer, and then act like one.  It works because I have quite a bit of acting experience.  And at the end of it I have something written.  Usually it's something that needs to be rewritten, but without the first step there's no second step.  Eventually it turns into something that is worthwhile.  That's a good feeling.

So am I an impostor?  If I act like someone who writes, then aren't I writing?  And what is it that defines a writer?

That's right.

Find the cracks

Who has time for writing stories?

I have a full time and a part time job, not counting the writing.  I have a family.  Like everyone else I have a multitude of things that demand my time.  They suck it dry like some kind of time-vampire.  So who has time?

I do, because you know what else I have?

15 minutes here.
10 minutes there.
An hour lunch.  A break.
Midnight.
Whatever it takes.

Time adds up.  Sure, I could use it to catch up on the Netflix queue.  And sometimes I have to use it to tuck my girls into bed or memorize something for my next drama performance.  There are other times that are so easy to waste.  Those moments add up.

150 words here.
100 there.
400.  50.
300.
Pretty soon that's 1000 words.  Then it's a short story.  A novella.  And so on.

Find the cracks.  Write.

Unusual Tips

I came across this video by Andrea Heckler called "Unusual Writing Tips."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f5IFRKstVg

Tip #2 Find Real Faces for your Characters seems particularly helpful.  She uses photos of people to help her describe them.

I've not put it into practice yet, but I'll give it a try soon.  Describing people is one of the things I need to work on.  This may help.  Thanks Andrea.  Her webpage is http://realityinmymind.tumblr.com

Progress

Two days ago I finished a 4125 word short story and sent it off to a publisher.
Yesterday I got about 820 words into my next short story.
Can't wait to see what I do today.

Reminders to myself

1) Reading about writing is easier than writing.  Don't forget what to do the real thing.
2) Sometimes the writing flows.  Often it doesn't.  Writing when it's hard is what real writers do.
3) Write the rough draft.  Don't worry if it's not perfect.  That's what rewrites are for.  If there's nothing on the page there's nothing to fix later.

Reading out loud

I've given up, and believe me, it's about time.  I've given up on mediocrity and on sending off manuscripts that feel "good enough."  Good enough rarely is.

Reading the story out loud helped make this a reality.

Before I'd write a story.  Then I'd rewrite it, or at least give it a good editing, because that's what you're supposed to do.  Maybe I'd touch it up when I formatted the document to match the particular editor's submission guidelines.  Most likely though I'd send it off and just hope for the best.

That's probably one of the reasons the rejection letters far outweighed the acceptance ones.

It finally occurred to me that if I'm really going to pursue writing, I need to do it correctly.  And that means properly rewriting my work.

I finished my latest short story about an hour ago.  To date it may be the one I'm most proud of.  In the past I'd finish one and send it off when I could say, "That's not too bad."  This time I reworked it until I could say "I like this."

Here's what happened.  I wrote it.  Then I wrote reworked it into a second, more polished draft.  That's where I've usually stopped in the past.  I read through it again and improved it, and almost fell to the temptation of thinking it was finished.

I just wasn't that happy with it, and wasn't sure why though.  So I tried something that I've heard some writers do.  I read the story out loud.

Immediately, the parts that weren't working jumped out.  They practically attacked me.  What was hidden before now seemed obvious.  Some of the mistakes were with repeated words.  Some were clumsy sentences, which I'd already trimmed but still didn't work.  Some were embarrassing errors that likely would have sent my story to the rejected pile.  That's where it would have belonged.

I've never been able to bother with reading my work out loud before.  At least this time it made a world of difference.  Hopefully enough to garner a sale.

Moving forward strategy

There's no way to credit the people I stole this advice from.  Portions of this advice have been given in nearly every writing magazine, book and interview I've stumbled across.

Some of this feels original to me but that's just not true.

• Set a daily minimum for time spent written
• Set a weekly minimum for words written
• Keep editing and rewrites to a minimum until the first draft is completed
• Rewrite and then submit for publication
• Never end a writing session at the end of a scene.  If the scene has ended, start a new one before getting up.  If the story is finished, start a new story.

That last point is one of the best pieces of advice for me, and I so wish I knew where I heard it first.  It has made sitting down and working... not easy, but much easier.

I am a writer

"People come to me say and say I want to be a writer, what should I do? I say, write.  And sometimes they look at you as if you know the big secret and you're keeping it from them.  And sometimes people say, well I'm doing that.  What else should I do?  And I say you should finish what you write." Neil Gaiman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hXJx1tltOA

I am a writer.  It's what I have to remind myself of every day.  And what do writers do?  They write, that's what.

Years ago, like thousands of other would-be-authors, I told myself I would become a writer.  Three months later a wonderfully horrible short story came to life.  It had everything.  I showed and didn't tell.  The dialogue was stilted.  The ending was a classic deus ex machina, the rejection letter inevitable.

It was the first of multiple forays into writing.  Each time I've learned something and gotten better.  Until now I failed to learn the most basic part about writing: write.

Thinking about writing intoxicated me.  Reading about writing felt even better.  I devoured magazines and books describing the mechanics of creating fiction.  These activities took about 95% of my "writing" time.  See the problem?

So now I write.  I finish what I write.  I rewrite.  If it's good enough I send it off for publication.  And I start it over again.

So simple, right?  Neil's not the first or the last author to give that advice but somehow this time it clicked.

Thanks Neil.