Chris Kelly's Blog, page 2
December 4, 2010
Ready for adventure
Wow, what a month November was. What a month December promises to be.
Here's a quote from a poem I love, If... by Rudyard Kipling.
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;
You can read the full poem here.
You might have guessed from my absence I've been going through some personal shit. I'm not ready to fully talk about it yet, but I will at some point. November was the hardest month of my life, and I sunk into such a fugue - I have never been so low. At one point I just gave up, completely gave up.
I was on an emotional rollercoaster, some days so elated I wouldn't be surprised if people thought I was on something, other days so low I just wanted to curl into a ball and never move again. I went off food, went off life, some days just sat and stared into space for hours.
It was actually the beginning of December I gave up. I went on a 12 mile hike through 12 inches of snow. It took four hours, and I was drenched, frozen and tired by the end of it. I got a text message to go see a spiritualist, and got the bus back. I had to buy new socks incase my toes fell off.
The spiritualist's name was Pauline. She spoke to me for an hour, told me things I needed to hear but didn't want to, things I wanted to hear, things I already knew but hadn't verbalised. She brought me to a place I've never been before. The fight came back, I've no longer given up; and yet, at the same time, I am completely at peace. It is almost zen-like.
I've learned a lot about myself the past few weeks, found a lot in me I don't like, and yet I have more confidence than I have had in a long time. Because I can see the person I want to be, and I can see inside me the potential to become that person. At 28 years old, I feel like I'm growing up, feel like I am finally becoming a man.
November was a hard month. There was a lot of pain. I realised a lot about myself, discovered through introspection that I have a high level of immaturity and emotional dependency that have been hindering me. But I believe it is the most painful times of our lives that allow us the most chance to grow.
December will be a hard month. I will face my greatest fear, again and again and again. I'm standing at the edge of it, watching, waiting, about to throw myself in. And yet, I am still at peace. I made a very hard decision yesterday, carried it out today. A life-changing decision that will have an impact on far more than just me. But I can't help but feel like this is the right decision, I'm on the right path.
I haven't felt this sure about something in a long time.
A week ago, I could never have made this decision. Sometimes in life the thing you think you want is not the thing you need, and you'll never realise what the thing you need is unless you get what you thought you wanted. I know what I need now.
I need to grow, I need to change, I need to fulfill the potential I see inside of me. I need to become someone I can be proud of being. This is the most painful and frightening thing I have ever done, but in some ways it reminds me of the old rites of passage.
I will face my fear until I have no fear of it. I will embrace all the pain the world can bestow upon me, confident that no matter how much it hurts it will not destroy me. And at the end of this, no matter the consequences, I will not be the same person I was at the beginning. I will be a better person, closer to the person I want to be. As Rudyard Kipling said: You will be a man, my son.
As Peter Pan said: To die would be an awfully big adventure. I'm not dead yet, and whilst I live I can fight. I will never give up. I'm finally ready for my adventure...
Here's a quote from a poem I love, If... by Rudyard Kipling.
If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;
You can read the full poem here.
You might have guessed from my absence I've been going through some personal shit. I'm not ready to fully talk about it yet, but I will at some point. November was the hardest month of my life, and I sunk into such a fugue - I have never been so low. At one point I just gave up, completely gave up.
I was on an emotional rollercoaster, some days so elated I wouldn't be surprised if people thought I was on something, other days so low I just wanted to curl into a ball and never move again. I went off food, went off life, some days just sat and stared into space for hours.
It was actually the beginning of December I gave up. I went on a 12 mile hike through 12 inches of snow. It took four hours, and I was drenched, frozen and tired by the end of it. I got a text message to go see a spiritualist, and got the bus back. I had to buy new socks incase my toes fell off.
The spiritualist's name was Pauline. She spoke to me for an hour, told me things I needed to hear but didn't want to, things I wanted to hear, things I already knew but hadn't verbalised. She brought me to a place I've never been before. The fight came back, I've no longer given up; and yet, at the same time, I am completely at peace. It is almost zen-like.
I've learned a lot about myself the past few weeks, found a lot in me I don't like, and yet I have more confidence than I have had in a long time. Because I can see the person I want to be, and I can see inside me the potential to become that person. At 28 years old, I feel like I'm growing up, feel like I am finally becoming a man.
November was a hard month. There was a lot of pain. I realised a lot about myself, discovered through introspection that I have a high level of immaturity and emotional dependency that have been hindering me. But I believe it is the most painful times of our lives that allow us the most chance to grow.
December will be a hard month. I will face my greatest fear, again and again and again. I'm standing at the edge of it, watching, waiting, about to throw myself in. And yet, I am still at peace. I made a very hard decision yesterday, carried it out today. A life-changing decision that will have an impact on far more than just me. But I can't help but feel like this is the right decision, I'm on the right path.
I haven't felt this sure about something in a long time.
A week ago, I could never have made this decision. Sometimes in life the thing you think you want is not the thing you need, and you'll never realise what the thing you need is unless you get what you thought you wanted. I know what I need now.
I need to grow, I need to change, I need to fulfill the potential I see inside of me. I need to become someone I can be proud of being. This is the most painful and frightening thing I have ever done, but in some ways it reminds me of the old rites of passage.
I will face my fear until I have no fear of it. I will embrace all the pain the world can bestow upon me, confident that no matter how much it hurts it will not destroy me. And at the end of this, no matter the consequences, I will not be the same person I was at the beginning. I will be a better person, closer to the person I want to be. As Rudyard Kipling said: You will be a man, my son.
As Peter Pan said: To die would be an awfully big adventure. I'm not dead yet, and whilst I live I can fight. I will never give up. I'm finally ready for my adventure...
November 14, 2010
Leave of Absence
Due to personal circumstances, I am taking some time off the internet. I might be active on facebook, but that will be all, and even then not much.
I know I have commitments to people on-line. I am sorry to break them. I have commitments to people off-line, too. Real Life always comes first; I seem to have forgotten that these passed few months.
I know I have commitments to people on-line. I am sorry to break them. I have commitments to people off-line, too. Real Life always comes first; I seem to have forgotten that these passed few months.
November 11, 2010
Video Game Syndrome and Becoming an Indie Author (With Giveaway!) by Zoe Winters
If someone was to come up to me and ask me to name the most influential Indie writer, there's only one name I'd consider. She doesn't have as many books out as some, she isn't making as much money as some, but she is everywhere on the web, and she has bound up her name, her brand, with indieness as much as she has with snarky paranormal romance.
Her paranormal romance must be good: she recently told me she even knows what snog means. :)
She's Zoe Winters, and these days she barely needs an introduction. And better than that, she's just brought out a "how to be Zoe book," all about how YOU can get as snarky and fantastic as her. Or maybe it's about being an indie author. Yeah, that's probably it.
Anyway, Zoe is being totally fantastic today by blogging here.
I recently released a guide for indie authors in ebook called: "Becoming an Indie Author". The book is part motivation, part how-to, and part my experiences as an indie over the past two years. Since I started this journey, I've sold over 28,000 ebooks. I'm still far from my goals, but self-publishing is becoming so hot that it seemed like the time was right to release a book about it.
I'd been giving out a lot of info on my blog as well as the Indie Reader blog and the comments section of other people's blogs, that it seemed time to start organizing and collating it. (Actually it might be a bit redundant to say both organizing and collating, but whatever.)
A lot of people have started mentioning me on their blogs and on forums. I get random Google Alerts frequently where someone mentions me as an "exception" somewhere online. People have started to take notice that dinky little Zoe Winters might actually do pretty okay with this indie thing.
The last chapter of the book is on troubleshooting and mistakes I've made, so you don't have to make them. One of the things I talk about in that section is "Video Game Syndrome," which is what my critique partner, Susan Bischoff, calls it.
If you've ever played a video game you know how stressful it gets when you start to get really far in the game or super high points. It's like... "Eeek, doing well, can't mess up now. Can't lose it now! I just need to get a little farther. Just a few more points."
The same thing happens in book publishing. I'd been tortoising along for 17 months before I started making more than $200 a month. Then suddenly I released my third novella and all my books zoomed to the 100's in overall sales rank on Kindle. I stayed there for 6 weeks, which was probably my most stressful 6 weeks of this whole indie author thing.
Because suddenly I felt like people were watching, and I was finally starting to make money. Where before I was on a "slow and steady wins the race" mentality, once I started selling well, I began to picture myself living under a bridge if it all ended. Attention Captain Emo, your girlfriend is wandering around on aisle five.
I've settled down a bit because I know that high sales rankings are awesome, but eventually they will go away. Only, note to universe... please please keep sales rankings high at B&N just until the end of the month, Zoe hasn't owned a car in 3 years, and it would be super awesome to buy one with author money.
So basically, my point is this: If you happen to have seen my name crop up around the Internet and you think I'm "lucky", it sort of took 2 years of hard work and non-stop marketing and making myself crazy without an outside job to distract me to "get lucky". It doesn't happen instantly. And when it "does" start to happen for you, you will become more stressed and pressured when you feel people are watching or have expectations. This is normal. It happens to everyone.
If you're just starting on your indie journey or you'd like to sell more books than you currently are, you might want to go check out my book: "Becoming an Indie Author".
You can pick it up at Barnes and Noble, Amazon or Smashwords.
I'll also give away a free digital copy of "Becoming an Indie Author" to one commenter here. To enter, all you need to do is tell me your biggest challenge as an indie if you're currently self-publishing, or the biggest fear holding you back if you aren't.
If someone was to come up to me and ask me to name the most influential Indie writer, there's only one name I'd consider. She doesn't have as many books out as some, she isn't making as much money as some, but she is everywhere on the web, and she has bound up her name, her brand, with indieness as much as she has with snarky paranormal romance. Her paranormal romance must be good: she recently told me she even knows what snog means. :)
She's Zoe Winters, and these days she barely needs an introduction. And better than that, she's just brought out a "how to be Zoe book," all about how YOU can get as snarky and fantastic as her. Or maybe it's about being an indie author. Yeah, that's probably it.
Anyway, Zoe is being totally fantastic today by blogging here.
I recently released a guide for indie authors in ebook called: "Becoming an Indie Author". The book is part motivation, part how-to, and part my experiences as an indie over the past two years. Since I started this journey, I've sold over 28,000 ebooks. I'm still far from my goals, but self-publishing is becoming so hot that it seemed like the time was right to release a book about it.
I'd been giving out a lot of info on my blog as well as the Indie Reader blog and the comments section of other people's blogs, that it seemed time to start organizing and collating it. (Actually it might be a bit redundant to say both organizing and collating, but whatever.)
A lot of people have started mentioning me on their blogs and on forums. I get random Google Alerts frequently where someone mentions me as an "exception" somewhere online. People have started to take notice that dinky little Zoe Winters might actually do pretty okay with this indie thing.
The last chapter of the book is on troubleshooting and mistakes I've made, so you don't have to make them. One of the things I talk about in that section is "Video Game Syndrome," which is what my critique partner, Susan Bischoff, calls it.
If you've ever played a video game you know how stressful it gets when you start to get really far in the game or super high points. It's like... "Eeek, doing well, can't mess up now. Can't lose it now! I just need to get a little farther. Just a few more points."
The same thing happens in book publishing. I'd been tortoising along for 17 months before I started making more than $200 a month. Then suddenly I released my third novella and all my books zoomed to the 100's in overall sales rank on Kindle. I stayed there for 6 weeks, which was probably my most stressful 6 weeks of this whole indie author thing.
Because suddenly I felt like people were watching, and I was finally starting to make money. Where before I was on a "slow and steady wins the race" mentality, once I started selling well, I began to picture myself living under a bridge if it all ended. Attention Captain Emo, your girlfriend is wandering around on aisle five.
I've settled down a bit because I know that high sales rankings are awesome, but eventually they will go away. Only, note to universe... please please keep sales rankings high at B&N just until the end of the month, Zoe hasn't owned a car in 3 years, and it would be super awesome to buy one with author money.
So basically, my point is this: If you happen to have seen my name crop up around the Internet and you think I'm "lucky", it sort of took 2 years of hard work and non-stop marketing and making myself crazy without an outside job to distract me to "get lucky". It doesn't happen instantly. And when it "does" start to happen for you, you will become more stressed and pressured when you feel people are watching or have expectations. This is normal. It happens to everyone.
If you're just starting on your indie journey or you'd like to sell more books than you currently are, you might want to go check out my book: "Becoming an Indie Author".
You can pick it up at Barnes and Noble, Amazon or Smashwords.
I'll also give away a free digital copy of "Becoming an Indie Author" to one commenter here. To enter, all you need to do is tell me your biggest challenge as an indie if you're currently self-publishing, or the biggest fear holding you back if you aren't.
November 6, 2010
Guest Post - S. L. Armstrong - Collaborative Writing
Guest Post Goodness! I've been looking forward to today's guest poster for weeks; I'm fascinated by the whole idea of writing in conjunction with another author. It's something I've considered doing before, and would love to try at some point.
But is it practical? Fabulous Indie writer S. L. Armstrong, 50% of the creative talent of Storm Moon Press is here to explain the practicalities of co-writing....
When Chris told me I'd be welcome to add his blog to my blog tour, the topic was a natural one for me. When Chris and I first met, he asked me a bit about what it was like co-authoring with someone. You can't really explain that in 140 characters, though, so this is my chance to answer that question in detail.
I write with K. Piet on 98% of my fiction. I met her quite a number of years ago when I wrote fanfiction. She was a fan of my work and would often leave me feedback on an old Livejournal, and we conversed a few times in email. Eventually, though, I grew tired of fanfiction and began to write my own fiction, and she followed me as a fan through that transition. About three years ago, I fell into a lull where original fiction was difficult for my brain to conjure and I reverted to role playing. I dragged K. along for that ride and, for almost a year, we role played together using characters from a fandom we both loved.
When the role playing sparked our desire to write fanfiction together, it came easily to us. We began to write AU fanfiction for our fandom, but I quickly grew restless with that as AU fanfiction has never made much sense to me. If we were going to only use the setting the original author created and not the characters, then why not just write our own stuff? K. took a little convincing, as she'd never written before that, but I felt she had a great talent for it. Within weeks, we'd taken my idea for a fantasy world called Egaea that I'd been working on and off for a year on and blew it out into a true world filled with characters.
This cover is awesome! However, Egaea is a long-term project that will take us years to see to fruition, and we wanted to write and publish other stuff in the meantime. We wrote the initial drafts of The Keeper and Rachmaninoff in late 2008-early 2009, and then sat on the drafts until March of 2010 when we went into business together and formed Storm Moon Press LLC.
It's been a hell of a journey, I'll say that, and it's not always been smiles and happy times. There was a brief rupture between us in April of 2009 that led to us not writing together for about six months, and we didn't return to our manuscripts with the intent to publish until 2010. It was stressful, I'll admit, because as much joy that comes with having the interaction of writing with another author, there is the grief that comes when there is a serious falling out. When your work is tied to another person, the loss of that relationship can—and often does—leave unfinished works in limbo.
Luckily, K. and I were able to come to terms we both could live with. I have a very exhausting drive which can wear thin on K., and she has other commitments (family and job) that can frustrate me when we're looking down the barrel of a deadline. I don't do well with changes to our routine sprung on me at the last minute, and K. has trouble with feeling as if she's meeting all my expectations. It can be very stressful and hard, but the rewards are well worth all the trouble.
What rewards, right? Well, for me, there is nothing better than working with someone to develop characters, to form a story. There is such motivation in having someone else involved, to receive instant feedback on any idea you might share. I can't tell you the number of nights K. and I have stayed up excitedly discussing our next idea or spent on IMs working out how characters interact with each other. I think the best aspect of co-writing with someone is the interactive nature writing then takes on. It becomes a living thing, not an insular, inverted process.
I wouldn't change how we write. We each have our own projects we write on singularly—usually short stories or little writing exercises—but for the most part, we write together. It's the together I love, and I have such a great relationship with K. that I can't imagine not writing without her. We're in business together, we write together, and we're great friends. We plan on taking it a step further and move in together so the writing and publishing goes more smoothly. Right now, our biggest obstacle is that I'm in Florida while she's in Arizona, and having both our personal friendship and our professional relationship 95% virtual wears on us both.
So, yeah. Co-writing is stressful, frustrating, and hard, but at the same time it's incredibly rewarding, fun, and so very easy. From conception of an idea to the ultimate publication of a novel, it's interactive, instantaneous, and social, which is something I found missing in my solitary writing days. I wouldn't trade it for the world. :)
*~*~*~*~*
Another Awesome Cover!Cast the Cards is currently available from Storm Moon Press in various e-book formats as well as a print volume.
The themes and forces represented by Tarot cards are said to govern our lives and our destinies. The story of the cards is the story of our lives -- the accomplishments and the pitfalls, the path from soaring joy to crushing defeat and back again. "Cast the Cards" is a collection of six all-new short stories that explore snapshots of remarkable individuals trying to make their way along that path.
We would like to thank Chris Kelly for the opportunity to visit and share our thoughts!
You're welcome.
You can find me at http://www.slarmstrong.net/ or on Twitter, or K. Piet at http://www.kpiet.net/ or on Twitter. :)
But is it practical? Fabulous Indie writer S. L. Armstrong, 50% of the creative talent of Storm Moon Press is here to explain the practicalities of co-writing....
When Chris told me I'd be welcome to add his blog to my blog tour, the topic was a natural one for me. When Chris and I first met, he asked me a bit about what it was like co-authoring with someone. You can't really explain that in 140 characters, though, so this is my chance to answer that question in detail.
I write with K. Piet on 98% of my fiction. I met her quite a number of years ago when I wrote fanfiction. She was a fan of my work and would often leave me feedback on an old Livejournal, and we conversed a few times in email. Eventually, though, I grew tired of fanfiction and began to write my own fiction, and she followed me as a fan through that transition. About three years ago, I fell into a lull where original fiction was difficult for my brain to conjure and I reverted to role playing. I dragged K. along for that ride and, for almost a year, we role played together using characters from a fandom we both loved.
When the role playing sparked our desire to write fanfiction together, it came easily to us. We began to write AU fanfiction for our fandom, but I quickly grew restless with that as AU fanfiction has never made much sense to me. If we were going to only use the setting the original author created and not the characters, then why not just write our own stuff? K. took a little convincing, as she'd never written before that, but I felt she had a great talent for it. Within weeks, we'd taken my idea for a fantasy world called Egaea that I'd been working on and off for a year on and blew it out into a true world filled with characters.
This cover is awesome! However, Egaea is a long-term project that will take us years to see to fruition, and we wanted to write and publish other stuff in the meantime. We wrote the initial drafts of The Keeper and Rachmaninoff in late 2008-early 2009, and then sat on the drafts until March of 2010 when we went into business together and formed Storm Moon Press LLC.It's been a hell of a journey, I'll say that, and it's not always been smiles and happy times. There was a brief rupture between us in April of 2009 that led to us not writing together for about six months, and we didn't return to our manuscripts with the intent to publish until 2010. It was stressful, I'll admit, because as much joy that comes with having the interaction of writing with another author, there is the grief that comes when there is a serious falling out. When your work is tied to another person, the loss of that relationship can—and often does—leave unfinished works in limbo.
Luckily, K. and I were able to come to terms we both could live with. I have a very exhausting drive which can wear thin on K., and she has other commitments (family and job) that can frustrate me when we're looking down the barrel of a deadline. I don't do well with changes to our routine sprung on me at the last minute, and K. has trouble with feeling as if she's meeting all my expectations. It can be very stressful and hard, but the rewards are well worth all the trouble.
What rewards, right? Well, for me, there is nothing better than working with someone to develop characters, to form a story. There is such motivation in having someone else involved, to receive instant feedback on any idea you might share. I can't tell you the number of nights K. and I have stayed up excitedly discussing our next idea or spent on IMs working out how characters interact with each other. I think the best aspect of co-writing with someone is the interactive nature writing then takes on. It becomes a living thing, not an insular, inverted process.
I wouldn't change how we write. We each have our own projects we write on singularly—usually short stories or little writing exercises—but for the most part, we write together. It's the together I love, and I have such a great relationship with K. that I can't imagine not writing without her. We're in business together, we write together, and we're great friends. We plan on taking it a step further and move in together so the writing and publishing goes more smoothly. Right now, our biggest obstacle is that I'm in Florida while she's in Arizona, and having both our personal friendship and our professional relationship 95% virtual wears on us both.
So, yeah. Co-writing is stressful, frustrating, and hard, but at the same time it's incredibly rewarding, fun, and so very easy. From conception of an idea to the ultimate publication of a novel, it's interactive, instantaneous, and social, which is something I found missing in my solitary writing days. I wouldn't trade it for the world. :)
*~*~*~*~*
Another Awesome Cover!Cast the Cards is currently available from Storm Moon Press in various e-book formats as well as a print volume. The themes and forces represented by Tarot cards are said to govern our lives and our destinies. The story of the cards is the story of our lives -- the accomplishments and the pitfalls, the path from soaring joy to crushing defeat and back again. "Cast the Cards" is a collection of six all-new short stories that explore snapshots of remarkable individuals trying to make their way along that path.
We would like to thank Chris Kelly for the opportunity to visit and share our thoughts!
You're welcome.
You can find me at http://www.slarmstrong.net/ or on Twitter, or K. Piet at http://www.kpiet.net/ or on Twitter. :)
November 1, 2010
My House is Not a Nudist Camp! And Other Things Not As Important!
Well, Nanowrimo officially began at 0am this morning. I'm currently 2000 words into Goblins - was hoping for 3k today but there is a huge pile of ironing and no one has clothes. Slight exaggeration there; my house hasn't turned into a nudist's camp or anything.
Now that the important news is out of the way, some Invictus news - it is currently in the top 80,000 in Amazon U.S. and has a lovely little 4 star review. On Amazon U.K. it is in the top 25,000 and the top 100 for Science Fiction > Adventure books, but no reviews yet.
Ideally, I want 5 reviews on each site - if you haven't read Invictus yet, and you want to review it, drop me an email at Scathachpub @gmail.com and I'll let you have a copy for free.
Invictus isn't selling so good but I never really thought it would (okay, so I had a super sekret fantasy of being number 1 in Amazon, but I found out to my cost some years ago about the danger of fantasy becoming reality*) and the point of Invictus wasn't to sell (although it would be great if it brought in enough money for me to get another book out for free).
I got the cover for Goblins for free, and I'll photoshop the covers for WS parts 1 and 2 and Book 1 myself. That's what I'm hoping to release beidfore Christmas. When these start bringing in money, I can hopefully get the covers done.
After that... well, not to give away all my plans but let's just say I didn't release Invictus first because I thought it was the best (it's the best it can be, but it's not the best I can do) or because it was the first ready.
Closer to now, I've got plans to change the way I use (and think about) social media. More on that by the end of this week.
Anyway, click on the link at the top (the Goblins one) to check in on my nano progress. Who else is doing nano? Buddy me - I'm Indiechris on there.
*It involved two very naked double jointed woman, baby oil, Twister, and a visit to Casualty.**
**That might have been a dream I had. Moral of the story is, kids... don't eat cheese before bed.
And watch where you put the lid from the baby oil...
Now that the important news is out of the way, some Invictus news - it is currently in the top 80,000 in Amazon U.S. and has a lovely little 4 star review. On Amazon U.K. it is in the top 25,000 and the top 100 for Science Fiction > Adventure books, but no reviews yet.
Ideally, I want 5 reviews on each site - if you haven't read Invictus yet, and you want to review it, drop me an email at Scathachpub @gmail.com and I'll let you have a copy for free.
Invictus isn't selling so good but I never really thought it would (okay, so I had a super sekret fantasy of being number 1 in Amazon, but I found out to my cost some years ago about the danger of fantasy becoming reality*) and the point of Invictus wasn't to sell (although it would be great if it brought in enough money for me to get another book out for free).
I got the cover for Goblins for free, and I'll photoshop the covers for WS parts 1 and 2 and Book 1 myself. That's what I'm hoping to release beidfore Christmas. When these start bringing in money, I can hopefully get the covers done.
After that... well, not to give away all my plans but let's just say I didn't release Invictus first because I thought it was the best (it's the best it can be, but it's not the best I can do) or because it was the first ready.
Closer to now, I've got plans to change the way I use (and think about) social media. More on that by the end of this week.
Anyway, click on the link at the top (the Goblins one) to check in on my nano progress. Who else is doing nano? Buddy me - I'm Indiechris on there.
*It involved two very naked double jointed woman, baby oil, Twister, and a visit to Casualty.**
**That might have been a dream I had. Moral of the story is, kids... don't eat cheese before bed.
And watch where you put the lid from the baby oil...
October 30, 2010
Announcing The Second Dun Scaith Blog Carnival
Now that the blog tour is done, and done well, I thought it would be a good time to announce the Second Dun Scaith Carnival. The last blog carnival I did went really well - about eighteen people blogged on why they went Indie.
I personally had over 200 readers spread over 3 days, and my blog was really knew and had never had as many as thirty readers i a day before that.
If you were involved in that carnival, you know the rules. Write a post and I'll link to it. The last time the posts had to all go live the same day - it was a complete nightmare. This time put your post up on Friday or Saturday, I'll do mine on Sunday, and we can all do Monday Mentions on Twitter and Facebook on the Monday.
The Blog Carnival has a subject: If I knew then what I know now... essentially, if you were starting out Indie right now, but had all the knowledge you now possess, what would you do differently?
And if you want involved, post a comment here or shoot me a message on Facebook, Twitter, or by email.
And the date of the carnival is probably going to be... the 13th of December.
Spread the news, people.
I personally had over 200 readers spread over 3 days, and my blog was really knew and had never had as many as thirty readers i a day before that.
If you were involved in that carnival, you know the rules. Write a post and I'll link to it. The last time the posts had to all go live the same day - it was a complete nightmare. This time put your post up on Friday or Saturday, I'll do mine on Sunday, and we can all do Monday Mentions on Twitter and Facebook on the Monday.
The Blog Carnival has a subject: If I knew then what I know now... essentially, if you were starting out Indie right now, but had all the knowledge you now possess, what would you do differently?
And if you want involved, post a comment here or shoot me a message on Facebook, Twitter, or by email.
And the date of the carnival is probably going to be... the 13th of December.
Spread the news, people.
October 29, 2010
Guest Post - Editing - Vix Philips
Right. My name's Vix, and it's Friday down under, and lor' bless those wonderful things called timezones since this guest blog post is due today, UK time. Hello from the future. Anyway, I've been editing a book since July, so when my wonderful host asked me to do a spot over here I did a lot of hand-wringing and head-scratching as to what on earth I could possibly write about before the little lightbulb went on over my head--bing! there it is--oh yes. Editing.
So, editing. Editing, editing, editing, editing. I'm not going to talk about weaving the perfect plot, or description, or characters, or any of that stuff. This is all about what happens *after* you've sent your wee bairn AKA manuscript off to the wilds of beta readers, editors, or simply let your gut (or whatever part of you that hurts the most when it gets punched) make the thing as perfect, story-wise, as you can get it. This is about the part that comes between that and you formatting the thing to go off into the world, with the idea that if you follow at least some of these steps, the amount of expletives you'll need to utter when you see the thing in print/e-book form will be markedly reduced. A how-to guide for the reduction of those niggling little errors I've heard many authors complain about after the fact, in other words.
1. Find and replace.
Wonderful little function, this one. Comes in pretty much all word-processors, as you no doubt know by now. Not just good for changing Jims to Jills, or vice versa, but also for picking up nasty little formatting errors like double spaces after periods, no spaces at all after periods (or commas) and so on.
2. Wordle.net
Found at http://wordle.net/
Everyone has those words they overuse. This is where wordle comes in handy. You copy and paste your novel into the box, click submit, and back comes a lovely little tag-cloud type thing with the most commonly used words in a nice colourful font right in your face. It ignores the "invisible words" like 'the', 'and', 'then', etc. I do one pass for the entire book (to get a good overview), and one per chapter, in case I've unintentionally overused a more unusual word in a short span of pages. If you see words like "eyes" coming up in a giant font, it may mean you're relying too much on one form of conveying emotion. The main character(s)' names popping up may mean you've gone a bit "Heathcliff!" "Cathy!" in your interactions through dialogue. Other times there are the old bugbears like "just". In general, you can ignore the smaller words--just pay attention to the ones that really stand out as being potentially problematic.
3. Text-to-speech.
Built-in on the Mac platform (Edit menu/Speech/Start Speaking); not sure about Windows, though you can probably download about 20 programs for free that will do the same thing (only one of which is bound to attach a naked picture of Bill Gates every time you send an email to your mum.) And if you're running Linux, well, what do you care, you'll probably write your own program to do it. Anyhow, sit back, relax, and let the dulcet tones of Stephen Hawking read each of your chapters aloud while you follow along on the screen. What this is going to do is immediately pinpoint any words you've missed out that your brain automatically fills in no matter how many times you read the darn passage, and also remind you that you wanted to say, for example, "revise" rather than "revile" right there. It will also help pinpoint repetitive words/phrases.
4. Hunt the Cliché!
There are plenty of trite phrases in common usage. But what about the really clever ones you come up with all on your own, the ones your brain looks at and says, "That's bloody brilliant, that is; I'm gonna use that again." And so it does. On page 10, and page 55, and page 103, and page 229, and-- Anyway, you get the picture. This program runs on Windows, so I've not yet given it a whirl, but apparently it's just for such an occasion (and includes your garden variety clichés), and it's free to try out for up to 20 files. It's called Cliché Cleaner and you can find it at http://www.cliches.biz/clichecleaner/ccinfo.html
So, these are some of the best ways I've uncovered to get a cleaner-looking final product. I hope you guys find it useful!
Bio: Vixen Phillips is an Australian writer of dark, mythic, confessional, lyrical fiction, and runs her own indie publishing project Lost Violet Press. Her first full-length novel, Trapdoor, a dark homoerotic love story, is due to be republished before the year's end, and her steampunk series is due out next year. You can find more info about her books at http://lostviolet.com/, or stalk her on twitter: @lostvioletpress.
So, editing. Editing, editing, editing, editing. I'm not going to talk about weaving the perfect plot, or description, or characters, or any of that stuff. This is all about what happens *after* you've sent your wee bairn AKA manuscript off to the wilds of beta readers, editors, or simply let your gut (or whatever part of you that hurts the most when it gets punched) make the thing as perfect, story-wise, as you can get it. This is about the part that comes between that and you formatting the thing to go off into the world, with the idea that if you follow at least some of these steps, the amount of expletives you'll need to utter when you see the thing in print/e-book form will be markedly reduced. A how-to guide for the reduction of those niggling little errors I've heard many authors complain about after the fact, in other words.
1. Find and replace.
Wonderful little function, this one. Comes in pretty much all word-processors, as you no doubt know by now. Not just good for changing Jims to Jills, or vice versa, but also for picking up nasty little formatting errors like double spaces after periods, no spaces at all after periods (or commas) and so on.
2. Wordle.net
Found at http://wordle.net/
Everyone has those words they overuse. This is where wordle comes in handy. You copy and paste your novel into the box, click submit, and back comes a lovely little tag-cloud type thing with the most commonly used words in a nice colourful font right in your face. It ignores the "invisible words" like 'the', 'and', 'then', etc. I do one pass for the entire book (to get a good overview), and one per chapter, in case I've unintentionally overused a more unusual word in a short span of pages. If you see words like "eyes" coming up in a giant font, it may mean you're relying too much on one form of conveying emotion. The main character(s)' names popping up may mean you've gone a bit "Heathcliff!" "Cathy!" in your interactions through dialogue. Other times there are the old bugbears like "just". In general, you can ignore the smaller words--just pay attention to the ones that really stand out as being potentially problematic.
3. Text-to-speech.
Built-in on the Mac platform (Edit menu/Speech/Start Speaking); not sure about Windows, though you can probably download about 20 programs for free that will do the same thing (only one of which is bound to attach a naked picture of Bill Gates every time you send an email to your mum.) And if you're running Linux, well, what do you care, you'll probably write your own program to do it. Anyhow, sit back, relax, and let the dulcet tones of Stephen Hawking read each of your chapters aloud while you follow along on the screen. What this is going to do is immediately pinpoint any words you've missed out that your brain automatically fills in no matter how many times you read the darn passage, and also remind you that you wanted to say, for example, "revise" rather than "revile" right there. It will also help pinpoint repetitive words/phrases.
4. Hunt the Cliché!
There are plenty of trite phrases in common usage. But what about the really clever ones you come up with all on your own, the ones your brain looks at and says, "That's bloody brilliant, that is; I'm gonna use that again." And so it does. On page 10, and page 55, and page 103, and page 229, and-- Anyway, you get the picture. This program runs on Windows, so I've not yet given it a whirl, but apparently it's just for such an occasion (and includes your garden variety clichés), and it's free to try out for up to 20 files. It's called Cliché Cleaner and you can find it at http://www.cliches.biz/clichecleaner/ccinfo.html
So, these are some of the best ways I've uncovered to get a cleaner-looking final product. I hope you guys find it useful!
Bio: Vixen Phillips is an Australian writer of dark, mythic, confessional, lyrical fiction, and runs her own indie publishing project Lost Violet Press. Her first full-length novel, Trapdoor, a dark homoerotic love story, is due to be republished before the year's end, and her steampunk series is due out next year. You can find more info about her books at http://lostviolet.com/, or stalk her on twitter: @lostvioletpress.
Guest Post - Editing - Vix Philips
Right. My name's Vix, and it's Friday down under, and lor' bless those wonderful things called timezones since this guest blog post is due today, UK time. Hello from the future. Anyway, I've been editing a book since July, so when my wonderful host asked me to do a spot over here I did a lot of hand-wringing and head-scratching as to what on earth I could possibly write about before the little lightbulb went on over my head--bing! there it is--oh yes. Editing.
So, editing. Editing, editing, editing, editing. I'm not going to talk about weaving the perfect plot, or description, or characters, or any of that stuff. This is all about what happens *after* you've sent your wee bairn AKA manuscript off to the wilds of beta readers, editors, or simply let your gut (or whatever part of you that hurts the most when it gets punched) make the thing as perfect, story-wise, as you can get it. This is about the part that comes between that and you formatting the thing to go off into the world, with the idea that if you follow at least some of these steps, the amount of expletives you'll need to utter when you see the thing in print/e-book form will be markedly reduced. A how-to guide for the reduction of those niggling little errors I've heard many authors complain about after the fact, in other words.
1. Find and replace.
Wonderful little function, this one. Comes in pretty much all word-processors, as you no doubt know by now. Not just good for changing Jims to Jills, or vice versa, but also for picking up nasty little formatting errors like double spaces after periods, no spaces at all after periods (or commas) and so on.
2. Wordle.net
Found at http://wordle.net/
Everyone has those words they overuse. This is where wordle comes in handy. You copy and paste your novel into the box, click submit, and back comes a lovely little tag-cloud type thing with the most commonly used words in a nice colourful font right in your face. It ignores the "invisible words" like 'the', 'and', 'then', etc. I do one pass for the entire book (to get a good overview), and one per chapter, in case I've unintentionally overused a more unusual word in a short span of pages. If you see words like "eyes" coming up in a giant font, it may mean you're relying too much on one form of conveying emotion. The main character(s)' names popping up may mean you've gone a bit "Heathcliff!" "Cathy!" in your interactions through dialogue. Other times there are the old bugbears like "just". In general, you can ignore the smaller words--just pay attention to the ones that really stand out as being potentially problematic.
3. Text-to-speech.
Built-in on the Mac platform (Edit menu/Speech/Start Speaking); not sure about Windows, though you can probably download about 20 programs for free that will do the same thing (only one of which is bound to attach a naked picture of Bill Gates every time you send an email to your mum.) And if you're running Linux, well, what do you care, you'll probably write your own program to do it. Anyhow, sit back, relax, and let the dulcet tones of Stephen Hawking read each of your chapters aloud while you follow along on the screen. What this is going to do is immediately pinpoint any words you've missed out that your brain automatically fills in no matter how many times you read the darn passage, and also remind you that you wanted to say, for example, "revise" rather than "revile" right there. It will also help pinpoint repetitive words/phrases.
4. Hunt the Cliché!
There are plenty of trite phrases in common usage. But what about the really clever ones you come up with all on your own, the ones your brain looks at and says, "That's bloody brilliant, that is; I'm gonna use that again." And so it does. On page 10, and page 55, and page 103, and page 229, and-- Anyway, you get the picture. This program runs on Windows, so I've not yet given it a whirl, but apparently it's just for such an occasion (and includes your garden variety clichés), and it's free to try out for up to 20 files. It's called Cliché Cleaner and you can find it at http://www.cliches.biz/clichecleaner/ccinfo.html
So, these are some of the best ways I've uncovered to get a cleaner-looking final product. I hope you guys find it useful!
Bio: Vixen Phillips is an Australian writer of dark, mythic, confessional, lyrical fiction, and runs her own indie publishing project Lost Violet Press. Her first full-length novel, Trapdoor, a dark homoerotic love story, is due to be republished before the year's end, and her steampunk series is due out next year. You can find more info about her books at http://lostviolet.com/, or stalk her on twitter: @lostvioletpress.
So, editing. Editing, editing, editing, editing. I'm not going to talk about weaving the perfect plot, or description, or characters, or any of that stuff. This is all about what happens *after* you've sent your wee bairn AKA manuscript off to the wilds of beta readers, editors, or simply let your gut (or whatever part of you that hurts the most when it gets punched) make the thing as perfect, story-wise, as you can get it. This is about the part that comes between that and you formatting the thing to go off into the world, with the idea that if you follow at least some of these steps, the amount of expletives you'll need to utter when you see the thing in print/e-book form will be markedly reduced. A how-to guide for the reduction of those niggling little errors I've heard many authors complain about after the fact, in other words.
1. Find and replace.
Wonderful little function, this one. Comes in pretty much all word-processors, as you no doubt know by now. Not just good for changing Jims to Jills, or vice versa, but also for picking up nasty little formatting errors like double spaces after periods, no spaces at all after periods (or commas) and so on.
2. Wordle.net
Found at http://wordle.net/
Everyone has those words they overuse. This is where wordle comes in handy. You copy and paste your novel into the box, click submit, and back comes a lovely little tag-cloud type thing with the most commonly used words in a nice colourful font right in your face. It ignores the "invisible words" like 'the', 'and', 'then', etc. I do one pass for the entire book (to get a good overview), and one per chapter, in case I've unintentionally overused a more unusual word in a short span of pages. If you see words like "eyes" coming up in a giant font, it may mean you're relying too much on one form of conveying emotion. The main character(s)' names popping up may mean you've gone a bit "Heathcliff!" "Cathy!" in your interactions through dialogue. Other times there are the old bugbears like "just". In general, you can ignore the smaller words--just pay attention to the ones that really stand out as being potentially problematic.
3. Text-to-speech.
Built-in on the Mac platform (Edit menu/Speech/Start Speaking); not sure about Windows, though you can probably download about 20 programs for free that will do the same thing (only one of which is bound to attach a naked picture of Bill Gates every time you send an email to your mum.) And if you're running Linux, well, what do you care, you'll probably write your own program to do it. Anyhow, sit back, relax, and let the dulcet tones of Stephen Hawking read each of your chapters aloud while you follow along on the screen. What this is going to do is immediately pinpoint any words you've missed out that your brain automatically fills in no matter how many times you read the darn passage, and also remind you that you wanted to say, for example, "revise" rather than "revile" right there. It will also help pinpoint repetitive words/phrases.
4. Hunt the Cliché!
There are plenty of trite phrases in common usage. But what about the really clever ones you come up with all on your own, the ones your brain looks at and says, "That's bloody brilliant, that is; I'm gonna use that again." And so it does. On page 10, and page 55, and page 103, and page 229, and-- Anyway, you get the picture. This program runs on Windows, so I've not yet given it a whirl, but apparently it's just for such an occasion (and includes your garden variety clichés), and it's free to try out for up to 20 files. It's called Cliché Cleaner and you can find it at http://www.cliches.biz/clichecleaner/ccinfo.html
So, these are some of the best ways I've uncovered to get a cleaner-looking final product. I hope you guys find it useful!
Bio: Vixen Phillips is an Australian writer of dark, mythic, confessional, lyrical fiction, and runs her own indie publishing project Lost Violet Press. Her first full-length novel, Trapdoor, a dark homoerotic love story, is due to be republished before the year's end, and her steampunk series is due out next year. You can find more info about her books at http://lostviolet.com/, or stalk her on twitter: @lostvioletpress.
October 28, 2010
Guest Post - Writing Real Sex - Selena Kitt
This was supposed to be yesterday's guest post however my laptop died yesterday. A virus ate it and now it won't even turn on... boohoo. Originally this guest post was a two-parter, with Zoe Winters writing about "How to write love between characters." Zoe is currently on a sabbatical, and will be doing her guest post in November. Today I'm on Kait Nolan's blog.
"How do you write such hot sex scenes?"
This is the erotic writer's equivalent to the question, "Where do you get your ideas?"
My response? "Hell if I know!"
I'm an intuitive writer. I sit down and I write. I'm not entirely sure how I do what I do, and when someone asks me to try to break it down, I'm often at a loss. For me, it's like telling someone how to breathe. You just…do it.
But if I'm forced to try to explain how it is I get from point A to point B (I'm having scary ninth grade "show your work" math flashbacks now) I can do it. Eventually. So this is how I do it. It may not be how you do it, or how anyone else should do it. It's just how I do it, and maybe that will help you, or someone else, get there too.
---------------------------
THEY'RE ALIVE!
Your characters are alive and they are not the sum of their parts. They aren't measurements or hair color or penis size. I've done sex scenes without mentioning any of the above. Don't ask, "What would my character do in this situation?" Let them act. Let them decide. Let them speak. Let them feel. Especially let them feel.
GET TURNED ON
If you're bored writing a sex scene, your readers will be bored. If you're turned on, your reader will be turned on. The emotion you are feeling will be conveyed on paper. It's a natural law of the writer universe. (This applies to any scene, not just sex ones, by the way. If it moves you to tears, it will move the reader as well).
DON'T STOP
If you're turned on during a sex scene, really getting into it, your fingers flying over the keyboard, unless the house is on fire or we're under nuclear attack, DON'T STOP. Never, ever stop in the middle of a sex scene. (This rule also applies well to actual sex). You will lose your momentum, and it won't be the same when you come back to it. Your mood will have shifted, and the reader will feel it.
LUST
Human beings want. Our entire culture and economy is based on desire. We lust after the things we want. We dream about them. We fantasize about them. We want. And we want. And we want some more. Our bodies and our brains are hardwired for desire. We don't just eat once and then we're done. We don't just have one orgasm and then it's all over. We continue to crave what we want. Our emotions rule us, especially when it comes to sex. They're naturally going to rule your sex scene, too. We don't insert tab A into slot B because we're following a blueprint manual. There's a reason behind our physical responses, and that reason is always, always tied to emotion. Remember that. Use it.
Desire is what makes the sex hot. Make your readers wait for it. Foreplay begins with seduction, not with sex acts. It begins with eye contact. Flirting. Innuendo. It progresses, but slowly. Tease your readers. Tease yourself. Draw it out. Make it a long, slow burn. The best orgasms are the ones we wait a long time for. It's no different when writing sex than it is doing it, really.
DON'T BE AFRAID
Don't be afraid of the sex. Don't be afraid of the fluids, the flesh, the human expression of our bodies. It is what it is. Some writers will tell you not to ever speak of bodily fluids. They're above all that messy stuff. Thankfully, erotica and erotic romance have come a long way, baby. We can use the words cock and pussy now, and I would encourage you to do so. I wouldn't suggest using the medical terms, however (i.e. penis and vagina) or euphemisms like "member" or "sheath." Cock and Pussy are good. Think of them like peas and carrots. They go together. A few (and I mean a FEW) other words can work for a little variety. Prick or dick for example. Or cunt. No, don't be afraid of the words we use during sex. It's okay to talk dirty. "Please," or "Now," or "Suck me," or "Lick me," or "Harder. There. More." These are words we've all spoken (I hope!) They naturally arouse. That's a good thing. I'm not afraid of cum – I'm not even afraid of spelling it "wrong." You shouldn't be either.
THE GRAND FINALE
Once you reach the point of no return, you've built up to the sex, you've teased your readers (and your poor characters) enough, now it's time to give them what they want. This is not the time to skimp. You can't gloss over the orgasm. (Or orgasmS). We all (hopefully!) know what an orgasm feels like. Description doesn't have to be technical here. There are spasms and contractions, there is throbbing and trembling, gasps, moans—the combinations are endless. You can and should include those, but don't be afraid to move into the realm of metaphor. Sex can be like flying. It can be like falling. It can be like dying. This is the culmination of everything, the point you've been waiting for, working toward. Let your imagination go as wild as you would during an actual orgasm. Let yourself free.
DEFYING THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AND OTHER MISHAPS
On a practical note – your characters shouldn't defy the laws of physics. Women cannot take twelve inches of hot man meat down their throats. An average vagina is only eight inches deep. 44DD breasts cannot defy gravity. And if you're using any of the above descriptions in your sex scenes, you need a basic writing course, not a primer on sex scenes. Also, don't let your character's clothes go missing. She can't be wearing pantyhose one second and be taking it from behind the next. The clothes have to come off and be accounted for somehow. Trust me, your readers will notice if they aren't.
---------------------------
So that's it. It's not rocket science (or ninth grade math). That's how I get from point A to point B—from a blank page to hot, sweaty sex scenes. Really, it's no different from any other type of writing. I don't write sex scenes any differently than I do scary ones or sad ones or violent ones. It comes from a place within me that is beyond me, beyond all of us, and I think as writers, we all know when we have tapped into that place. It feels a little like flying. Like falling. Like sex. Trust yourself. Breathe. And write. If your characters are alive, if you live and feel the sex scenes in the story yourself, I promise you that they will also come to life for your readers.
"How do you write such hot sex scenes?"
This is the erotic writer's equivalent to the question, "Where do you get your ideas?"
My response? "Hell if I know!"
I'm an intuitive writer. I sit down and I write. I'm not entirely sure how I do what I do, and when someone asks me to try to break it down, I'm often at a loss. For me, it's like telling someone how to breathe. You just…do it.
But if I'm forced to try to explain how it is I get from point A to point B (I'm having scary ninth grade "show your work" math flashbacks now) I can do it. Eventually. So this is how I do it. It may not be how you do it, or how anyone else should do it. It's just how I do it, and maybe that will help you, or someone else, get there too.
---------------------------
THEY'RE ALIVE!
Your characters are alive and they are not the sum of their parts. They aren't measurements or hair color or penis size. I've done sex scenes without mentioning any of the above. Don't ask, "What would my character do in this situation?" Let them act. Let them decide. Let them speak. Let them feel. Especially let them feel.
GET TURNED ON
If you're bored writing a sex scene, your readers will be bored. If you're turned on, your reader will be turned on. The emotion you are feeling will be conveyed on paper. It's a natural law of the writer universe. (This applies to any scene, not just sex ones, by the way. If it moves you to tears, it will move the reader as well).
DON'T STOP
If you're turned on during a sex scene, really getting into it, your fingers flying over the keyboard, unless the house is on fire or we're under nuclear attack, DON'T STOP. Never, ever stop in the middle of a sex scene. (This rule also applies well to actual sex). You will lose your momentum, and it won't be the same when you come back to it. Your mood will have shifted, and the reader will feel it.
LUST
Human beings want. Our entire culture and economy is based on desire. We lust after the things we want. We dream about them. We fantasize about them. We want. And we want. And we want some more. Our bodies and our brains are hardwired for desire. We don't just eat once and then we're done. We don't just have one orgasm and then it's all over. We continue to crave what we want. Our emotions rule us, especially when it comes to sex. They're naturally going to rule your sex scene, too. We don't insert tab A into slot B because we're following a blueprint manual. There's a reason behind our physical responses, and that reason is always, always tied to emotion. Remember that. Use it.
Desire is what makes the sex hot. Make your readers wait for it. Foreplay begins with seduction, not with sex acts. It begins with eye contact. Flirting. Innuendo. It progresses, but slowly. Tease your readers. Tease yourself. Draw it out. Make it a long, slow burn. The best orgasms are the ones we wait a long time for. It's no different when writing sex than it is doing it, really.
DON'T BE AFRAID
Don't be afraid of the sex. Don't be afraid of the fluids, the flesh, the human expression of our bodies. It is what it is. Some writers will tell you not to ever speak of bodily fluids. They're above all that messy stuff. Thankfully, erotica and erotic romance have come a long way, baby. We can use the words cock and pussy now, and I would encourage you to do so. I wouldn't suggest using the medical terms, however (i.e. penis and vagina) or euphemisms like "member" or "sheath." Cock and Pussy are good. Think of them like peas and carrots. They go together. A few (and I mean a FEW) other words can work for a little variety. Prick or dick for example. Or cunt. No, don't be afraid of the words we use during sex. It's okay to talk dirty. "Please," or "Now," or "Suck me," or "Lick me," or "Harder. There. More." These are words we've all spoken (I hope!) They naturally arouse. That's a good thing. I'm not afraid of cum – I'm not even afraid of spelling it "wrong." You shouldn't be either.
THE GRAND FINALE
Once you reach the point of no return, you've built up to the sex, you've teased your readers (and your poor characters) enough, now it's time to give them what they want. This is not the time to skimp. You can't gloss over the orgasm. (Or orgasmS). We all (hopefully!) know what an orgasm feels like. Description doesn't have to be technical here. There are spasms and contractions, there is throbbing and trembling, gasps, moans—the combinations are endless. You can and should include those, but don't be afraid to move into the realm of metaphor. Sex can be like flying. It can be like falling. It can be like dying. This is the culmination of everything, the point you've been waiting for, working toward. Let your imagination go as wild as you would during an actual orgasm. Let yourself free.
DEFYING THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AND OTHER MISHAPS
On a practical note – your characters shouldn't defy the laws of physics. Women cannot take twelve inches of hot man meat down their throats. An average vagina is only eight inches deep. 44DD breasts cannot defy gravity. And if you're using any of the above descriptions in your sex scenes, you need a basic writing course, not a primer on sex scenes. Also, don't let your character's clothes go missing. She can't be wearing pantyhose one second and be taking it from behind the next. The clothes have to come off and be accounted for somehow. Trust me, your readers will notice if they aren't.
---------------------------
So that's it. It's not rocket science (or ninth grade math). That's how I get from point A to point B—from a blank page to hot, sweaty sex scenes. Really, it's no different from any other type of writing. I don't write sex scenes any differently than I do scary ones or sad ones or violent ones. It comes from a place within me that is beyond me, beyond all of us, and I think as writers, we all know when we have tapped into that place. It feels a little like flying. Like falling. Like sex. Trust yourself. Breathe. And write. If your characters are alive, if you live and feel the sex scenes in the story yourself, I promise you that they will also come to life for your readers.
October 26, 2010
10, 000 Hours
How many hours of writing do you think you've done in your life?
There's a rule that says that to become a master of any field requires 10,000 hours of practice. The true greats, the best at what they do, the people driven to succeed, will put in this practice time. That's what separates the truly great from the merely... talented.
The rule is based on studies by psychologist Dr. K. Anders Ericsson and was popularised by Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 book Outliers: The Story of Success. The remarkable thing about the rule is that it seems to apply everywhere, for people who are experts in all sorts of different fields. Boris Becker started playing tennis at age six, and 10,000 hours of practice later was playing in Wimbledon at age 17. Maxim Vengerov picked up a violin at age four and 10,000 hours of practice later won his first international violin prize at age 15. Studies find that the story is repeated over and over.
What's magic about 10,000 hours? Nobody seems to know. 10,000 hours breaks down to approximately three hours of practice every day for about 10 years. Many people who are truly dedicated to a craft (such as athletes and musicians) will start around age five, practice three hours a day every day of their lives, and begin to gain recognition in their late teens – 10,000 hours later.
Does this apply to writers? Sure, why not? If you want to be a great writer, practice writing for three hours a day every day of your life for ten years.
Whoa, wait a minute. Three hours a day? Every single day?
I can see you looking down at your keyboard with trepidation. I mean, three solid hours sitting at your screen every night? After you've already put in a full day of work (or school), you come home, you've got chores to do, you have to eat dinner, maybe have a bath... even if you cut out every other leisure activity, how are you going to find three hours of spare time every night?
(And that's every night, remember. No holidays. No sick leave.)
Wait a minute, I answer in return, you mean you're not already writing for at least three hours a day every day? And what's your keyboard got to do with anything?
You see, writers are really lucky. Violinists need a violin to practice on. Tennis players need a racquet and court. Writers only need their heads to practice writing. And by a useful coincidence, we carry those everywhere with us!
Yes, it's true, writing has very little to do with typing words on a page. Writing is the act of creation, and that all takes place [taps forehead] in here. And if you're serious about writing, it takes place every minute of the day.
What did you do while you were cooking dinner tonight? I was wrestling with the plotline for "The Hell of Green Mist". While walking at lunchtime, I outlined the backgrounds and goals of a team of super-villains for a comic story. The other morning a cute girl wearing a really cool coat got on the bus. By the end of the journey, I had a reasonable start on the series bible for "The Girl in the Really Cool Coat" (working title, subject to change). None of these things are written down. Probably none of them ever will be. But it's still writing. In my head I'm sifting out what works and what doesn't, learning from what doesn't, and filling my head with ideas that might be useful somewhere someday. Isn't that the definition of "practice"? I might not be typing anything, but still I'm practicing the craft of plot, characterization, world building. And I've easily racked up 10,000 hours doing it.
Oh, and this thing about starting at age four or five? Don't worry, you did. At least, you did if you were a normal child. Even before you learned the rules of grammar, if you picked up a toy and imagined what it was doing... you were writing stories. That's what children do.
So, now how many hours of writing do you think you've done in your life?
David Meadows lives with a large number of books on the North East coast of England. He makes his living writing rather tedious technical documents but his ambitions are to rescue a beautiful princess, have his fiction published, and become a grumpy old man. So far, he has realised all but one of those ambitions. When he remembers, he puts up some random writing on his website.
(He's also my favourite writer. And David, going by the title alone, you'd better write the Hell of Green Mist).
There's a rule that says that to become a master of any field requires 10,000 hours of practice. The true greats, the best at what they do, the people driven to succeed, will put in this practice time. That's what separates the truly great from the merely... talented.
The rule is based on studies by psychologist Dr. K. Anders Ericsson and was popularised by Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 book Outliers: The Story of Success. The remarkable thing about the rule is that it seems to apply everywhere, for people who are experts in all sorts of different fields. Boris Becker started playing tennis at age six, and 10,000 hours of practice later was playing in Wimbledon at age 17. Maxim Vengerov picked up a violin at age four and 10,000 hours of practice later won his first international violin prize at age 15. Studies find that the story is repeated over and over.
What's magic about 10,000 hours? Nobody seems to know. 10,000 hours breaks down to approximately three hours of practice every day for about 10 years. Many people who are truly dedicated to a craft (such as athletes and musicians) will start around age five, practice three hours a day every day of their lives, and begin to gain recognition in their late teens – 10,000 hours later.
Does this apply to writers? Sure, why not? If you want to be a great writer, practice writing for three hours a day every day of your life for ten years.
Whoa, wait a minute. Three hours a day? Every single day?
I can see you looking down at your keyboard with trepidation. I mean, three solid hours sitting at your screen every night? After you've already put in a full day of work (or school), you come home, you've got chores to do, you have to eat dinner, maybe have a bath... even if you cut out every other leisure activity, how are you going to find three hours of spare time every night?
(And that's every night, remember. No holidays. No sick leave.)
Wait a minute, I answer in return, you mean you're not already writing for at least three hours a day every day? And what's your keyboard got to do with anything?
You see, writers are really lucky. Violinists need a violin to practice on. Tennis players need a racquet and court. Writers only need their heads to practice writing. And by a useful coincidence, we carry those everywhere with us!
Yes, it's true, writing has very little to do with typing words on a page. Writing is the act of creation, and that all takes place [taps forehead] in here. And if you're serious about writing, it takes place every minute of the day.
What did you do while you were cooking dinner tonight? I was wrestling with the plotline for "The Hell of Green Mist". While walking at lunchtime, I outlined the backgrounds and goals of a team of super-villains for a comic story. The other morning a cute girl wearing a really cool coat got on the bus. By the end of the journey, I had a reasonable start on the series bible for "The Girl in the Really Cool Coat" (working title, subject to change). None of these things are written down. Probably none of them ever will be. But it's still writing. In my head I'm sifting out what works and what doesn't, learning from what doesn't, and filling my head with ideas that might be useful somewhere someday. Isn't that the definition of "practice"? I might not be typing anything, but still I'm practicing the craft of plot, characterization, world building. And I've easily racked up 10,000 hours doing it.
Oh, and this thing about starting at age four or five? Don't worry, you did. At least, you did if you were a normal child. Even before you learned the rules of grammar, if you picked up a toy and imagined what it was doing... you were writing stories. That's what children do.
So, now how many hours of writing do you think you've done in your life?
David Meadows lives with a large number of books on the North East coast of England. He makes his living writing rather tedious technical documents but his ambitions are to rescue a beautiful princess, have his fiction published, and become a grumpy old man. So far, he has realised all but one of those ambitions. When he remembers, he puts up some random writing on his website.
(He's also my favourite writer. And David, going by the title alone, you'd better write the Hell of Green Mist).
