Dan DeWitt's Blog, page 2
April 6, 2012
Stuff I Wish I Wrote: "It's All in a State of Mind"
If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't,
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It's almost a "cinch" you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world you find
Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.
Full many a race is lost
Ere ever a step is run;
And many a coward fails
Ere ever his work's begun.
Think big and your deeds will grow,
Think small and you'll fall behind,
Think that you can and you will;
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you're outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins,
Is the fellow who thinks he can.
-Walter D. Wintle
If you think you dare not, you don't,
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It's almost a "cinch" you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world you find
Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.
Full many a race is lost
Ere ever a step is run;
And many a coward fails
Ere ever his work's begun.
Think big and your deeds will grow,
Think small and you'll fall behind,
Think that you can and you will;
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you're outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins,
Is the fellow who thinks he can.
-Walter D. Wintle
March 24, 2012
The 11-Year-Old Cigar
On 13January2001, I got married. On 14January2001, I realized that everybody had gotten one of the cigars that I'd bought to celebrate the occasion ... everybody but me. Oh, the tragedy that is my life.
About a year ago, I was cleaning out a back room, and I found my wife's honeymoon purse. I looked inside and saw a familiar metal tube. As it turns out, my wife thought to put one aside for the cruise. Yes, very thoughtful. Unfortunately, we were so busy funning it up that she forgot all about it.
I pulled it out of the tube and inspected it. The construction was still good, but it was incredibly brittle due to its absolute lack of moisture. If you don't know anything about cigars, they'll keep pretty much indefinitely if you store them in a good humidor at the right temperature and humidity; outside of those conditions, however, you're asking for trouble.
Being a guy with a good humidor, I figured that I had nothing to lose, and popped it in. I'd heard the occasional tale of cigars "coming back to life" after years of neglect, so why not?
You're probably wondering what this has to do with you, the writer.
Well, I was listening to the Writing Excuses podcast the other day, and the subject of abandoning a project came up. I can't remember what there answers were, but it got me thinking.
I'm one of those guys who twitches every time I hear a new writer talk about giving up on a project because it's not turning out the way they wanted, they're stuck for plot, they hate their characters, or it's just "crap." Sometimes they'll just abandon it to a file on their computer, but often I'll hear that, in a fit of pique, they deleted it.
*twitch*
I'm okay with putting something aside for a while and moving on to another project. But getting rid of everything you've written seems a tad extreme.
Guess what?
Writing any novel isn't easy. Writing a fully-developed, interesting novel with 3D characters and solid plotting is hard. You shouldn't be in love with what you've written so far, because most of it is going to have to change to some degree.
It's important to remember why you started writing the work in the first place: You had an idea that you loved and thought could turn into a great book. Well, the worth of your idea never changes; the skill of your execution does. So your execution sucks now ... what's the big deal? If you're serious about writing, you'll get better.
But deleting a project because it's not awesome right out of the gate? I just don't get it. Honestly, it smacks of amateurism. At the very least, I think a writer should keep everything around just as a way to chart their growth as a writer, as a way of being able to say, "Hey, I'm improving. I'll be able to rescue this someday."
Back to the cigar. I don't know where you live, but we're getting freaky weather in NY. Last Sunday, we were in the 70's. My son and wife were napping, so it was a great time for some me time. I looked through the humidor, and that 11-year-old H. Upmann stared me right in the face. I'd forgotten all about it for a year. I figured, "Why not?"
You know what? It smoked like I'd just bought it. If I'd just tossed it out, I know I would have ended up regretting it.
About a year ago, I was cleaning out a back room, and I found my wife's honeymoon purse. I looked inside and saw a familiar metal tube. As it turns out, my wife thought to put one aside for the cruise. Yes, very thoughtful. Unfortunately, we were so busy funning it up that she forgot all about it.
I pulled it out of the tube and inspected it. The construction was still good, but it was incredibly brittle due to its absolute lack of moisture. If you don't know anything about cigars, they'll keep pretty much indefinitely if you store them in a good humidor at the right temperature and humidity; outside of those conditions, however, you're asking for trouble.
Being a guy with a good humidor, I figured that I had nothing to lose, and popped it in. I'd heard the occasional tale of cigars "coming back to life" after years of neglect, so why not?
You're probably wondering what this has to do with you, the writer.
Well, I was listening to the Writing Excuses podcast the other day, and the subject of abandoning a project came up. I can't remember what there answers were, but it got me thinking.
I'm one of those guys who twitches every time I hear a new writer talk about giving up on a project because it's not turning out the way they wanted, they're stuck for plot, they hate their characters, or it's just "crap." Sometimes they'll just abandon it to a file on their computer, but often I'll hear that, in a fit of pique, they deleted it.
*twitch*
I'm okay with putting something aside for a while and moving on to another project. But getting rid of everything you've written seems a tad extreme.
Guess what?
Writing any novel isn't easy. Writing a fully-developed, interesting novel with 3D characters and solid plotting is hard. You shouldn't be in love with what you've written so far, because most of it is going to have to change to some degree.
It's important to remember why you started writing the work in the first place: You had an idea that you loved and thought could turn into a great book. Well, the worth of your idea never changes; the skill of your execution does. So your execution sucks now ... what's the big deal? If you're serious about writing, you'll get better.
But deleting a project because it's not awesome right out of the gate? I just don't get it. Honestly, it smacks of amateurism. At the very least, I think a writer should keep everything around just as a way to chart their growth as a writer, as a way of being able to say, "Hey, I'm improving. I'll be able to rescue this someday."
Back to the cigar. I don't know where you live, but we're getting freaky weather in NY. Last Sunday, we were in the 70's. My son and wife were napping, so it was a great time for some me time. I looked through the humidor, and that 11-year-old H. Upmann stared me right in the face. I'd forgotten all about it for a year. I figured, "Why not?"
You know what? It smoked like I'd just bought it. If I'd just tossed it out, I know I would have ended up regretting it.
January 29, 2012
Self-pub v. traditional: What gives you the better chance for success?
A little background here. I was roaming on Twitter, and I ran across a random Tweet about the self-pub Spartacus himself, JA Konrath (if you self-pub and ever question that decision, read his blog). An agent said that she disagrees with Konrath's contention that self-pub gives most writers, especially new ones, the best chance for success. I responded, but was willing to just agree to disagree.
Then I ran across a response to her from some twit agent (name withheld, for now) who said: "Self-pub can work. So can digging random holes in the hopes of finding pirate gold. It's *possible." Ha, I see what you did there.
I replied, "Just out of curiosity, how is that any different from attempting to go the traditional publishing route?"
Seems like a pretty simple question, no?
Strangely enough, I got no response, although he did find time to respond to a fan's question about a sequel to his book about love robots.
With that in mind, let's go over the chances of achieving some degree of success via self-pub and traditional. I'm going on the assumption that a writer is reasonably talented and knows how to put out a good product.
If you want to self-pub, you:
Write and edit your bookHave someone design a cover to your specs, or do it yourselfUpload bookPromote from time to timeMake some money (maybe a little, maybe more than a little)Write next book while still making money off of your previous ones in perpetuity, because you kept all of your rights.Repeat above steps, and compound your sales with each book
That's not a guess. that's how self-pub works.
Now, let's review your chances of success in traditional:
Write and edit your bookComb through Writer's Market and other sites to figure out who you want to submit to firstResearch each agent's submission guidelines (because they're all different, and they can vary a lot)Craft a query letter specifically to that agent's tasteSame for your synopsis and possibly an author bio.Buy envelopes/stamps/paper/ink and bundle them.Submit to agents (or maybe only one agent, as some want "exclusivity", meaning they want you to promise to submit only to them for a period ranging from weeks to months)Wait. For weeks or months.*Best case scenario is that you get accepted on the first try (you really won't).**Work with agent to do more edits, keeping in mind that a lot of them are no more qualified to do edits than your friends are. I'll assume a smooth process here, too (it really won't be).Wait for agent to sell book to publishing house. I'll assume you sell your book to the first one (you really won't).Sign away all of your rights. Hopefully a $5,000-$10,000 advance (the typical advance is the same it was in the 1970's). Save that, because you won't see another dime until you earn it back.More edits.A lot of back and forth in between your sale and the book being published 2-3 years later.Promote Unless you catch lightning in a bottle, a few months' stint in bookstores before being remaindered, in which case you might be dropped.Stop making money. Repeat.Also, everything in red is stuff that you're doing instead of writing your next book.
So, the next time you hear an agent say that a writer stands a better chance of success with traditional, think about it. If you define success as being a rich and famous bestseller with the book that everyone's reading, then you probably stand a better chance with traditional. That chance is just north of 0%.
But if you define success as being paid to do something you love for a living, self-pub gives you far greater access and both short- and long-term earning potential.
Dan
*I pursued traditional publishing for about a week before I came to my senses and went self-pub. I queried four agencies. Last month, I received a rejection ... fifteen months after I'd sent the query. Unless they sign you, agencies will not respect you.
**I've read a bunch of agent blogs in the past, and here are some reasons you'll get rejected that have nothing to do with the quality of your work: your query wasn't structured exactly right; they just signed someone with a similar work; the market is saturated; they feel it's too niche/not niche enough; they're not accepting queries at this time (though they never updated their Submissions page); the author bio was uninteresting; or, I'm not joking, they were just in a bad mood when they read a query.
Then I ran across a response to her from some twit agent (name withheld, for now) who said: "Self-pub can work. So can digging random holes in the hopes of finding pirate gold. It's *possible." Ha, I see what you did there.
I replied, "Just out of curiosity, how is that any different from attempting to go the traditional publishing route?"
Seems like a pretty simple question, no?
Strangely enough, I got no response, although he did find time to respond to a fan's question about a sequel to his book about love robots.
With that in mind, let's go over the chances of achieving some degree of success via self-pub and traditional. I'm going on the assumption that a writer is reasonably talented and knows how to put out a good product.
If you want to self-pub, you:
Write and edit your bookHave someone design a cover to your specs, or do it yourselfUpload bookPromote from time to timeMake some money (maybe a little, maybe more than a little)Write next book while still making money off of your previous ones in perpetuity, because you kept all of your rights.Repeat above steps, and compound your sales with each book
That's not a guess. that's how self-pub works.
Now, let's review your chances of success in traditional:
Write and edit your bookComb through Writer's Market and other sites to figure out who you want to submit to firstResearch each agent's submission guidelines (because they're all different, and they can vary a lot)Craft a query letter specifically to that agent's tasteSame for your synopsis and possibly an author bio.Buy envelopes/stamps/paper/ink and bundle them.Submit to agents (or maybe only one agent, as some want "exclusivity", meaning they want you to promise to submit only to them for a period ranging from weeks to months)Wait. For weeks or months.*Best case scenario is that you get accepted on the first try (you really won't).**Work with agent to do more edits, keeping in mind that a lot of them are no more qualified to do edits than your friends are. I'll assume a smooth process here, too (it really won't be).Wait for agent to sell book to publishing house. I'll assume you sell your book to the first one (you really won't).Sign away all of your rights. Hopefully a $5,000-$10,000 advance (the typical advance is the same it was in the 1970's). Save that, because you won't see another dime until you earn it back.More edits.A lot of back and forth in between your sale and the book being published 2-3 years later.Promote Unless you catch lightning in a bottle, a few months' stint in bookstores before being remaindered, in which case you might be dropped.Stop making money. Repeat.Also, everything in red is stuff that you're doing instead of writing your next book.
So, the next time you hear an agent say that a writer stands a better chance of success with traditional, think about it. If you define success as being a rich and famous bestseller with the book that everyone's reading, then you probably stand a better chance with traditional. That chance is just north of 0%.
But if you define success as being paid to do something you love for a living, self-pub gives you far greater access and both short- and long-term earning potential.
Dan
*I pursued traditional publishing for about a week before I came to my senses and went self-pub. I queried four agencies. Last month, I received a rejection ... fifteen months after I'd sent the query. Unless they sign you, agencies will not respect you.
**I've read a bunch of agent blogs in the past, and here are some reasons you'll get rejected that have nothing to do with the quality of your work: your query wasn't structured exactly right; they just signed someone with a similar work; the market is saturated; they feel it's too niche/not niche enough; they're not accepting queries at this time (though they never updated their Submissions page); the author bio was uninteresting; or, I'm not joking, they were just in a bad mood when they read a query.
January 22, 2012
Win a free copy of "Orpheus" and "Odinsons"!
The Masquerade Crew and a slew of other fine people are helping me give away ebooks of Orpheus and Odinsons. Read on to see how to enter!
Dan
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Dan
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January 7, 2012
2011: My first self-publishing year by the numbers.
I think that 2011 was a pretty good debut for me as a self-published author. Some non- to semi-interesting stats:
0: books sold to agents
0: coincidentally, the number of agents I queried
0: number of close friends or family members I solicited for a review
0: zombie kills, alas
>0: people I can legitimately call "fans" at this point
>0: fans I secretly want to refer to as "DeWittnesses"
1: book available on Createspace
1: each of a zombie thriller, a Norse mythology adventure, and a short story collection self-published
2: covers created using GIMP
2: past WIPs given new attention ( Croatoan and Addicted )
3: works self-published from June through December
4: number of months that Orpheus was available on Amazon, after I eventually figured out that Smashwords doesn't distribute to Amazon
4: planned releases in 2012 (assuming the world doesn't end)
6: people foolish enough to invite me over for a guest post or interview
8: percentage increase of Orpheus sales from September to October
10: short stories in my free collection "Underneath"
64: percentage increase of Orpheus sales from October to November
91: percentage increase of Orpheus sales from November to December
118: "likes" on my Facebook author page
750 (conservative guess): times I mentioned "zombies" online
900: increase in Twitter followers from July through December (big assist to Twitter Goddess Julie A. Lindsey for that one)
3,000 : Tweets (yeesh)
3,000 : pointless Tweets
10,000 : number of downloads of "Underneath"
$100 billion: income goal for 2012 (adjustable)
infinite: possibilities for 2012
0: books sold to agents
0: coincidentally, the number of agents I queried
0: number of close friends or family members I solicited for a review
0: zombie kills, alas
>0: people I can legitimately call "fans" at this point
>0: fans I secretly want to refer to as "DeWittnesses"
1: book available on Createspace
1: each of a zombie thriller, a Norse mythology adventure, and a short story collection self-published
2: covers created using GIMP
2: past WIPs given new attention ( Croatoan and Addicted )
3: works self-published from June through December
4: number of months that Orpheus was available on Amazon, after I eventually figured out that Smashwords doesn't distribute to Amazon
4: planned releases in 2012 (assuming the world doesn't end)
6: people foolish enough to invite me over for a guest post or interview
8: percentage increase of Orpheus sales from September to October
10: short stories in my free collection "Underneath"
64: percentage increase of Orpheus sales from October to November
91: percentage increase of Orpheus sales from November to December
118: "likes" on my Facebook author page
750 (conservative guess): times I mentioned "zombies" online
900: increase in Twitter followers from July through December (big assist to Twitter Goddess Julie A. Lindsey for that one)
3,000 : Tweets (yeesh)
3,000 : pointless Tweets
10,000 : number of downloads of "Underneath"
$100 billion: income goal for 2012 (adjustable)
infinite: possibilities for 2012
December 20, 2011
Why is it so hard to find well-written zombie fiction?
Zombie fiction isn't even close to the only thing I write, but I find myself constantly on the lookout for some to read. In the last several books I've read (whether free or cheap) I keep running across the same pitfalls. I won't name names, because I don't feel it necessary to in order to get my point across, and I have no desire to trash another writer's work personally. I'll have my own detractors, of course, but there's no way in Hell that they'll be able to accuse me of the following sins.
1) Ridiculous dialogue.
This is rampant, not just in zombie fiction, but in indie fiction in general. I see three common ways this is done:
"On the nose" dialogue is when a character says exactly what he/she wants/feels with no subtex.Child dialogue. I often wonder if some authors have ever bothered listening to how a real child of the character's approximate age speaks.Trying to illustrate a character's intelligence by removing contractions from their speech. Even geniuses use contractions.None of this is realistic. Stay away from it.
2) Comically slow zombies.
I'm not talking slightly sub-walking speed. I'm talking about characters quite literally having an entire conversation with a zombie when it's no more than a few feet away in the kitchen. "Are you okay? Dude you okay? Seriously, what are you doing? Are you sick? Speaking of sick, remember that one time in Puerto Rico? Dude, are you that sick? Stay back, I'm warning you! I'm serious! Stay back!" *Insert either gruesome death or "harrowing" escape here*
I'm only slightly exaggerating here. In the book I just finished, a zombie had a child by the arm and was moving (ever so slowly) in for the bite. So slowly, in fact, that the main character had time to yell to his compatriot, "I have a plan!" and begin yelling to distract the zombie.
3) An inconsistent threat.
This one drives me as batty as any other. At several points in a recent read, the comically slow zombies were somehow able to sneak up on the characters. At a different point, the main characters were able to travel numerous blocks through a city of approximately 1.5 million zombified people without incident. Uh, what?
4) Word bloat.
For some reason, numerous writers are approaching the genre as if it were literary fiction. This pretty much means using fifty words when ten will do. It also means numerous flashbacks, extensive descriptions of characters and setting, repetitive declarations of emotion, introspective moments right in the middle of the freakin' action, and generally purple prose. A lot of what I'm reading is heavy on word count (a few are well north of 100,000 words, which is in epic fantasy range) and light on plot.
This is exactly why I couldn't get past the sample of Colson Whitehead's "Zone One." He may be a literary genius for all I know, but he's lost in genre fiction.
People putting themselves in danger when they should know better.
Every zombie book that I've read in the last year, every single one, has had this scene in it:
The main character will be aware of the zombie outbreak by now. Even when armed with the knowledge of what the zombies are/do, a character will inevitably voluntarily get close enough to a zombie (who will, naturally, have its back to our character) to check and see if the person is okay. They will approach slowly and say something that is repeatedly met with silence. They will most likely touch the person and be shocked when it turns out they're a zombie. They may or may not get bitten.
I wouldn't do that under normal circumstances. In the ZomPoc, I'd sooner smack someone with a shovel after the first unanswered greeting.*
This is something that probably only concerns me, but it's my blog, dang it! Where is the good stuff hiding?
*You'd better answer me the first time.
1) Ridiculous dialogue.
This is rampant, not just in zombie fiction, but in indie fiction in general. I see three common ways this is done:
"On the nose" dialogue is when a character says exactly what he/she wants/feels with no subtex.Child dialogue. I often wonder if some authors have ever bothered listening to how a real child of the character's approximate age speaks.Trying to illustrate a character's intelligence by removing contractions from their speech. Even geniuses use contractions.None of this is realistic. Stay away from it.
2) Comically slow zombies.
I'm not talking slightly sub-walking speed. I'm talking about characters quite literally having an entire conversation with a zombie when it's no more than a few feet away in the kitchen. "Are you okay? Dude you okay? Seriously, what are you doing? Are you sick? Speaking of sick, remember that one time in Puerto Rico? Dude, are you that sick? Stay back, I'm warning you! I'm serious! Stay back!" *Insert either gruesome death or "harrowing" escape here*
I'm only slightly exaggerating here. In the book I just finished, a zombie had a child by the arm and was moving (ever so slowly) in for the bite. So slowly, in fact, that the main character had time to yell to his compatriot, "I have a plan!" and begin yelling to distract the zombie.
3) An inconsistent threat.
This one drives me as batty as any other. At several points in a recent read, the comically slow zombies were somehow able to sneak up on the characters. At a different point, the main characters were able to travel numerous blocks through a city of approximately 1.5 million zombified people without incident. Uh, what?
4) Word bloat.
For some reason, numerous writers are approaching the genre as if it were literary fiction. This pretty much means using fifty words when ten will do. It also means numerous flashbacks, extensive descriptions of characters and setting, repetitive declarations of emotion, introspective moments right in the middle of the freakin' action, and generally purple prose. A lot of what I'm reading is heavy on word count (a few are well north of 100,000 words, which is in epic fantasy range) and light on plot.
This is exactly why I couldn't get past the sample of Colson Whitehead's "Zone One." He may be a literary genius for all I know, but he's lost in genre fiction.
People putting themselves in danger when they should know better.
Every zombie book that I've read in the last year, every single one, has had this scene in it:
The main character will be aware of the zombie outbreak by now. Even when armed with the knowledge of what the zombies are/do, a character will inevitably voluntarily get close enough to a zombie (who will, naturally, have its back to our character) to check and see if the person is okay. They will approach slowly and say something that is repeatedly met with silence. They will most likely touch the person and be shocked when it turns out they're a zombie. They may or may not get bitten.
I wouldn't do that under normal circumstances. In the ZomPoc, I'd sooner smack someone with a shovel after the first unanswered greeting.*
This is something that probably only concerns me, but it's my blog, dang it! Where is the good stuff hiding?
*You'd better answer me the first time.
December 8, 2011
I'll experiment with KDP Select, so you don't have to.
If you've paid attention at all, you know I'm a self-published author.
I've done it through three different publishing services. I originally published through Smashwords, because I liked the multiple distributions to outlets like Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, etc. It seemed an easy way to keep most everything in one location. I've since learned that I prefer to publish on Barnes & Noble directly through their own PubIt! service, because making price changes, for example, can take as long as a couple of weeks through Smashwords. And reporting takes forever. I honestly have no idea how well my first two books are doing on any of those minor (in comparison) outlets. In a nutshell, the PubIt! service makes it much easier to manage my books on B&N.
Then there's Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. If you want to publish anywhere, you want it to be on Amazon. They're huger than huge. I probably don't have to tell you this.
But what you may not be aware of is that they just unveiled a new service, KDP Select. There's a lot to it, but the gist is this: You make your book available on KDP Select, and Amazon Prime members can check your book out for free, like a library. The amount of money you make is determined by the amount of books of yours that are loaned out in comparison to the total amount of books that are loaned out. I won't get into the math, but you can learn more here. Yes, a book that is enrolled in KDP Select can still be purchased normally on Amazon.
There is a catch, though, and it's a doozy: If you publish on KDP Select, it has to be exclusive. You cannot have it published anywhere else. Not on B&N, Smashwords, your own blog. If you do, you risk forfeiting earnings, among other things. Seems like a monopolistic approach, but I'm okay with a monopoly that pays me.
So I'm throwing myself on the grenade here and seeing what's what. I recently released a Norse fantasy novel "Odinsons." It's not selling jack shit starting slowly on B&N. So I figured that it's the perfect guinea pig for KDP Select. I'll let you know how it goes.
Questions? Fire away.
I've done it through three different publishing services. I originally published through Smashwords, because I liked the multiple distributions to outlets like Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, etc. It seemed an easy way to keep most everything in one location. I've since learned that I prefer to publish on Barnes & Noble directly through their own PubIt! service, because making price changes, for example, can take as long as a couple of weeks through Smashwords. And reporting takes forever. I honestly have no idea how well my first two books are doing on any of those minor (in comparison) outlets. In a nutshell, the PubIt! service makes it much easier to manage my books on B&N.
Then there's Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. If you want to publish anywhere, you want it to be on Amazon. They're huger than huge. I probably don't have to tell you this.
But what you may not be aware of is that they just unveiled a new service, KDP Select. There's a lot to it, but the gist is this: You make your book available on KDP Select, and Amazon Prime members can check your book out for free, like a library. The amount of money you make is determined by the amount of books of yours that are loaned out in comparison to the total amount of books that are loaned out. I won't get into the math, but you can learn more here. Yes, a book that is enrolled in KDP Select can still be purchased normally on Amazon.
There is a catch, though, and it's a doozy: If you publish on KDP Select, it has to be exclusive. You cannot have it published anywhere else. Not on B&N, Smashwords, your own blog. If you do, you risk forfeiting earnings, among other things. Seems like a monopolistic approach, but I'm okay with a monopoly that pays me.
So I'm throwing myself on the grenade here and seeing what's what. I recently released a Norse fantasy novel "Odinsons." It's not selling jack shit starting slowly on B&N. So I figured that it's the perfect guinea pig for KDP Select. I'll let you know how it goes.
Questions? Fire away.
November 6, 2011
Guest Post by Simon Haynes: Why (and How) I NaNo.
Dan here: I'm excited to bring you this guest post. It's relevant to all who are participating in NaNoWriMo (especially first-timers), and I'm a huge fan of Simon's yWriter. It's the only writing software I use.
For those of you who may have fallen behind on your word count, let me offer you this advice: 2006 was my first attempt (and success) in NaNo, and I didn't sign up until Day 6. Even if you haven't yet written a word, you're still in it.
Now, on to Simon Haynes.
Every year, come November, thousands of writers the world over sit down to apply themselves to a very special event. Yes, it's the annual 'bash all those deluded NaNoWriMo participants' blogfest.
Well I'm here to tell you NaNoWriMo does matter, and it is important. First, a bit of background. I signed with a trade publisher in 2004, and over the next five years they released four novels in my Hal Spacejock series. The first three were already completed when I signed up, but required editing. The last was written from scratch.
Editing those first three novels was a lot of work, and it left me no time or desire to write new fiction. I knew I had to work on a new novel, else there would be nothing to publish when book three came out. So, in 2005 I participated in my first NaNoWriMo.
It was certainly an eye-opening experience. I'm a fair weather writer, dashing off scenes (vignettes, almost) when I feel like it and assembling them into some kind of plot framework when I get the chance. For much of the year I'm busy with work, family commitments and so on, just like everyone else, and writing takes a back seat.
November 2005 was the first time I'd pushed myself to write a minimum number of words per day over a sustained period. Quite a few days that month I ended up at 11pm, still desperately trying to reach my goal. (To avoid this, I recommend aiming for a minimum word count by noon. For example, make sure you write 250 words when you get up, then write another 250 in your mid-morning break, and 500 over lunch. Now you only have to do 700 in the evening to finish off.)
That became my annual schedule: edit a book for most of the year, write half the next novel in November. And it worked, except I kept ending up with unfinished drafts. In the end I took two of these drafts, cut out the extraneous subplots and excess characters, and blended the whole into my fourth novel: Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch.
I loved the way this novel turned out, but how would it go down with reviewers? Fortunately, they liked it. I admit I didn't ask the publisher to plaster 'NaNoWriMo effort' all over the cover, but although the development process was a little different it obviously worked. I proved to myself that NaNoWriMo was a workable strategy.
There was one thing I wanted to avoid in future: the unstructured 'what shall I write today' approach to NaNoWriMo. In later years I drafted a quick plot outline to try and keep myself on track, because producing a consistent first draft makes subsequent edits much easier. On the other hand I didn't want to stifle creativity and wild twists and turns.
yWriter5 is the software which keeps me on track during NaNoWriMo. It shows me a daily word count, which is essential, and at the end of the month it has a very handy 'export to Nano' features. This saves out my entire novel with all the vowels and consonants replaced with the letter 'n'. (This has no effect on the wordcount, which uses spaces between words ... whatever the words happen to be!)
By uploading this file I avoid any slight chance someone, somewhere, might capture an early draft of my work. It's not that I'm precious about it, but imagine if my unfinished 50,000 word Nano draft were shared on the internet? It would make finishing and polishing that novel seem a pointless chore.
The other thing yWriter does is to tell me when I've hit 50,000 words. In fact, if I tell yWriter I need to write 50k by November 30, it will tell me how many words to write per day. (1667). Go above or below this, and the daily total adjusts automatically. THIS is why I start Nano with 2000 words per day, because when the daily total drops to 1400, then 1300, then 1200 I know it's going to be easy to finish.
yWriter is another reason I don't fall behind. If the total starts creeping up (1800, then 1900, then 2000) I lock myself in the office with a laptop, switch off the internet and write until I've brought those totals down again.
Do I keep writing past 50k? In the past, no. I upload what I have, grab my winner's badge and go back to editing my previous novel. This year will be a little different, because my goal is to completely finish a first draft, not reach an arbitrary 50,000 words. If it takes 60,000 so be it.
I hope this brief post has given you a few pointers about surviving NaNoWriMo. It does get easier each time you do it, but it really helps to have the next piece of the plot puzzle ready before you sit down to write it. If you're making it up as you go along, I suggest setting aside a few minutes each night to outline two or three scenes. It's much easier to write when you know where you're going.
Simon Haynes was born in England and grew up in Spain, where he enjoyed an amazing childhood of camping, motorbikes, mateship, air rifles and paper planes. His family moved to Australia when he was 16.
Simon has four Hal Spacejock novels, one Hal Junior novel and several short stories in print. Sleight of Hand won the Aurealis Award (short fiction) in 2001, and Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch was a finalist in both the Ditmar and Aurealis Awards for 2008.
Simon divides his time between writing fiction and computer software, with frequent bike rides to blow away the cobwebs. His goal is to write fifteen Hal books (Spacejock OR Junior!) before someone takes his keyboard away.
Simon is also the programmer behind yWriter, the free novel-writing software for Windows PCs.
http://www.spacejock.com.au
October 15, 2011
NaNoWriMo 2011: Be afraid (but only a little).
It's time, once again, for NaNoWriMo.
If that first sentence made you go, "Uh, what?" then it's also time for an explanation. If you're not a writer, aspiring or otherwise, you probably won't care. See you next post. :-)
NaNoWriMo is the crazy-catchy nickname for "National Novel Writing Month." I suppose that "Novelember" was taken. Anyway, a guy named Chris Baty started NaNoWriMo in 1999 with 21 participants. Last year, there were over 200,000 participants who collectively wrote over 2.8 billion words. I'd say it's growing nicely.
The goal is simple: write 50,000 words of a novel between midnight on November 1st and 11:59:59 pm on November 30th. That's 1667 words a day, every day, for 30 days. That may sound daunting, but it's really not all that bad. 30 words a minute for an hour will put you ahead of the pace (1800 words). For some, it can actually be relatively easy...
...if you've prepared yourself. So here are some tips.
If you're an outliner, pre-NaNo outlining is allowed, so go nuts. I recommend you use a program that is geared towards novel writing. I use (read: love the holy crap out of) yWriter. It's also completely free.On a related note, you may want to check out Yarny for writing if/when you're away from your own computer. I've messed around with it a bit; looks handy.Start strong and get ahead.If you can't do that, for Pete's sake don't fall behind. The remaining word count can pile up fast, and many a writer will quit if they get a few thousand words behind.Have writing buddies. Whether official NaNo buddies or just people you know, keep yourselves updated on your progress. Friendly support/competition = motivation.Peruse the regional NaNo boards. Each region has a dedicated forum, and people often organize "write-ins" at local coffee shops, libraries, bookstores, etc.Put fingers to keys and start banging.Don't get too crazy with the editing. The way I write enables me to do a lot of editing on the fly, but the goal is the most important thing. It doesn't matter what your first draft looks like, because you'll just have to rewrite it anyway.Before you know it, 50k baby!
In 2006, I tried NaNo for the first time. I signed up five days late. I started slow. I needed like 12,000 words in the last four days.
But I did it. It was my first real writing accomplishment.
If you really want to be a serious writer, but the excuses just keep piling up, you need to do this, just to prove to yourself that you can.
One last thing*: Don't think that what you end up with is necessarily 50,000 words of slop. Several NaNo projects have gone on to commercial success. I'm about to release my own NaNo "Odinsons." I never really thought about the symmetry of releasing my book during NaNoWriMo, but it makes perfect sense.
*One more last thing: If you really want to stay motivated, friend me. I'll shame the bejeezus out of you, and I hope you'll do the same for me.
If that first sentence made you go, "Uh, what?" then it's also time for an explanation. If you're not a writer, aspiring or otherwise, you probably won't care. See you next post. :-)
NaNoWriMo is the crazy-catchy nickname for "National Novel Writing Month." I suppose that "Novelember" was taken. Anyway, a guy named Chris Baty started NaNoWriMo in 1999 with 21 participants. Last year, there were over 200,000 participants who collectively wrote over 2.8 billion words. I'd say it's growing nicely.
The goal is simple: write 50,000 words of a novel between midnight on November 1st and 11:59:59 pm on November 30th. That's 1667 words a day, every day, for 30 days. That may sound daunting, but it's really not all that bad. 30 words a minute for an hour will put you ahead of the pace (1800 words). For some, it can actually be relatively easy...
...if you've prepared yourself. So here are some tips.
If you're an outliner, pre-NaNo outlining is allowed, so go nuts. I recommend you use a program that is geared towards novel writing. I use (read: love the holy crap out of) yWriter. It's also completely free.On a related note, you may want to check out Yarny for writing if/when you're away from your own computer. I've messed around with it a bit; looks handy.Start strong and get ahead.If you can't do that, for Pete's sake don't fall behind. The remaining word count can pile up fast, and many a writer will quit if they get a few thousand words behind.Have writing buddies. Whether official NaNo buddies or just people you know, keep yourselves updated on your progress. Friendly support/competition = motivation.Peruse the regional NaNo boards. Each region has a dedicated forum, and people often organize "write-ins" at local coffee shops, libraries, bookstores, etc.Put fingers to keys and start banging.Don't get too crazy with the editing. The way I write enables me to do a lot of editing on the fly, but the goal is the most important thing. It doesn't matter what your first draft looks like, because you'll just have to rewrite it anyway.Before you know it, 50k baby!
In 2006, I tried NaNo for the first time. I signed up five days late. I started slow. I needed like 12,000 words in the last four days.
But I did it. It was my first real writing accomplishment.
If you really want to be a serious writer, but the excuses just keep piling up, you need to do this, just to prove to yourself that you can.
One last thing*: Don't think that what you end up with is necessarily 50,000 words of slop. Several NaNo projects have gone on to commercial success. I'm about to release my own NaNo "Odinsons." I never really thought about the symmetry of releasing my book during NaNoWriMo, but it makes perfect sense.
*One more last thing: If you really want to stay motivated, friend me. I'll shame the bejeezus out of you, and I hope you'll do the same for me.
October 14, 2011
My Self-Publisher's Creed
I self-publish because of desire, not failure;
I will tell stories as only I can tell them;
I will stand or fall on my own merits.
Still, I will seek assistance from many others
So that my works may be the best they can be;
To do any less is a betrayal of my ideas.
I will do my best to deceive my readers
And tell fantastic tales of different worlds;
But to do so believably and with great care.
I will use all of the tools at my disposal;
There is a reason that I learned them;
A good writer should find a use for all.
I will not get too high after a good review,
Nor too low after one that seems personal;
All criticisms serve as guides in one way or another.
Sales be damned, I will persist in my craft,
Because it's the only thing I was really meant to do;
How I deliver my works will always be secondary to that.
I will tell stories as only I can tell them;
I will stand or fall on my own merits.
Still, I will seek assistance from many others
So that my works may be the best they can be;
To do any less is a betrayal of my ideas.
I will do my best to deceive my readers
And tell fantastic tales of different worlds;
But to do so believably and with great care.
I will use all of the tools at my disposal;
There is a reason that I learned them;
A good writer should find a use for all.
I will not get too high after a good review,
Nor too low after one that seems personal;
All criticisms serve as guides in one way or another.
Sales be damned, I will persist in my craft,
Because it's the only thing I was really meant to do;
How I deliver my works will always be secondary to that.
