David R. Michael's Blog, page 19

I Can Haz Story?

 
It's been 3 weeks since I saw a story emerging from my Gunwitch2 notes. 3 weeks is a long time. Longer than I expected.
 
As I reported back on 3 November, I had the first third of the novel pretty well mapped out. I even thought I saw how the novel would proceed and end.
 
Turns out I saw nothing of the sort.
 
I kept bumping into issues of character motivation, story flow, and the urge to include more and more "cool stuff" from the setting that just didn't seem to fit anywhere. I even had entirely new characters jumping out of my notes and demanding–demanding!–to be in the story (though seldom offering clues about how and where, the little buggers).
 
After another couple thousand words of notes and outline sketches, though, I'm happy to report that I now have a high-level outline and the full shape of the story. And the best part is: Most of that first third of the outline I had mapped is still usable. Some of the backstory has changed, but most of what I had designed up until my stall is still intact.
 
This coming week I should be able to get the details of the outlines filled in, name all the important characters, and maybe (if I'm lucky *and* industrious) even start writing.
 
I will make no estimates of how long it will take me to write this novel (2012 is looming, after all). I'm also not going to promise the story outline won't change between now and "The End" (it usually does; battle plans, the enemy, all that). Still, I'm excited. Progress!
 
-David
 
Related Posts:
A Story EmergesPlanning (Almost) FinishedWalking the Path

Free Ebooks Should Include Excerpts

 
Consider this a "Note To Self". Followed by a .
 
There I was, all pleased with myself for releasing 5 backlist ebook singles that are "mostly free". And over the weekend I realized I should have included excerpts in those mostly free ebooks to ebooks that are not free. Specifically, my novels that seem a good fit for the stories.
 
So, I'm updating all 5 of the recently released ebooks to include excerpts from The Summoning Fire ("He Came"), The Door to the Sky ("When Writers Attack"), and Gunwitch (the Gray Angel stories). And all of my upcoming releases like this will include excerpts, as well.
 
Free ebooks (and mostly free ebooks) are marketing tools. Not using them to their fullest potential is just silly. And, yes, I feel a bit silly for missing that last week.
 
-David
 
Related Posts:
A Bit of SplatterLookit! I Did a Cover!April Wrapup

Sometimes the Luck Works

NOTE: I originally wrote this article in 2005 for my Joe Indie blog, so it focuses on indie game development. Much of what it says, though, can be easily applied to writing and indie publishing.
 
In his 2003 book, Sometimes the Magic Works, in a chapter titled "Luck", Terry Brooks described how his first novel, The Sword of Shannara, was picked up and marketed by Ballantine Books:
 
"The perception in publishing at the time [1974] was that fantasy did not sell, that its readership was small and not broad based, and that the potential for expansion was limited. Yes, J. R. R. Tolkien had sold hundreds of thousands of copies of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. But that was because he was J. R. R. Tolkien, and no one else was. Fantasy, as a form of category fiction, was too esoteric to be widely marketable.


"Lester [del Ray] believed that this was horse pucky. He believed the market was huge, the readership vast and hungry, and the potential for sales enormous.


"He decided to use The Sword of Shannara to prove his point." [p. 15]
 
I won't go into the details of how well Lester del Ray proved that point. I read The Sword of Shannara too much past the age of 17 to ever think it was a great book, but it's entertaining, and there can be little argument that it helped create the market for fantasy fiction in the 1970′s and helped it grow in the 1980′s and 1990′s.
 
What's the lesson to be learned?
 
To the inobservant and lazy, the most obvious lesson is: Convince someone you're the next Tolkien and cash in.
 
Except that Brooks didn't convince anyone he was the next Tolkien. He was the lucky author who had written a Tolkien-esque book and happened to have submitted it at the right time to the right publisher when someone working there was looking for exactly that kind of book. No cookie for you.
 
And no cookies for anyone who points out the early days of fantasy fiction are over and there are no more chances to be lucky in that manner. Or that it's harder than ever to launch a career writing fantasy fiction. Both are incorrect.
 
The lesson is that sometimes we all get lucky. We're in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing. The bitch is that you can't know when that's going to happen. All you can do is: keep doing your best and never give up.
 
Without the near-immediate success of The Sword of Shannara, Brooks might not have written so many Shannara books, but (a) I have no doubt the first book would have been published anyway; and (b) since he would've continued writing (it was what he wanted to do) he would've had other books published and likely have had growing success with each book. That is, after all, the standard road to success as a writer. And as an actor, filmmaker, restaurant chef, and even game developer.
 
When a success story like that of Terry Brooks (or Pretty Good Solitaire, or Snood, or WinZip, or Firefox) comes along, there are always people who deride the simplicity or obviousness of the book/game/product. "Damn. I could do better than that," they say. Often, rather than doing better, though, they do the same damn thing.
 
And even if they manage to do better, they're still following someone else's path to success. Someone else's well-trodden, paved-over road to success, I mean. Because they weren't the only one who thought they could do better and/or duplicate the success by duplicating the product.
 
The most common result, of course, is frustration: with being noticed in a crowded marketplace and/or the ever shrinking profit margins that come from having to compete on price. They get fed up with it, declare the whole thing to be a bust and go back to what they were doing before they got "suckered in" to this whole useless endeavor. It's not what they really wanted to do, anyway. Just something they thought they could do and make some easy money. AKA: Probably the worst reason to ever do anything.
 
On the other hand, to pull another example from creative writing, copying the style and subject matter of authors you like is considered part of learning the craft. It's an inevitable part of the process, and the only way anyone develops their own "voice" as a writer. In a similar vein, Robert Rodriquez, the filmmaker, likes to say that all filmmakers have a dozen or so "bad movies" in them, and should try get past those as quickly as possible.
 
The only way we're going to get past the copying and the "bad movies", though, and have a shot  at the luck beyond, is to suck it up and prepare ourselves for the lack of success that is going to dog us in the meantime.
 
And how does anyone manage to make it through that long, painful, frustrating apprenticeship?
 
Because it's what they want to do.
 
Question: Who in their right mind is going to keep designing and developing games when:

players say the games aren't that great?
sales grow slowly–or don't grow at all?
they put years of effort into creating something that hardly breaks even?
time after time, the best they can do just doesn't seem to be good enough?

 
Answer: Only someone who really, Really REALLY wants to design and develop games.
 
(And probably someone who has a separate job that pays their expenses and leaves them enough free time to pursue their non-profitable interest; but I've covered that before in The Indie Alternative Part 1 and Part 2).
 
If you like making games, and its what you want to do, you'll keep it up, whether you "make it" or not. You might get discouraged every so often, and maybe take some time off to do something else for a while. But if it's in your blood, if it's something that you just can't help wanting to do, and can't help doing, you'll come back to it. And you'll get better each time you do, because you're learning from your mistakes, honing your skills, and accumulating experience in design and in life.
 
Maybe you'll never make it big, or earn enough to retire off of because your games just never clicked with the gameplaying public. That can happen. Life offers none of us any guarantees.
 
So what? Making a living doing what you love is a perk, a bonus, not a reason to love it. How many people can honestly say that they are spending their time doing what it is they really want to do? Are you one of them? And if not, why? It is, after all, your own choice.
 
I'll end with a couple of quotes.
 
"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."
– Earl Nightingale
 
"…For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
–Conclusion to the "St. Crispen's Day Speech", Henry V, Shakespeare
 
-David
 
Related Posts:
Why I Choose to be an Indie AuthorThe Indie Alternative Part 2A Bit More DavidRM Backstory

Writing Progress Report

 
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, November 14, 2011.
 








Writing Project


Words




Monday








Tuesday








Wednesday


Gunwitch2 outlining.







Thursday








Friday


Gunwitch2 outlining.







Saturday








Sunday


















Total








 








Publishing/Marketing




Monday


Uploaded "Working Girl" to SW, PubIt, KDP.
Created cover for "Wind-Up…"




Tuesday


Created base ebook doc for "Wind-Up…"
Formated "Wind-Up" ebook doc for KDP, PubIt, SW.
Uploaded "Wind-Up" to PubIt, KDP, SW.
Created cover for "When Writers Attack".
Created base ebook doc for "When Writers Attack".




Wednesday


Formatted "When Writers Attack" for KDP, PubIt, SW.
Uploaded "When Writers Attack" to SW, PubIt, KDP.




Thursday





Friday





Saturday





Sunday





 
Reading List

Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris.

 
Related Posts:
9 Months of Indie PublishingNow Available – THE DOOR TO THE SKYNow Available – "Evanescent"

Do Indie Writers Need Editors?

 
Camille LaGuire gives her opinion on this brand-new, age-old, never-ending topic: Do Indie Writers Need Editors?
 
I was prompted to write this post by two things:


One: the reason I quit Kindleboards was because so many indies think that editing = quality, and they cover their ears and scream when you want to talk about actual craft. And Two: I read a series of rants by various more traditionally oriented writers saying, basically, "you indie writers need to get editors!" And even they were talking about typos and usage, and not about craft…
 
Read the whole post here.
 
I like how she said what I think.
 
All the editing in the world at ridiculous per-word charges won't help a bad story be anything but a grammatically correct and properly spelled bad story. (And, as she points out, not all stories need either proper English or correct spelling.)
 
My own take on this topic is "Learn to Edit Your Own Work".
 
The only way to learn to write better stories is to get the worse stories written and out of the way. Which means you have to write those worse stories. You don't have to share those worse stories if you don't want, but there's no way around getting them written.
 
That's why I like the short story and flash fiction formats as learning tools. You can write a lot of short stories in the same time as it takes to write one novel, and you'll learn a lot more about storytelling from beginning and ending lots of times versus just once.
 
-David
 
Related Posts:
Learn to Edit Your Own WorkWriting Short Stories Considered UsefulIf I Don't Write Today…

Do Indies Writers Need Editors?

 
Camille LaGuire gives her opinion on this brand-new, age-old, never-ending topic: Do Indie Writers Need Editors?
 
I was prompted to write this post by two things:


One: the reason I quit Kindleboards was because so many indies think that editing = quality, and they cover their ears and scream when you want to talk about actual craft. And Two: I read a series of rants by various more traditionally oriented writers saying, basically, "you indie writers need to get editors!" And even they were talking about typos and usage, and not about craft…
 
Read the whole post here.
 
I like how she said what I think.
 
All the editing in the world at ridiculous per-word charges won't help a bad story be anything but a grammatically correct and properly spelled bad story. (And, as she points out, not all stories need either proper English or correct spelling.)
 
My own take on this topic is "Learn to Edit Your Own Work".
 
The only way to learn to write better stories is to get the worse stories written and out of the way. Which means you have to write those worse stories. You don't have to share those worse stories if you don't want, but there's no way around getting them written.
 
That's why I like the short story and flash fiction formats as learning tools. You can write a lot of short stories in the same time as it takes to write one novel, and you'll learn a lot more about storytelling from beginning and ending lots of times versus just once.
 
-David
 
Related Posts:
Learn to Edit Your Own WorkWriting Short Stories Considered UsefulIf I Don't Write Today…

“When Writers Attack”

[image error]“When Writers Attack” by David Michael

Short Short Story (800 words)

You should be careful around writers who are struggling to find a story.

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and more!

A Bit of Splatter

 
"When Writers Attack" – A bit of violent flash fiction by David Michael.
 
You should be careful around writers who are struggling to find a story. (800-word flash fiction) (FREE on Swashwords, 99-cents on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.)
 
Like "He Came", "When Writers Attack" is included in the collection Nasty, Brutish & Short Short. There are a few more of the stories in NBSS I plan to release as singles. But not this week.
 
My plan is to release 1-2 "backlist singles" per week for the rest of the year. And probably into next year. All of these will be posted free to Smashwords and 99-cents on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, at least on a temporary basis. I expect, after a month or two at free, I'll put the singles at 99-cents everywhere.
 
I have an "everything is practice" attitude, and these backlist singles are no different. I'm practicing my cover creation, my ad copy writing, and even my editing (because, yeah, every one of the backlist singles so far has been edited/improved some, even those that were released in collections already). Plus, I'm experimenting with the free price point some more.
 
There's always something new to learn.
 
-David
 
Related Posts:
Lookit! I Did a Cover!Another Cover by the AuthorI Like Women With Guns

The Indie Alternative Part 2

NOTE: I originally wrote this article in 2004 for my Joe Indie blog, so it focuses on indie game development. Much of what it says, though, can be easily applied to indie publishing.
 
In Part 1 of this article, I talked about what an indie is, and what it means to have the indie mindset.
 
To review:

An indie is someone working on their own projects, on their own time, using their own resources.
As an indie you can be an "after hours entrepreneur", using your full-time job to cover your living expenses while you build the life you want to live.
In other words:

You are not your job.
You should work to live, not live to work. (It's your life, not your boss's.)
Work for yourself.
Don't be afraid to start small.



In Part 2, I will present the 3 reasons why today is (still) the best time ever to be an indie, and cover the basics of getting started as an indie.

The Holy Trinity of the Modern Indie

As I discuss in my book, The Indie Game Development Survival Guide, there are 3 key reasons why today–now!–is the best time ever to be an independent game developer. These are:


Inexpensive, powerful development tools;
Inexpensive, ubiquitous distribution channel; and
The growth of try-before-you-buy marketing.

 
In the past few years, these same reasons have even been applied to writing and publishing:

Inexpensive, ubiquitous word processing and desktop publishing tools;
Inexpensive access to massive distribution channels like Amazon and Barnes & Nobles;
The growth of inexpensive ebook readers with free sampling (Kindle, Nook, and more).


Inexpensive, Powerful Development Tools

At no time in history have such powerful tools been available for so little money. And never has so much information about how to use those tools been so readily available.

From fully integrated development environments to graphic editing software that anyone can use (with a bit of practice); from configurable third-party libraries and components to pre-created graphic and music content; there are many, many resources available at low (or even no) cost. In a number of cases, these tools and resources are the same ones used in big budget retail game titles.
 
There are some tools that will be out of the reach of the un-funded indie, but there are many possible substitutes you can find on the Web.
 
As I will probably say more than once before this article is through: Don't focus on what you can't do. Instead look at what you can do.
 
Inexpensive, Ubiquitous Distribution Channel
 
By that I mean: The Web.
 
Do I really need to say more? The Web, in general, and sites like Amazon in specific, offer direct access to your potential players (and readers) and unlimited "shelf space", with an incredibly low barrier to entry. Creating and maintaining Web sites has become so easy now that even children have them.
 
While distributing and selling your indie project isn't as simple as "build it, and they will come", you can still accomplish a lot with a simple, clear Web page and convenient payment options (which are also easy to setup and use).
 
The Growth of Try-Before-You-Buy Marketing
 
Try-before-you-buy marketing has grown past its roots in "shareware" to encompass almost the entire spectrum of software. Just about any commercial software package you can name, from the least expensive value-oriented product to such widely-used professional tools as Adobe Photoshop, is now available in a demonstration version that allows users a chance to "test drive" the product before buying it. Most retail games offer the same option to players.
 
The synergy of this Holy Trinity–cheap tools, easy distribution, and try-before-you-buy marketing–allows you to build your game at low cost, make it available to players, and build a community of players over time completely independent of the publishers and retail stores.
 
Getting Started as an Indie
 
The first step to being an indie is as simple as deciding to give it a shot, to move past the normal work-to-earn-to-consume lifestyle that is so prevalent today, which was covered in Part 1. Now we will discuss the next steps to becoming a successful indie:
 

Accept your limitations;
Choose a project within those limitations; and
Be willing to learn the necessary business skills.

 
Accept Your Limitations
 
Indies have the same limitations as everyone else: limited time and limited money. There are never more than 24 hours in a day, and even no budget is still a budget that must be adhered to.
 
Since I'm advocating you start your indie career as an adjunct to your current career, time is going to be in as short supply as money. You are, after all, already losing 8-10 hours 5 days a week to your job. And if you have a family and friends, those will all take time, as well. So you will have to accept that the best you will be able to do, at least for the beginning, is 1-4 hours a day (or night).
 
Don't expect to "find" time. You will have to make time. Some suggestions for freeing up time in your schedule:
 

Watch less TV.
Cut down on time spent playing games (you can't make games if all you do is play them).
Get up earlier in the day, and work on your project before you go to your pays-the-bills job.

 
The other big limitation you will have as an indie is insufficient funding. For your first project (at least), any expenses the project incurs will have to be paid for out of your own pocket. The good news is that by basing your project on "sweat equity", your costs can be kept down. Also, a lack of money forces you to be creative about solving production problems, since you can't just "throw money" at the problem to make it go away. Creativity is always a good thing.
 
Like your time, you will find that you have little or no "extra" money. You will have to adjust your lifestyle to accommodate any costs your project can't avoid. Here are a few ways you can adjust your lifestyle to make room for some minor project-related expenses:
 

Eat out less often (AKA, learn to cook).
Buy fewer consumer goods, like DVD's, CD's, and books.
Treat your indie project (at least at first) as you would a hobby.

 
Everyone, it seems, has a hobby, into which they invariably sink a lot of time and money. As was said in Part 1, why not support a hobby that has a chance to pay you back? A benefit of thinking of the project as a hobby is that you can avoid the temptation to run yourself into huge debt to see it completed.
 
Choose a Project Within Your Limitations
 
Now that you have accepted your limitations, you need make sure that your choice of indie project fits within those limitations. In particular, you need to consider the following aspects of any project:
 

Technology required; and
Content required.

 
You should pick projects based on technology that you can readily acquire. In your un-funded or hobby-funded state, you will have to position yourself well back from the "cutting edge" of such technologies as 3D rendering, real-time physics, motion capture, and so on. In the same vein, you will want to avoid anything with the word "massive" in the description (e.g., massively multi-player role-playing games).
 
Fortunately, many low-cost alternatives exist for game technology. These may not look as sexy as the latest games, but you may be quite surprised by what is still possible with "yesterday's technology." And not all multi-player games need to host 3000 players on distributed servers. It all boils down to looking at what you can do with what you have available, and not wasting time wishing you had something else.
 
Even more fortunately for indie publishing, all you need to get started you probably already have on your home computer: word processing software, free graphics utility, and internet access.
 
Beyond the technology, you also need to choose a project that doesn't require dozens or hundreds of artists and musicians working full-time over a 2-year period to create the necessary game content. Which, again, means you should avoid any project that includes the word "massive" in it.
 
The easiest way to limit the content your project requires is to keep the game design tightly focused. Reduce your game idea to its essential elements, and focus on those. Again, though, don't focus on what you can't do. Look for what you can do that is new and creative.
 
You should start with a small project, one that has a reasonable chance of being completed within 3-6 months while you put in about 10-15 hours per week. Your can pursue larger projects in the future, as you learn how to create games within the independent context–and as earnings from your earlier projects begin to create new options for later projects.
 
Be Willing to Learn the Necessary Business Skills
 
Artists, or just people with the artist mentality of all-suits-are-evil (e.g., most programmers, most writers), shy away from learning business skills like distribution, sales, and marketing. The simple fact of the matter, though, is:
 
If you do not know the basics of distribution, sales, and marketing, you will always be working for those who do.
 
Though covering these topics in detail is beyond the scope of this article, none of them is particular hard to learn. In summary, these skills concern making your game available (distribution), getting the word out to players that your game is available (marketing), and them convincing them to pay for it (sales). That's it. Nothing inherently evil in any of them, and all of them vital to any business venture.
 
Just be willing to learn the basics, and to experiment as you go, and you will be surprised at what you're capable of.
 
Just Do It


With a nod to Niké, their old logo is still the best possible advice.
 

Stop thinking about doing it, and just do it.
Don't worry if you're doing it right, and just do it.

 
You won't know if you can until you try.
 
Conclusion
 
To wrap up, the Indie Alternative offers you a way to break out of the Rat Race.
 
You can live your own life, separate from your job and your boss, working on your own projects, creating your own unique products and experiences, without having to starve while living on the streets.
 
Use "corporate welfare" to keep you and yours fed and warm as you leverage inexpensive development tools, a ubiquitous distribution channel, and the power of try-before-you-buy marketing to build your independent future. You will have to start small, but there is no limit to how much you can grow.
 
More than anything else, "independent" is a state of mind. Think about it. Then go do it.
 
-David
 
Related Posts:
Why I Choose to be an Indie AuthorThe Indie Alternative Part 1The Day Job Strikes Back!

“Wind-Up Action Figure On Her Day Off”

[image error]“Wind-Up Action Figure On Her Day Off” by David Michael

Short Story (3200 words)

The Gray Angel #3

On those rare Mondays with no new contract, the Gray Angel wonders if that means there is no one on Earth who deserves killing. She tries to remain optimistic, but she’s sure there’s someone out there who needs to be given the choice of a bullet to the brain.

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and more!