Is an Outline Required to Write Fiction?

I want to share with you a five minute tip from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. As a member of that organization I have discovered a wealth of information within the network of service providers and fellow writers. This past year Cassy joined the Board and started presenting 5 Minute Tips for writers and others in the publishing industry.

Here is 5 minute tip on the scientific reasons why an outline is not necessarily needed to write fiction.

 

Many of these tips hold little gems. Take five minutes and check them out. And now I don’t feel so bad about not outlining an entire book before writing it.

How do you start writing your fiction? Do you use an outline of any kind or do you just start writing or typing?

 

Visualizing P.O.V.: are you head hopping?

I am a multiple award winning author of science fiction, fantasy, and children’s books, stories, and articles. I adore reading science fiction and fantasy. One thing I’ve noticed, particularly in books and stories published in the past fifteen to twenty years is that there is a lot, A LOT, of head hopping in the majority of books within the genre.

Not that this is totally bad because I’ve read a lot and I still understand and enjoy the stories. BUT, does a reader really need to know how a minor character is feeling or what they’re thinking every time they speak? Shouldn’t their words and actions be enough that the reader does not need to get inside their heads?  A thought to consider: how many characters can a reader keep track of? Does the reader have to know or see the point of view of every character in every scene?

This was the situation I was faced with on my first book. I did not know I was head hopping between more than thirteen characters until my editor gently pointed it out after reading the manuscript for the first time. She gave it back to me saying “Your first task is to rewrite every scene from a single point of view and I want you to choose a maximum of five P.O.V. characters to write from.” I was surprised and a bit devastated. The manuscript was over 110,000 words long! It was a daunting exercise. We discussed which characters were of greatest importance and I whittled it down to five. It turned into an interesting exercise and one I ended up enjoying. I also reduced the word count to around 86,000 words, which turned out to be more manageable, too. I could see that the story was tighter, cleaner, and, to my surprise, better. And I also ended up getting to know my main characters better, which made for that better story.

After The Blood was published in 2014, I had to laugh at one of the reviews. A reader stated that they really enjoyed reading it, but they considered the per chapter or scene single point of view as unusual. It was unexpected and very cool. He did not understand “how” I could tell such a good story with only five points of view and there was only one P.O.V. at a time! Evidently they were fans of head hopping and my book was a totally different experience. Now, in 2019, I see that as a huge compliment and I will work hard to maintain this style of writing.

So when I started working on the second book, The Balance, I actually wrote it with only four points of view. The third book, The Blades, coming out later this year (2019), has those same four points of view and the fourth book, The Seventh Stone, still has four points of view with the fourth P.O.V. being a different character (she was introduced in The Balance and became a bit more important in The Blades – so she finally becomes important enough to be a point of view character in #4).

This entire process of learning how to manage multiple points of view without being in everyone’s head, led me to try a visual way to see how balanced my presentation was. This is what I came up with:

I set up a white board on an easel and then got pads of  3″ x 3″ “sticky” notes in five different colors. I then assigned a specific color to each character – writing the character’s name near the top of each note. Then the time consuming part, I read the draft and for each scene, after verifying that the scene was truly from a single point of view, I added the chapter number and the scene number (some chapters had multiple scenes in the same point of view and I needed to know how many scenes were in each chapter) at the top then wrote a brief summary of the scene with a desired maximum of four sentences. The first note was placed in the upper left hand corner of the white board. The second note/scene was place below that. I worked top to bottom then left to right. Sometimes I was not cryptic enough and I needed more than one note to summarize the scene. These longer notes were tucked beneath the first.

I discovered several things during this process. First, I could SEE if any one point of view was lacking in or was overpowering the story. Second, I could use the summarized scenes as an outline for a story summary if an agent might request one. I knew that if I typed the notes up I could further edit to pick out only the highlights. Third, the colored notes could help me describe a particular character arc. But the best part of it was the visual representation of the points of view.

Throughout the process I did find occasional scenes where I had bounced between two character’s P.O.V. and I was able to efficiently correct those as I went along. Sometimes I decided to change the P.O.V. to get across the action and information differently. I did wait until the draft was complete and I had started my first round of editing. I went through a total of three rounds of self editing before sending it to my editor. She stated that it was markedly better than the first draft she received of the first book with its thirteen points of view. It was easier and faster for her to do her job. She could already focus on the bigger picture of the story instead of worrying about any head hopping on my part. All this meant we ended up with fewer back and forth rounds of editing which led to less money out of my pocket in less time for a better end product.

It turned out to be such a great exercise that I used it with the third book. Again I waited until the first full draft was complete before I set up the white board again. With the third book I was astounded to SEE that I had neglected the antagonist’s point of view which I had opened the book with until nearly the end – the last five chapters his P.O.V. showed up four times. The same week I had finished the P.O.V. and scene layout, my beta reader called me to tell me I was missing some scenes in the middle. She pointed out that she kept wondering what the antagonist was up to and she suggested I add two to four scenes or chapters from his P.O.V.. I did so and the color pattern looked much better and the story was more compelling.

So, my question to you is: Are you head hopping? Are you getting inside every character and seeing the action through their eyes in every chapter? Are you bouncing around so much the reader doesn’t know who the main character/s is/are? I’m not saying this is wrong, many well known authors do it particularly in science fiction and fantasy, but you might want to consider trying a different technique. Here’s how: First, choose a maximum of five points of view. Second, keep each chapter or chapter break in a single P.O.V.. Then step back and study the picture of your book. Why not give color-coded P.O.V. and scene breakouts a try. Some other ways to use this technique include: If you have a single P.O.V. you could do a simpler layout by chapter and scenes within a chapter. And you might try color coding rising and falling action or even the amount of narrative, exposition, and dialogue. Any way you use it, you’ll SEE your book in a whole new way.

 

 

Sometimes ideas need to percolate

Editing once again is the topic. There are times when you know your editor is correct about the need to remove a non P.O.V. character from a scene but you originally had them in the scene for a specific reason, which has been debunked by said editor. While you charge directly into the scene and start deleting you discover that it is not so easy to just delete the character. You are now so frustrated that you’ve spent the last two days trying to figure out how to rewrite the scene and you’ve gotten nothing accomplished. You need to get past this road block that has gotten larger by the hour.  The pressure is on and it is burying you.

Sometimes you have to let go and let the ideas percolate a bit. You need to set the manuscript aside and go read something entirely different – I’m reading a slutty, historical romance with all its “silliness” and over-written-heart-pounding, intimate descriptions. It’s been fun. I’ve smiled. I’ve laughed. I’ve escaped. Most importantly, I’ve let my subconscious work on my problem.

I went to bed last night asking the characters to help me. This morning in the shower (dreams and water often combine to get my imagination rolling in the correct direction), I discovered the solution.

During those two days of frustration I had packed a lot into the scene’s rewrites, trying all sorts of manipulations but nothing seemed to fit. I was digging the hole deeper (yes, I know that’s a cliche, but it works). By climbing out of the hole and doing something different to escape the self applied pressure, I allowed the characters to come up with a solution in my subconscious. You should know that my characters often pester me in dreams. No, I don’t believe I’m crazy because they really do help. I just have to be patient until they are ready to show me what they think will happen. I stopped the digging so I could calm down and hear what they had to say.

I likened the experience to making coffee. You can’t make it without grinding up the beans (your ideas) and putting them into a strainer. Then you have to pour the hot water over the grounds and you have to give the water time to flow over and through each grain, lifting out the best of each to color and flavor the water – That’s the percolation part. The results are then released into the mug (your brain) for you to enjoy. Savor the results because you now have the correct idea on how to proceed.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The next time you have a serious stumbling block (this is not writer’s block), you should put the draft away and go do something different – allow your subconscious to percolate the perfect mug of coffee for you.  I’m off to savor my mug of hot coffee and get back to work. Are you?

Don’t trust auto correct -it’s probably wrong.

I am eighty pages into resolving the edits suggested by my editor on the third book of my science fiction series. I am frustrated with Word telling me where and when to put commas that are in direct contradiction with my editor’s markings.  Generally I am hedging my bets on my editor and The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)  Therefore, every time Word underlines the comma I go back to my notes and the CMS do it that way and then try to laugh it off. It is important to not trust auto correct application. It has nothing on CMS  and is often incorrect. Keep CMS within reach and take the time to study up on your own foibles.

In addition to CMS, I have a dictionary at my right elbow so I don’t have to reach for it every time I want to check my spelling (auto correct can be devious so check it in the dictionary) or if two words should be one (check out everyone and every one for example — they are different and you need to know which to use) or hyphenated or not. It is making my writing interesting because I often find myself reading it, and I am discovering how fascinating our language is.

The only down side is the increased amount of time needed to resolve the edits. In the meantime, I hope I’m becoming a better writer and the next book will have fewer corrections needed. Every mistake I commit costs me in time and money. I continue to learn how to write the best story in the best way.

Marketing Step #1 – listen to self and DO IT!

To be honest, marketing terrifies me. I feel totally inadequate and uneducated. Most of the book marketing I see and read is focused on nonfiction. I write science fiction and fantasy. I’ve been told it is much easier to market nonfiction than any type of fiction. As I look over the past four years I realize I have allowed my fear of bucking that statement to keep me from doing just that. I have set up a website, http://www.timberdark.com (which needs a lot of work), a Facebook page, https:// facebook.com/timberdarkpublications (which I do pay attention to almost on a daily basis – my one good marketing exercise), and I also have this blog, https://timberdarkwriter.wordpress.com (I am not nearly as consistent in posting here but part of the plan is to improve on that). So I am not totally without a couple of marketing opportunities. They can all be better, more visitor friendly, and less confusing for me to update.

The odd thing is, two years ago I was asked to present a seminar on how to get started using social media to market the square dance activity.  I did quite a bit of research and pretty  much overwhelmed a group of dancers representing square dance clubs from across the state of Colorado, most of whom were over the age of 65. I presented info on five of the top social media platforms and instructions on how to set up accounts and suggestions on what to post on each. However, I encouraged attendees to just pick one or two to start with. I did not let them know how afraid I was (and still am) of the whole marketing process. I am not currently a whiz at any of this. My learning curve is pretty high and long – BUT I CAN LEARN (at least I keep telling myself).

As stated above I do have three platforms to work on. So, what’s my problem? FEAR. Fear of not being the best or at least better. Fear of knowing how amateurish my website is and knowing how technically challenged I am. Fear of how lame some visitors may view my postings on my blog or my Facebook page. Fear of success. Yes, fear of succeeding is a big one. But, I have to improve on what I have right now before that happens so I have time to accustom myself to success when it comes. Because I must face my fears I returned to my seminar notes and adjusted them to focus on my books and the three platforms that I have at least set up and can improve on. While taking positive steps forward toward improvement I need to keep the following points in mind (a portion of my marketing seminar follows as adjusted to marketing my science fiction books):

You want to find people to buy your product – your book. Every reader is an advertiser whether they want to be or not. What message are you sharing? If no one is talking about you and your books then no one is talking about you and your books.  So, start talking – don’t keep this a secret. There are thousands of people who are looking for a good book to read. Let them know where, when, how, who, and most importantly, WHY they should choose your books. Common responses heard when asked why a reader reads a fiction book are “I enjoy escaping to different worlds.” “It got me thinking.” “I couldn’t put it down.” “I stayed up all night to find out how it ended.” “I can’t wait for the next one.” “I didn’t want it to end.” Have you written a book that receives these types of comments?

You don’t have to become an expert on the internet. All you really need is the desire to learn how social media works, a marketing plan that works for you and a way to measure your results. You can learn how to take advantage of online tools that are mostly free. Social media helps you find people who are looking for relationships. Use social media to develop relationships with people to get to know, like, trust you and only then will they buy what you are selling – books, editing, articles, techniques to write better, etc.

Social media allows us to let people know what’s happening with my writing and how to become a partner in that “happening.”  Current marketing trends are changing to a more social approach where the prospect decides when and where he gets the information. We no longer search for the news — the news finds us. We will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media. Social media is not a fad; it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. But if I present something interesting that draws your interest, that draws you in, you are more likely to participate in the conversation and then in the activity.

You can’t pay them to like you or your books but you can encourage them to enjoy your company and the stories you offer as entertainment. And if they decide they don’t like it – okay – go find more people to invite. Be useful – would people thank you for your post? Put yourself in the shoes of potential readers. What do they want to hear, see, or participate in? Don’t talk to people – talk with them about your process, your ideas, your struggles, what books you enjoy or have recently read – Social Media is about sharing not selling.

Don’t want to throw your books at them–Draw them into your world. Post something small on a consistent basis – it builds authenticity. Be honest. Be warm. Be authentic. Be real. Be yourself. Have an opinion! It’s okay to make people angry but be responsible and respectful. There is nothing wrong with being disagreeable or to disagree with an opinion as long as you’re not rude about it. Treat them as if they are in front of you – as if they are in the same room. Never say anything on social media you wouldn’t want known as common knowledge. Never post when you are upset.

Be Positive in how you word your posts. Example: “Do Not Close” why not word it “Keep Open”. Which is more positive? This is especially important for non-English speakers – often the middle words get dropped as unimportant. Keep it simple.

What do you hope to gain from using social media? Conversation, sentiment analysis (are people over all happy with your product?), reputation management (what are people saying about you, your books, etc.). What are you marketing? For me it is entertainment first and then maybe some thoughts on identity and how it changes. These are things you can talk about within your posts, to open up conversations. What is the theme of your book/series? How do you learn new skills or techniques – have you read some one else’s post that has helped you write better? SHARE those postings with your followers, SHARE YOU. Don’t sell your book – Sell you.

So, if I listen to myself what are the next steps I need to take? I need to be consistent with postings and not just to Facebook. Make appointments to write blog posts and DO IT. I need to get out more by attending book signings for authors (who may or may not write in my genres), to find writing/reading communities in my genres and attend gatherings. I need to listen more, share more, read more. I need to visit other author websites, Facebook pages, Goodreads pages, etc. to hear what they are talking about. I need to join the conversations. I need to ask for help when I get stuck and then act on it. DO IT!

 

 

 

 

Writing is just a series of questions and decisions.

Deciding what to write, whether in a blog, a short story, novel, nonfiction article, children’s, YA, or adult is just a simple decision, right? A decision, yes. Simple? No.

Is it just picking up a pen or pencil or turning on a computer and start typing? Not really, though sometimes that’s a start. Sometimes we just need to start. But start where? At the beginning. With individual letters, then words, then phrases, then a sentence. Then what? Yes, you start asking questions. What if? or Why? are the most popular. Then you discover a character or an idea to research. The questions you now get to ask include things like what’s his name, what’s she look like, how is that made, what happened when, what’s one thing about him that he keeps secret, or she dreams of accomplishing? Should people know about this? What happens to this character? Why?  Okay, now you are getting to the point of writing a story or an article. Have you written these questions and their answers down?

Now you get to choose an audience for your story or article. More decisions. Who is interested in what you want to write about? How are you going to convey your information?

Next decision may be how are you going to get what you’re writing to them? That often leads to a much longer set of decisions such as do you want to learn how to market what you’ve written, or do you need help? Can you afford doing it yourself (less time to concentrate on writing) or paying someone else to do it for you?

Every step in the process demands you answer a new set of questions. All the way to the finish line – publication. Is that the end of the questions? Probably not, because, what are you going to write next?

 

Summer Word Count? It Changes – daily

Through a Facebook post by another author I was asked what my word count was this summer. I was kind of surprised at my reaction of “Well, it depends.”

First, I don’t know about you but I think my word count for the first two months of the 2018 summer is pretty high – just over 40,000 since June 1st – in the draft of the third book of my sci/fi series (this count does not include any of the newsletters I write, or posts I make on my personal Facebook page, on my business page (TimberDark Publications, LLC), on pages or groups I am an administrator for (Square Dance Etc, The Lloyd Shaw Foundation, and Callers Partners Committee), or the uncounted emails I send out for various entities such as my P.E.O. Chapter. Neither does it include posts here on my blog – which I admit I have been slacking on for the above reasons. I don’t want to count the words on all that other stuff. The important word count, for me, is for the third book of my series. And that changes or at least will change and vary, up and down, on a daily basis once the full draft is done (any day now). I should also let you know that I had planned on writing a classic trilogy for the main story with an optional two additional books for side stories. But when I looked at the number of loose ends and sub-stories that I needed to clean up after publishing the second book I realized that a single third book would easily be over 800 pages. I was adamant about NOT doing that. Book one has 362 pages and book two has 384 pages. So I divided the proposed #3 and choose which story lines to focus on ending and which to continue to the fourth. 

This coming week I hope to complete the full rough draft of the third book. Then, the work really begins. After a day or two of not looking at it at all (I’m challenging myself to do that!), I will go back to the beginning of the document and start editing – aiming to cut 30,000, particularly from the first half of the currently 134,000+ draft, though, if the story needs to be over 100,000 then it will be (I think I can tighten it up enough and hoping to keep it under 400 pages). Such is the life of a writer – write a bunch-cut a bunch-add a bunch-cut a bunch. See-sawing back and forth to create a great story. I actually love this part of the process.

I tried a ‘new’ process on this third book. Start from a para-graphical outline and fill in the scenes to get me from one high point to the next. I entered the word Chapter and inserted one or two sentences about what I thought should happen. Then I went back to the beginning and started filling in. I had to work at not going back and edit each chapter or scene shortly after having written them. I did make notes in margins about questions of who knew what when, spellings of alien names, words that needed to be added to the glossary at the end, etc.

One of my problems is the characters seem to have minds of their own and go off and do or say their thing – they force my fingers to type! Thus, sometimes they come up with crap and sometimes I actually need to pay attention because it is so very good and right. On this draft I have left all of that in – with cautionary notes like “do I really want to go in this direction?” in the margins. So, some of the edits will be fairly easy – I’ll just cut.

But when I looked at my opening notes yesterday, I saw some ideas I am pretty sure were not included but that I think should be. So, editing involves adding words, too. Editing is not just about cutting it’s about making the story better.

So, should I be worried about the higher than anticipated word count on a rough draft? Not necessarily. At least I have plenty to work with and I’m more than comfortable with that. And starting next week the fun/work begins.

When do you start worrying about word counts? Should a series stick to a ball-park figure book to book or is it dependent on how many the words the story needs? Will I have negative word counts – I hope so.

Marketing is HARD – but I can learn how!

I now have two beautiful bookmarks, one for each book, and a hanging banner, two and a half feet by six feet. These were made because I shared a table with another fantasy writer at the 2017 Starfest Science Fiction/Fantasy Fan Convention in April. I received all three items in time to do a trial run of the banner and bookmarks at a much smaller convention (dance oriented not scifi or fantasy) two weeks prior to the Starfest Convention to good success. At this much smaller convention I had expected to sell a couple of books, mostly to individuals who I knew had purchased the first book of the series and were expecting me to have the second with me. I ended up selling a dozen

books and connected with three other dancer leaders who were also writers. I decided that was a fluke and just good timing and placement. The fact I had both books available probably accounted for many of the sales. When I returned home from the dance convention and faced the knowledge that I was jumping off the next cliff by being at an author table at one of the first fan-based conventions I felt more than a bit overwhelmed. I chose to approach this first genre specific convention with the intention of just being there, enjoying the happenings, make connections with readers and other authors as well as get the word out and begin creating a buzz – not just to sell a bunch of books. Whether I sold one book or all 75 that I had on hand I planned to be happy. Marketing is hard and it takes a lot of time to do on your own.

That being said I sold six books. I count that as success! I am slowly learning and adding to my knowledge. I am not trying to do everything at the same time – first thing was to write a good story. Then I brought in a talented network of specialists who make my books and marketing efforts better (editors, proofreaders, book cover and interior designers, eBook transformers, etc). I made inroads to building a presence on Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon.com, LinkedIn, and am very slowly updating my website and trying to keep active on my blog.

The exciting thing about the banner and the bookmarks is that people SEE them, not necessarily me at the table with a pile of books. They don’t HAVE to come over and ask what I am writing the banner, in particular, announces to everyone who walked by our table what was available – often we’d see people pause in their hurry to get to the main auditorium to look at our banners. Just noticing that they slowed long enough to get a visual was a mark of success. We both received positive attention and many of those who paused returned for closer examination of what we offered. They talked with us about our books, our ideas, what was next, and a lot of other fun stuff.

And between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year, 2017, I joined nine other authors at the Georgetown Christmas Market in Georgetown, Colorado, about 45 minutes west of Denver. One of the fun things about that event was the two people who recognized the banner and books from the Starfest Convention in April 2017! I had not yet decided whether I would do Starfest this year (2018) and when both asked if I was planning to be at the upcoming convention again I immediately said yes without much thinking – thus booking a weekend in April 2018. At least one of those people actually came looking for me at the event – bringing a friend to buy both books at her recommendation. I sold over a dozen books during the two day event. Then the woman asked if I was going to have the third book ready in time for the Georgetown Christmas Market in December 2018, because she was planning to come up. I’m guessing that an audience for my stories are building – however slowly, it is cool to be recognized as an author. So, the banner, the book marks, business cards, etc. all have helped get my books in front of people/readers. These are tools I will continue to build on to increase the marketing of my stories.

More excursions into different ways of marketing fiction are being planned – I’m getting some help because I cannot do it all and with help in areas of technology that I know I am lacking, I am beginning to get the word out on these two award winning books even as I have been working on the next book because readers are demanding the third book. Marketing also involves letting readers know that the third book is well under way and the good news is that the rough draft was completed this week! Now for the editing.

While I am busy writing, editing, expanding my knowledge of marketing fiction, and catching up on my stack of books to read (yes, authors do read other authors’ books. It helps us become better writers), I am hoping readers help spread the word. I encourage you to ask me questions, send me comments, and please post a review if you enjoyed reading The Blood and/or The Balance.

• P.S. By winning a Second Place in the 2017 CIPA EVVY Awards in the science fiction category, The Balance joins book one, The Blood, as an award winning book. Of course, my editor points out that this means the third book should, obviously, be good enough to garner a first place award. No pressure there!

Two Too Long Reads

I am in a different place today than I was last year. But I found this to be relevant as pertaining to length of books, particularly fantasies or science fiction. Even though I did break up the proposed third book of my series to become two I find myself writing well over 102,400 words so far on the third installment. Not where I thought it would be. I am cruising into the final scenes and action and then will return to the beginning and begin first round of editing – hope to cut a lot of words. Below is where I was at one year ago – reading two too long books. Oh, I did finish The Curse Breaker: Enchanted before the end of 2017. Still frustrated and not sure I want to go through the process again with a sequel. I have my own to write and, today, I am praying my third book, The Blades: The Stone’s Blade, Book Three will not drag on and on and the ending will tie up some loose sub-stories while intriguing the reader to continue to follow the characters as they and their societies discover their true past and embrace their new identities. So on with my thoughts and reactions to two books from a year ago.

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Below are reactions to two of my most recent reads (in early 2017). Both are fantasies. Over the past several weeks I have wondered how I managed to start two “long” books at the same time. I am a bit miffed with myself for trying to do these, perhaps, overly long diatribes (at least one of them) while working to publish a quarterly publication for a nonprofit organization and get a handle on the third book of my own science fiction/fantasy series. Now I am glad I realized that I needed to split the proposed third book and now have a fourth in the planning stages. I really don’t want to publish a book over 400 pages. Book one, The Blood, has 362 pages and book two, The Balance has 382 pages. So, anyway, here is my take on two different fantasies that are a bit long winded.

The Curse Breaker: Enchanted by Melinda Kucsera. I have struggled with this one. I abandoned it after Chapter 77 and was only about 60% through the book. A very long book that is taking way too long to get to the point. I have put it down for weeks at a time but still try to come back to it so there is something to the story but then it gets bogged down again and I put it down. At 564 pages for the print book and well over 100 chapters (actually 137) it is almost boring in many places. Too often I feel like I’ve been at some point more than once. I just want the author to get on with it. I think a good editing job would bring it under 400 pages and there’d be more action and it would hold the attention of many readers better. It feels like the author is telling the story in a very roundabout way, not wanting it to end – maybe she’s stuck in the labyrinthine maze of tunnels under the mountainous weight of the story. She seems to have included all the cut scenes (or scenes that should have been cut). I want to finish reading but I have other things to do that require my time and energies. Perhaps I will return to finish it. I thought I might be the only one who thought this was too long and repetitive, but there were several reviewers on the same page as me. The author refuses to end it just as Sarn refuses The Queen of All Trees’ summons, refuses to help himself (so far at 60% into it), and refuses to accept his magic, etc. Perhaps this type of journey story is not my favorite cup of tea, as another reviewer put it – for me the tea got cold thirty chapters ago.

I have abandoned only one other book so far, but feel like I am wasting time, spinning wheels, or being led down another twisting endless tunnel with no end in sight. Too bad, I had hopes for this one.

The Emperor’s Blades, by Brian Stavely. Another long read. Finally hit its stride about page 167. After that my reading speed went up as did my interest in the story. I liked how Staveley handled the P.O.V.s, even though the book begins with Adare and it is a long time before she is back – almost forgot about her. Most of the book concentrates on the brothers so it is almost a shock whenever Adare’s story appears. A bit on the gruesome side which is sadly typical for many of today’s fantasies. Cruelty makes people better? I wonder.

That being said, I am still intrigued with the “story” as a whole and am curious about the second installment.

At least I finished this one!

Have you abandoned a book? Did you ever return to it and finish reading?

Thoughts Brought on by Hugh Howey’s Blog

I just read “Writing Insights Part One: Becoming a Writer” on Hugh Howey’s blog,  Hugh Howey, the Wayfinder. The first of a four part series. It has started me thinking, given me support, and inspired different thinking when it comes to marketing. I find much of Howey’s ten things he wished he’d known before he started writing hits directly on me. I understand what he is saying. I have either been there, am there right now, or will be there. It is a relief to know that I am not the only one whose first real attempt at writing something I thought might be publishable was when I was a teenager and that it was more than twenty years later before that particular attempt became a finished product. It is a relief to know that it is okay to want to write and read – to need to write and read. It is a relief to know there are readers out there looking for my books, my stories – I just have to write them first. Then once they are written I can spend the time marketing them to those readers. But I have to write them first.

Howey suggests getting five to six books published before really diving into marketing. I am not quite halfway there. So in the mean time how do I get the word out? How do I build that 1,000 followers who will demand my books, share my books, talk about my books? Do I have to figure out how at the same I should be writing? Can I do multiple things at the same time? Should I spend money on getting someone to help me in this area just as I have hired an editor, book designer,  proofreader, and e-book transformer? I know I am struggling in this marketing portion. I know I can’t do it all. How can I get those readers who seem to like what I’ve written so far to help me?

And I have a several readers who are passionate about what I am writing. Some of them are helping me get the word out by telling their libraries to get copies of my books; by telling their friends to get my books; and they are buying books to give to others because they want to share their excitement and enjoyment for what I am writing. They are demanding the next book. I am learning from them – becoming a better writer. I am filled with energy and ideas that I receive from conversations with them about my books. I still have a long way to go. I know I have to get the third book of the scifi series out. That it has to be better than book number two, which was better than book number one. Each one will be better than the last – at least that is my goal. (see my blog about Another Award Winner!)

I am listening to those readers who talk to me. Their voices are filled with excitement. Their body language is animated. They ask lots of questions. Some I won’t answer. Some I can’t – not yet. They give me ideas, they explain their thoughts on why I wrote something, or what they hope I will include or what they hope will happen. They tell me how much they like my writing style, my author’s voice. Sometimes I wish they would write it all down and post to their Goodreads pages, to Amazon, to my Facebook pages, to LinkedIn, and to my blog page. I wish they would go to my website and write down these comments, questions, etc. I so enjoy seeing them, hearing them and I want to share their enthusiasm. Right now these interactions happen between tips at a dance event, during an interlude at a meeting, late a night after an event while Bob & I are trying to clean up a hall or just before an event is to happen and we are setting up.  I am trying to figure out how to let others hear and see their reactions to what I am writing. And I realize that while I am trying to research and learn how to share that, I am not writing the next chapter of the next book. The few I have so far, already really want the third and fourth books, as soon as possible. So, I am in a quandary. Write? Market? Both?