Adrian Stephens's Blog - Posts Tagged "31-days-to-life"
First, I apologize for being absent for a while. I've been in writing mode, which means I've been working on my latest novel, and neglecting my blog. At the end of this blog, you'll find an update on my latest novel!
It occurred to me as I was deciding what to write about, and being so busy right now, that my time is as much in demand as when I wrote In My Shoes. I've had plenty of people ask me either how I came about writing In My Shoes or how I found the time to do it. It's tough sometimes. But, for those of you out there who aspire to be authors, I thought I'd share my experience.
I started writing In My Shoes around June of 2009. To that point, I had come up with some ideas and written a little something down here or there. Nothing really substantial. With those ideas, it wasn't that the ideas didn't inspire me to write, but rather at that point I wasn't sure how to develop them. I figured I would save what I had and wait for the inspiration to come to me. With In My Shoes, the idea, the story development, the characters...let's just say it was all there in my head and, for the first time, had the inspiration to do it.
I had never considered myself a writer, and I had never been one with a plethora of confidence in my ability to do anything artistic. I'm not saying I never did anything with arts...I like to play piano, sing, draw, you name it...I just never had confidence in my abilities to do any of those things.
I can't tell you the exact date, or exactly what my thought process was when the idea came to me, but I do remember sitting at my computer one day and having this idea for a boy and girl who switched bodies. The body swap story has certainly been done before. What I wanted was to create a story that specifically dealt with the awkwardness that would occur from being in someone from the opposite sex's body. When trying to determine the best age of my characters, I remembered back to the awkwardness I (and I think most people) felt as a teenager. So much changes in our teenage years. We are learning so much and are just trying to figure out where we fit in and what is normal. By the time we reach high school, I think most of us have become more comfortable and confident (if not too confident) with who we are, how our bodies work, and we are more sure where we fit in. I thought that would be the perfect place to put my characters...at the point where they think they've got it pretty well figured out.
So, I had the age decided for my main characters. I thought about what would be involved in switching bodies. I did a lot of research. I thought about how it would feel to know someone is walking around in your body. I would want to make sure that person knew everything they could about me, so I didn't end up looking like a fool. I thought about how difficult it truly would be to pull something like that off, and realized that, if it were possible to switch bodies with someone, the only way you could really pull it off without people knowing was if you had a lot of similarities to start with. I've seen stories/movies where one character was an unintelligent, obnoxious jerk, and the other was a more refined, thoughtful, intellect. Really...how could that work? I didn't think it could, so I felt my main characters should be smart enough to be able to pull it off, and have some fundamental characteristics in common.
I thought about my target audience...who did I want to read it? Everyone! Really, though, I wanted to make a story that teens could read and relate to as they are dealing with some of that awkwardness we all have experienced in our life. At the same time, I wanted adults to be able to read it and reflect back on their experiences. Let's face it, surviving our teenage years is a learning experience. We change the way we look, talk, walk...we are a work-in-progress. That's what I wanted people to get out of it, all the while, I wanted them to be able to laugh a lot. I know how it feels to read a book you just can't put down. That's what I wanted for those who were going to take the time to read my book.
In order for boys and girls, men and women all to be able to fully enjoy it, I really felt like the story needed to be told, at time, from each of their points of view. So, I wrote down, mapped out really, every key situation I wanted to happen in the story, and I started assigning them to days. I realized that, if I was strategic, I could flip the point of view systematically. I rearranged some situations, and I had my blueprint.
I had everything ready to go. I had only two problems...I had never started writing a novel (aside from the brief, undeveloped blurbs mentioned above) and I had no time to write. The first problem was easy enough to fix. I just sat down at my computer and started writing. I knew I needed to have something jump out at the reader from the start. Something that makes the reader want to read the next sentence, and the next and so on. The first couple of paragraphs were difficult. No matter how much you've read, when you start writing you've got to think about sentence structure and the voice of the characters you are creating. Once I made it through the first few paragraphs, it became a little easier. After the first chapter, even easier. In retrospect, the first couple of paragraphs weren't very good to start, but once I was comfortable as a writer, I was able to go back and clean it up.
My biggest challenge became finding the time to write. Why? I'm glad you asked! I work a full-time, Monday through Thursday job. Because I have Fridays off, I work longer those four days. By the time I get home, have dinner and spend some quality time with the family, I have about an hour to get organized and in writing mode. That's if I have not other obligations. For instance, in the Spring (and Fall this year) I coach my boys' baseball team. The time in getting them to practices and games is already quite involved, but since I coach, I have to be there for pretty much every event. I also have to prepare rosters, report scores and attend league meetings. Fridays I help out at my boys' school. My dad used to take me to lunch on his days off when I was little, which was always special to me. I have carried that tradition on for my kids. Any number of family events and house cleaning can take a good portion of my weekends.
I'm sure many aspiring writers can relate to having to squeeze time in for writing. After all, just because we want to write doesn't mean the world is going to stop for us to entertain our new craft. For me, I found my time to write primarily on my lunch breaks. Each day, I would take my notebook and write. Sometimes I would type at my computer, but usually I wanted to get away to write. Each day, I would think about where I wanted the story to go next so that, when I had the actually time to write, I was ready. When I would get home, after spending time with the family and getting the kids in bed, I would type what I had written that day, sometimes getting a little more in before I shut down for the night. On the weekends, I would squeeze writing in where I could. It took almost exactly a year, but in June 2010, I typed the last sentence of In My Shoes. It's a great feeling to get to the end of writing a novel. For me, it told me I could do it. Not just come up with an idea, not just develop characters and a story, but to put it all together from beginning to end.
For those of you who have ever thought about writing, singing, acting, unicycling, quarterbacking...all I can say is don't give up on yourself. To be great at anything takes dedication and diligence. Very rarely is anyone ever great at something from the word go. They have to develop their skill. You may not have a cheerleading section to start, but that doesn't mean you should give up.
I have an update on my next novel. I hope to have it ready for publication by summer 2012. The title is 31 Days to Life . I will be making the rough draft of the first chapter available through my website in the next few weeks, free of charge. I will make an additional chapter or two available digitally to anyone who purchases my book by the end of November, as a sneak preview. Everyone else will have to wait. If you've already purchased it, don't worry, you won't be left out. If you know anyone who hasn't purchased the book yet, spread the word. I'll have more details coming soon. Thanks for reading!
It occurred to me as I was deciding what to write about, and being so busy right now, that my time is as much in demand as when I wrote In My Shoes. I've had plenty of people ask me either how I came about writing In My Shoes or how I found the time to do it. It's tough sometimes. But, for those of you out there who aspire to be authors, I thought I'd share my experience.
I started writing In My Shoes around June of 2009. To that point, I had come up with some ideas and written a little something down here or there. Nothing really substantial. With those ideas, it wasn't that the ideas didn't inspire me to write, but rather at that point I wasn't sure how to develop them. I figured I would save what I had and wait for the inspiration to come to me. With In My Shoes, the idea, the story development, the characters...let's just say it was all there in my head and, for the first time, had the inspiration to do it.
I had never considered myself a writer, and I had never been one with a plethora of confidence in my ability to do anything artistic. I'm not saying I never did anything with arts...I like to play piano, sing, draw, you name it...I just never had confidence in my abilities to do any of those things.
I can't tell you the exact date, or exactly what my thought process was when the idea came to me, but I do remember sitting at my computer one day and having this idea for a boy and girl who switched bodies. The body swap story has certainly been done before. What I wanted was to create a story that specifically dealt with the awkwardness that would occur from being in someone from the opposite sex's body. When trying to determine the best age of my characters, I remembered back to the awkwardness I (and I think most people) felt as a teenager. So much changes in our teenage years. We are learning so much and are just trying to figure out where we fit in and what is normal. By the time we reach high school, I think most of us have become more comfortable and confident (if not too confident) with who we are, how our bodies work, and we are more sure where we fit in. I thought that would be the perfect place to put my characters...at the point where they think they've got it pretty well figured out.
So, I had the age decided for my main characters. I thought about what would be involved in switching bodies. I did a lot of research. I thought about how it would feel to know someone is walking around in your body. I would want to make sure that person knew everything they could about me, so I didn't end up looking like a fool. I thought about how difficult it truly would be to pull something like that off, and realized that, if it were possible to switch bodies with someone, the only way you could really pull it off without people knowing was if you had a lot of similarities to start with. I've seen stories/movies where one character was an unintelligent, obnoxious jerk, and the other was a more refined, thoughtful, intellect. Really...how could that work? I didn't think it could, so I felt my main characters should be smart enough to be able to pull it off, and have some fundamental characteristics in common.
I thought about my target audience...who did I want to read it? Everyone! Really, though, I wanted to make a story that teens could read and relate to as they are dealing with some of that awkwardness we all have experienced in our life. At the same time, I wanted adults to be able to read it and reflect back on their experiences. Let's face it, surviving our teenage years is a learning experience. We change the way we look, talk, walk...we are a work-in-progress. That's what I wanted people to get out of it, all the while, I wanted them to be able to laugh a lot. I know how it feels to read a book you just can't put down. That's what I wanted for those who were going to take the time to read my book.
In order for boys and girls, men and women all to be able to fully enjoy it, I really felt like the story needed to be told, at time, from each of their points of view. So, I wrote down, mapped out really, every key situation I wanted to happen in the story, and I started assigning them to days. I realized that, if I was strategic, I could flip the point of view systematically. I rearranged some situations, and I had my blueprint.
I had everything ready to go. I had only two problems...I had never started writing a novel (aside from the brief, undeveloped blurbs mentioned above) and I had no time to write. The first problem was easy enough to fix. I just sat down at my computer and started writing. I knew I needed to have something jump out at the reader from the start. Something that makes the reader want to read the next sentence, and the next and so on. The first couple of paragraphs were difficult. No matter how much you've read, when you start writing you've got to think about sentence structure and the voice of the characters you are creating. Once I made it through the first few paragraphs, it became a little easier. After the first chapter, even easier. In retrospect, the first couple of paragraphs weren't very good to start, but once I was comfortable as a writer, I was able to go back and clean it up.
My biggest challenge became finding the time to write. Why? I'm glad you asked! I work a full-time, Monday through Thursday job. Because I have Fridays off, I work longer those four days. By the time I get home, have dinner and spend some quality time with the family, I have about an hour to get organized and in writing mode. That's if I have not other obligations. For instance, in the Spring (and Fall this year) I coach my boys' baseball team. The time in getting them to practices and games is already quite involved, but since I coach, I have to be there for pretty much every event. I also have to prepare rosters, report scores and attend league meetings. Fridays I help out at my boys' school. My dad used to take me to lunch on his days off when I was little, which was always special to me. I have carried that tradition on for my kids. Any number of family events and house cleaning can take a good portion of my weekends.
I'm sure many aspiring writers can relate to having to squeeze time in for writing. After all, just because we want to write doesn't mean the world is going to stop for us to entertain our new craft. For me, I found my time to write primarily on my lunch breaks. Each day, I would take my notebook and write. Sometimes I would type at my computer, but usually I wanted to get away to write. Each day, I would think about where I wanted the story to go next so that, when I had the actually time to write, I was ready. When I would get home, after spending time with the family and getting the kids in bed, I would type what I had written that day, sometimes getting a little more in before I shut down for the night. On the weekends, I would squeeze writing in where I could. It took almost exactly a year, but in June 2010, I typed the last sentence of In My Shoes. It's a great feeling to get to the end of writing a novel. For me, it told me I could do it. Not just come up with an idea, not just develop characters and a story, but to put it all together from beginning to end.
For those of you who have ever thought about writing, singing, acting, unicycling, quarterbacking...all I can say is don't give up on yourself. To be great at anything takes dedication and diligence. Very rarely is anyone ever great at something from the word go. They have to develop their skill. You may not have a cheerleading section to start, but that doesn't mean you should give up.
I have an update on my next novel. I hope to have it ready for publication by summer 2012. The title is 31 Days to Life . I will be making the rough draft of the first chapter available through my website in the next few weeks, free of charge. I will make an additional chapter or two available digitally to anyone who purchases my book by the end of November, as a sneak preview. Everyone else will have to wait. If you've already purchased it, don't worry, you won't be left out. If you know anyone who hasn't purchased the book yet, spread the word. I'll have more details coming soon. Thanks for reading!
As promised, I have made the first chapter to my next book,
31 Days to Life
, available for preview on my website, free of charge. To read it, click here. As the novel is not yet finished, the chapter is still subject to change and further review.
31 Days to Life
is due to come out August 18, 2012.
Please note that this is not a light read like In My Shoes. 31 Days to Life deals with a difficult subject matter and is, to my standards, graphic.
For details on how to receive free preview copies of the second and third chapters of 31 Days to Life, click here!
If you like it, please tell your friends to check it out. And, as always, feel free to leave comments below. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!
Please note that this is not a light read like In My Shoes. 31 Days to Life deals with a difficult subject matter and is, to my standards, graphic.
For details on how to receive free preview copies of the second and third chapters of 31 Days to Life, click here!
If you like it, please tell your friends to check it out. And, as always, feel free to leave comments below. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!
It seems like such a simple thing. Fitting in. No matter our age or place in life, we are a society of people who want to fit in. We need to fit in. Right now, if you are telling your computer screen, "I don't need to fit in with anyone," ask yourself how hard you try to fit in with those people who don't like to fit in with anyone else.
No matter what our interests are, we like to find others who share our interests. That may not mean we want to necessarily do the popular thing, that which 'everyone' else is doing, but we want at least someone else who we can share our interests with. Whether we realize it or not, and even whether we need it or not, it gives us some sort of validation to know that there is someone else (and hopefully more than one) on this planet who sees things the way we do.
But, what about being unique? If we have this underlying need to find things in common, how can we be ourselves? I think we can all agree that just because we find people who share some of our likes doesn't mean we have anyone who shares all of our likes.
I like to read, write, bowl, golf, play piano, sing at the top of my lungs in the car, practice Taekwondo and hang out with friends. Some of you may be saying, "yeah, I like all of that stuff too." Great! I'm a diehard St. Louis Rams fan (some small part of me must like to suffer), a diehard St. Louis Cardinals fan, a St. Louis Blues fan (no, I'm not from St. Louis), a Lakers fan, a USC fan and a UNLV Rebels fan. Not necessarily in that order. I would imagine that I lost a large chunk of things in common with people from the first group above.
If any of you are still hanging on, I like to watch Fringe, Lost (when it was on), Revenge, Grey's Anatomy and...Glee.
Still have the same tastes? Let's try music. My favorites all-time would be Elton John, Journey, Queen, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beatles. I like Taylor Swift, Daughtry, movie scores (anything by John Williams, but lots of others too) and *gasp* some Eminem (though I could do without the language-don't ask me how that makes sense).
If anyone out there checked off every item on my list, send me a message...I've always wanted to meet my twin.
The thing is, I can find plenty of people who like each and every one of the things I mentioned separately, some who like many of the things I've mentioned, and yet I uniquely like all of these things together. That's what makes me...me. None of my likes, strange as they may seem to you, bring harm to others.
Being the father of two boys in elementary school, I see them trying to make these connections with kids in their classrooms. I help out at their school one day a week, and I see how all of these kids, not just mine, are looking to form bonds with one another, friendships that they may keep for much, if not all, of their lives. It's important. Sadly, some kids, and even some adults, don't realize that they don't have to tear down others just to prove that they fit in better. If we search hard enough, we will see that we have much more in common with our enemies than we think, and we have probably a lot less in common with our friends than we realize, if we were ever brave enough to open ourselves up that much.
I'm not suggesting that everyone could or would be able to be friends with everyone else if we just tried a little harder. Some of our likes are just too different and too important to us to be able to want to spend time together. But, that's okay. It would just be nice to see that people didn't have to hate each other for their differences. Or even if it's not hate, it would be nice to see people not teased endlessly for their differences.
When I wrote the title for this blog, I was going to write about how the book industry tries to fit everything into a genre, even if it has to be forced. Could I have gotten more off track? Well, I'll save that for my next post. For now, as we grow ever nearer the holiday season, whether you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other holiday, I hope we can all take just a few moments to appreciate the commonalities as well as the differences of the people who we share space with.
If you haven't had a chance to preview my next novel, 31 Days to Life , you can do so here.
Just a reminder that you can find In My Shoes available in your favorite formats. Christmas is just around the corner, and In My Shoes would make a great gift for your son, daughter, niece, nephew, brother or sister. Find it in the following formats:
Kindle
Amazon hardcover
NOOK
Barnes and Noble hardcover
adrianstephens.com (multiple formats)
smashwords (multiple formats)
iBookstore
Sony Reader
No matter what our interests are, we like to find others who share our interests. That may not mean we want to necessarily do the popular thing, that which 'everyone' else is doing, but we want at least someone else who we can share our interests with. Whether we realize it or not, and even whether we need it or not, it gives us some sort of validation to know that there is someone else (and hopefully more than one) on this planet who sees things the way we do.
But, what about being unique? If we have this underlying need to find things in common, how can we be ourselves? I think we can all agree that just because we find people who share some of our likes doesn't mean we have anyone who shares all of our likes.
I like to read, write, bowl, golf, play piano, sing at the top of my lungs in the car, practice Taekwondo and hang out with friends. Some of you may be saying, "yeah, I like all of that stuff too." Great! I'm a diehard St. Louis Rams fan (some small part of me must like to suffer), a diehard St. Louis Cardinals fan, a St. Louis Blues fan (no, I'm not from St. Louis), a Lakers fan, a USC fan and a UNLV Rebels fan. Not necessarily in that order. I would imagine that I lost a large chunk of things in common with people from the first group above.
If any of you are still hanging on, I like to watch Fringe, Lost (when it was on), Revenge, Grey's Anatomy and...Glee.
Still have the same tastes? Let's try music. My favorites all-time would be Elton John, Journey, Queen, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beatles. I like Taylor Swift, Daughtry, movie scores (anything by John Williams, but lots of others too) and *gasp* some Eminem (though I could do without the language-don't ask me how that makes sense).
If anyone out there checked off every item on my list, send me a message...I've always wanted to meet my twin.
The thing is, I can find plenty of people who like each and every one of the things I mentioned separately, some who like many of the things I've mentioned, and yet I uniquely like all of these things together. That's what makes me...me. None of my likes, strange as they may seem to you, bring harm to others.
Being the father of two boys in elementary school, I see them trying to make these connections with kids in their classrooms. I help out at their school one day a week, and I see how all of these kids, not just mine, are looking to form bonds with one another, friendships that they may keep for much, if not all, of their lives. It's important. Sadly, some kids, and even some adults, don't realize that they don't have to tear down others just to prove that they fit in better. If we search hard enough, we will see that we have much more in common with our enemies than we think, and we have probably a lot less in common with our friends than we realize, if we were ever brave enough to open ourselves up that much.
I'm not suggesting that everyone could or would be able to be friends with everyone else if we just tried a little harder. Some of our likes are just too different and too important to us to be able to want to spend time together. But, that's okay. It would just be nice to see that people didn't have to hate each other for their differences. Or even if it's not hate, it would be nice to see people not teased endlessly for their differences.
When I wrote the title for this blog, I was going to write about how the book industry tries to fit everything into a genre, even if it has to be forced. Could I have gotten more off track? Well, I'll save that for my next post. For now, as we grow ever nearer the holiday season, whether you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other holiday, I hope we can all take just a few moments to appreciate the commonalities as well as the differences of the people who we share space with.
If you haven't had a chance to preview my next novel, 31 Days to Life , you can do so here.
Just a reminder that you can find In My Shoes available in your favorite formats. Christmas is just around the corner, and In My Shoes would make a great gift for your son, daughter, niece, nephew, brother or sister. Find it in the following formats:
Kindle
Amazon hardcover
NOOK
Barnes and Noble hardcover
adrianstephens.com (multiple formats)
smashwords (multiple formats)
iBookstore
Sony Reader
When I first decided I wanted to write, or I should say, when my first novel neared completion, I decided it would be important to research all of the possibilities that were available to me for getting my work out there.
I've talked plenty in previous blogs about that experience, so I won't get into it here. What I found, though, was that much like cliques in high school, everyone in the publishing industry wants to know where you fit in.
No matter whether you submit to a big publisher or you self-publish and sell through retailers and distributors yourself, fitting in is very important.
I always found this quite odd. If you want to get your story out there right now, you have a much better chance of getting published and getting shelf space, it seems, if your characters wave a wand, like the taste of blood, have wings, fangs or maybe all of the above.
High fantasy is the popular thing right now. No, not everyone likes it, but there are a LOT who do. Publishers, booksellers...they want to know what they can put your book next to. There's no place in the corner for the little book with no friends.
As a writer, I have never once thought, what can I do that is like everything else out there. Okay, I guess that's not totally true. I have an idea for an American tie-in to Harry Potter that I would love to do one day. Only because I have some original ideas I really like and think it could be fun.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the authors who write in these genres. It works for them, and that's great. Plus, there's an audience for it.
My only question is, do we still care about stories that aren't the saturated idea of the moment? And that's the only real question for me. I'm not trying to say that my ideas are totally unique. I don't know that any idea is totally unique. Harry Potter wasn't the first story of wizardry. Twilight wasn't the first story about vampires. My first novel, In My Shoes, has had several comparisons to a modern day Freaky Friday, but with a boy/girl twist. I'm okay with that.
But where do you put that on the shelf? There isn't a body swap section at the book store. Freaky Friday is a great story, but it's been around awhile, and isn't currently taking up critical space at Barnes & Noble.
I guess what I'm hoping is, if the idea is good, and the writing is good, it won't matter that it isn't the pop fiction of the moment. We love what we love. If we love vampire stories, we are going to look for vampire stories. But, there's room on your shelf for something different, right?
That's what I'm hoping. That in this huge world, there's room not only for the popular books, but maybe the one in the corner too.
I've talked plenty in previous blogs about that experience, so I won't get into it here. What I found, though, was that much like cliques in high school, everyone in the publishing industry wants to know where you fit in.
No matter whether you submit to a big publisher or you self-publish and sell through retailers and distributors yourself, fitting in is very important.
I always found this quite odd. If you want to get your story out there right now, you have a much better chance of getting published and getting shelf space, it seems, if your characters wave a wand, like the taste of blood, have wings, fangs or maybe all of the above.
High fantasy is the popular thing right now. No, not everyone likes it, but there are a LOT who do. Publishers, booksellers...they want to know what they can put your book next to. There's no place in the corner for the little book with no friends.
As a writer, I have never once thought, what can I do that is like everything else out there. Okay, I guess that's not totally true. I have an idea for an American tie-in to Harry Potter that I would love to do one day. Only because I have some original ideas I really like and think it could be fun.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the authors who write in these genres. It works for them, and that's great. Plus, there's an audience for it.
My only question is, do we still care about stories that aren't the saturated idea of the moment? And that's the only real question for me. I'm not trying to say that my ideas are totally unique. I don't know that any idea is totally unique. Harry Potter wasn't the first story of wizardry. Twilight wasn't the first story about vampires. My first novel, In My Shoes, has had several comparisons to a modern day Freaky Friday, but with a boy/girl twist. I'm okay with that.
But where do you put that on the shelf? There isn't a body swap section at the book store. Freaky Friday is a great story, but it's been around awhile, and isn't currently taking up critical space at Barnes & Noble.
I guess what I'm hoping is, if the idea is good, and the writing is good, it won't matter that it isn't the pop fiction of the moment. We love what we love. If we love vampire stories, we are going to look for vampire stories. But, there's room on your shelf for something different, right?
That's what I'm hoping. That in this huge world, there's room not only for the popular books, but maybe the one in the corner too.
