Bill Conrad's Blog, page 35
April 24, 2019
Fan Fiction
Fan Fiction is perhaps the worst category of fiction. Respected authors hate it and accomplished readers avoid it like the plague. Of course, there are dedicated fans who love their particular fiction franchise and they occasionally read fan fiction.
Why do so many people despise this genre? The largest source of disdain comes from the perception that respected works are trashed by the creation of a fan story. For example, if a person wrote a Star Wars story about Luke Skywalker having a twin brother. This is a perfectly valid storyline, however, the creators of Star Wars and the fans of Star Wars would denounce this work. Of course, this twin brother story would clearly not be canon. Meaning the creators would not consider a twin brother storyline to be part of the actual story.
Well, there are Star Wars comic books, novels, TV cartoon shows and other plots that stray far away from the original story. I bet one of them might explore a twin story. True. However, the creators make honest attempts to keep these alternate works in line with the original story.
The allure of writing fiction is very powerful. This is because the story has been well established, it has a fan base and it’s fun to write in this well-loved world. A writer can simply go in any direction. “James Skywalker knew he had a gift at an early age…” Anybody with Star Wars knowledge can continue that a twin brother storyline on a magical tangent.
The efforts to crush fan fiction are very powerful. The franchise owners have massive legal teams that go very far to thwart any creative efforts. Of course, there are sites that will host fan fiction stories but even they have rules. Generally, they try not to diverge too far from the original work. This makes it quite restrictive to write in this arena.
In truth, I have come up with a story that is set in the Star Trek universe. Of course, I can never put my story to paper because I would be violating copyrights and trademarks. It is also difficult to submit Star Trek stories to the franchise owners. They have strict rules, the publishers/owners get a huge percentage of the profit, and people perceive stories of this type to be a small step above fan fiction. I could put my story on a fan fiction site, but that would be a lot of effort and I see no benefit other than an expression of creative freedom.
Well, why don’t I turn my story into a script? Apparently, they do have a new Star Trek show called “New Beginnings.” I have never watched it and apparently, it’s not popular. However, I’m sure the Star Trek creators are always on the lookout for a great script. Scripts are difficult to write and they require an inside person to promote them. For now, I’m going to keep my fan fiction thoughts rattling around in my head.
Well, I certainly wrote up a contradiction. I started this blog with the thought that fan fiction is terrible and end it with my own fan fiction that’s too good for television. Yeah, that is a bit of a paradox. Fans write fan fiction because they like to be part of something big. They write with the knowledge that they will never make any money or get any interest. This is probably the ultimate form of devotion.
Why do so many people despise this genre? The largest source of disdain comes from the perception that respected works are trashed by the creation of a fan story. For example, if a person wrote a Star Wars story about Luke Skywalker having a twin brother. This is a perfectly valid storyline, however, the creators of Star Wars and the fans of Star Wars would denounce this work. Of course, this twin brother story would clearly not be canon. Meaning the creators would not consider a twin brother storyline to be part of the actual story.
Well, there are Star Wars comic books, novels, TV cartoon shows and other plots that stray far away from the original story. I bet one of them might explore a twin story. True. However, the creators make honest attempts to keep these alternate works in line with the original story.
The allure of writing fiction is very powerful. This is because the story has been well established, it has a fan base and it’s fun to write in this well-loved world. A writer can simply go in any direction. “James Skywalker knew he had a gift at an early age…” Anybody with Star Wars knowledge can continue that a twin brother storyline on a magical tangent.
The efforts to crush fan fiction are very powerful. The franchise owners have massive legal teams that go very far to thwart any creative efforts. Of course, there are sites that will host fan fiction stories but even they have rules. Generally, they try not to diverge too far from the original work. This makes it quite restrictive to write in this arena.
In truth, I have come up with a story that is set in the Star Trek universe. Of course, I can never put my story to paper because I would be violating copyrights and trademarks. It is also difficult to submit Star Trek stories to the franchise owners. They have strict rules, the publishers/owners get a huge percentage of the profit, and people perceive stories of this type to be a small step above fan fiction. I could put my story on a fan fiction site, but that would be a lot of effort and I see no benefit other than an expression of creative freedom.
Well, why don’t I turn my story into a script? Apparently, they do have a new Star Trek show called “New Beginnings.” I have never watched it and apparently, it’s not popular. However, I’m sure the Star Trek creators are always on the lookout for a great script. Scripts are difficult to write and they require an inside person to promote them. For now, I’m going to keep my fan fiction thoughts rattling around in my head.
Well, I certainly wrote up a contradiction. I started this blog with the thought that fan fiction is terrible and end it with my own fan fiction that’s too good for television. Yeah, that is a bit of a paradox. Fans write fan fiction because they like to be part of something big. They write with the knowledge that they will never make any money or get any interest. This is probably the ultimate form of devotion.
April 17, 2019
The Title is Everything
“Shogun” What a bold title. Simple, dramatic and telling. A perfect description that begs a reader to open the book. “Star Wars” Overwhelming, scientific and poignant. Perhaps the best movie title ever. “Thriller” Sexy, scary and smart. Perhaps the best song title of all time. The title is the first line of defense for marketing. It tells the reader, viewer or listener what they are about to encounter.
Great works can be ruined by a bad title just as an awful work can have a great title. In my humble opinion, Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey are astounding titles that hid awful works. The Road, is a great book with a mediocre title. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an example of the perfect title to the perfect book.
So, how do I come up with a title? Being an engineer, I have engineered a solution. The first step is to define the words that the title should contain. For example, if the book is about a ship, I would list nautical terms and other terms related to water. Next, I open up an excel spreadsheet. Column A is a list of titles, Column B is the sequel title, Column C is the ranking and Column D has notes. It is important to think about the sequel title at this stage (if the book needs to have a sequel.) For example, “The Last Dance” How can you follow that title with a sequel? “The Last Dance 2” “The Last-Last Dance” Lame.
The next step is to use a good title generator. Here is a great site that has a bunch of them:
https://kindlepreneur.com/free-book-t...
I also read other titles on Amazon in the same category as the intended work. The next step is to do an open-ended brainstorm. I list every conceivable title that I can come up with. I keep refreshing the random title generator and adapt these titles to my own particular words and themes. I also use my own created titles and combine them together. I then look at titles on Amazon to get other ideas.
What kinds of titles do I make? That depends on many personal preference factors. Keep in mind that the title is the most important advertising tool. This means it should be bold, exciting, sexy, daunting and most of all intriguing. Should it contain a bit of humor or a pun? Perhaps. Should it be misspelled? “The Wrekked Ship.” Maybe. Keep the readers perspective in mind.
When I get a title that makes sense, I put it in column A. At this point, the validity of the new title isn’t important. There are no rules and I keep inventing. At around 100 titles, I find that I have exhausted all possibilities, and the process has become redundant. This should take about three afternoons of work. I then sort them, remove duplicates and mark obvious duds in the ranking column. It is important not to delete the dud titles as they can still serve as inspiration.
The next step is to fill out the sequel column B. For example if my maritime title is “Into the Storm” the sequel might be “Into the Rain.” Some titles don’t lend themselves to sequels and I leave column B blank.
The next step is to do a search of the titles and the sequels. I want to make sure there are no other works with the same title. If I find do find another work with that title or a title that is very close, I eliminate the title in the ranking column. Then I sort the list to eliminate the undesirable titles.
When I am fully convinced that I have enough titles and sequels, I rank them. My scale is “Low, Med, High” Of course you can use a scale like 1-5, A-F or Yes/No. When I have ranked them, I narrow down the list to about 10 titles. How? I start with ones that “read wrong.” For me, I try not to “warm up to a title” but instead, I try to find one that has the least objections.
Why don’t I try to fall in love with a title? Love is an emotional response. The love for the title will come later. At this point, I treat the title as a business with employees. Either an employee performs or they are fired.
I then show the titles to people and I get a feel for what they like. With a lot of thought and effort, I settle on a title that works and can be made into a sequel. Ideally, this process takes a month or two. This is an important part of the process and should not be approached lightly. A great title will set a work above all others.
Great works can be ruined by a bad title just as an awful work can have a great title. In my humble opinion, Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey are astounding titles that hid awful works. The Road, is a great book with a mediocre title. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is an example of the perfect title to the perfect book.
So, how do I come up with a title? Being an engineer, I have engineered a solution. The first step is to define the words that the title should contain. For example, if the book is about a ship, I would list nautical terms and other terms related to water. Next, I open up an excel spreadsheet. Column A is a list of titles, Column B is the sequel title, Column C is the ranking and Column D has notes. It is important to think about the sequel title at this stage (if the book needs to have a sequel.) For example, “The Last Dance” How can you follow that title with a sequel? “The Last Dance 2” “The Last-Last Dance” Lame.
The next step is to use a good title generator. Here is a great site that has a bunch of them:
https://kindlepreneur.com/free-book-t...
I also read other titles on Amazon in the same category as the intended work. The next step is to do an open-ended brainstorm. I list every conceivable title that I can come up with. I keep refreshing the random title generator and adapt these titles to my own particular words and themes. I also use my own created titles and combine them together. I then look at titles on Amazon to get other ideas.
What kinds of titles do I make? That depends on many personal preference factors. Keep in mind that the title is the most important advertising tool. This means it should be bold, exciting, sexy, daunting and most of all intriguing. Should it contain a bit of humor or a pun? Perhaps. Should it be misspelled? “The Wrekked Ship.” Maybe. Keep the readers perspective in mind.
When I get a title that makes sense, I put it in column A. At this point, the validity of the new title isn’t important. There are no rules and I keep inventing. At around 100 titles, I find that I have exhausted all possibilities, and the process has become redundant. This should take about three afternoons of work. I then sort them, remove duplicates and mark obvious duds in the ranking column. It is important not to delete the dud titles as they can still serve as inspiration.
The next step is to fill out the sequel column B. For example if my maritime title is “Into the Storm” the sequel might be “Into the Rain.” Some titles don’t lend themselves to sequels and I leave column B blank.
The next step is to do a search of the titles and the sequels. I want to make sure there are no other works with the same title. If I find do find another work with that title or a title that is very close, I eliminate the title in the ranking column. Then I sort the list to eliminate the undesirable titles.
When I am fully convinced that I have enough titles and sequels, I rank them. My scale is “Low, Med, High” Of course you can use a scale like 1-5, A-F or Yes/No. When I have ranked them, I narrow down the list to about 10 titles. How? I start with ones that “read wrong.” For me, I try not to “warm up to a title” but instead, I try to find one that has the least objections.
Why don’t I try to fall in love with a title? Love is an emotional response. The love for the title will come later. At this point, I treat the title as a business with employees. Either an employee performs or they are fired.
I then show the titles to people and I get a feel for what they like. With a lot of thought and effort, I settle on a title that works and can be made into a sequel. Ideally, this process takes a month or two. This is an important part of the process and should not be approached lightly. A great title will set a work above all others.
April 10, 2019
The Lies We Tell
A big part of our minds seems to contain a built-in lie generator. The basic core of this mechanism makes our days go better. “Hey, Sam, what did you do last night?” “I went to a restaurant with some friends.” Sam actually sat at home and watched television. Sam lied to feel better about his life and the lie gave him something to talk about. When further questioned, Sam invented more lies about the events that occurred at the restaurant including the girl he met. Soon, Sam has created an entire fictitious backstory. Is that bad? Probably. It made Sam feel better, and it entertained the person he spoke with.
Of course, there are consequences to Sam’s lie. Sam now has to remember the lie, and this does not come naturally because the event never happened. Sam’s friends might find out about the lie and get angry for being included in the lie. The lie will continue to spread and entangle his life.
Is Sam proud of his lie? At first, he enjoyed lying was and now he regrets it. Is Sam going to lie next week about a different restaurant? Perhaps.
There is another class of liar. The people that truly believe the lie. For example, the flat earth believers. They use any means to keep the lie alive including deception, corruption, and even physical violence. One could explain this class of people with psychology and other mental issues. However, at their core, these people know the lie is a lie and yet, they still believe.
Where did all this lying start? As a child, we don’t have a lot going on in our lives. Our parents made all the decisions, and we were along for the ride. We obtained freedom on the playground. There, we met our friends and together, we embellished the truth. Perhaps we did it to rebel or perhaps to entertain our friends. Lying is a skill and we get better with age. Most people grow out of bold lying and limit their half-truths to a minimum. Some people embrace lying and take it to impressive levels. Con artists for example.
Are fiction writers liars? In a way, they are. The majority of them put a disclaimer at the beginning of their work to indicate their fictitious status. However, some go out of their way to fool people and others cannot tell the difference.
It’s easy to write a lie. “Sam decided to tell his friend that he went to a restaurant.” The reader, of course, knows that he stayed home. The reader does not have to be set up as they all can relate to lying. This is because they know what it feels like to deceive for the purposes of feeling better about themselves.
It’s also easy to write fiction with the full awareness of deceiving the reader. “The vampire walked into the room.” There have never been vampires and there never will be. However, that simple statement didn’t anger anybody. Readers know there are no vampires and that lie instantly became acceptable. Now, if I walked up to you (being fully honest) and said a vampire had just been here, then you would clearly know that I had lied to you. My lie wouldn’t be acceptable and there would be consequences.
Is it ethical to be a fiction writer? Or are they simply liars? I suppose the ethical questions can be answered in how the work is presented. If a writer fully acknowledges the fictitious aspect and they don’t pass their work off as real, then they are ethical people.
Of course, we still want to believe the lie. For example, the early rocket pioneers dreamed of going to space just like their comic books.
What about me? Of course, I am guilty of lying to others and myself. I regret any harm that may have come from my lies. However, I fully acknowledge that my mind contains a fantasy world and I use this material to write. I enjoy my fantasy as it keeps me entertained. I would like to think I have come up with some creative plots as a result.
In my opinion, I keep my lies in check and I do my best to be an honest person. Or am I lying now? Hard to say because the thing that invents the lies is telling me not to lie about lying. There is one thing I do know for certain. I’ll never tell.
Of course, there are consequences to Sam’s lie. Sam now has to remember the lie, and this does not come naturally because the event never happened. Sam’s friends might find out about the lie and get angry for being included in the lie. The lie will continue to spread and entangle his life.
Is Sam proud of his lie? At first, he enjoyed lying was and now he regrets it. Is Sam going to lie next week about a different restaurant? Perhaps.
There is another class of liar. The people that truly believe the lie. For example, the flat earth believers. They use any means to keep the lie alive including deception, corruption, and even physical violence. One could explain this class of people with psychology and other mental issues. However, at their core, these people know the lie is a lie and yet, they still believe.
Where did all this lying start? As a child, we don’t have a lot going on in our lives. Our parents made all the decisions, and we were along for the ride. We obtained freedom on the playground. There, we met our friends and together, we embellished the truth. Perhaps we did it to rebel or perhaps to entertain our friends. Lying is a skill and we get better with age. Most people grow out of bold lying and limit their half-truths to a minimum. Some people embrace lying and take it to impressive levels. Con artists for example.
Are fiction writers liars? In a way, they are. The majority of them put a disclaimer at the beginning of their work to indicate their fictitious status. However, some go out of their way to fool people and others cannot tell the difference.
It’s easy to write a lie. “Sam decided to tell his friend that he went to a restaurant.” The reader, of course, knows that he stayed home. The reader does not have to be set up as they all can relate to lying. This is because they know what it feels like to deceive for the purposes of feeling better about themselves.
It’s also easy to write fiction with the full awareness of deceiving the reader. “The vampire walked into the room.” There have never been vampires and there never will be. However, that simple statement didn’t anger anybody. Readers know there are no vampires and that lie instantly became acceptable. Now, if I walked up to you (being fully honest) and said a vampire had just been here, then you would clearly know that I had lied to you. My lie wouldn’t be acceptable and there would be consequences.
Is it ethical to be a fiction writer? Or are they simply liars? I suppose the ethical questions can be answered in how the work is presented. If a writer fully acknowledges the fictitious aspect and they don’t pass their work off as real, then they are ethical people.
Of course, we still want to believe the lie. For example, the early rocket pioneers dreamed of going to space just like their comic books.
What about me? Of course, I am guilty of lying to others and myself. I regret any harm that may have come from my lies. However, I fully acknowledge that my mind contains a fantasy world and I use this material to write. I enjoy my fantasy as it keeps me entertained. I would like to think I have come up with some creative plots as a result.
In my opinion, I keep my lies in check and I do my best to be an honest person. Or am I lying now? Hard to say because the thing that invents the lies is telling me not to lie about lying. There is one thing I do know for certain. I’ll never tell.
April 3, 2019
It’s Difficult to Write About Food
Facebook is amazing. People who have never met can connect, share and learn from each other. We have reliable cars, airplanes, and ships that take us to every corner of the planet. We have made scientific advances beyond comprehension and entertainment that defies the imagination.
Yet there is room for improvement. It seems that we have not tackled the fundamental problems. War, poverty, hate, pollution, and people who drive slow in the fast lane. In this blog, I only wish to discuss one tiny aspect of our incredible existence that needs improvement.
Want to talk about it over lunch? Sure! It seems that our entire existence revolves around food. Three times a day, (plus snacks) we are driven to eat. We eat an endless variety of scrumptious edibles from the far corners of the world. Crab from Alaska, dates from the middle east, bread from the Midwest, kiwi from New Zealand, caviar from Russia, cheese from France and cod from the Atlantic. We turn this endless variety of food into incredible creations. Pizza, sushi, fondue, burgers, pretzels, string cheese, baba ganoush, snickerdoodle cookies, Twinkies and lasagna.
We have an insatiable drive to consume. This goes beyond survival and far into absurdity. We have entire sections of the bookstore, television channels, and streets all dedicated to food. To feed this desire, we consume vast quantities of land, waste countless tons of leftover food, go to cooking school for years and spend trillions of dollars.
Of course, my humble blog will not be able to address our drive to take this planet to the breaking point. The small topic I wanted to concentrate on is that food is very difficult to write about. Let’s take the most basic example. A person has a glass of pure water and they add one spoonful of sugar. How does it taste? Well, “sweet.” Alright, the person adds a second spoonful of sugar. “It tastes sweeter.” How much sweeter? Umm… That’s not an easy question to universally answer. Now add a spoonful of salt. How does that taste? Umm, sweet-salty, sort of? How does it look? “Umm... Cloudy?” How does it smell? “Umm... Bland?”
This simple thought experiment shows how difficult it is to write about flavor. While scientific descriptions give us the exact chemical makeup, scientific descriptions don’t help the reader. “The water contained 500 parts per million of sugar.” Does that taste “super sweet” or “kind of sweet?” We do have a sweetness scale. Yay. “The substance measured 1.0 on the sweetness scale.” Sounds bland. Better add more sugar. It turns out that pure sugar is 1.0 on the sweetness scale. I had to look this number up and this is the only time I have ever used the sweetness scale.
Let’s get more basic. Describe the taste of an apple. “The apple tastes sour and sweet.” Many foods fit that description. An orange, taffy, Coca-Cola or ice cream. In order for a reader to understand how an apple tastes, they must have eaten an apple in the past. That requires a lot of prerequisite tasting to describe basic foods.
Alright, a little more basic. Describe the difference between Budweiser beer and Coors beer. “Coors tastes more watery.” Is “watery” even a real word? Ok, what can I describe? I like a good amber ale when I eat a hamburger. Not helping.
Well, the reader will just have to use what knowledge they have to understand a food description. Alright. Last week, I made my personal favorite salmon on a cedar plank. It turned out really well. I started cooking by taking… Hold on. That was not the assignment. I am just supposed to describe the taste. Hmm. “The amazing salmon had a sweet rub on top with a smoky flavor that combined a hint of Rosemary. It came out perfectly cooked to a golden brown. The cedar–salmon smell filled the kitchen with an amazing aroma. I really enjoyed the taste and so did my family.” Based on this description, could a reader identify my meal in a blind taste test? No, there is not enough information. What is the difference between that meal and smoked tuna? Well, it tasted different. I keep using the word taste. This sounds like a preference and not a description. True…
While there are scientific terms, we do not have universally accepted food descriptions. We also do not have a universal background of flavors. For example, I suspect that about half the planet has never had a Granny Smith apple. They may have had apple juice or apple flavored food or a Red Delicious apple, but no actual Granny Smith apple. So how could I ever describe how a Granny Smith tastes? “It tastes apple-ee” Yum!
Well, how about something more basic? Describe hunger. “I am hungry.” A little more… “I am super hungry.” Not helping. “I am famished.” “I am starving.” Wait, starvation is a condition, not a feeling. “I am ravenous.” Technically no. That is the condition of being hungry. That’s the limit of our descriptions. Humans spend 20% or more of their day on food and their entire drive to consume comes down to just two words? Apparently so.
Well, what can I describe with words? I can describe how the food looks, how to cook, how good it feels to eat and how satisfied the person is after they have eaten. Well, what about the smell? In that area we are a bit more evolved and have more descriptions. For example, a bad smell smells: reeking, foul, putrid, fishy, smoky, stinky… The list continues.
It is odd that such an important topic hasn’t been tackled. We should have a universally accepted flavor scale/terms and a universal hungry scale/terms. Then if asked, we could communicate our tastes better. For example: “Before lunch, I felt maltese. (Mildly hungry, but not too hungry) I had a quire (3/10 on the tasty scale) burger that was malarkey (10% overcooked) ratoon (6/10 salty. While perfect for French fries, not good for burgers) with a hint of gobble (sweet-fatty as opposed to sour-fatty) and the flavor was overall codswallop. (For burgers not that bad tasting, but could use improvement.)
Yet there is room for improvement. It seems that we have not tackled the fundamental problems. War, poverty, hate, pollution, and people who drive slow in the fast lane. In this blog, I only wish to discuss one tiny aspect of our incredible existence that needs improvement.
Want to talk about it over lunch? Sure! It seems that our entire existence revolves around food. Three times a day, (plus snacks) we are driven to eat. We eat an endless variety of scrumptious edibles from the far corners of the world. Crab from Alaska, dates from the middle east, bread from the Midwest, kiwi from New Zealand, caviar from Russia, cheese from France and cod from the Atlantic. We turn this endless variety of food into incredible creations. Pizza, sushi, fondue, burgers, pretzels, string cheese, baba ganoush, snickerdoodle cookies, Twinkies and lasagna.
We have an insatiable drive to consume. This goes beyond survival and far into absurdity. We have entire sections of the bookstore, television channels, and streets all dedicated to food. To feed this desire, we consume vast quantities of land, waste countless tons of leftover food, go to cooking school for years and spend trillions of dollars.
Of course, my humble blog will not be able to address our drive to take this planet to the breaking point. The small topic I wanted to concentrate on is that food is very difficult to write about. Let’s take the most basic example. A person has a glass of pure water and they add one spoonful of sugar. How does it taste? Well, “sweet.” Alright, the person adds a second spoonful of sugar. “It tastes sweeter.” How much sweeter? Umm… That’s not an easy question to universally answer. Now add a spoonful of salt. How does that taste? Umm, sweet-salty, sort of? How does it look? “Umm... Cloudy?” How does it smell? “Umm... Bland?”
This simple thought experiment shows how difficult it is to write about flavor. While scientific descriptions give us the exact chemical makeup, scientific descriptions don’t help the reader. “The water contained 500 parts per million of sugar.” Does that taste “super sweet” or “kind of sweet?” We do have a sweetness scale. Yay. “The substance measured 1.0 on the sweetness scale.” Sounds bland. Better add more sugar. It turns out that pure sugar is 1.0 on the sweetness scale. I had to look this number up and this is the only time I have ever used the sweetness scale.
Let’s get more basic. Describe the taste of an apple. “The apple tastes sour and sweet.” Many foods fit that description. An orange, taffy, Coca-Cola or ice cream. In order for a reader to understand how an apple tastes, they must have eaten an apple in the past. That requires a lot of prerequisite tasting to describe basic foods.
Alright, a little more basic. Describe the difference between Budweiser beer and Coors beer. “Coors tastes more watery.” Is “watery” even a real word? Ok, what can I describe? I like a good amber ale when I eat a hamburger. Not helping.
Well, the reader will just have to use what knowledge they have to understand a food description. Alright. Last week, I made my personal favorite salmon on a cedar plank. It turned out really well. I started cooking by taking… Hold on. That was not the assignment. I am just supposed to describe the taste. Hmm. “The amazing salmon had a sweet rub on top with a smoky flavor that combined a hint of Rosemary. It came out perfectly cooked to a golden brown. The cedar–salmon smell filled the kitchen with an amazing aroma. I really enjoyed the taste and so did my family.” Based on this description, could a reader identify my meal in a blind taste test? No, there is not enough information. What is the difference between that meal and smoked tuna? Well, it tasted different. I keep using the word taste. This sounds like a preference and not a description. True…
While there are scientific terms, we do not have universally accepted food descriptions. We also do not have a universal background of flavors. For example, I suspect that about half the planet has never had a Granny Smith apple. They may have had apple juice or apple flavored food or a Red Delicious apple, but no actual Granny Smith apple. So how could I ever describe how a Granny Smith tastes? “It tastes apple-ee” Yum!
Well, how about something more basic? Describe hunger. “I am hungry.” A little more… “I am super hungry.” Not helping. “I am famished.” “I am starving.” Wait, starvation is a condition, not a feeling. “I am ravenous.” Technically no. That is the condition of being hungry. That’s the limit of our descriptions. Humans spend 20% or more of their day on food and their entire drive to consume comes down to just two words? Apparently so.
Well, what can I describe with words? I can describe how the food looks, how to cook, how good it feels to eat and how satisfied the person is after they have eaten. Well, what about the smell? In that area we are a bit more evolved and have more descriptions. For example, a bad smell smells: reeking, foul, putrid, fishy, smoky, stinky… The list continues.
It is odd that such an important topic hasn’t been tackled. We should have a universally accepted flavor scale/terms and a universal hungry scale/terms. Then if asked, we could communicate our tastes better. For example: “Before lunch, I felt maltese. (Mildly hungry, but not too hungry) I had a quire (3/10 on the tasty scale) burger that was malarkey (10% overcooked) ratoon (6/10 salty. While perfect for French fries, not good for burgers) with a hint of gobble (sweet-fatty as opposed to sour-fatty) and the flavor was overall codswallop. (For burgers not that bad tasting, but could use improvement.)
March 27, 2019
Good Writers Are Philosophers
Wikipedia defines philosophy as: The study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as: existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophers try to understand life, people and our existence. Philosophers must get deep into the core of a person. They need to strip away all the outer influences to understand a person’s inner essence. The true answers to life’s questions go far beyond the blasé answer of “it is the way it is.” True philosophers have deep philosophical theories that link values, religion, spirituality, and existence all together.
When I watch the news, I wonder about the motivations behind the people making the headlines. Usually, their reasons are clear and range from good intentions to pure wickedness. Of course, the reasons can take on many dimensions, for example, desiring fame or money.
I also enjoy thinking about the people around me and fictional characters. I want to understand all aspects of people including their motivations, decisions, and outlook on life. I also spend a lot of time thinking about myself. I want to know more about the reasons behind my existence and the fundamental elements that drive my decisions.
As a writer, I think about life and people. I truly need to get in the mind of somebody that does not exist and answer the ultimate fundamental question behind their being: Why…
From my own philosophical knowledge base, I create characters and story. Well, what is the difference between simply making something up? To me, it is essential to use philosophical knowledge to develop characters. For example, a basic protagonist is a bad person. A bad person kills a good person. The reader would not be impressed with such a simple story. The story requires background, motive, values, morals, history and a fundamental reason for terrible existence.
Well, how does a writer develop a nonexistent mind? True writers have to develop a character and understand their ethics, motives, childhood, decisions, and knowledge. This knowledge is translated into goals, wishes, and desires. Granted, not all of this information is available to the reader. For example, the protagonist had a bad childhood. That might aspect of their personality might be too complex (distracting) to explain within the context of a story, but the writer uses this knowledge to guide their decisions, dialog, and actions. The result is that the reader has a better grasp of what is behind the motives.
Let’s take a complex example of a character from one of my stories and look at her from the perspective of a philosopher.
Grace is a pleasant, smart, powerful, private and driven woman. She exists to be an artist, businesswoman, and ruthless killer. What values would be required for such a character? She appreciates the finer things in life, including music, artwork, and food. She is driven to make money to experience the best that life can offer. On the negative side, she does not value human life to the same degree as a normal person. To me, this is the philosophic crux that makes her so interesting.
Grace desperately wants to be thought of as a nice person and she does her very best to act pleasant and respectful. This overcompensation helps her to justify being a murderer. The result is that Grace is a conflicted individual that has difficulty speaking honestly about her choices.
Why does Grace exist? She exists to survive; the very definition of a person who forces the world to accept her existence, the ultimate top predator. She prays on the lives of despicable people (at least in her mind) to further her existence. This gives her an unusual set of morals resulting in odd values. In one area of her life, she is a pleasant businesswoman. Her morals meet the definition of an honest person of good character; somebody that we all would enjoy meeting. In the other area (that she defines as 1%) she has absolutely no regard for human life. She is the stone cold executioner without a trace of remorse.
When I developed the character of Grace, I spent a lot of time “inventing” her background. This included her life choices. From there I had to get into her mind. I am clearly not a mass murderer with conflicted morals. However, I had to think like one. This actually came rather easily. I pictured an above average woman with heightened morals and then crushed these values with the desire to kill. This formed the duality of her existence.
All of this thinking about her background made the character. I would mentally ask her questions and based on her morals, values, and experiences that I made up, I form an answer. Well, what about the philosophy part? I have to dig deep into my own mind and what I know about the minds of others to invent her existence. To me, this is the ultimate extension of being a philosopher. I am going beyond understanding my mind and other minds to create a new mind. This mind exists, makes decisions and has consequences. Of course, they are only written consequences…
When I watch the news, I wonder about the motivations behind the people making the headlines. Usually, their reasons are clear and range from good intentions to pure wickedness. Of course, the reasons can take on many dimensions, for example, desiring fame or money.
I also enjoy thinking about the people around me and fictional characters. I want to understand all aspects of people including their motivations, decisions, and outlook on life. I also spend a lot of time thinking about myself. I want to know more about the reasons behind my existence and the fundamental elements that drive my decisions.
As a writer, I think about life and people. I truly need to get in the mind of somebody that does not exist and answer the ultimate fundamental question behind their being: Why…
From my own philosophical knowledge base, I create characters and story. Well, what is the difference between simply making something up? To me, it is essential to use philosophical knowledge to develop characters. For example, a basic protagonist is a bad person. A bad person kills a good person. The reader would not be impressed with such a simple story. The story requires background, motive, values, morals, history and a fundamental reason for terrible existence.
Well, how does a writer develop a nonexistent mind? True writers have to develop a character and understand their ethics, motives, childhood, decisions, and knowledge. This knowledge is translated into goals, wishes, and desires. Granted, not all of this information is available to the reader. For example, the protagonist had a bad childhood. That might aspect of their personality might be too complex (distracting) to explain within the context of a story, but the writer uses this knowledge to guide their decisions, dialog, and actions. The result is that the reader has a better grasp of what is behind the motives.
Let’s take a complex example of a character from one of my stories and look at her from the perspective of a philosopher.
Grace is a pleasant, smart, powerful, private and driven woman. She exists to be an artist, businesswoman, and ruthless killer. What values would be required for such a character? She appreciates the finer things in life, including music, artwork, and food. She is driven to make money to experience the best that life can offer. On the negative side, she does not value human life to the same degree as a normal person. To me, this is the philosophic crux that makes her so interesting.
Grace desperately wants to be thought of as a nice person and she does her very best to act pleasant and respectful. This overcompensation helps her to justify being a murderer. The result is that Grace is a conflicted individual that has difficulty speaking honestly about her choices.
Why does Grace exist? She exists to survive; the very definition of a person who forces the world to accept her existence, the ultimate top predator. She prays on the lives of despicable people (at least in her mind) to further her existence. This gives her an unusual set of morals resulting in odd values. In one area of her life, she is a pleasant businesswoman. Her morals meet the definition of an honest person of good character; somebody that we all would enjoy meeting. In the other area (that she defines as 1%) she has absolutely no regard for human life. She is the stone cold executioner without a trace of remorse.
When I developed the character of Grace, I spent a lot of time “inventing” her background. This included her life choices. From there I had to get into her mind. I am clearly not a mass murderer with conflicted morals. However, I had to think like one. This actually came rather easily. I pictured an above average woman with heightened morals and then crushed these values with the desire to kill. This formed the duality of her existence.
All of this thinking about her background made the character. I would mentally ask her questions and based on her morals, values, and experiences that I made up, I form an answer. Well, what about the philosophy part? I have to dig deep into my own mind and what I know about the minds of others to invent her existence. To me, this is the ultimate extension of being a philosopher. I am going beyond understanding my mind and other minds to create a new mind. This mind exists, makes decisions and has consequences. Of course, they are only written consequences…
March 21, 2019
I Watched the Move Freejack
The movie Freejack came to theaters in January 1992. It starred Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, Rene Russo, and Emillo Estevez. The movie had an interesting future premise and some interesting racing scenes. I recall looking forward to this movie and watching it opening week. Over the years, I have not thought much about it and I struggle to recall the exact plot. Overall, I would give this movie a grade C. I do not recommend watching it.
If I take an objective approach, watching Freejack did not turn into a special moment. It simply did not hold my interest. Another movie came out at the same time, Robocop. In many ways, they were equivalent movies, but the public liked Robocop.
I consider the time I spent watching Freejack to be a very minor accomplishment in my life. If the sum total of all my accomplishments were added up, this minor event would likely not make the top ten-thousand. Every school math assignment I worked on had a much larger impact. I have experienced far better movies, stories, and television shows. For example, watching Star Wars in 1977 probably made the top 10 moments of my life.
I am sure the people responsible for this movie had great pride in their accomplishment. Mick Jagger might consider his role a substantial lifetime accomplishment. I am sure the producers would greatly appreciate any interest in the film. They would love a reboot, a sequel or to have the rights purchased for millions of dollars.
Why am I blogging about this? Our lives are made up of many minor accomplishments. For example. Going to the supermarket to buy groceries. What is not appreciated in this mundane task is the substantial effort of all the people involved. Stock people, truck drivers, accountants, cashiers, farmers, and quality control.
My reason for blogging about this obscure movie is to point out that a minor event for most people can be a major life accomplishment for others. Now, here is the tie in. I do not want Interviewing Immortality to be your version of Freejack. “I read that book and I struggle to recall the exact plot. Overall, I would give it a grade C. Not a recommended read.” Ahh, now this blog makes sense. I am trying to elevate my book above the noise.
In my case, I struggle to get my book into people’s hands. I want people to become aware of its existence and give it a chance. As a result, people might compare my work to the movie Freejack; an unrewarding minor event (which still sold millions of tickets and made a profit.) Or they might find my book to be like Robocop, a widely regarded film with two sequels. For now, my self-published book remains far beneath the minor fame surrounding the movie Freejack. That’s very depressing.
My recent blogs all seem to have a common theme. I need to do a better job of getting the word out. All very true. Well, I am going to keep trying and thinking about how to accomplish this.
If I take an objective approach, watching Freejack did not turn into a special moment. It simply did not hold my interest. Another movie came out at the same time, Robocop. In many ways, they were equivalent movies, but the public liked Robocop.
I consider the time I spent watching Freejack to be a very minor accomplishment in my life. If the sum total of all my accomplishments were added up, this minor event would likely not make the top ten-thousand. Every school math assignment I worked on had a much larger impact. I have experienced far better movies, stories, and television shows. For example, watching Star Wars in 1977 probably made the top 10 moments of my life.
I am sure the people responsible for this movie had great pride in their accomplishment. Mick Jagger might consider his role a substantial lifetime accomplishment. I am sure the producers would greatly appreciate any interest in the film. They would love a reboot, a sequel or to have the rights purchased for millions of dollars.
Why am I blogging about this? Our lives are made up of many minor accomplishments. For example. Going to the supermarket to buy groceries. What is not appreciated in this mundane task is the substantial effort of all the people involved. Stock people, truck drivers, accountants, cashiers, farmers, and quality control.
My reason for blogging about this obscure movie is to point out that a minor event for most people can be a major life accomplishment for others. Now, here is the tie in. I do not want Interviewing Immortality to be your version of Freejack. “I read that book and I struggle to recall the exact plot. Overall, I would give it a grade C. Not a recommended read.” Ahh, now this blog makes sense. I am trying to elevate my book above the noise.
In my case, I struggle to get my book into people’s hands. I want people to become aware of its existence and give it a chance. As a result, people might compare my work to the movie Freejack; an unrewarding minor event (which still sold millions of tickets and made a profit.) Or they might find my book to be like Robocop, a widely regarded film with two sequels. For now, my self-published book remains far beneath the minor fame surrounding the movie Freejack. That’s very depressing.
My recent blogs all seem to have a common theme. I need to do a better job of getting the word out. All very true. Well, I am going to keep trying and thinking about how to accomplish this.
March 13, 2019
What the World Owes Me
The world has changed so much since my birth. I arrived at the tail end of the 60s; the peace generation. Of course, people forget the violence of this time period and all the social unrest. In many ways, the people of this generation protested against the pleasant memories of the 1950s. Remember poodle skirts? I have only seen them in pictures.
The 70s went crazy. People realized the unrealistic nature of the peace movement and they rebelled in a different direction. This gave rise to disco music, real drugs, and computers. This paved the way to the 80s; my decade. I loved the culture, the style, the movies, and the people. MTV, John Hughes films, good word processors and the best music ever. Of course, behind the great times, I watched the evolution of organized street crime, the height of the cold war and people struggling to fit in.
The 90s turned out to be a letdown. The music started with the grunge movement and then techno. How completely depressing. Of course, computers were simply amazing, the movies got more realistic and people took on their own style. Who cares about top 40? Get an MP3 player and listen to whatever you like.
Then the 2000s rolled out, and I became an adult. I got married to a wonderful woman and had an amazing daughter. Time to man-up. And so, I did. Life became less exciting but more stable. Overall, I’m a lot happier.
Well, what does it all mean? Where do I go from here? In all likeliness, my life will be more of the same. I’m going to raise my daughter, go to work, write in my spare time and try to come up with a business. Who is going to help? Friends, family and the Internet.
What should happen to my life? What should have my history have been? Overall, I have a few complaints that I try to keep to myself. I remind myself every day how grateful I am to be alive. However, something large has changed in society since my birth.
Today, the perception is that we are owed something. When I came into this wonderful world, the state gave me a birth certificate and a few laws against child abuse. Other than the air I breathed, the world offered me nothing more. Of course, had been blessed with a healthy body, two wonderful parents and an amazing sister to guide me to adulthood. I do not feel that I am owed anything.
The topic of this blog is “what I am owed.” I think the perception of what people are owed has changed dramatically. People are demanding more and getting more. Three weeks ago, a server accidentally spilled my food as she brought it to the table. Keep in mind that the food was not spilled on me and the incident only resulted in a slight delay. She apologized, the manager apologized and said he would take my entree off the bill. It appeared that the restaurant owed me a free meal for her mistake. I informed the manager that the server did a great job and I did not require a free meal. I imagine he thought, “Who would turn down a free meal?”
To me, this incident falls under, “No harm, no foul.” It is a privilege to have enough money to buy dinner at a great restaurant and be served by this wonderful person. Now if the server had poured hot coffee on my lap that would be a different story.
Others do not share my view. People demand things they don’t deserve and then get them with a smile. Getting a free meal because a server bumped her tray is not a privilege, it’s a right. That right is in the same category as getting a fair trial and free speech. Not getting a free meal will result in bad Yelp reviews, having the credit card cancel the payment, boycotting the restaurant and hacking their computers. Take that, you evil corporations!
I have no idea where this sense of entitlement in our society came from. Minor bumps in life are turned into major overcompensations. Everybody deserves something for doing nothing. If not, they take their complaints all the way to the Supreme Court.
So why am I writing about this issue? To complain about other people? No. My humble blog would not alter any attitudes. My reason for blogging about this topic is that I am being forced to change my perception. The new generation expects more, gives less and has a bad attitude. So let's write some “new” dialog:
“Oops, sorry about that.”
“My meal is going to be free? Right?”
“I’ll get my manager to take that off the bill. Have a great dinner, sir.”
“Alright, that’s better.”
Gahhhh. Hey customer, man-up and stop acting like a jerk. It is as if this “normal” customer is an evil protagonist. I really want to hate that guy. This reads like an excerpt from a horror/crime drama. The dreaded motorcycle gang leader walked into the dinner with the intention of committing a crime. He needs an excuse to start shooting. Wait a minute, she dropped the plate. That’s all the motivation he needs.
This new sense of entitlement is hard for me to accept. I want to scream, “Grow up! Start taking responsibility for your own actions!” However, I have been overruled and entitlement is here to stay. The world may not owe me something, but it does owe everybody else.
In writing, I have to start thinking along the lines of the present generation. One of my upcoming books has a daughter, and she is going to be a modern girl. The world is going to have to owe her something big. Is she going to demand a free meal? Girrrrr. Yes, she will. Hmm. Her parents are not going to like that. I see some spanking in her future. Wait, a minute. You can no longer spank your child. She would put that on Facebook to let the entire world know what happened. Girrrrr.
The 70s went crazy. People realized the unrealistic nature of the peace movement and they rebelled in a different direction. This gave rise to disco music, real drugs, and computers. This paved the way to the 80s; my decade. I loved the culture, the style, the movies, and the people. MTV, John Hughes films, good word processors and the best music ever. Of course, behind the great times, I watched the evolution of organized street crime, the height of the cold war and people struggling to fit in.
The 90s turned out to be a letdown. The music started with the grunge movement and then techno. How completely depressing. Of course, computers were simply amazing, the movies got more realistic and people took on their own style. Who cares about top 40? Get an MP3 player and listen to whatever you like.
Then the 2000s rolled out, and I became an adult. I got married to a wonderful woman and had an amazing daughter. Time to man-up. And so, I did. Life became less exciting but more stable. Overall, I’m a lot happier.
Well, what does it all mean? Where do I go from here? In all likeliness, my life will be more of the same. I’m going to raise my daughter, go to work, write in my spare time and try to come up with a business. Who is going to help? Friends, family and the Internet.
What should happen to my life? What should have my history have been? Overall, I have a few complaints that I try to keep to myself. I remind myself every day how grateful I am to be alive. However, something large has changed in society since my birth.
Today, the perception is that we are owed something. When I came into this wonderful world, the state gave me a birth certificate and a few laws against child abuse. Other than the air I breathed, the world offered me nothing more. Of course, had been blessed with a healthy body, two wonderful parents and an amazing sister to guide me to adulthood. I do not feel that I am owed anything.
The topic of this blog is “what I am owed.” I think the perception of what people are owed has changed dramatically. People are demanding more and getting more. Three weeks ago, a server accidentally spilled my food as she brought it to the table. Keep in mind that the food was not spilled on me and the incident only resulted in a slight delay. She apologized, the manager apologized and said he would take my entree off the bill. It appeared that the restaurant owed me a free meal for her mistake. I informed the manager that the server did a great job and I did not require a free meal. I imagine he thought, “Who would turn down a free meal?”
To me, this incident falls under, “No harm, no foul.” It is a privilege to have enough money to buy dinner at a great restaurant and be served by this wonderful person. Now if the server had poured hot coffee on my lap that would be a different story.
Others do not share my view. People demand things they don’t deserve and then get them with a smile. Getting a free meal because a server bumped her tray is not a privilege, it’s a right. That right is in the same category as getting a fair trial and free speech. Not getting a free meal will result in bad Yelp reviews, having the credit card cancel the payment, boycotting the restaurant and hacking their computers. Take that, you evil corporations!
I have no idea where this sense of entitlement in our society came from. Minor bumps in life are turned into major overcompensations. Everybody deserves something for doing nothing. If not, they take their complaints all the way to the Supreme Court.
So why am I writing about this issue? To complain about other people? No. My humble blog would not alter any attitudes. My reason for blogging about this topic is that I am being forced to change my perception. The new generation expects more, gives less and has a bad attitude. So let's write some “new” dialog:
“Oops, sorry about that.”
“My meal is going to be free? Right?”
“I’ll get my manager to take that off the bill. Have a great dinner, sir.”
“Alright, that’s better.”
Gahhhh. Hey customer, man-up and stop acting like a jerk. It is as if this “normal” customer is an evil protagonist. I really want to hate that guy. This reads like an excerpt from a horror/crime drama. The dreaded motorcycle gang leader walked into the dinner with the intention of committing a crime. He needs an excuse to start shooting. Wait a minute, she dropped the plate. That’s all the motivation he needs.
This new sense of entitlement is hard for me to accept. I want to scream, “Grow up! Start taking responsibility for your own actions!” However, I have been overruled and entitlement is here to stay. The world may not owe me something, but it does owe everybody else.
In writing, I have to start thinking along the lines of the present generation. One of my upcoming books has a daughter, and she is going to be a modern girl. The world is going to have to owe her something big. Is she going to demand a free meal? Girrrrr. Yes, she will. Hmm. Her parents are not going to like that. I see some spanking in her future. Wait, a minute. You can no longer spank your child. She would put that on Facebook to let the entire world know what happened. Girrrrr.
March 6, 2019
How’s That Marketing Going?
Wow, what a bad topic to blog about. So far, my marketing effort has stalled. At best, I sell one book a month. The few people who have purchased my book usually know me in person or online. The good news is that most of my readers like what they read. It’s nice that I made a few people smile.
My primary marketing plan is to get a few more reviews, bring out two additional books and then use the Amazon paid promotion services. I know this is an awful plan because the Amazon paid promotion services are ineffective. My secondary plan is to develop a grassroots effort of Facebook promotion and beg for reviews. So far this plan has had limited success.
Well, what did I expect? I expected Amazon, Kubo, Barns and Nobel to do a better job promoting new authors. In my mind, it is in their best interest to help new authors become great sellers. Yeah… Some wishful thinking going on in my head.
What else did I expect? Honestly, I expected to find the magic lamp of marketing. Go to website X, pay $50 and BAM! Instant book sales! Woo-hoo! Money in the bank! You cannot imagine how my surprise in not finding such a site.
Now, more than ever, if you have money, people are willing to take it. Why should book promoting be any different? I located many sites who were willing to take my money. However, the services they offered were laughable. Even worse, they could be detrimental as they blasted people with annoying spam. These sites offered no metric of success and no guarantees. The textbook definition of wasted money.
I sensed an opportunity and considered making a business that would promote self-published authors. However, I could not come up with a viable plan that made any sense. That business is still an option. I really need to put some time into thinking up a good business idea.
Every self-published author faces the same marketing wall. There are millions of old books and thousands of new books. Perhaps a hundred new books come out every day. These books all compete for a reader’s attention. Keep in mind that a reader also likes: eating, sleeping, social media, television, sports, movies, exercise, work, family, travel, and friends. Somehow, a self-published author has to break through that entire spectrum of options and convince a reader to “buy it now.”
For example, a reader could purchase The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy [A well establish book] for $2.99 or the reader could purchase Interviewing Immortality [An astounding book. Trust me, I wrote it.] by an unknown self-published author for $2.99.
If I take an objective approach, this is not a difficult decision. I know millions of people cherish The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. It is a well-written classic that everybody should read. Why would I spend my hard-earned cash on a self-published nobody? Convincing myself to “go ahead. Take the leap. It’s only $2.99.” That’s all fine until I have to put in my credit card number. Hold on. $2.99 will buy me a six-pack of Diet Coke. Let’s think this through. Better go with the established author where I know I will get my money’s worth. “You have purchased The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. Thank you for choosing Amazon.” Good choice.
Wow, what a depressing thought. Will I ever get the word out? Will I ever sell over two books a month? I believe in myself and I have gotten good feedback from the people who have read my book. This encourages me and I feel that I have a positive writing future ahead of me. Blah, blah, blah. Answer the question. Alright, alright. I have picked a difficult path to follow. It is very hard to self-promote a self-published book. Marketing is challenging for the experts and it is a skill that I have put little effort into developing.
Financial success in self-publishing is difficult for any author and my prospects are slim. What’s missing is a bubbly personality. I simply don’t have it. I also lack the advertising drive. Take the leap, spend the money and put up a billboard promoting your book. Yeah, I will get right on it…
I have never been one to give up and I still see the possibility of success. What’s needed is more effort in the area of engaging people and telling them about my work. This means broadening my presence. Right now, I’m not on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and all those other sites. If I expect any success, social media needs to be part of my core plan.
Here is an unpleasant thought. Pay a YouTuber to promote my book. Girrrrr. I don’t want to do that. Trust me, it will help. Lots of people promote works through YouTube. It’s fast and easy. Girrrrr. It should be clear to everybody that I am in the way of my own success. Now that is a depressing note to end this blog.
My primary marketing plan is to get a few more reviews, bring out two additional books and then use the Amazon paid promotion services. I know this is an awful plan because the Amazon paid promotion services are ineffective. My secondary plan is to develop a grassroots effort of Facebook promotion and beg for reviews. So far this plan has had limited success.
Well, what did I expect? I expected Amazon, Kubo, Barns and Nobel to do a better job promoting new authors. In my mind, it is in their best interest to help new authors become great sellers. Yeah… Some wishful thinking going on in my head.
What else did I expect? Honestly, I expected to find the magic lamp of marketing. Go to website X, pay $50 and BAM! Instant book sales! Woo-hoo! Money in the bank! You cannot imagine how my surprise in not finding such a site.
Now, more than ever, if you have money, people are willing to take it. Why should book promoting be any different? I located many sites who were willing to take my money. However, the services they offered were laughable. Even worse, they could be detrimental as they blasted people with annoying spam. These sites offered no metric of success and no guarantees. The textbook definition of wasted money.
I sensed an opportunity and considered making a business that would promote self-published authors. However, I could not come up with a viable plan that made any sense. That business is still an option. I really need to put some time into thinking up a good business idea.
Every self-published author faces the same marketing wall. There are millions of old books and thousands of new books. Perhaps a hundred new books come out every day. These books all compete for a reader’s attention. Keep in mind that a reader also likes: eating, sleeping, social media, television, sports, movies, exercise, work, family, travel, and friends. Somehow, a self-published author has to break through that entire spectrum of options and convince a reader to “buy it now.”
For example, a reader could purchase The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy [A well establish book] for $2.99 or the reader could purchase Interviewing Immortality [An astounding book. Trust me, I wrote it.] by an unknown self-published author for $2.99.
If I take an objective approach, this is not a difficult decision. I know millions of people cherish The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. It is a well-written classic that everybody should read. Why would I spend my hard-earned cash on a self-published nobody? Convincing myself to “go ahead. Take the leap. It’s only $2.99.” That’s all fine until I have to put in my credit card number. Hold on. $2.99 will buy me a six-pack of Diet Coke. Let’s think this through. Better go with the established author where I know I will get my money’s worth. “You have purchased The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy. Thank you for choosing Amazon.” Good choice.
Wow, what a depressing thought. Will I ever get the word out? Will I ever sell over two books a month? I believe in myself and I have gotten good feedback from the people who have read my book. This encourages me and I feel that I have a positive writing future ahead of me. Blah, blah, blah. Answer the question. Alright, alright. I have picked a difficult path to follow. It is very hard to self-promote a self-published book. Marketing is challenging for the experts and it is a skill that I have put little effort into developing.
Financial success in self-publishing is difficult for any author and my prospects are slim. What’s missing is a bubbly personality. I simply don’t have it. I also lack the advertising drive. Take the leap, spend the money and put up a billboard promoting your book. Yeah, I will get right on it…
I have never been one to give up and I still see the possibility of success. What’s needed is more effort in the area of engaging people and telling them about my work. This means broadening my presence. Right now, I’m not on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and all those other sites. If I expect any success, social media needs to be part of my core plan.
Here is an unpleasant thought. Pay a YouTuber to promote my book. Girrrrr. I don’t want to do that. Trust me, it will help. Lots of people promote works through YouTube. It’s fast and easy. Girrrrr. It should be clear to everybody that I am in the way of my own success. Now that is a depressing note to end this blog.
February 27, 2019
I No Longer Use Writers Helping Writers
I joined Facebook to promote my first book. Once on Facebook, I found a great resource for helping me to write in the group Writers Helping Writers. It is a forum where writers post content, ask questions, provide resources and converse about writing, story and publishing. When I joined this group, I read every post and contributed every day to the ongoing topics.
If I were to summarize my experience, it confirmed that I am indeed an author. As opposed to somebody who had not taken the leap, was not serious or had no talent. How did I figure this out? A large number of people had yet to publish anything. Many of the posts were clearly from amateurs and they did not understand the true craft of writing. Established authors proudly posted their poorly written material. This boosted my confidence. Confidence at the expense of others? Hmm. I still claim the win.
The content I posted asked important questions about writing and I believe the members appreciated my efforts. Through this interaction, it became apparent that others shared my struggles. Like me, upcoming authors had difficulties, and they worked hard to overcome their shortcomings. Using the information I gained, I determined my own plan or marketing and story development.
When somebody posted material that had been poorly written, I chose not to make negative comments. I did this even though they clearly wanted an honest opinion. It’s not my personality to put down others or go out of my way to point out flaws. However, Writers Helping Writers is an open forum. A person joining this group must realize that this type of venue is not always going to be a pleasant experience.
As the months passed, I became disillusioned by the group. My biggest annoyance came from all the repeat posts. For example, when a person first joined, they posted, “Wow, so great to be here.” Or “How do I write a book?” In the beginning, I enjoyed sharing my wisdom and reading about their experiences. I am a big fan of starting with an outline and I explained my technique several times. However, the same posts kept repeating with the same answers.
Writers Helping Writers also contained negative and angry comments. This trend demotivated people like myself who were trying to positively contribute to the community. Plus, writing is supposed to be fun. I fully appreciate that it’s a privilege to be an author. Try writing a book in North Korea.
Many of the posts were fluff. “Writers meeting in St Petersburg. Come join us.” Ten-hour flight? No thank you. “Look at my cooking book cover!” I don’t care. “How should this poem end?” Gahhhh. Too much noise. “I just sold 50 thousand books!” Yay. I sold two this month. A new record.
What suggestions do I have for the group? Writers Helping Writers is what it is. An open forum for writers to communicate. The people who join that group are just people. They’re trying to improve their writing and people are never perfect. The result is a small amount of wonderful content sprinkled among the junk. I am glad to have learned so much from the group and I think it is a great resource. My only suggestion would be to develop a FAQ section and let the moderator direct the appropriate posts to that area. I would recommend all authors check the group out. The group has a lot of good information and many of the people genuinely want to contribute.
My experience with Writers Helping Writers went from positive to negative over six months. Writing takes time and I must budget my free time. About once a month, I skim over the posts. I no longer comment or post material/questions. Is that bad? I don’t think my decision is good or bad. We have interests in our lives that go from the high point of our day to something we deplore. For example, I no longer play with Legos.
Does this mean that I evolved beyond Writers Helping Writers? In a way, yes. I gained the confidence and information I lacked. Writers Helping Writers truly fulfilled the intended goal of the group. Writers did indeed help out a writer.
If I were to summarize my experience, it confirmed that I am indeed an author. As opposed to somebody who had not taken the leap, was not serious or had no talent. How did I figure this out? A large number of people had yet to publish anything. Many of the posts were clearly from amateurs and they did not understand the true craft of writing. Established authors proudly posted their poorly written material. This boosted my confidence. Confidence at the expense of others? Hmm. I still claim the win.
The content I posted asked important questions about writing and I believe the members appreciated my efforts. Through this interaction, it became apparent that others shared my struggles. Like me, upcoming authors had difficulties, and they worked hard to overcome their shortcomings. Using the information I gained, I determined my own plan or marketing and story development.
When somebody posted material that had been poorly written, I chose not to make negative comments. I did this even though they clearly wanted an honest opinion. It’s not my personality to put down others or go out of my way to point out flaws. However, Writers Helping Writers is an open forum. A person joining this group must realize that this type of venue is not always going to be a pleasant experience.
As the months passed, I became disillusioned by the group. My biggest annoyance came from all the repeat posts. For example, when a person first joined, they posted, “Wow, so great to be here.” Or “How do I write a book?” In the beginning, I enjoyed sharing my wisdom and reading about their experiences. I am a big fan of starting with an outline and I explained my technique several times. However, the same posts kept repeating with the same answers.
Writers Helping Writers also contained negative and angry comments. This trend demotivated people like myself who were trying to positively contribute to the community. Plus, writing is supposed to be fun. I fully appreciate that it’s a privilege to be an author. Try writing a book in North Korea.
Many of the posts were fluff. “Writers meeting in St Petersburg. Come join us.” Ten-hour flight? No thank you. “Look at my cooking book cover!” I don’t care. “How should this poem end?” Gahhhh. Too much noise. “I just sold 50 thousand books!” Yay. I sold two this month. A new record.
What suggestions do I have for the group? Writers Helping Writers is what it is. An open forum for writers to communicate. The people who join that group are just people. They’re trying to improve their writing and people are never perfect. The result is a small amount of wonderful content sprinkled among the junk. I am glad to have learned so much from the group and I think it is a great resource. My only suggestion would be to develop a FAQ section and let the moderator direct the appropriate posts to that area. I would recommend all authors check the group out. The group has a lot of good information and many of the people genuinely want to contribute.
My experience with Writers Helping Writers went from positive to negative over six months. Writing takes time and I must budget my free time. About once a month, I skim over the posts. I no longer comment or post material/questions. Is that bad? I don’t think my decision is good or bad. We have interests in our lives that go from the high point of our day to something we deplore. For example, I no longer play with Legos.
Does this mean that I evolved beyond Writers Helping Writers? In a way, yes. I gained the confidence and information I lacked. Writers Helping Writers truly fulfilled the intended goal of the group. Writers did indeed help out a writer.
February 20, 2019
The Definition of Evil
Authors tap into their personal experiences to create story and characters. These experiences can be positive or negative. Within our negatives lies an element which we deem to be evil. This negative quality is beyond poor judgment and bad behavior. For me, the difference becomes apparent when a person embraces the negative and turns their back on the positive. Essentially, there is a joy in being bad.
Evil takes many forms in our lived and in our stories. The good detective hunting down the despicable criminal. The anti-hero Mad Max who saves a life one day and kills 10 people the next. The desperate Bonnie and Clyde criminal who are “just trying to survive” against the “man.” The trusted person who is a pedophile. The leader who removes subversive people to save society. The mental patient who “does not know any better.” Then there is the despicable Hannibal Lecter or serial killer Ted Bundy who enjoy torturing people to death.
Towards the lesser end of the evil spectrum is a “normal” person who appears to have bad judgment, but there is an element of evil contained within their core. For example, a best friend that steals from you. An alcoholic relative who rams their car through a crowd of people in a drunken rage.
People often justify their evil tendencies. “This is something that has to happen. I’m not enjoying this.” If we look at the deplorable people through history, the majority genuinely perceived their actions as good. “The bad people needed to die.”
Often an “honest” person feels they are performing good deeds with their deplorable actions. An extreme example is killing the “non-believers.” A less extreme example is a parent who constantly punishes their child to “keep them in line.”
The worst evil is when you realize that you, yourself are evil. You try to convince yourself that breaking your brother’s arm was an “accident.” That person looking back in the mirror is a drug dealer and not a “spiritual helper.” At one point, a person realizes that “breaking his arm was wrong.” From that time onward, this person must rationalize their existence. Sometimes a person can understand they are evil, make a change, apologize for the past and they try to make amends. I believe an evil person can become a good person. Other times, an evil person embraces their inner demon. “I like being a drug dealer.” “Breaking his arm felt good.”
Protagonists range from annoying to an ongoing deplorable level of evil that can only exist in outlandish fiction. Can a fictional character truly be considered evil? Stories are a collection of words and concepts that only become real when a reader thinks about them. Does this mean that a protagonist “brings out the evil” in a readers mind? In some ways, I think it does. Can a bad story corrupt a reader? There are many examples of bad people who got their inspiration from books or movies.
People are complex. They have a lot going on in their minds with a variety of backgrounds to guide them. People have witnessed actual events that range from acts of supreme kindness to unimaginable horrors. A good story will pull from experiences out of a reader's minds and allow the reader to visualize the story. This includes visualizing evil.
Let's explore two actual “evil” people from my life. This first is a former coworker. He is a pathetic man who overcame his incompetence by blaming others. I came into his crosshairs and suffered through his wrath. From my perspective, the result was hurt feelings and a messed-up project. I still harbor disdain for this individual all these years later. What did he think of me? I’m sure he felt that everybody around him was incompetent and out to get him. I was simply one of the people that upset him more than the others. He would likely summarize me as a non-team player.
Was he truly evil? At the time, I thought so. I have since thought about how evil this man actually was. He was suffering from severe arthritis and he took powerful medications. The medications had severe side effects including mental impairment. He was the only provider of a family with two children. I am sure he was under enormous pressure. However, there is no doubt he was fully aware of the medication effects and his poor job performance. However, we never asked for help, understanding or forgiveness.
The aspect of his personality that brought out the evil was his enjoyment to inflict pain. Rather than accept his circumstances and try his best to overcome them, he went out of his way to blame others for his shortcomings. When this happened, I felt his passion. He savored the success of his negative efforts. His actions were beyond poor judgment. Something else was present in that man. My guess is that this “evil high” distracted him from his own arthritis pain and prevented him from facing his own severe incompetence.
I based a protagonist upon this man. I copied the way he dressed, his bad decisions, the way he covered up his bad decisions, his supreme incompetence, low ethics, and the condescending way he spoke. My character served as a good foil. In retrospect, something positive came out of that situation. It’s fun to be a writer. Or is it budget therapy? Hmm.
Three years ago, our house got robbed. The traumatic experience harshly affected my family. A year later, they caught the person. Joey Ramos is a despicable man that committed several crimes. I was one of many people who testified against him. He was convicted and they are asking for 140 years.
In the courtroom, I faced my accuser. I could see the evil in his black eyes. [They were actually black. I absolutely could not see any white and I could feel his hate. It was very unnerving.] This man truly had no soul. He only existed to steal, cause pain and corrupt others. By the rules of society, he is the definition of evil and for me, he is the supreme proof that evil exists.
Am I going to base a character upon him? Absolutely not. He is far too bad for my style of writing. Readers would encounter with a vastly evil character with no positive attributes. However, I’m aware that other writers choose to use characters of this nature. He could easily be the despicable criminal that a great police officer chases. Or the criminal equivalent of Hannibal Lecter who likes to steal.
But wait. Joey Ramos is real, and he really affected me. Taking an objective approach, he is not that bad when compared to a fictional person like Hannibal Lecter or the real-life serial killer Ted Bundy.
For me, such an evil character like Hannibal Lecter are impossible for me to relate to. I cannot alter my mindset enough to think like Hannibal Lecter. There has to be at least one foot in the real world. When I develop a character, they need a motive beyond embracing evil. Perhaps a bad circumstance they are attempting to overcome.
Is it ethical to write about an evil character? In past blogs, I stated that I am a deeply ethical person. However, my stories contain death, torture, murder, and hardship. My first book is about a 500-year-old murdering psychopath. In this [well-written] book [you should buy] [right now] [please!] I attempt to justify her existence. Essentially my story attempts to make her less evil. At very least, I attempt to justify the evil within her own mind.
Overall, my main characters are good, and I expose them to evil. Sometimes the evil stays around. However, the evil deeds are not rewarded and evil characters are not embraced. Why? That’s just who I am.
My goal is writing is to make a story that entertains the readers while retaining my ethical boundaries. In order to appreciate the bright positive parts, the negative parts must be experienced. A good story explores evil while good people do not. Within my own life, I try my best to be a good person and suppress my evil tendencies. When I find that I have crossed the line, I do my best to make amends.
It is clear that I allow myself to write about evil. Am I propelling the evil concepts that I write about? Hey, bad people here’s an idea. Go read Bills book and learn how to kill. At least get yourself in the mood. Hmm.
Would that make me slightly evil? I read books and watch movies that have evil characters. I play video games where I “kill people.” That’s me clicking the mouse button to shoot a gun. I fully comprehend that I’m no saint and I have regrets over my past negative actions. Does that make me at least some percentage evil? Dang… That’s certainly something to think about.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...
Evil takes many forms in our lived and in our stories. The good detective hunting down the despicable criminal. The anti-hero Mad Max who saves a life one day and kills 10 people the next. The desperate Bonnie and Clyde criminal who are “just trying to survive” against the “man.” The trusted person who is a pedophile. The leader who removes subversive people to save society. The mental patient who “does not know any better.” Then there is the despicable Hannibal Lecter or serial killer Ted Bundy who enjoy torturing people to death.
Towards the lesser end of the evil spectrum is a “normal” person who appears to have bad judgment, but there is an element of evil contained within their core. For example, a best friend that steals from you. An alcoholic relative who rams their car through a crowd of people in a drunken rage.
People often justify their evil tendencies. “This is something that has to happen. I’m not enjoying this.” If we look at the deplorable people through history, the majority genuinely perceived their actions as good. “The bad people needed to die.”
Often an “honest” person feels they are performing good deeds with their deplorable actions. An extreme example is killing the “non-believers.” A less extreme example is a parent who constantly punishes their child to “keep them in line.”
The worst evil is when you realize that you, yourself are evil. You try to convince yourself that breaking your brother’s arm was an “accident.” That person looking back in the mirror is a drug dealer and not a “spiritual helper.” At one point, a person realizes that “breaking his arm was wrong.” From that time onward, this person must rationalize their existence. Sometimes a person can understand they are evil, make a change, apologize for the past and they try to make amends. I believe an evil person can become a good person. Other times, an evil person embraces their inner demon. “I like being a drug dealer.” “Breaking his arm felt good.”
Protagonists range from annoying to an ongoing deplorable level of evil that can only exist in outlandish fiction. Can a fictional character truly be considered evil? Stories are a collection of words and concepts that only become real when a reader thinks about them. Does this mean that a protagonist “brings out the evil” in a readers mind? In some ways, I think it does. Can a bad story corrupt a reader? There are many examples of bad people who got their inspiration from books or movies.
People are complex. They have a lot going on in their minds with a variety of backgrounds to guide them. People have witnessed actual events that range from acts of supreme kindness to unimaginable horrors. A good story will pull from experiences out of a reader's minds and allow the reader to visualize the story. This includes visualizing evil.
Let's explore two actual “evil” people from my life. This first is a former coworker. He is a pathetic man who overcame his incompetence by blaming others. I came into his crosshairs and suffered through his wrath. From my perspective, the result was hurt feelings and a messed-up project. I still harbor disdain for this individual all these years later. What did he think of me? I’m sure he felt that everybody around him was incompetent and out to get him. I was simply one of the people that upset him more than the others. He would likely summarize me as a non-team player.
Was he truly evil? At the time, I thought so. I have since thought about how evil this man actually was. He was suffering from severe arthritis and he took powerful medications. The medications had severe side effects including mental impairment. He was the only provider of a family with two children. I am sure he was under enormous pressure. However, there is no doubt he was fully aware of the medication effects and his poor job performance. However, we never asked for help, understanding or forgiveness.
The aspect of his personality that brought out the evil was his enjoyment to inflict pain. Rather than accept his circumstances and try his best to overcome them, he went out of his way to blame others for his shortcomings. When this happened, I felt his passion. He savored the success of his negative efforts. His actions were beyond poor judgment. Something else was present in that man. My guess is that this “evil high” distracted him from his own arthritis pain and prevented him from facing his own severe incompetence.
I based a protagonist upon this man. I copied the way he dressed, his bad decisions, the way he covered up his bad decisions, his supreme incompetence, low ethics, and the condescending way he spoke. My character served as a good foil. In retrospect, something positive came out of that situation. It’s fun to be a writer. Or is it budget therapy? Hmm.
Three years ago, our house got robbed. The traumatic experience harshly affected my family. A year later, they caught the person. Joey Ramos is a despicable man that committed several crimes. I was one of many people who testified against him. He was convicted and they are asking for 140 years.
In the courtroom, I faced my accuser. I could see the evil in his black eyes. [They were actually black. I absolutely could not see any white and I could feel his hate. It was very unnerving.] This man truly had no soul. He only existed to steal, cause pain and corrupt others. By the rules of society, he is the definition of evil and for me, he is the supreme proof that evil exists.
Am I going to base a character upon him? Absolutely not. He is far too bad for my style of writing. Readers would encounter with a vastly evil character with no positive attributes. However, I’m aware that other writers choose to use characters of this nature. He could easily be the despicable criminal that a great police officer chases. Or the criminal equivalent of Hannibal Lecter who likes to steal.
But wait. Joey Ramos is real, and he really affected me. Taking an objective approach, he is not that bad when compared to a fictional person like Hannibal Lecter or the real-life serial killer Ted Bundy.
For me, such an evil character like Hannibal Lecter are impossible for me to relate to. I cannot alter my mindset enough to think like Hannibal Lecter. There has to be at least one foot in the real world. When I develop a character, they need a motive beyond embracing evil. Perhaps a bad circumstance they are attempting to overcome.
Is it ethical to write about an evil character? In past blogs, I stated that I am a deeply ethical person. However, my stories contain death, torture, murder, and hardship. My first book is about a 500-year-old murdering psychopath. In this [well-written] book [you should buy] [right now] [please!] I attempt to justify her existence. Essentially my story attempts to make her less evil. At very least, I attempt to justify the evil within her own mind.
Overall, my main characters are good, and I expose them to evil. Sometimes the evil stays around. However, the evil deeds are not rewarded and evil characters are not embraced. Why? That’s just who I am.
My goal is writing is to make a story that entertains the readers while retaining my ethical boundaries. In order to appreciate the bright positive parts, the negative parts must be experienced. A good story explores evil while good people do not. Within my own life, I try my best to be a good person and suppress my evil tendencies. When I find that I have crossed the line, I do my best to make amends.
It is clear that I allow myself to write about evil. Am I propelling the evil concepts that I write about? Hey, bad people here’s an idea. Go read Bills book and learn how to kill. At least get yourself in the mood. Hmm.
Would that make me slightly evil? I read books and watch movies that have evil characters. I play video games where I “kill people.” That’s me clicking the mouse button to shoot a gun. I fully comprehend that I’m no saint and I have regrets over my past negative actions. Does that make me at least some percentage evil? Dang… That’s certainly something to think about.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...
