NaNo 26: Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

I've never taken a picture of a turkey, but I tend to snap far too many pictures of big cats, so today, Lions will be representing Thanksgiving on this blog. ^_^

NaNo day 25: Thanks!

We are hours from Thanksgiving, (officially--sleep still needs to happen. LOL) and while I sometimes forget and mark the day down as a scary'food holiday', it really isn't. It is a day to remember our blessings and give thanks.

So, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone out there reading this blog. A lot of amazing things have happened this year, and I've been thrilled to be able to share them with you. Thanks for stopping by and sharing this bit of the net with me.

I hope you are well blessed, have safe travels if you are visiting, and have a wonderful holiday!

I bet a couple of you Wrimos are so near the finish line that you can taste it. (Or maybe you crossed it already?) Let's see those word counts!

NaNo 24: Piracy

I like pirates. The fictional kind. You know, big hats, swords, and a penchant for rum. I really like sky pirates in their clockwork ships.

I don’t like internet pirates. Not at all. They make me sad.

Google alerted me this morning that someone made a copy of OB available for download. It was suggested that I should feel flattered that someone liked my book enough to give it away. I don’t feel flattered. I want to cry.

On average, authors make 8% of the cover price from books (that means, on your average 7.99 mass market book the author makes about 64 cent) but they make 0% on pirated downloads. Everything comes down to numbers in publishing, so not only do pirated downloads affect an author’s bottom line, but they can actually jeopardize her ability to convince publishers to purchase future books from her. Which translates to no sequels, and the author possibly having to use a pseudonym to sell another series.

Now, one little download site on my one little book isn’t the biggest concern in the world, and I’ve already earned out my advance and received a second contract. But this is still not a happy thing. So, this is a friendly message to remind people that if you like something, whether it is a book, a song, a movie, ect., please support the artist, not the pirate.

Thank you everyone who already does support the artists. I *heart* you! ^_^

P.S. Sorry for the short rant, but it really did make me sad when the site showed up.

So, how are the word counts going? Let's see some numbers. I have one follow up question from Cher I’ll be addressing later this week, and then I'm out of questions. Does anyone else have any questions or topics they’d like me to address?

NaNo Day 22: Pay to play? No Way!

There has been a lot of internet chatter recently about a certain big press, Self-Publishing, and Vanity Publishing. I'm not going to go on a tirade here because other people have said it better, but I am going to hit the high points. So lets talk business.

In publishing:

Money should always flow toward the author.

Be wary of anyone who refers you to a service.

Do your research before you start querying.

Okay, I'll expand on each of those points in a moment, but first I guess I should explain why I'm thinking about this today. Earlier in the week, Harlequin announced their new vanity publishing venture. Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and Mystery Writers of America (probably the three largest and most influential writing organizations in the US) took a stand against Harlequin, and basically told them that if Harlequin was going to pee in the sand box, they weren't invited to play anymore.

Why would they do this? Because these organizations have their authors' best interests in mind, and vanity publishing isn't good for anyone but the publisher's pockets.

First, let me say that vanity publishing and self-publishing are two different things. Self-publishing occurs when an author decides to hire a press like LuLu.com to bind their book. They pay for this service and the supplies, and then they own X copies of their books which they sell at a price they determine. Vanity publishing is when the author pays (usually an exorbitant) fee to have their book published, and for that fee they then collect only a percentage of the sales--the publisher keeps the other percent.

Sound a little shady? It is.

The fact that Harlequin Horizons is set up as a vanity press, that it is being advertised on the Harlequin website, and that information about the press will be included in Harlequin rejection letters, is extremely shady. The fact that all of this is being done by one of the Mega NY Publishers is just down right terrifying. Personally, I'm glad the writing organizations are making a stand.

I'm going to steer off the topic of Harlequin in particular, but if you are interested in learning more, all the organizations I linked earlier have press releases, and author Jackie Kessler wrote some amazing blogs about it which you can find here and here.

Now, returning to the points I made earlier:

Money should always flow toward the author.

This means that if someone is asking you for money to publish or represent your work, you should take your words and run. Fast.

Publishers pay writers to write. That is the way it works. They need books to sell, writers produce those books, and publishers pay for the right to print them. When you sell a book, you should receive an 'advance' (advance against royalties) which is basically money the publisher gives the writer up front because they anticipate the book will sell well enough to (more than) earn out that advance. I'm not going to go into the nitty-gritty of money in this post (though if you're interested LViehl has an interesting post about the money breakdown for her recent NYT bestselling novel) I simply want to stress the point that you, the writer, should not be paying to be published. (Yes, shady vanity presses aside, self-publishing is a legitimate option for some people, and you do pay for that. There are a few very specific reasons a person might choose to self-publish, but for a novelist who wants a career in writing, it isn't really an option.)

So what about agents? They are the author's inside man with the publishers, and they aren't charity workers. They basically work for authors (strange relationship where they screen the person they work "for") but agents only make money when authors do. 15% is pretty much industry standard for agents. Fifteen percent of Zero isn't much, so your manuscript has to sell before your agent starts making money (which, I imagine, is why agents are so selective of who they take on as clients. They have to really love an authors work because they are working for free until that first MS sells.)
Red flags when dealing with prospective agents include reading fees, client dues, postage fees, and editing fees.

Be wary of anyone who refers you to a service.

This is where Harlequin is looking exceptionally shady. They are telling authors they aren't good enough for H to pay them to be published, but hey look, if you really want your book in print, you can pay H to print it. Also, some less than reputable agents refer green and gullible writers to in house editing services (which the author must pay for). This goes back to my first point. Watch out for scams.

Do your research before you start querying.

This is important on many different levels.

For starters, you want to make sure the agent or publisher you a querying is legitimate. A good idea is to check them out on sites like Preditors and Editors , Writer Beware, and the Absolute Write Forums.

But maybe you already know the agent/publisher is legit. You still have some research you need to do. You need to go to their website (or look them up in Publisher's Marketplace) and find out what they are looking for and what their submission guidelines are. Then you have to follow those guidelines. If the agent says they are looking for Women's Lit, Romance, and Mystery, don't send them your Science Fiction Space Opera--that's not what they are looking for. (And especially if they specifically say that are not looking for something, do not send them that type of novel anyway with a note that says 'I know you don't usually represent XYZ, but . . . ) If you are submitting to a publisher who says they accept a query letter and the first five pages, don't send thirty pages(and do send the first pages, not your favorite). It sounds like common sense, but you wouldn't believe the number of panels I've attended where agents and editors begged the audience to follow the guidelines. It will save you from unneeded frustration and a guaranteed rejection letter.

Okay, I'm going to end with that unless someone has questions (Anyone? Anyone?) because, wow, that ended up being really long. I wish I were being that verbose in my fiction today. LOL.

Here is my current word count:

31406 / 50000 words. 63% done!

How is everyone else doing? We have a full week and a weekend left, but that week is interrupted by a holiday. Will Thanksgiving give you extra time for words, or will you be juggling your wordcount and cooking/hosting/family/ect?


P.S. For those who haven't seen it yet, here is a video of me fire hooping last night.

NaNo day 21: Boring scenes? And FIRE!

I’m going to answer questions today, but first I want to talk a bit about, well, today.

Today was the annual lock-in. Every NaNo, my Co-ML and I host a day long write-in. The outcome of this event tends to be huge one day word gains (for me today that is about 5k words, but we’ve had two writers cross 10k for the day so far) as well as a lot of laughing and silliness because if you lock a dozen writers together for 14 hours, silliness occurs. The one thing we never get enough of at these events is exercise. So, abi showed up in the middle of the day with hoops to force the writers to move. He returned after dark for another exercise break (isn’t he awesome, and he’s leaving to run off to China) and this time he brought the fire hoop

Yes, if you are looking at the picture right now, that is me, on fire. Okay. No. I’m not on fire. The hoop is on fire. But still . . . It was just . . . amazing! This was my ‘virgin burn’ (which means this was the first time I’ve ever fire hooped) and wow, this is an experience I’ll never forget. It’s a rather chilly night, and while everything was being set up, I was wearing both a hoodie and shoes, but I stripped down to essentials once it was time to actually light the hoop. I was shivering both from excitement and the cold, but once the hoop was lit, I had enough fire around me (and I was moving enough) that I worked up a sweat. It was amazing, and the fire was encompassing, burning away the world. I couldn’t see past the fire swirling around me, and the roar drowned out the voices and music. Okay, it’s been over an hour, and my endorphins and adrenaline are still soaring, so I’ll stop sputtering and carrying on.

So, on to questions:

Kailia’s question: “have you ever had to write a boring part in your novel?- if so how in the world do you keep going...like how do you write to boring parts and get to the exciting good stuff? as i was writing yesterday, i had to fill in some space in between one action scene and another and i was getting annoyed writing the boring stuff....”

My answer: I’ve had to really think about this one. My first instinct is to say “if it’s a boring part, it doesn’t belong in the novel. Cut it.” But I’m not sure of the exact situation. There are certain scenes we look forward to writing more than other scenes. So maybe the ‘exciting stuff’ is just what you are anxious to write. I would hope that the ‘boring part’ is not actually boring.

If it is, or if you are honestly bored with it, you need to either scrap it or step back and evaluate what is wrong with the scene. You might be missing a key element or motivation that could give the scene back its zing. One thing is for sure, if you are bored while writing it, that boredom will show. (Just like your excitement shows in scenes you love.)

If it is a transition scene that is the problem, remember that the reader doesn’t have to follow the character through every waking moment. “Don’t walk the dog,” as they say. That means, cut, condense, and get through the ‘boring’ day to day stuff. Only keep scenes that progress your plot and develop your characters.

Does that make sense, Kailia? I might actually expand on this at a later date. It is a good topic.

Okay, if I don’t post this soon, it will be tomorrow instead of today. Here is my current wordcount:

30002 / 50000 words. 60% done!

How is everyone else doing? And since the first part of this post is about one of my hobbies, what (besides reading and writing) do you do for fun? Are you fitting any of it in with NaNo?

**updated to add a disclaimer** This is my 'don't try this at home folks' note about fire hooping. I was using a hoop specifically designed to be lit on fire; I did it under the guidance of someone who had experience fire hooping; I got a crash course in safety before we started; and we had safety measures standing by (as in, the entire time I was hooping, someone was standing about 15 feet away holding a fire blanket in case I caught fire, and we had a fire extinguisher in case I caught something on fire.) Please use proper safety measures anytime you play with fire.

NaNo day 19: Changing the routine

Today was a day of hard won words. The muse clearly gave me the finger and went her own way this morning. After a couple hours in front of the computer with a diminishing word count (I know, I know--no deleting in NaNo. Do as I say not as I do.) I decided it was time to switch things up, change the routine.

It is amazing how freeing it can be to do that. To step away from the pressure of the keyboard and write long hand for a while.

It helped. A lot. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to transcribe the words into the computer yet, so I haven't a clue my current word count.

So how was your day 19? We are about to be 2/3rds through the challenge. How is your story coming? Loving it? Hating it? Have you gotten stuck? Tried changing your routine, write somewhere else or with something else? Did it help? Let's see those word counts!

NaNo Day 18: The Process of writing a novel

Alright, back to answering questions. (Just one today, because this is a big one.)

Cher asked: What process to you go through during the writing of a novel? Also, something that keeps popping up is the use of scenes and sequels. I'm a little confused about the differences. I understand the functions but when I look at other's writing I can't point out which is which. Any suggestions or examples?

My answer: There are a couple different ways I could interpret this question, so if I don’t hit on what you are really asking for Cher, please let me know. (*Disclaimer* this is the process that works for me and I am not claiming it will work for everyone.)

Anyway, my process for writing a novel goes something like this:
I start out with brain storming sessions where I figure out my world and my characters. I tend to work with pen and paper in this stage, and the result is typically a mess. I rarely start with plot ideas, so this is truly just figuring out who I’m dealing with and what the world around her is like. My world and my main character tend to develop simultaneously. As I figure out what interests me about her, I learn about what the world around her must contain, and as the world fleshes out, I learn the rules and the pressures that will have shaped her. It is very organic—thus the mess. Once my idea start to solidify, I tend to write down the major rules to my world so I don’t forget. If I’m lucky, during this process, other characters and a plot have emerged, but not always.

The next step I take is what I call ‘post-it note plotting’. Basically, I write down every idea for a scene I have, in whatever order it hits me, on a post-it note. Then, once I have a whole lot of such scene ideas, I try to arrange them into a coherent plot. I blogged on this process a few years ago if you’d like to see a picture of a complete post-it note plot arc.I used to do this on actual post-it notes which I then stuck to my wall, but these days I use a program called scrivener which has an amazing outline/post-it note feature.

Now that I know the structure of my plot, I transfer the scene list from post-its to my computer. (Obviously, I now skip this because I use a program these days.) I then take this scene list and flesh it out into a full and fairly detailed outline. I have yet to write one of these the same. My first outline was based on time. Night one: list of scenes of occurred on that night in order. One outline I structured based on key points such as ordinary world, inciting incident, rising action, turning point one, ect. and listed the corresponding scenes under those points. I’ve written outlines broken down by chapters. I tend to go with whatever feels ‘right’ in my head at the time I’m organizing. It’s very trial and error for me. As you’ve probably noticed from my early posts this month, I didn’t actually go through any of the stages I’ve mentioned for this year’s NaNo novel—that is one reason it is stalling out at times. I’m a plotter and I like the road map, even if I don’t follow it. (Oh yes, I should have mentioned that. Despite the fact I write very detailed outlines, I still deviate from them as I write, but they do let me know where it is I think I should be should I get stuck.)

After all the pre-writting stuff, all that is left is to sit down and write the novel. (Easier said than done, right?) Once I start writing, my only processes to to write one word after another. I know that doesn’t sound very helpful, but it is true. In a first draft, my concern is to get the story down on the page. I don’t consciously focus on scene and sequel, or the heroes journey, or any of the writing rules I’ve studied. I just write the story.

I’ve taken numerous online writing courses, read dozens if not hundreds of writing craft books, and sat down and picked apart my favorite novels for how and why their writing worked for me. As I sit down to write a first draft, it is my hope that all the information I’ve gained has merged with my subconscious and my inner story-teller so it will be applied without my conscious effort as I write. Also, with any luck, my pre-writing plotting has already dealt with things like character motivation and logic issues, so they are already in place when I write.

Once the first draft is finished and the whole story is on the page, I start worrying about consciously applying writing principles. I evaluate the story as a whole and by scenes. I’m condensing what is actually a whole lot of work into a couple sentences, but I’m not really sure how to explain revisions. There are Macro story edits where I evaluate logic ensure I have rising tension through out the scenes, that characters grow, that I don’t drop story threads, and such. Then there are more micro edits where I look to ensure each scene serves a purpose to the story (or better yet, two or more purposes) as in, does the scene progress the plot, show character development, create tension, ect. and does the scene start and end at the correct spot. (As in, not too far before or after the main purpose and action.) Then I go to the very micro edits where I evaluate the flow to sentences and my word choice. After all this and some polishing, I send the manuscript out to my critique partners so they can poke holes in it. After more revisions, the MS then goes to editors, who poke even more holes in it. Yet more revisions, and then I have a very tight book which (hopefully) won’t have any holes left for readers to find.

So, that is my whole process, from idea to polished manuscript.

As far as your question about scene and sequel in particular, I have read books and taken classes on the subject, but I have the same issue you have Cher. I understand the principle, but I can’t tend to pick them out unless there is an obvious ‘rest’ beat. By the way, that is how I tend to think about scene and sequel—scenes are ‘action’ beats where the character is actively taking action to achieve a goal and sequel I translate to a ‘rest’ beat when the character is reflecting/planning/deciding what action to take next. The important thing to remember is to keep ever increasing tension in the story. Even in a ‘rest’ beat, the end result is the decision to take action (always better when the decision is between two bad choices.) Make sense? Like I said, I don’t consciously write thinking “okay, this is a scene. Now this one is a sequel.” I just tell my story, and hope that I’ve assimilated enough of these principles that I follow them subconsciously.

For more about writing craft, here are books and classes I highly recommend:
Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham —This is a great book both about the structure of single scenes, and the structure of scenes throughout an entire book.
Goal Motivation Conflict by Debra Dixon —This is an amazing book to help make sure your characters are moving forward logically and that you throw the right things in their path.
Self-editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King —This is a micro editing style book—I love it. (This is also part of the grand prize package for the NaNo competition)
Margie Lawson Teaches several amazing classes, in particular the EDITS class, which help you break down your scenes and really see what you have on the page.
Mary Buckham Teaches an amazing class called POWER PACING. I highly recommend it. She is also the co-author of the craft book Break into Fiction.

Okay. This has been an obscenely long post. So I’m signing off with my wordcount:

25551 / 50000 words. 51% done!

How is everyone else doing? Cher, did that answer your question? I have only one more question to answer, unless anyone would like to chime in with more. Feel free to ask!