Jeff Abbott's Blog, page 4

The Revenge of The Organized Writer

Revenge? Oops, I meant to write Return. RETURN.

When I started the blog a while back, one of the most popular features was a series of posts with the alluring name of The Organized Writer. And if you saw my desk some days, you would laugh at my hubris in pretending that I am a model of organization. Mostly I gave short reviews about planners, notebooks, and software that could help writers keep their necessary focus and not feel overwhelmed by the endless tug-of-war between regular life and creative time.

I stopped the Organized Writer entries for a couple of reasons: I didn't want them to turn into a long-running series of product reviews, and if I was always reviewing new products, I was by default tinkering with my organizational system, which then implied I really was not that organized. There are tons of sites out there to review planners and notebooks; I felt I had nothing new to add.

I am bringing back The Organized Writer in a limited way, but I'm not going to focus overmuch on what tools to use (there is no one right way to be organized). I want to talk about being an creative professional who isn't feeling overwhelmed or lost by all the demands on his or her time–and this is far more interesting than what planner I use. How do we thoughtfully arrange our time and arrange our work so we can be avoid distraction, focus our creativity, and do our best work? That will be more the theme moving forward.

That said, I am going to talk briefly, in the next couple of entries about my overall organizational system, just so you know where I'm coming from and what works for me and how this helps me focus on my writing. My system isn't perfect; I am well aware of its flaws. However, it works well enough for me to keep my producing my daily quota of words, and I would rather spend my time writing than refining the system, endlessly. All I want these tools to do is to help me write and stay engaged with my work at a deep level, help me reach readers, help me grow my career. I think a productivity system is definitely a place where the perfect is the enemy of the good. Find what works *well enough* for you, and then use it and stick with it. I am doing two huge writing projects a year now; I don't have time to fiddle with how I stay organized.

I have three basic tools I use, and each will get its own blog post in the days ahead:

Filofax – this old-school planner is where I keep my calendar, my to do list (which I have talked about before), my project notes (which differ from book notes).

Levenger Circa – this highly adaptable notebook is where I keep all my book notes

Tinderbox – billed as "the tool for notes", this super-powered Mac software is digital index cards on steroids.

So–I hope this new, differently focused, occasional Organized Writer series will be of help not just to writers, but to anyone in today's hyperconnected, thousand-distractions world who has work to do and thoughts to think.

The Terrors of the Author Photo

This past week I had a new author photo done.

Author photos used to be easy. You could have a pipe. You could cuddle a cat. You might wear a hat. (I sound like I'm channeling the good Doctor Seuss.)

I have never found them easy.

My first author photo I didn't go for hip. I wore a turtleneck and a blazer. I went to the photographer's studio, where I learned the photog had a healthy trade in semi-erotic marital portraits. No nudity, but more skin than I expected to see, and a lot of artfully positioned grape bunches. I got to lean against a spare Grecian column and tried not to think about who else had leaned against it.

The photo of me on my website was done in Paris. My publisher there hired an Irish photographer to snap some photos of me that they could give to the various newspeople who were interviewing me while I was in France. It was gray and rainy and I wore a raincoat not for effect but because it was gray and rainy. (I am so smart.) "A trenchcoat, yes! Pop that collar!" the Irishman cried in glee. "Look Ludlumesque." I am sure Parisians are used to fashion shoots on their streets, but I don't exactly look like a male model. I saw several people wondering why this cool, tall Irish dude was snapping dozens of photos of me leaning against a door, walking into traffic, glancing backward down the street, popped collar and all, while yelling instructions at me to look more "grave" and "to open my eyes just a bit more." (You'll soon see a pattern.)

My last author photo was taken in London. The photographer (who was quite brilliant) took me to a nearby park one afternoon. There were a couple of people ambling in the park, but not many, and we took our shots and left to go take some other shots nearby. One minute after we left the park we saw several police cars and motorcycles racing to the park. Hmmm. The photographer took some more pictures of me against a warehouse wall, and told me two days before he'd done a photo shoot with Sigourney Weaver. I apologized for causing a career setback. When we were walking back to his studio, we saw a policeman and asked what had happened. Apparently right after we left the park (think ten seconds) a drug bust went down and one of the suspects punched a policewoman. Bad, bad, bad. The officer was okay and the bad guys were under arrest. My editor was devastated that there was no shot of an arrest taking place over my left shoulder in the photo, because that would have been perfect.

So, this month, my wife and I decide to do a new photo. It's only fair as my hair now has noticeable strands of gray in it so I don't want to misrepresent by using my college ID photo any more. We hire a photographer, Amy, we've worked with before, who is very good. Especially taking photos of small children. And I hate having my photo taken, and often fuss and cry, so I qualify as a small child. (My wife and kids are incredibly photogenic. I have a slightly crooked nose, and a squint,  so I'm not.)

We start in the dining room.

I immediately complain: "Um, I don't think the wall color is going to be good for this." It's canary-colored. Yellow does not say thriller writer.

"We'll Photoshop that out," Amy told me. "I can Photoshop ANYTHING."

I hope there is a "Make Me Look LIke Brad Pitt" button on Photoshop.

Lots of pictures, while my wife stands by. "You need to open your eyes," she says.

"They're open."

"Open them wider."

I do.

"Stop glaring."

I have naturally squinty eyes, it's a sign I can't be trusted.

We go outside into the sunshine, so I can squint some more. Now I'm outside, but sitting on a stool in front of draped fabric. Nature shots, people.

"Are any of these shots going to be, you know, HORIZONTAL?" Amy asks my wife.

I start looking for the bearskin rug, then remember the purpose of the shot is to help sell books, not create a further sense of terror.

"Open your eyes!" my wife says, as though I am blindfolded.

"This is as open as they get." I am starting to sound a touch surly.

A couple of days later we get a few of the shots via email. Some are good. One is marked, "I wanted you to see what I could do with Photoshop. . ."

And in that photo, my skin is very pale and slightly sparkly. I look like a cousin to the Cullen family in Twilight. An cousin who apparently had Botox before becoming a vampire.

"That does not look like me," I said. "That looks like me auditioning for the Real Househusbands of Austin."

"She's just showing what Photoshop can do," my wife says, printing the photo and slipping it into a folder that I never see again. "We'll dial that down."

And we will. They are good photos. I hate having my picture taken. But I just want to look like an author you can trust to give a good read. Squint and sparkles aside.

Are You Actually Going to Look At My To Do List?

What do you do all day?

It's hard to imagine what a writer does. Does he type all day? Does she scribble notes and daydream and then write in a blistering fury? (Right now I'm doing neither, much to my annoyance.) So here's a look at my to do list. I don't make a daily list. I keep my schedule in a Filofax. My calendar has all the days of the week on the left page, and a page for notes on the right side. I use that to list what I want to get done in the week. That way, as the week progresses and items get marked off, I can see if I'm going to get it all done this week or not. Some of this stuff can be farmed out to my part-time assistant, but not much of it.

So what does a professional writer's to do list look like? Here's this week's. I sort of can't believe I'm sharing this.

–make sure you have right clothes for author photo on Thursday

–complete review of copyedits on Secret Project and send back to editor

–complete reading UK galleys for THE LAST MINUTE and send back to UK

–blog about keeping a reading journal

–blog about galleys/copyedits

–blog about To Do List (done!)

–email editor re questions on two scenes

–clear off desk (the desk is a bit messy right now and it bugs me)

–write 10,000 words of new book (5 days x 2000 words)

–deactivate Facebook personal page after posting final status

–blog about deactivating Facebook page and why I did it

–register for book conference

–register for multimedia conference

–clean desk (you note this is written twice)

–run change to book proposal by editor

–email back online marketing manager re UK promotions

–brainstorm on enhanced ebook edition for Adrenaline

–create requested teaser content for UK ebooks

–sign audiobook contracts for UK and send back to agent

–read Publishers' Lunch for week

–organize Twitter lists

–move series bible from Word to Tinderbox

–send bar research to assistant for followup

–review web designers portfolios with assistant for Secret Project

–update earnings spreadsheet for estimated taxes

Most of this will get done this week, much of it already is done. What doesn't get done gets an arrow drawn next to it, pointing into next week's work. But my point is: it's not all writing. It rarely is. I wish it were.

For 2011, Starting a Reader's Journal

One of the side effects of being a writer is that it changes your reading habits. For me, this change was twofold: writing meant I had less time to read (oh the pain), and writing changed how I read. I can still get lost in a great story, but part of my mind notices the craftsmanship and technique the author employs much more than before I was a writer. I tend to dissect much more as I read, and this is true of books that aren't working for me as much as those that I enjoy.

Starting a couple of years ago, I've  kept a running list of books I've read, usually in my Filofax. I kept it in my planner because the list also includes books I've bought or been given, so I don't accidentally re-buy while I'm at the store. I'd just mark off each book as it was read. The list is now several pages long.

I'm thinking of starting a reading journal, where I list each book I read and a few thoughts about the book and the craftsmanship in it, maybe with a few quotes. I might keep this in a digital form (such as a Word document, or in Tinderbox)  or I might just devote an entire notebook to it, maybe a page to each book. I could imagine recording what I particularly admired about the book, favorite lines, prompts to myself (look at how well Character A was developed, notice the structure used in the finale, that worked well. . ) and so on. I don't think this would take much time to maintain and would pay big writerly dividends.

If you keep a reading journal, tell me about it in the comments. I'll report back in a few weeks on how my own reader's journal is going.

Two-Headed Beast: Copyedits and Galleys

I've spent much of the past two weeks fighting with the two-headed beast of writing: going through copyedits and going through galleys. For those who aren't familiar with this process, it is the time when you get, oh joy, to reread your own writing. This can be the Scylla and Charybdis of the writing process: the two heads that you must sail past to get your book to a fully edited, completed state.

A copyedit is the first stage, and I've just read the copyedit on the Secret Project. Here,  a copyeditor goes through the manuscript with a very discerning eye and marks punctuation problems, identifies any bits of befuddling prose, notes inconsistencies in plot, character, or timeline, and so on. Basically, good copyeditors keep authors from looking like fools. My favorite phrase from a copyeditor (a British one): "I've noted an infelicity in the plot." Not long ago, all the edits were done by hand on a paper copy of the manuscript, but now they're often done in Microsoft Word, using Track Changes. If my editor has also made comments in Track Changes, then the copyeditor does, then I do, some pages can look tattooed. I have to reread the entire manuscript, very carefully, either accepting or rejecting the changes (or making additional edits of my own.) This is really your last chance for rewriting sentences, but really only if you must.

A galley is after the copyedited changes have been "set"–the galley looks like a finished book. You get to reread the entire book again, noting any final edits. This isn't the time for wholescale changes or rewrites, only minor changes. It remains disconcerting to me to see my words "look" like a book. I always fight the urge to rewrite the whole thing. (Prescription companies, you want to make a fortune? Come up with a pill that stifles the rewriting urge.) Again, these edits used to be made on paper copies (and I would only return the pages with edits) but now, at least with my UK publisher, I use Adobe Acrobat Pro to make notes, deletions or additions on a PDF copy of the galley. Right now I'm reading the UK galleys for THE LAST MINUTE, the second Sam Capra novel.

Writers often dread this part of the process, but it's a necessary one, and you have to bring a real sense of purpose and enthusiasm (your own two-headed beast, as it were) to the work.

And finally: A photo of my dogs, doing their best impression of a two-headed mutant beast:

One Writer's Resolutions, Part Two

My resolutions from yesterday, continued:

3. I Will Not Miss Family Vacation This Year. Last summer, I was running late with the second Sam Capra book, and my wife and kids went to Boston for a week. They had a fantastic time. I stayed home and listened to Sigur Rós and wrote like a madman and missed them. Now, I got a ton of work done, and got the book finished. My editors say this new one is my best book ever. I am pleased. But BUT I missed going to Boston with my wife and kids. I missed being part of my sons going to their first pro baseball game. I missed them exploring history and eating clam chowder at Legal Seafood. It felt wrong. My due dates for books are generally in July, and my kids get out of school at end of May, so I really should try to have the book done in June. Wouldn't it be cool to turn the book in early? (I've done this a couple of times before). This may be the hardest resolution to keep, though; having done two books this year, I am behind (in my mind) on Sam Capra #3. I have work to do.

4. I Will Try Something New. Like learning to cook without striking fear in my wife's heart that I will burn down the kitchen. Or learning a bit of Welsh, because I'd like to take my family to the town my father's family emigrated from in 1630.  Or taking up running, or reading about a subject I know nothing or little: South American history, Basho's poetry, Buddhist philosophy, nuclear physics. I firmly believe this is how we keep our brains supple and moist and working–learning new things, simply for our own pleasure. But I selfishly hope that in some way whatever I do will inspire or bolster my writing. That's just the way I'm wired.

If you have resolutions, good luck with them.

One Writer's Resolutions, Part One

I'm not normally a big believer in resolutions (they seem to last as long as milk left outside the refrigerator). But I have so much going on, and have been trying to be much more thoughtful about my time, resolutions seem like the best idea ever right now. And I'm sure telling all you nice folks about my goals will help me stick to them. So here are my first two resolutions, with a part two to come tomorrow.

1. This Blog: obviously it's not been a priority. I've written two books this year (more on that later) and I figure you would all rather have more books than blog postings. That said, I'm going to try and be better about using the blog in a smart way to stay in touch with readers and share more about what's going on with the books and my work. Think shorter entries, and more frequent, and a balance between writing, publishing, reading, and general life.

2. Be Smarter About Social Networking. Time that could have been given to the blog has been spent instead on Facebook and Twitter. And you know, some days I love Facebook and Twitter–they are the water cooler for those of us who labor alone–and other days they feel like an obligation. The best nonfiction book I read this year was Hamlet's BlackBerry by William Powers, which talks about how the hyperconnectedness of everyday life mirrors past historical revolutions in communications and information access. He also talks about the huge amount of time we're spending in front of screens, and how to step away gracefully, reclaiming your life while still garnering the benefits of our information-driven world. There's a passage in there where Stephen King–one of my writing heroes, and someone I have always thought a model of writerly disclipline–said he was spending "half the day's consciousness in front of a screen" before he decided to disconnect more. Stephen Freaking King! It's not just me.

So, part of the rebirth of the blog will be to drive my presence on social networking sites. My personal page on Facebook is going away at the end of the year; my fan (or reader, as I prefer to call it) page will be my Facebook presence. My Twitter feed will have less random stuff and more stuff tied to the blog's content. (I still reserve the right to Twitter during Saints games, though). We'll see how this goes. But I know that my participation on social networking this past year has taken time from my writing, my reading, and my family. I am going to do better.

And if you haven't read Hamlet's BlackBerry, I think it's an excellent book. Highly recommended.

The rest of my resolutions, tomorrow. If you have a resolution  you want to share, please do so in the comments.

ADRENALINE on CBS Sunday Morning This Weekend

ADRENALINE, which will be out next July in the US, will be featured on CBS Sunday Morning on December 18, as part of a segment examining how book covers are designed. Viewers can vote for which ADRENALINE cover they like best at cbs.com. The show airs from 9-10:30 Eastern/8-9:30 Central.

And yes, I know this blog has been silent. That should be changing in the New Year. Wishing everyone a happy holiday season and a prosperous and happy 2011!

Laura Lippman and Mark Billingham

Two of my favorite authors, who both have new and much praised books out this week, talk about the writing life. Not to be missed. I am mentioned, of course, with reverence.

Death's Excellent Vacation Hits New York Times List

I wrote earlier about my participation in a terrific new short story collection called Death's Excellent Vacation, edited by the amazing Toni L. P. Kelner and Charlaine Harris. Great news: Death's Excellent Vacation is debuting at #8 on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction. This is extraordinary for a short story collection; huge thanks to Charlaine and Toni, and to all the readers out there, who made it happen. I am really honored to be part of this anthology. The story w...