Amanda Meuwissen's Blog - Posts Tagged "writer-advice"

Interesting story to go with today’s episode of Life as a Teenage Vampire. I had a rather intense fan of my writing not too long ago who I discussed this story with when it was still in its infancy. You all know how I love to talk writing, and headcanon with people. It brings out the best ideas! But when things started getting deep into vampire lore, this person refused to accept that I could do things my own way, that I wouldn’t follow what to them was unequivocal fact.

First of all, if you’ve never watched The Death and Return of Superman, everyone should in general, but also, there’s a particular spot in this amazing little 16 minute film (around 15:19) where they bring up vampires, and I take the advice given there to heart, as it is spectacular. Seriously, watch the whole thing, but especially that part if you're a writer.

Anyway, the idea of tan vampires came up, addressed in part in this little excerpt:

Tan. Emery was naturally darker skinned, though he’d looked sickly pale up until he fed from Connor the other night. This thought successfully distracted Connor from his dreamy musings and launched him into a diatribe on vampires and white skin that lasted all the way to school.

This section in chapter 7 and the following interlude is my response to this reader who honestly made me sad when they railed against me for having a different opinion than them, because there is never only one way to do something, and as a writer, you should never, ever feel like there is.

Be creative. Make something your own. And always stay true to what your story means to you.

I never want the experience I had, which goes so much deeper than a disagreement on vampire lore, to discourage me from interacting with readers. I love you guys, whether you read my fanfiction, my original works, or both. Just keep in mind that sharing fiction stops being the beautiful thing that it is when we assume that our way is the only way.

I don’t know about you, but coming up with ideas for stories is easy for me. I do so daily, sometimes hourly, and while many of my ideas are fleeting, or not something I would ever flush out, several are good enough that I have to stop and jot them down. I keep so many Word documents filled with story ideas, it would probably be intimidating to most people, but while I’m working on my next book, I want the ideas for the one after that, and the one after that, ready and waiting to be explored.

Currently, you can read my next book as it’s being serialized on BWN, Life as a Teenage Vampire, and while that is still being edited and tweaked, I’m working on my next book, The Royal Spark, which is for the most part a jumble of notes and the first few chapters. Several potential story ideas for after that have their bare-bones notes written out, and when the time comes it’ll just depend on where my muse directs me.

But the hardest part when working on a new story is going from concept to chapter 1—the beginning words, paragraphs, and even the first few later chapters of the story that have to be powerful enough to capture your audience so they want to read more. The answer is different for every story, other than ‘be engaging’, because not every story needs to start the same way.

The Incubus Saga starts in the middle of the story, after Nathan has lost his brother and is willing to make a deal with a dark fae in order to save him, which consequently kicks off the rest of the epic trilogy, but throws readers right into the world from the first few words.

Life as a Teenage Vampire starts with some exciting action, but not really anything pertinent to the plot, other than it helps introduce you to these hapless, normal teenagers who are about to enter an adventure of very not normal circumstances.

For Spark I’d like to share with you the first section of the story, and then explain where I plan to go from there, which is actually different than my initial draft.

Knight filled the syringe to the brim. Every last ounce needed to be injected into the subject in order for his plan to work. He had synthesized the formula to match the one he had given himself exactly, with one variation. Undetectable unless someone knew what they were looking for, the miniscule nanomachines he’d added produced a substance that would react like a time release drug over several months, manipulating the subject’s personality to such a small degree the change would seem natural. A man slowly losing his mind, growing colder, harder, and more twisted to his base desires.

Satisfied, Knight replaced the cap on the syringe, and slipped it carefully inside his jacket pocket, where it would wait, as he watched the subject throughout the day, until the ideal opportunity presented itself.

Knight had chosen the subject after years of careful planning and insinuating himself into the man’s life. The subject wasn’t the hero type upon first glance. Tall but altogether too thin rather than well-muscled. Not a natural Power or a Mage. Merely a man, a high school teacher, pushing thirty. He had few close friends. Minimal family. No romantic attachments. He lived alone, and kept his schedule clear most nights save the time he spent on classwork. Yet despite this, anyone who knew him loved him deeply.

His charm wasn’t in being the strongest, or the smartest, or best looking. His body was weak, often sickly. His talent for biochemistry reached no further than the classroom; not the type to make new discoveries or affect drastic change in the field. And while some might consider him handsome, he hid behind thick black-framed glasses, tousled hair, and cardigan sweaters that made him look more like a twenty-something grandfather than a lonely young man.

It was his sincerity that swayed people who got to know him. His stalwart belief in others. His ability to triumph over obstacles and tragedy in his life with an unwavering smile. He also desperately, his entire life, had always wanted to be a Power. An unassuming good person who would never squander any abilities he was granted. And that was the most important detail of all.

Because who would ever suspect a hero with the best of intentions?

Originally, what came next in the story for the first chapter was introducing the readers to Reid and Jerry, the main characters who, for the most part, alternate perspectives throughout the story and share the lead role, while Knight only gets a few snippets of POV as the villain.

I like those initial scenes, and still plan to use them. It helps build out their world, their lives, who they are and why you should care about them. But as I’ve been working toward moving deeper into the plot, I haven’t been able to shake that something seems off about the beginning. It’s too slow, too…boring (even if I know I’m being unfair to myself) to really grasp readers and hold their attention.

If you’re a writer, you know that world-building needs to be organic, and it can be the hardest part of starting a new story, especially if your world has elements that drastically differs from the real world. You want the reader to understand everything without lengthy exposition. While my original scenes aren’t exposition heavy, they still feel stilted in how I introduce everything, so I want to find a better way that will allow me to clean up those scenes for later, maybe shorten them to drive the plot forward faster and keep readers better engaged.

So I have this idea of doing a flash forward to when Reid is already a superhero, already Spark, as the story is named after, facing his nemesis (Jerry, or Prime) for the first time, and ending on a bit of a cliffhanger for chapter 1 that isn’t resolved in chapter 2 because chapter 2 flashes back to those original scenes I wrote.

Starting in media res for readers, there will be several things I can remove from what will now be flashbacks that had felt heavy-handed to me, and the reader will have extra incentive to read more because they’ll want to catch up to that moment where I left things hanging in chapter 1.

It’s not a new concept by any means, plenty of books and TV shows and movies have utilized this method, but in my case, it works to bring readers into a new world much better than my original plan.

And that’s the hard part, but also the crux of getting readers invested in your story—finding the most resonating way to tell it at the very beginning. There isn’t an easy way to stumble upon what opening is best for your story, but chances are, if something nags at you or feels off about what you’ve written so far, you’re probably right.

My solution? Share it with as many of your close friends, writers, editors, etc., as you can before you’re officially editing the story. See what people’s reactions are, talk things out, voice your concerns about what isn’t working to you, and eventually you’ll discover how to fix things and make your first chapter one that your readers will remember for a long time.

At MSP ComicCon recently, another author showcasing their work (comics, but she is also a prose writer debating displaying that work at conventions as well) asked me what tricks have worked best for me to be a successful author. One of the biggest things I stressed was finding your community.

I have had a community of sorts for my writing since I first started posting fanfiction online in 2000. Mostly because…I posted online! Where, inevitably, people will find your work and either praise, ridicule, or ignore it. And while that might sound daunting, finding those people who will praise it, or give constructive criticism if they do find issue with it, are part of what turns a casual writer into an author.

Regardless of your end goal as an author– making money, being famous, sharing your story with even a handful of people – you can’t do it alone. You can attempt to write alone, without ever using an editor or beta reader (something I would never recommend), but at the end of the day, you still want someone to read it. Writing is a community endeavor. Someone writes, someone reads, and often there are many people in between.

I’ve found over the years that the larger and more varied the community, in whatever form, the better, for three simple reasons.

1. Your writing will improve.

Why? Because every comment, every collaboration helps us grow as writers. Yes, even when a comment comes from a troll. There are plenty of people out there, especially on the internet, who just want to bring other people down, but even the worst troll can teach as something about how we can improve ourselves and our writing. Take every critique with a grain of salt, but use them to get better and better with every new story you share. This is true whether you’re communing with just readers, or other writers as well. Sharing your work with others means your writing will get better over time.

2. Your audience will grow

Obviously, sharing your work with more readers means…more people will read it! Amazing concept. But true community means that readers might share it with other readers. Or maybe you’ll grow close to another writer, and share each other’s work. Swap reviews. Spread the word to even more readers. It’s the type of snowball effect we all want to experience.

3. You’ll make more money

Maybe you don’t care about book sales or making money. That’s fine. But no one snubs their nose at it when it happens. More readers means more sales, and vice versa, and community can help you find and share ideas for how best to market your book. You’ll learn more, see what works and what doesn’t, get feedback from the people you’re directly promoting to, and from other authors who have been where you are. It’s a win-win, even if you fail, because next time you’ll know what not to do.

So where do you find community? So many places, and honestly, there isn’t one answer for everyone. Some people find their community on social media, like Twitter or Facebook. Some people are successful with their blog or website. Some people are prolific with Goodreads, which has many aspects of community, in their general makeup, and through groups. Some, like me, might have tried out Tumblr on a whim a year ago, with only 100 followers, and a year later I’m getting ready to celebrate 1000 followers, just from interacting with fans and people who share my interests.

The important thing is to explore and try things out until you find the community that works for you. I’m lucky in that I also have a great community because of BigWorldNetwork – authors, editors, and voice actors who regularly boost each other with fun tidbits, advice, and encouragement. But everyone can have community if they simply look for it, and in turn, you’ll improve as a writer, gain more fans, and make more money on your books just from having a few more people to share the wonderful world of writing with.

Follow me on Tumblr!

I thought there was no greater feeling than having a publisher interested in my stories, than getting that response of acceptance and knowing that finally, finally someone was taking notice of all my hard work and the struggle was about to pay off. But I’ve since learned that the true bliss of publishing comes later.

Actually, for me, I get bliss at several stages. The writing itself, especially after finishing a certain scene or moment. When I complete the full manuscript for the first time. When I finish final editing. When I see the cover art. When I hold the proof copy in my hands. When I receive my first positive review. When I meet a fan.

Having a publisher give you that initial acceptance letter is great, but so many other things trump that and often have nothing to do with having a publisher.

I’ve worked with BigWorldNetwork since 2011, and they published all 4 of my books, which include The Incubus Saga trilogy that I am most known for. It’s bitter sweet that BWN is now closing its doors, but even though BWN may be ending, that doesn’t mean my work as a published author has to suffer.

I could attempt to pitch my work to other publishers, but after the hands-on personal touch of BWN, I think any other even well-respected indie publisher would just disappoint me. But thankfully, one of the things BWN has left me with is the knowledge to do it myself (and the friends to help me where I’m not as talented).

So, next month, September 2016 (final date TBD), I will be publishing my first novel as just me. I have the luxury of a great typesetter and cover designer in Mario Hernandez (and a really fantastic artist for this new book), and I know the process for everything else based on my dealings with BWN. Very little for my part is going to change, except for having full control and getting all of the revenue when I make a sale. It leaves me extremely excited to embark on this new (but not so different) journey, and I can’t wait to see what comes of it.

So stay tuned for more on the new book, Life as a Teenage Vampire, upcoming events I’ll be attending this year, and my next blog post which will share step by step how I went from text in a Word doc to self-published book.

Now, there are tons of sites out there that can help you with self-publishing and distribution. Createspace just happens to be the print on demand service I find most helpful for my work, and I’m familiar with it, as it was also what indie publisher BigWorldNetwork used for my previous titles.

Step 1: Write your book

I think we can all agree this is the hardest and yet most obvious part.

Step 2: Edit your book

And I don’t just mean yourself. Everyone needs an outside editor, preferably more than one set of eyes before you’re ready to publish.

Step 3: Typeset

Now we get onto the real advice here, and often this is where people will flounder. I don’t personally typeset my own books, because I have an awesome Creative Director thanks to my time with BigWorldNetwork (and my husband helps as well, since he’s learned his fair share of the process).

If you are not so lucky as to have someone knowledgeable with the world of widows and orphans to typeset for you, there are many resources out there to help you learn how to properly format a professional looking book, but let me recommend the following title from my fellow BWN author, Heather Justesen, POD Like a Pro.

Step 4: Cover art

This isn’t as simple as just having an awesome front cover image and title text (unless you’re planning to only publish as an eBook) but the entire book jacket, which is its own monster. Createspace has a handy template people can use, or once again, you might have an outside resource building your cover. Even so, you’ll likely need to give them dimensions to work off of, so starting with a recognized template is often best.

Of course there is so much to be said about finding the right artwork, the right font, the right look and feel, but that’s for another blog post.

Step 5: Prepare your proof

And now the real meat of this post. Createspace makes this process rather easy, though there are several options you’ll need to consider as you go through the process. Here’s what I did.

If you don’t care that Createspace is listed as the publisher, you can use their free ISBN number, or pay $10 for a custom one, but with those options you can never take it to another printer without getting a new ISBN later. The third option is to get a more official ISBN at someplace like this that can be used universally and is usually around $100.

Now for sizing. The default tends to be 6 x 9, though my books are 5.5 x 8.5. This is something for you and your designer to decide, and can sometimes be affected by page number to get the best look and bang for your buck, as size of the book can affect pricing.

Interior pages are usually white, but there is the option for cream interiors that sometimes works better for some styles, usually depending on your cover art and genre.

You’ll of course need a copyright page in your interior, which you can find examples of many places online, but the important thing is to list your ISBN numbers and the copyright date.

Bleed for the interior refers to how far the pages go to the edge. You’d think you’d always want the second option, which keeps a consistent border, but there are times when you might want to have pages go all the way to the end, like if you include an image of the cover inside for a fun black and white effect.

Upload your print ready cover as a pdf of the entire book jacket, and your pdf interior. You’ll next need to add Tax information to get paid when you make a sale, but you don’t need any special business requirements for this, just your personal information is fine.

Once your book is reviewed by Createspace and approved, be sure to order a proof copy before you make it live, to ensure everything prints the way you want. Holding it in your hands is important, as well as giving everything a final once over to be sure nothing is out of place.

Step 6: Make it live

From here follow the distribution options as you please and make your book live. You’ll have to decide on your category and key words to improve search options, so consider this carefully, and look at other books like yours to gauge what makes sense. Different distribution options will give you more to fill out, and with Createspace you have the option to automatically be up on every international Amazon site, which to be honest, is often where most people will find your book.

Depending on what you choose will affect your options for pricing, so consider what other paperbacks go for in your market and genre, and choose wisely. It can be disheartening to see how much you actually make off of a paperback compared to what people pay, but that’s part of the reality of publishing. eBook sales are entirely different.

Createspace allows you to directly publish to Amazon as an eBook, but consider creating an epub or mobi format and upload that version directly to Amazon instead, as those file types are specific to eBooks and create a much more readable experience. You might think the paperback is where it’s at, but you’ll find over time that you make the most sales and therefore the most money from eBooks, so make sure the experience is worthwhile for readers.

Once your book is live, the real fun begins (and actually should start before it’s live to prepare you for launching your title) but that’s another blog post as well. In the meantime, happy writing, and get pumped for the upcoming release of my next book, Life as a Teenage Vampire, coming in October!

You can see it on Goodreads early here.

1. You can’t please everyone

This is something we all struggle to learn, not because we don’t already know, but because it affects us anyway and it is such a tough thing to slough off.

You’re a published author, you’ve had the book professionally edited, typeset, with a cover you love, promoting it as best you can…and you still get negative reviews. It’s not that you don’t know to expect this, it’s that it feels like a blow every time and you have to remind yourself of this fact – you can’t please everyone.

There’s a fine line between constructive criticism that you can internalize to improve for your next book, and people who just don’t like your work and never will. Separating those and moving on to the next positive review is so important. As an author, you have to grow a tougher skin, especially at the start.



2. You are your own marketer

I think people who have yet to be published have this idea in their heads that as long as they get accepted by a publisher, at that point their hard work has paid off and they can sit back and let the publisher do the work to make them successful.

NOT TRUE.

Some people might think that, well, maybe not for smaller publishers, but surely with the Big 5—NOPE. Still not true.

Unless you magically become the next JK Rowling and are already famous, books do not sell themselves, and publishers do not market for you. You are your own marketer and you need to do the work to get your name and your titles out there.

Have a website, have social media, engage, write things other than your books, look for where your audience hangs out, do signings and conventions, do everything, and don’t expect for one second that anyone else will do it for you.



3. You have to spend money to make money

This sort of ties into being your own marketer, but successful marketing costs money. It doesn’t have to cost a lot, but you need to be aware that some budget should be spent on blog tours, conventions, purchasing books you might want on hand not provided by the publishers (as most don’t give you more than a single copy).

You will spend money on a release and you need to plan for that, but if done right, you should make that money back on the first month of sales. There are exceptions, like buying the URL for your website adds additional cost, certain conventions cost more and might not pan out, buying boxes of books might not always sell initially, but it’s a learning curve. You just need to be ready to spend a little no matter who you publish with.



4. Be ready with your next book immediately.

Maybe most of you are like me, where as soon as you get one idea out of you, you likely already had the next one percolating, and the one after THAT. So moving from one book release to already being in the midst of writing your next one should be easy.

If you want to be a successful writer, this is important because it keeps you top of mind with your readers. It means they’ll constantly be looking forward to your next book. If you’re forgotten, it’s easy for people to miss that next release, and you want to gain momentum over time, not lose it.

If you just have one or two books in you and that’s all you plan to produce, fair enough, but if you want to write and write and write, DO IT, and always be ready with that next idea. One book a year is entirely doable.



5. Participate in NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month saved me as a writer. As someone who has regularly written stories for close to two decades, it may surprise you that I hadn’t heard of or participated in NaNo until very recently (I’ve done it twice now).

If you don’t know, it’s the month of November each year where writers dedicate themselves to writing 50k words. It might be the entirety of a novel, or maybe just the start if you write lengthier pieces, but it is still a grand undertaking, because it translates to over 1600 words a day. That’s easy when you think of one day, but doing it every day for 30 days straight is a challenge.

When I first participated in 2015, it rejuvenated my passion to write every day, because for that month I had to, and when it was over, I didn’t want to stop. You don’t have to write 1600 words every day forever, but write something, and NaNo is a great way to get started. It’s also how I’ve kickstarted my last two novels and the one I’m currently editing.

If you worry about being able to get a novel written a year, try NaNo next November. It is a lifesaver.

You may have heard of Architects versus Gardeners for writers. Architects plan everything out beforehand, while Gardeners cultivate their stories as they go. Most writers are a little bit of both, even if you lean more one direction.

And you should be both.

When you get a spark for a story idea, a scene, a conversation, a descriptive action, never rein yourself in to prevent writing ahead just because you feel you should follow the script. Conversely, don’t spend all your time ruminating on ideas and all the ‘fun’ parts you can’t wait to write, and then never figure out what exactly the plot is for your story or how to connect the pieces.

Usually, an idea for a story grips me so hard, I spend hours, days at the start just writing down notes about the characters and what I want the story to be. Maybe I’ll flush out a scene or idea if it’s particularly strong, but I keep myself open to what comes naturally—I let the muse MUSE.

Then I sit down and try to bullet point out the arcs of the story. Usually, I get a little caught up in certain spots and will write forever on one section while not fully knowing what will happen with others just yet. As soon as I feel stuck with plotting though, I pause and move to the beginning of the story. How does the story start?

It becomes a give and take of these processes from there. I write, if something sparks in me that draws me ahead, I scroll down to let that out of me, and once it runs its course, I return to the main body of the text again.

As I start to progress through the story, before I catch up to those moments where I know I’m stuck on plot, I look ahead to them on purpose, try to see if I can find more inspiration to develop them sooner rather than later now that I’ve written more from the beginning and have also indulged a little in additional muse-filled ideas along the way.

It may seem sporadic—jumping around from the start, to the middle, to the deeper plot, to the fun parts—but that’s the nature of the human attention span. One of the reasons we tend to hit what we call ‘writer’s block’ is because we burn out by doing things too much one way. This method keeps you fresh without stifling your gardening skills or your ability to erect masterpieces with fine architectural detail.

For me, writing this way helps better build plots because they form naturally, never forced, but I also don’t get so caught up in the fluff that I forget to plot at all. Over the years, these skills just get better. I think my next book release is far more clearly plotted than my first few novels.

Always grow, always improve, always strive to better yourself and your writing.

I hope these tips help you with your next writing endeavor. The best trick of course is to write as much as you can, whether it’s that great novel you’ve always aspired to create or maybe just a piece of fanfiction to share with friends. Every tale you spin makes you better for the next round.

What are some tips YOU find most useful for plotting compelling stories?