Sean Keefer's Blog, page 9
February 23, 2011
Review - Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
I've decided to start dropping in a few book reviews in the blog. It's still going to be devoted to my writing, but I read so much, I figured why not.
And with that my thoughts on Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.
John Wilkes Booth was a vampire. Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter.
It really makes sense if you think about it.
The Great Emancipator had such a hard time with the South because the vampires, in large part, the gentrified Southern plantation owners, needed slaves for food.
Interesting premise for a book that at first blush looks to be a train wreck waiting to happen.
However, I think you may be pleasantly surprised. In any event, I was.
The book starts out from the perspective of the author bemoaning his mundane existence in New York and we are not talking NYC rather rural New York. He works the most boring of jobs that is until one day a mysterious stranger appears. Ultimately the stranger reveals that not only is he a vampire, but that he was a close acquaintance of none other than Abraham Lincoln and he has the goods to prove it.
Then the tale begins based upon a journal that takes us back to a first person account of Abe's life from that of a young man on the frontier. It also traces the history of vampires in America. Seems those pesky bloodsuckers have been around as long as the white man has been trying to set up shop in America.
Abe had early run ins with the vampire and though his first person account of his life is not exactly an exact fit with the version of Honest Abe as most know, it is close enough to be followed without too much suspension of disbelief – well except for the vampires.
But that makes it a lot of fun.
I'm a huge history buff and in particular the period of our history leading up to and around Lincoln's time as the 16th president and even with this I found the tale to be an edge of your seat page-turner. The book does a great job weaving in the vampire hunting with this chapter of our nation's history.
The traditional historical accounts of Lincoln tell his history from his time as a poor country boy who struggled into the law and into politics only to end up leading the Country through what was then and is now, at least in my opinion, one of the most critical of times as a nation. However, there is not a lot of personalization of Lincoln in this history.
In this tale the character of Lincoln comes alive albeit as a vampire hunter. While we have a tale of fantasy here and the persona of Lincoln is based on what we know from the history books, the character of Abraham Lincoln takes on a different element - a class A 1980's action movie bad-ass!
And as an added bonus, there are photos providing documented evidence of the vampires.
And with that my thoughts on Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.
John Wilkes Booth was a vampire. Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter.
It really makes sense if you think about it.
The Great Emancipator had such a hard time with the South because the vampires, in large part, the gentrified Southern plantation owners, needed slaves for food.
Interesting premise for a book that at first blush looks to be a train wreck waiting to happen.
However, I think you may be pleasantly surprised. In any event, I was.
The book starts out from the perspective of the author bemoaning his mundane existence in New York and we are not talking NYC rather rural New York. He works the most boring of jobs that is until one day a mysterious stranger appears. Ultimately the stranger reveals that not only is he a vampire, but that he was a close acquaintance of none other than Abraham Lincoln and he has the goods to prove it.
Then the tale begins based upon a journal that takes us back to a first person account of Abe's life from that of a young man on the frontier. It also traces the history of vampires in America. Seems those pesky bloodsuckers have been around as long as the white man has been trying to set up shop in America.
Abe had early run ins with the vampire and though his first person account of his life is not exactly an exact fit with the version of Honest Abe as most know, it is close enough to be followed without too much suspension of disbelief – well except for the vampires.
But that makes it a lot of fun.
I'm a huge history buff and in particular the period of our history leading up to and around Lincoln's time as the 16th president and even with this I found the tale to be an edge of your seat page-turner. The book does a great job weaving in the vampire hunting with this chapter of our nation's history.
The traditional historical accounts of Lincoln tell his history from his time as a poor country boy who struggled into the law and into politics only to end up leading the Country through what was then and is now, at least in my opinion, one of the most critical of times as a nation. However, there is not a lot of personalization of Lincoln in this history.
In this tale the character of Lincoln comes alive albeit as a vampire hunter. While we have a tale of fantasy here and the persona of Lincoln is based on what we know from the history books, the character of Abraham Lincoln takes on a different element - a class A 1980's action movie bad-ass!
And as an added bonus, there are photos providing documented evidence of the vampires.
February 21, 2011
Sex
I often wonder when I write a blog entry if it's the title that draws the readers or if they are showing up as a sole result of the title of the blog.
I guess we'll find out today.
That having been said, I am not going to do as seen before and lead with the title "sex" and then not talk about it.
So about sex.
Ever since my debut novel, The Trust, was published, I've been getting a lot of questions about the sex scenes. And when I say a lot, I mean literally every other person I talk to asks me about the topic.
The main question I get about it is how do I write sex scenes.
The easy answer is, I don't.
When writing The Trust there were several points in the storyline that ended in the bedroom. It was clear the sexual tension was building between the characters to a point of needing resolution (careful and deliberate word choice there).
The first time this happened it occurred between the main character and his paralegal. During the build up it was clear there was an attraction between them. The main character did not act on it for a number of reasons – he was coming off of a life changing prior relationship, he was the woman's employer, she was younger and he didn't want to think automatically that she was interested in the older man to name a few. Finally however, he explored what many have described as the obvious and ended up alone with her.
The outcome of this encounter was critical to the rest of the book, but I won't provide any spoilers.
There was another character with whom the main character became romantically attracted and the topic of sex became more of an issue to their relationship. Since these two characters are going to be together through at least one more book, I was careful in how their first intimate encounter occurred (and how later intimate moments were handled.)
According to some I was perhaps too careful.
However, as to writing an actual sex scene, I tried a vast number of different approaches. Oh my, the results. Some were comical, some disastrous and some just down right bad.
In the end, I adopted a different approach. I've decided I shouldn't write sex scenes with particulars – particularly since I frequently write in first person. To handle the scene effectively I think I would have had to change to a different point of view, that or make it entirely about the main character and I can't see that working with her persona.
Rather than taking an approach where the graphic description prevailed, I chose to build up the tension between the characters to set the stage for what would happen behind closed doors and let the reader fill in the gaps with their own imagination.
This works for me. It may work for you, it may not. There are a lot of writers out there who can craft a spellbinding passage that leaves one shuttering – however, that isn't me. As I have said time and time again – if it works don't fix it and for me this works and is how I'll approach the in the future.
Oh, and if you've made it this far I would love it if you would consider buying my book!
I guess we'll find out today.
That having been said, I am not going to do as seen before and lead with the title "sex" and then not talk about it.
So about sex.
Ever since my debut novel, The Trust, was published, I've been getting a lot of questions about the sex scenes. And when I say a lot, I mean literally every other person I talk to asks me about the topic.
The main question I get about it is how do I write sex scenes.
The easy answer is, I don't.
When writing The Trust there were several points in the storyline that ended in the bedroom. It was clear the sexual tension was building between the characters to a point of needing resolution (careful and deliberate word choice there).
The first time this happened it occurred between the main character and his paralegal. During the build up it was clear there was an attraction between them. The main character did not act on it for a number of reasons – he was coming off of a life changing prior relationship, he was the woman's employer, she was younger and he didn't want to think automatically that she was interested in the older man to name a few. Finally however, he explored what many have described as the obvious and ended up alone with her.
The outcome of this encounter was critical to the rest of the book, but I won't provide any spoilers.
There was another character with whom the main character became romantically attracted and the topic of sex became more of an issue to their relationship. Since these two characters are going to be together through at least one more book, I was careful in how their first intimate encounter occurred (and how later intimate moments were handled.)
According to some I was perhaps too careful.
However, as to writing an actual sex scene, I tried a vast number of different approaches. Oh my, the results. Some were comical, some disastrous and some just down right bad.
In the end, I adopted a different approach. I've decided I shouldn't write sex scenes with particulars – particularly since I frequently write in first person. To handle the scene effectively I think I would have had to change to a different point of view, that or make it entirely about the main character and I can't see that working with her persona.
Rather than taking an approach where the graphic description prevailed, I chose to build up the tension between the characters to set the stage for what would happen behind closed doors and let the reader fill in the gaps with their own imagination.
This works for me. It may work for you, it may not. There are a lot of writers out there who can craft a spellbinding passage that leaves one shuttering – however, that isn't me. As I have said time and time again – if it works don't fix it and for me this works and is how I'll approach the in the future.
Oh, and if you've made it this far I would love it if you would consider buying my book!
February 19, 2011
Where Should Your Blog Call Home?
In advance of my book, The Trust, being published I dove, well, stepped, into the deep end of the book marketing pool with the goal being to let the world know about my book. There also wasn't a lot of planning on my part.
I spent a lot of time working on a website – you can find it here. As I was working through this process a friend asked me what my blog was going to focus upon. My response?
"What blog?" (This blog, by the way.)
After that comment and a bit of looking around, I decided a blog could be fun.
It's been a great experience.
However, as I am learning, with every aspect of this writing business, having something, whether it be a book, a blog or a twitter feed – just having it out there alone is not enough. You have to tell people about it and hope they come by.
I found this entertaining, even akin to multi-level marketing. After all, one of the reasons I have the blog is to market the book, but it seems I also have to market the blog. However, I have found some neat ways to get the word on my blog out.
Here are a few of my initial things that I have been doing that seem to be working.
1 – Make it relevant. I post to my blog twice a week. On Mondays I try to share some experience about my life as a writer. On Friday I look to publish something to help with the process of writing or publishing. If people start reading it, they will expect there to be new content up.
2 – Make it fun to read. That means interesting and, I certainly hope on my part both fun and – generally – grammatically correct.
3 – Keep it focused and concise. For me that means keeping it under 600 words.
4 – I visit other blogs (and participate on them)- I never used to read blogs, now I spend time doing it several times a week and I enjoy it.
5 – I shamelessly self-market. If I don't do it who will? Twitter, other blogs, pingomatic, and where ever else I can find a place to get the word out there. I've had some ups and downs and have a few thoughts on what works, well, at least have worked for me. I've also made some mistakes and have learned from them. If I can help someone out and not have them make the same mistake, then all the better.
Now in addition to this, one other method I have found for spreading the word on my blog is by having several different homes for the blog. For instance, my main blog is on my website, but I also have a feed to the blog on several other sites – Amazon, Goodreads.com, and redroom.com. I use an RSS feed and when I update my website blog the others are updated as well.
Now I hope that one day people will be falling all over themselves to get to my website, but that day isn't today. However, I know that people are on other sites and If my blog has a home there then there are just that many more chances for someone to see it. If they do they just might come back.
Well, at least I hope so.
Oh, and if you've made it this far I would love it if you would consider buying my book!
I spent a lot of time working on a website – you can find it here. As I was working through this process a friend asked me what my blog was going to focus upon. My response?
"What blog?" (This blog, by the way.)
After that comment and a bit of looking around, I decided a blog could be fun.
It's been a great experience.
However, as I am learning, with every aspect of this writing business, having something, whether it be a book, a blog or a twitter feed – just having it out there alone is not enough. You have to tell people about it and hope they come by.
I found this entertaining, even akin to multi-level marketing. After all, one of the reasons I have the blog is to market the book, but it seems I also have to market the blog. However, I have found some neat ways to get the word on my blog out.
Here are a few of my initial things that I have been doing that seem to be working.
1 – Make it relevant. I post to my blog twice a week. On Mondays I try to share some experience about my life as a writer. On Friday I look to publish something to help with the process of writing or publishing. If people start reading it, they will expect there to be new content up.
2 – Make it fun to read. That means interesting and, I certainly hope on my part both fun and – generally – grammatically correct.
3 – Keep it focused and concise. For me that means keeping it under 600 words.
4 – I visit other blogs (and participate on them)- I never used to read blogs, now I spend time doing it several times a week and I enjoy it.
5 – I shamelessly self-market. If I don't do it who will? Twitter, other blogs, pingomatic, and where ever else I can find a place to get the word out there. I've had some ups and downs and have a few thoughts on what works, well, at least have worked for me. I've also made some mistakes and have learned from them. If I can help someone out and not have them make the same mistake, then all the better.
Now in addition to this, one other method I have found for spreading the word on my blog is by having several different homes for the blog. For instance, my main blog is on my website, but I also have a feed to the blog on several other sites – Amazon, Goodreads.com, and redroom.com. I use an RSS feed and when I update my website blog the others are updated as well.
Now I hope that one day people will be falling all over themselves to get to my website, but that day isn't today. However, I know that people are on other sites and If my blog has a home there then there are just that many more chances for someone to see it. If they do they just might come back.
Well, at least I hope so.
Oh, and if you've made it this far I would love it if you would consider buying my book!
February 14, 2011
Read. Write. Edit. Repeat.
I'm a planner.
Vacations? I know where I am going, where I am staying, the things I want to do on vacation and likely even the days I'll be doing them while I travel.
Dinner? I know today what I am having tomorrow.
My day? I know what I'm doing Monday of next week.
My first novel? Zero planning.
I don't know if I would suggest this to other writers as a method, but it worked for me. I started with nothing more than one scene.
For a few months an idea kept playing itself out in my head.
The Executor of a will comes into an attorney's office and asks to see him. The Executor presents the attorney a will and demands to know why not only is the attorney's name in the will, but why the will directed the attorney handle the legal work for the estate. The Executor is also curious about why the will directs that the attorney receive the contents of a safe deposit box after the work on the will was completed. To complicate matters, no one, knew of the safety deposit box's existence or what may be inside.
That set up expanded into a scene where the attorney and the Executor have it out, so to speak. This worked well for me as an initial starting point to set some tension and immediately set the stage for some degree of conflict in the book. It's a good thing since all I had was the initial idea. There was a great deal of editing from the first draft to publication, but there was no other advance planning done. To see what the first chapter ended up looking like check it out here.
The rest of the book was the same way. Characters appeared, sub-plots emerged, tension developed and resolution happened. About halfway through the book I decided to go back and add a prologue, but from start to finish on the book that was it.
Then when I finished I had more than a few people tell me that just wasn't the way to do it.
Through the process I had a number of head scratching sessions where I had to really thing about how things were going to develop, but I think this provided a check for me and gave the plot a more realistic feel.
I have a friend who knows every twist and turn a book will take before he starts writing. He uses index cards and charts the progression of the book by taping the cards to the walls in a horizontal sequence around the office. If he needs to add more detail, different characters or sub-plots he expands on the vertical. Confuses me but it works for him.
I have another friend who starts with an outline and expands it and expands it and expands it until he has his book. Again, confuses me, but works for him.
For my follow up book I am doing a bit more planning. I have my opening scene, a few sub-plots from the first book I want to develop further (book two is a sequel), but beyond that the book is coming to life as I write it.
Bottom line?
Plan or no plan, roadmap or not - if it works for you then it works.
Eddie Van Halen once was asked, or so I was told, how when someone was learning a song by ear if they would know if what they were playing was correct. Eddie said, "If it sounds good it's right." Now Eddie Van Halen has also said, "hat if you make a mistake make it again so people think you know what you're doing. I think if you read these two pearls of wisdom together you'll be well on your way to some tasty morsels of prose by allowing your own style to develop and let what works for you be your guide.
Vacations? I know where I am going, where I am staying, the things I want to do on vacation and likely even the days I'll be doing them while I travel.
Dinner? I know today what I am having tomorrow.
My day? I know what I'm doing Monday of next week.
My first novel? Zero planning.
I don't know if I would suggest this to other writers as a method, but it worked for me. I started with nothing more than one scene.
For a few months an idea kept playing itself out in my head.
The Executor of a will comes into an attorney's office and asks to see him. The Executor presents the attorney a will and demands to know why not only is the attorney's name in the will, but why the will directed the attorney handle the legal work for the estate. The Executor is also curious about why the will directs that the attorney receive the contents of a safe deposit box after the work on the will was completed. To complicate matters, no one, knew of the safety deposit box's existence or what may be inside.
That set up expanded into a scene where the attorney and the Executor have it out, so to speak. This worked well for me as an initial starting point to set some tension and immediately set the stage for some degree of conflict in the book. It's a good thing since all I had was the initial idea. There was a great deal of editing from the first draft to publication, but there was no other advance planning done. To see what the first chapter ended up looking like check it out here.
The rest of the book was the same way. Characters appeared, sub-plots emerged, tension developed and resolution happened. About halfway through the book I decided to go back and add a prologue, but from start to finish on the book that was it.
Then when I finished I had more than a few people tell me that just wasn't the way to do it.
Through the process I had a number of head scratching sessions where I had to really thing about how things were going to develop, but I think this provided a check for me and gave the plot a more realistic feel.
I have a friend who knows every twist and turn a book will take before he starts writing. He uses index cards and charts the progression of the book by taping the cards to the walls in a horizontal sequence around the office. If he needs to add more detail, different characters or sub-plots he expands on the vertical. Confuses me but it works for him.
I have another friend who starts with an outline and expands it and expands it and expands it until he has his book. Again, confuses me, but works for him.
For my follow up book I am doing a bit more planning. I have my opening scene, a few sub-plots from the first book I want to develop further (book two is a sequel), but beyond that the book is coming to life as I write it.
Bottom line?
Plan or no plan, roadmap or not - if it works for you then it works.
Eddie Van Halen once was asked, or so I was told, how when someone was learning a song by ear if they would know if what they were playing was correct. Eddie said, "If it sounds good it's right." Now Eddie Van Halen has also said, "hat if you make a mistake make it again so people think you know what you're doing. I think if you read these two pearls of wisdom together you'll be well on your way to some tasty morsels of prose by allowing your own style to develop and let what works for you be your guide.
February 11, 2011
iPhone - A tool for Writers
I've always loved getting a new cell phone. Trouble is as soon as I have a one I'm ready for a new one. At least until I purchased my first iPhone. Sure there were things to get used to – virtual keyboards, small ear speaker and the "slide to unlock"; however, none of these outweigh the universe of available apps. I even decided to develop one of my own (not a writer's app but to determine child support in South Carolina).
Below are some of the apps I enjoy. They are from a variety of categories - all of which I have found helpful to my writing process.
1 –Voice Memos. I mention this first because it is included with the iPhone. It's a plain and simple voice recorder with great recording quality and ease of file transfer. If I need to quickly remember a thought, I use Voice Memo.
2 – eReaders. Both Nook and Kindle are free and with a B&N or Amazon account you can read your library on your iPhone. Megareader is an inexpensive eReader that provides access to nearly 2 million books for your reading pleasure.
3 – TweetDeck and Hootsuite. So there is this website called Twitter…. TweekDeck and Hootsuite are just two of the many Twitter interfaces letting you interact on Twitter directly from your iPhone. The two apps offer different features, but between them some of the attributes allow for grouping of tweets to make sure you don't miss anything important – great for those of you who have lots of followers – or you can even bank tweets in advance and schedule when they are sent out on Twitter.
4 – Evernote. This is a memo app on steroids. You can do voice memos, take photos, do notes, grab a screen shot or even remember a web page. If you have your iPhone and see something – literally anywhere, Evernote will remember it for you. It also has a great interface for organization and retrieval.
5 – Jotnot. This app turns your iPhone into a scanner using the camera feature. Start up the app, point it at the document you want to scan and it is off to the races.
6 – Writeroom and Writechain. Writeroom is a straightforward clear screen writing app. Text can be exported to a variety of word processing programs. Writechain is a program that gives you on the fly writing statistics and provides a breakdown on how frequently you write which is great for motivation.
7 – iLava and Angry Birds. Sure they aren't actually writing apps per se, but sometimes you just need a break from writing. iLava is a virtual lava lamp and Angry Birds is just a fun game, but terribly addictive I should warn.
There are a ton of other apps available. With the iPhone I've found with rare exception the phrase, "Yeah, there's an app for that," is completely true. So if you look at the apps above and don't like them, not to worry, there is most likely another one you will like. As well, these apps are also generally available for the iPad and the iTouch. So get an iPhone (or iPad or iTouch) and get to writing.
Below are some of the apps I enjoy. They are from a variety of categories - all of which I have found helpful to my writing process.
1 –Voice Memos. I mention this first because it is included with the iPhone. It's a plain and simple voice recorder with great recording quality and ease of file transfer. If I need to quickly remember a thought, I use Voice Memo.
2 – eReaders. Both Nook and Kindle are free and with a B&N or Amazon account you can read your library on your iPhone. Megareader is an inexpensive eReader that provides access to nearly 2 million books for your reading pleasure.
3 – TweetDeck and Hootsuite. So there is this website called Twitter…. TweekDeck and Hootsuite are just two of the many Twitter interfaces letting you interact on Twitter directly from your iPhone. The two apps offer different features, but between them some of the attributes allow for grouping of tweets to make sure you don't miss anything important – great for those of you who have lots of followers – or you can even bank tweets in advance and schedule when they are sent out on Twitter.
4 – Evernote. This is a memo app on steroids. You can do voice memos, take photos, do notes, grab a screen shot or even remember a web page. If you have your iPhone and see something – literally anywhere, Evernote will remember it for you. It also has a great interface for organization and retrieval.
5 – Jotnot. This app turns your iPhone into a scanner using the camera feature. Start up the app, point it at the document you want to scan and it is off to the races.
6 – Writeroom and Writechain. Writeroom is a straightforward clear screen writing app. Text can be exported to a variety of word processing programs. Writechain is a program that gives you on the fly writing statistics and provides a breakdown on how frequently you write which is great for motivation.
7 – iLava and Angry Birds. Sure they aren't actually writing apps per se, but sometimes you just need a break from writing. iLava is a virtual lava lamp and Angry Birds is just a fun game, but terribly addictive I should warn.
There are a ton of other apps available. With the iPhone I've found with rare exception the phrase, "Yeah, there's an app for that," is completely true. So if you look at the apps above and don't like them, not to worry, there is most likely another one you will like. As well, these apps are also generally available for the iPad and the iTouch. So get an iPhone (or iPad or iTouch) and get to writing.
February 8, 2011
Alone in Cyberspace
For years I looked at blogs and rolled my eyes. Why would I ever need to blog?
I had this same response with Tivo. I had the same reaction to satellite radio. I did it with my iPhone. In each of the situations I had a response, see below, that, for me anyway, covered it. (See the second part of each to understand why I was fooling myself!)
-I have cable television why would I possible need Tivo. -- No, I didn't see that show, I was busy.
-Satellite radio? Really, what's the big deal? -- Howard Stern? No, he's not on in my market anymore.
-An iPhone? I already have a smart phone that lets me do everything I need. -- No I missed that meeting, see my phone didn't synch...
Fast forward a few years and now I have Tivo, Sirius/XM, an iPhone and a whole lot of other things that I, at the time, couldn't possibly have needed at the time. I, candidly, don't know how I did without them.
On top of this I also have a blog. I never thought I would be blogging, but now I can't imagine how I was able to write The Trust without a blog. --A pause for a moment of encouragement to all of those who don't have a blog. Get one. Loads of places make it really easy to do.
Since I've started this blog, I find I'm making myself write more frequently, I pay a more attention to things around me (I need ideas for the blog after all!!) and, it seems, the words all around are coming a bit more freely.
Now, I recognize I'm new to this world of blogging and at the present, I do have a feeling I'm blogging to the vastness of cyberspace, but the benefit far outweighs any burden.
Here are a few things I have learned so far that seem to be paying off and helping me encounter a few people along the way who are looking over what I have to say. A few have even returned with friends.
1 - First and foremost, I believe you should write what you know. I will likely write, among other things, about publishing with a smaller publisher because, this I know. Hopefully I will someday be able to blog about selling many vast thousands of books, but that will have to be a topic for a later date because right now, I know nothing about it, but to dream....
2 - Don't over blog. Two, maybe 3 blogs per week. However, be consistent. Too many and people get blog fatigue. To few and you'll have no readers.
3 - Compose concise blogs of perhaps no more than 400-600 words.
4 - It is also my goal to have something to say rather than just ranting - though a little ranting can be a good thing.
5 - I'm quickly learning that shameless promotion is a requirement. It's also a requirement to read the blogs of others. The benefit here is that I am learning a great deal and supporting the blogs of others. It also seems that bloggers are a supporting lot.6 - Always be up for trying new things to get the word on your blog out. There are loads of information out there for bloggers, so eat it up.7 - Be persistent and consistent. Sort of redundant with number 2 above, but I believe it takes a while to build up a following. So stay at it.
8 - Lastly, Have Fun!!!
I had this same response with Tivo. I had the same reaction to satellite radio. I did it with my iPhone. In each of the situations I had a response, see below, that, for me anyway, covered it. (See the second part of each to understand why I was fooling myself!)
-I have cable television why would I possible need Tivo. -- No, I didn't see that show, I was busy.
-Satellite radio? Really, what's the big deal? -- Howard Stern? No, he's not on in my market anymore.
-An iPhone? I already have a smart phone that lets me do everything I need. -- No I missed that meeting, see my phone didn't synch...
Fast forward a few years and now I have Tivo, Sirius/XM, an iPhone and a whole lot of other things that I, at the time, couldn't possibly have needed at the time. I, candidly, don't know how I did without them.
On top of this I also have a blog. I never thought I would be blogging, but now I can't imagine how I was able to write The Trust without a blog. --A pause for a moment of encouragement to all of those who don't have a blog. Get one. Loads of places make it really easy to do.
Since I've started this blog, I find I'm making myself write more frequently, I pay a more attention to things around me (I need ideas for the blog after all!!) and, it seems, the words all around are coming a bit more freely.
Now, I recognize I'm new to this world of blogging and at the present, I do have a feeling I'm blogging to the vastness of cyberspace, but the benefit far outweighs any burden.
Here are a few things I have learned so far that seem to be paying off and helping me encounter a few people along the way who are looking over what I have to say. A few have even returned with friends.
1 - First and foremost, I believe you should write what you know. I will likely write, among other things, about publishing with a smaller publisher because, this I know. Hopefully I will someday be able to blog about selling many vast thousands of books, but that will have to be a topic for a later date because right now, I know nothing about it, but to dream....
2 - Don't over blog. Two, maybe 3 blogs per week. However, be consistent. Too many and people get blog fatigue. To few and you'll have no readers.
3 - Compose concise blogs of perhaps no more than 400-600 words.
4 - It is also my goal to have something to say rather than just ranting - though a little ranting can be a good thing.
5 - I'm quickly learning that shameless promotion is a requirement. It's also a requirement to read the blogs of others. The benefit here is that I am learning a great deal and supporting the blogs of others. It also seems that bloggers are a supporting lot.6 - Always be up for trying new things to get the word on your blog out. There are loads of information out there for bloggers, so eat it up.7 - Be persistent and consistent. Sort of redundant with number 2 above, but I believe it takes a while to build up a following. So stay at it.
8 - Lastly, Have Fun!!!
February 6, 2011
Just ask...
Research is always a tricky thing. I've heard different, if not competing views, from almost every writer with whom I discuss this subject. Some advocate for only internet using the Google approach. I'm not the head cheerleader of this movement, but I will say that you can find a lot of info on virtually every subject. Also with Google's satellites and imaging, Google also makes it easy to visit about anywhere without leaving the comfort, or the shackles, of your writing sanctuary. I certainly see the merit of this, but I believe it is a rather sterile approach to the process. It's like looking at a photo of a Costa Rican beach and then attempting to describe the feel of the sand beneath your feet. From a purely visual exposure through a separate media, I just don't think you can do justice to the cool feel of the sand beneath your feet - even though the air is so humid and heavy it could only be described as "wet." The pure visual exposure can never let you fully understand what it is like to be suddenly attacked by an iguana who wants to fight you over a piece of fruit.
Other folks advocate traveling to the area or region you are going to be writing about to get a taste of the local flavor and to interact with the locals. I'm not really the cheerleader for this movement either. Charleston, South Carolina is perhaps my favorite city and I would hate to have a weekend visitor attempt to a paint an accurate image of the city scape. I just don't think a weekend in a locale gives you much beyond what the tourist brochures provide.
I have found a method that works for me. First, I write about geographical areas I know. I want to make sure that I'm 100% accurate when I am talking about a place. I want to make even the locals find something new to them. Fortunately I've traveled a good deal otherwise I would be limited as to where I had available to me as settings. I believe that if you write about an area you know then it will show.
Now when I need to know facts, the nuances of a profession or things such as techniques, procedural matters or otherwise, I just ask. I have found that most people with a particular skill set or specific knowledge are more than happy to have an eager audience who is willing to listen. In the off case where a person will not talk to you, I have two techniques that generally will get them to speak to you. One, do a little research in advance and learn who is recognized as another "expert" in the area. If they don't want to speak to you simply say something like, "Thank you so much for your time. I had one final question, as a back up I am going to call Mr. or Ms. So and So. Is it okay that I tell them I have spoken to you?" Or, secondly, try this. "Thank you so much for your time. You're the first person I called and wanted to see if you could suggest someone I could speak to who would be as knowledgable as you on this subject." Generally one of those two will either get the person talking or they will give you a promising lead. Just keep in mind, it is a rarity that people won't talk about themselves and what they do.
One additional point, if you know someone who has a personal relationship the individual you need to speak to, by all means take advantage.
Remember, don't be worried about rejection. If you're rejected, try again. The simplest thing you can do is just ask. However, a word of caution, don't get bogged down in the research. After all, the goal is to write and if you are researching, you're not writing.
Other folks advocate traveling to the area or region you are going to be writing about to get a taste of the local flavor and to interact with the locals. I'm not really the cheerleader for this movement either. Charleston, South Carolina is perhaps my favorite city and I would hate to have a weekend visitor attempt to a paint an accurate image of the city scape. I just don't think a weekend in a locale gives you much beyond what the tourist brochures provide.
I have found a method that works for me. First, I write about geographical areas I know. I want to make sure that I'm 100% accurate when I am talking about a place. I want to make even the locals find something new to them. Fortunately I've traveled a good deal otherwise I would be limited as to where I had available to me as settings. I believe that if you write about an area you know then it will show.
Now when I need to know facts, the nuances of a profession or things such as techniques, procedural matters or otherwise, I just ask. I have found that most people with a particular skill set or specific knowledge are more than happy to have an eager audience who is willing to listen. In the off case where a person will not talk to you, I have two techniques that generally will get them to speak to you. One, do a little research in advance and learn who is recognized as another "expert" in the area. If they don't want to speak to you simply say something like, "Thank you so much for your time. I had one final question, as a back up I am going to call Mr. or Ms. So and So. Is it okay that I tell them I have spoken to you?" Or, secondly, try this. "Thank you so much for your time. You're the first person I called and wanted to see if you could suggest someone I could speak to who would be as knowledgable as you on this subject." Generally one of those two will either get the person talking or they will give you a promising lead. Just keep in mind, it is a rarity that people won't talk about themselves and what they do.
One additional point, if you know someone who has a personal relationship the individual you need to speak to, by all means take advantage.
Remember, don't be worried about rejection. If you're rejected, try again. The simplest thing you can do is just ask. However, a word of caution, don't get bogged down in the research. After all, the goal is to write and if you are researching, you're not writing.
February 4, 2011
When to Share
One question I have struggled with and, likely will continue to just be befuddled about, is when do you share what you have written. Particularly when the writing is going to be fiction length.
I struggled with this concept while writing The Trust. Not knowing the protocol - translate that I just had no clue when to let others read what I had written - when I finished the first draft of the Prologue to The Trust, I decided to have another set of eyes look over my efforts.
Not a success at all, but then not the biggest of failures. The feedback I received was that the several pages of text read well, but since the Prologue actually was taking place in the middle of the book's timeline, it was only a slight bit confusing. If anything the response and feedback was just, well, rather blah.
The main feedback was there simply wasn't enough there to know if it was good or not.
So I decided I needed to be a bit guarded in how I shared it. This ultimately ended up with me not showing any further portions of the book to anyone at all until I was done. I should point out that this gave rise to many questions as to there being any progress at all.
Probably not the best of ideas - but it then again worked for me.
If you use my approach you'll be, well, writing in exile and in some ways in a vacuum. That and all of the edits - and there were many - had to be done on one time.
Writer's groups come to mind for me here. I didn't use a writer's group for the actual writing, rather I would talk plot ideas to anyone who would listen. If you use my approach and don't share till you're done, then the idea of a writer's group along and along sorta gets thrown by the wayside.
If you do let people read along and along, I believe that it would be of benefit to generally try to keep people reading in order that way they have some sense of where the story had been. The pitfall of having only a partial chapter, and perhaps pitfall is too harsh of a word, is that context can be a problem.
So is there a right or wrong answer as to when to let others read? Likely no. For me I've found that if I have the entire product then then the feedback I get is better because it lets me take everything in context.
Well, at least a context that works for me.
I struggled with this concept while writing The Trust. Not knowing the protocol - translate that I just had no clue when to let others read what I had written - when I finished the first draft of the Prologue to The Trust, I decided to have another set of eyes look over my efforts.
Not a success at all, but then not the biggest of failures. The feedback I received was that the several pages of text read well, but since the Prologue actually was taking place in the middle of the book's timeline, it was only a slight bit confusing. If anything the response and feedback was just, well, rather blah.
The main feedback was there simply wasn't enough there to know if it was good or not.
So I decided I needed to be a bit guarded in how I shared it. This ultimately ended up with me not showing any further portions of the book to anyone at all until I was done. I should point out that this gave rise to many questions as to there being any progress at all.
Probably not the best of ideas - but it then again worked for me.
If you use my approach you'll be, well, writing in exile and in some ways in a vacuum. That and all of the edits - and there were many - had to be done on one time.
Writer's groups come to mind for me here. I didn't use a writer's group for the actual writing, rather I would talk plot ideas to anyone who would listen. If you use my approach and don't share till you're done, then the idea of a writer's group along and along sorta gets thrown by the wayside.
If you do let people read along and along, I believe that it would be of benefit to generally try to keep people reading in order that way they have some sense of where the story had been. The pitfall of having only a partial chapter, and perhaps pitfall is too harsh of a word, is that context can be a problem.
So is there a right or wrong answer as to when to let others read? Likely no. For me I've found that if I have the entire product then then the feedback I get is better because it lets me take everything in context.
Well, at least a context that works for me.
January 30, 2011
Motivation to put pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard
Ideas just seem to be no problem. Sometimes I literally feel like I have to turn off the tap on ideas for plots, sub-plots, characters, etc. (As an aside, I do keep a log of these random ideas which I use a source of reference from time to time.)
However, the big motivation problem for me is getting motivated to actually write. I mean what good does it do to have the ideas - sometimes even knowing where an entire book is going - only to never write. Now that there is one book out, it only makes sense to complete the second that is underway, so I can say I have a series.
A confession - I have, and have had, a third of the follow up book done. For a while.
Sure, I have family, work, life distractions, but all of the outside forces competing for my time were present when I wrote the first book and I got that done.
So how do you, or I, get past it? (At least these are the things I did before that worked.)
First, make yourself write. If you don't get something down on the page, even pure crap, you won't have anything at all to work with.
Second, make time to write. In the past I have scheduled a specific time. Recently I went back through and edited my second book, or at least the progress so far, and set a time early each morning to do this. I'm going to continue to do this with the writing.
Third, set goals. I try to write a certain number of pages each day. Some people will have completion dates. Others a scaled in schedule. Use whatever works for you. I once saw a John Grisham interview where he stated the proposition that to be a writer you should write a page a day. That is literally only 30 lines of type a day. Just a few hundred words. However, if you can do this, that is a book a year. Not bad.
Reward yourself as you complete chapters or even a critical scene.
The point of all of this is writing while fun, is also hard work. Even when you are writing fiction. However, if you just put pen to paper your are literally halfway there. Now to just make myself do the same thing....
However, the big motivation problem for me is getting motivated to actually write. I mean what good does it do to have the ideas - sometimes even knowing where an entire book is going - only to never write. Now that there is one book out, it only makes sense to complete the second that is underway, so I can say I have a series.
A confession - I have, and have had, a third of the follow up book done. For a while.
Sure, I have family, work, life distractions, but all of the outside forces competing for my time were present when I wrote the first book and I got that done.
So how do you, or I, get past it? (At least these are the things I did before that worked.)
First, make yourself write. If you don't get something down on the page, even pure crap, you won't have anything at all to work with.
Second, make time to write. In the past I have scheduled a specific time. Recently I went back through and edited my second book, or at least the progress so far, and set a time early each morning to do this. I'm going to continue to do this with the writing.
Third, set goals. I try to write a certain number of pages each day. Some people will have completion dates. Others a scaled in schedule. Use whatever works for you. I once saw a John Grisham interview where he stated the proposition that to be a writer you should write a page a day. That is literally only 30 lines of type a day. Just a few hundred words. However, if you can do this, that is a book a year. Not bad.
Reward yourself as you complete chapters or even a critical scene.
The point of all of this is writing while fun, is also hard work. Even when you are writing fiction. However, if you just put pen to paper your are literally halfway there. Now to just make myself do the same thing....
Plot Inspiration.
So no secret I am an attorney. And no secret that I practice in Charleston, South Carolina. It is also no surprise that many times the type of law I practice can have more twists and turns that a two lane mountain road. Many times I find myself thinking that the dilemmas litigants work themselves into are situations I could not have imagined or made up - and I regularly craft plot ideas out of thin air.
When I first started practicing law, I realized that one of the many lessons not taught in law school, was how to put on a poker face when a client made a shocking pronouncement. On more than one occasion early on I had to excuse myself from my office to keep from showing what I was truly thinking. Fortunately I quickly learned to retreat to my poker face externally and while many people would likely have an OMG moment the client was being open and honest and providing much needed information that could, generally, help their case.
Well after a number of years of practice I rarely have the OMG moments, but I am still amazed at the corners folks can paint themselves into.
Which leads me to a comment I get a lot that goes something like this. "With the type of law you practice you must never have problems coming up with ideas for stories."
This dynamic presents much of a dilemma. The bottom line is that while I may use personality or physical attributes of clients, or friends, or people I randomly see on the street, in creating my characters, I have a steadfast rule that I will never use a client's legal situation, in whole or in part, in any plot I craft. In fact, I have yet to have any story line in any plot that relates to my practice area. I do this because I have a strong belief that even if the names are changed the situation could be recognized and this is a risk I simply won't take. Every attorney should, and is ethically required, to hold his client's confidences sacrosanct to the highest degree. So while I do draw upon my day to day legal experiences it is mainly for procedural matters. There are enough places to draw outlandish legal specifics so that the last place I need look is my own practice. Besi
When I first started practicing law, I realized that one of the many lessons not taught in law school, was how to put on a poker face when a client made a shocking pronouncement. On more than one occasion early on I had to excuse myself from my office to keep from showing what I was truly thinking. Fortunately I quickly learned to retreat to my poker face externally and while many people would likely have an OMG moment the client was being open and honest and providing much needed information that could, generally, help their case.
Well after a number of years of practice I rarely have the OMG moments, but I am still amazed at the corners folks can paint themselves into.
Which leads me to a comment I get a lot that goes something like this. "With the type of law you practice you must never have problems coming up with ideas for stories."
This dynamic presents much of a dilemma. The bottom line is that while I may use personality or physical attributes of clients, or friends, or people I randomly see on the street, in creating my characters, I have a steadfast rule that I will never use a client's legal situation, in whole or in part, in any plot I craft. In fact, I have yet to have any story line in any plot that relates to my practice area. I do this because I have a strong belief that even if the names are changed the situation could be recognized and this is a risk I simply won't take. Every attorney should, and is ethically required, to hold his client's confidences sacrosanct to the highest degree. So while I do draw upon my day to day legal experiences it is mainly for procedural matters. There are enough places to draw outlandish legal specifics so that the last place I need look is my own practice. Besi
