Tracey Alley's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"

Now it's entirely possible, no make that probable, that I've bitten off a little more than I can actually chew but it just feels like there's not enough hours in the day. I'm starting to feel like one of those mad authors you read about who stay glued to their keyboard pumping out one story after another but I've just go so much going on in my head right now that it's like I can't get the words down fast enough. I'm so excited about my new series of children's books - three so far and the artwork I've seen [all preliminary stuff] is just amazing. Then there's Slade's Destiny which I cannot wait to be ready for release - can't nag the beta readers though, very bad form. Then there's my non-fiction work which seems to be almost writing itself - of course, two years of research probably helps :)

Then I'm redecorating my house - believe me this is a project that is long overdue but I'm so hyped about it that I want to get every little thing exactly right - yes my husband is being driven slowly crazy. Plus I recently got back into my charity work which had fallen a little by the way side of recent times. Even though it takes up a big chunk of my time I absolutely love it - I guess you could say the charity was more for me :)

Anyway before I start to sound boring I'll sign off. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

Cheers,
Trace

So I'm trying to get all the Kaynos work finished up for publication before Christmas. The work on Slade's Destiny is going well and the short stories for the History Tales compilation are still flowing but I keep getting distracted by this other story that seems to desperately want to be told.

I almost feel like I'm being haunted by a ghost of manuscript future. This one will be a big leap for me, set in current times it's a paranormal, mystery, thriller with one hell of a twist at the end. Even when I'm trying to concentrate on my other stuff these characters keep clamouring for my attention with fascinating tidbits about their lives, their backstory and why this will be such a great story to write.

I'm usually a much more disciplined writer than this so this is a new experience for me. Normally I'll get a vague concept, build some characters around that, play around with the plotline for a while and then start committing words to paper. With this it almost feels already written and it's just waiting for my lazy typing fingers to catch up.

Has this ever happened to anyone else or am I just having a 'muse' moment?

I will have to write the story if only because I've gotten so sucked in that I have to know how it turns out - I'll keep you informed as well, unless it turns out rubbish of course :)

Hi all,
As I've been pretty sick I haven't done a blog post for ages. Just posted this one on my website but I thought I'd share it here too...
hope no one minds the double up :)

Let me say from the very beginning, it's tough being a writer whether you're published, traditionally or Indie, still unpublished and struggling. Either way it's a tough game. I've been writing for as long as I can remember and 95% of what I've written has been pure and utter junk. For twenty years I wrote poetry, short stories, novels and even a few magazine articles. To this day I have folders full to the brim of storyline ideas, plot outlines and even novel beginnings - much of which is pure rubbish and some, maybe, with some hard work could be something good. Had I bothered to keep them all I'm sure I could've wallpapered my whole house with rejection slips.

Then I wrote a halfway decent novel. It wasn't a masterpiece but it had a good storyline and seemed to flow well. I thought that was going to be 'the one'. I shopped around for agents and publishers and, to be honest, got some positive feedback but mostly outright rejections. I even had one editor tell me that I would be a good writer once 'I found my voice'. I didn't know what the hell she meant by that, I didn't even know my voice was lost. However, I'm not a complete dummy and eventually the penny dropped as to what she meant. I wasn't writing in the right genre for me. Well that wasn't a huge surprise in some ways as I'd tried practically every genre you can think of except for Westerns.

Then one day it happened. It was almost like magic in a way - I found a storyline that I really liked. I worked really hard and was, for the first time in my writing career, actually pleased with the end result. It was exciting and scary all at the same time. Again I shopped around for an agent or a publisher and this time, while I still got rejections, I also got an incredible amount of really positive feedback. Eventually I decided that if I couldn't get a decent contract via a traditional publisher - and I'd been offered a few real stinkers - then I would go Independent. I felt that confident in the novel. So, of course, was born Erich's Plea. I truly felt it was the best thing I'd ever written. I published and it started to sell, not huge amounts but slowly building over time and it's still selling.

Then I wrote and published the follow up, Ursula's Quest. I thought this book was even better than the last. It too slowly gained sales and even a few reviews. For the most part I've had hugely positive feedback on both novels and pretty impressive reviews. Mostly 5 or 4 stars out of 5, which I thought was excellent. Then I wrote the final in the trilogy, Slade's Destiny - still coming for release while I do all the final edits - and it was even better than the first two put together. And that's when I finally realised something that had eluded me for so long. Every time you put pen to paper you get better. Like a musician or an artist if you have the talent to begin with then your writing will continue to improve the more that you write.

Many of you are probably thinking 'well duh' at this point but I can be a slow learner at times. I thought talent and drive were more than enough to be a successful writer. I thought that if you had the gift then it would all just fall magically into place. It took me a very long time to realise that talent is only a small part of the life of a writer. Hard work, discipline, having a thick skin, getting real critical feedback and working at improving are all far, far more important than sheer talent or inspiration. Lots of people are talented but not everyone has the humility to work hard and keep learning. I hope that I have that humility, I hope that I will always continue to improve and yes, I hope that one day I make mega sales and become a household name. But mostly I'm realistic about the last one - I'm one of many, not the greatest but slowly gathering a following and I love each and every single reader I have. Without you, the reader, everything I've put into my work is worthless - both talent and hard work. So it's not an easy ride but it is exciting and a constant huge learning curve and I love every single minute of it.
Cheers,
Trace

As many of you will know from my last post all my life I've dreamed of being a writer. A real writer with real books available for people I don't know to actually read. Well I finally got there after a loooong journey but now it turns out that there's more.

I'd honestly never thought past that magic moment of seeing my words in print. I didn't realise that after that came all the marketing and promotion. And guess what? Turns out that I'm not very good at either. I always end up feeling slightly sleazy - 'here, wanna buy my book?'.

I know that I have to do it, especially in the modern world of Indie publishing but I just feel odd about it. A little like a used car salesman but without the credibility ;) Seriously though, how do you go about getting people to read your books without being a salesman, marketing and promotions expert?? I haven't figured that one out.

So, as is my habit sometimes when things are difficult, I have so far ignored it. I interact with people through sites like this, use Twitter, FB and have a website but I'm obviously not the marketer I should be or I'd have more sales [unless I just wrote a lousy book lol]. I know of a lot of other Indie author's who seem to be really good at promotion and I'm proud to call some of them my online friends but I'm not one of them.

Basically what I'm saying is that if you've written a book and now feel a little overwhelmed at the prospect of trying to market it - don't panic. If someone as bad at it as me can start to slowly get the hang of it then anyone can do it. True we're writers not salesmen but in today's world, realistically, we have to be both.

Cheers,
Trace

I recently read a blog post about a certain self-published and traditionally published author who I will leave nameless. In the article it was demonstrated by some very thorough investigative journalism that this particular author has been responsible for some very, very bad behaviour.

It was revealed that the author in question had multiple 'sock puppet' accounts that were used to bolster sales, reviews etc but also, and far worse in my opinion, were used to viciously attack other authors.

As if that weren't bad enough the author in question actually bragged about their behaviour, saying it had put them at the top of the charts and thus the end justified the means.

First of all, let me say that I'm not just speaking as an author here, but as a reader as well. This behaviour is atrocious and absolutely disgusting. The majority of writers and readers that I have met would roundly condemn this author's tactics.

Where the problem lies is that some, up and coming, author may see this as a verified way to increase their profile. I would like to hope that no one would follow this example but unfortunately I'm not that naive.

Speaking now only as a writer I deplore this kind of behaviour. My advise to new authors remains consistent - keep writing, keep improving your craft but if you find your books aren't selling and are consistently garnering bad reviews then maybe you need to really consider whether you actually do have what it takes to be a writer.

I'm not saying you should run at the first sight of a few bad reviews or a couple of returns. That's simply par for the course - not everyone will enjoy your work. You have to accept that and be thick skinned. I'm talking only about writers whose work is not selling or only seems to get bad reviews.

Speaking as a reader now I'm horrified that any author thinks they have the right to justify their own work and bias my opinion through these kind of tactics. I find it insulting in fact.

I am certain that most people will agree with me but for those who think this is OK be aware that eventually, if you're an author, you WILL be caught out. That will turn off more readers than you can possibly dream about.

Cheers,
Trace