C.R. Richards's Blog, page 28

World Building: You Have Arrived At Your Destination

Welcome to my imagination. Mutants to the left. Sword wielding mages to the right. Dragons…well, go where ever the hell you’d like.

There are shelves filled with writing reference guides devoted to the concept of World Building. It’s one of the most important things you do as a story teller. If your world is flat (flat as in dull. A pancakes shaped world might be interesting. Hmmm) the characters you’ve worked so hard to develop won’t have a proper stage to act upon. You won’t engage the reader and your book will get a big old yawn.

The world you build – whether it’s a mythical land or a small town in Kansas – has to be believable to the reader. They must be able to step out of their reality and into yours. How can you pull them into your story world? Ambient details. This is a term commonly used by computer programmers. They carefully plan user interfaces for the best possible experience in software applications. What does the screen look like when the user accesses it? Where should the buttons and links be placed for ease of use? How should the application feel – bright and airy or dark and serious? A great deal of planning goes into how a software application functions and feels before one line of code is written. Your world building needs the same amount of planning and care.

My newest urban fantasy, Pariah, was featured on a blog review tour a few months back. One of the reviewers commented she’d enjoyed the cultural differences I developed for each Seelie clan in the story. The majority of my book takes place on the Vegas Strip. In order to make my characters and their storylines believable, I had to create cultural backgrounds explaining why these clans were rivals. Each of the four clans are based in a different place: Hong Kong, Columbia, England and France. I mixed these human cultures with Seelie legends.

Key questions to ask about your characters:

Where do you live? San Diego? Norway? An Alien Planet?

When do you live? Current year? Middle Ages?

What is the climate like? Humid? No atmosphere?

How do they speak where you live? Do they use slang? Or are they Masterpiece Theater formal?

Genre Specific Questions: Can people do magic in your world (Fantasy)? Are there legendary monsters in your world (Horror. Chupacabra or the Jersey Devil)?

The character or the world? Which came first?

My writing process always begins with the characters. Jin and Gracie, the main characters in Pariah, started out as two individuals with special powers thrown into a dangerous situation. Most of the story takes place on the Vegas Strip. Their world expanded as the story developed. They needed to change in order to fit into the new world I created. Yet, their core story and personalities remained almost the same.

Start with the characters and the basic story
Build the world
Expand your characters to fit into the bigger world

Ambient details are important to make your world come alive. There can be, however, too much detail. It can overwhelm and bore the reader. Balance is key. It isn’t always easy to know the right amount of description. Each story is different. The only way to master this balancing act is to practice. Write a scene and focus on the ambient details. Have your character play around in the world a bit to get a feel for the environment. You may not use the scene, but it will help to bring the world you’ve created into focus.

Next Time on DTJ: World Building continues…Some Rules Aren’t Made to Be Broken

Habits are Habitual

My cat crushed his yearly vet check up last week. The vet lifted him off the scales, kitty grabbed it and threw it off the counter like a boss. Grrrr! The vet was all smiles and told me kitty has now reached his perfect weight. After struggling since 2008 to get rid of that pesky extra pound, we finally made it! My geriatric dog, Buddy, has also reached is ideal weight. What changed over this year? I feed them the same amount. We’ve kept to our walking routine though Buddy has slowed down and his distance has shortened (he’s well over 90 in human years). So what changed?

ME! My eating habits and the way I think about food has changed. What I didn’t realize until this vet visit was just how much my habits – good and bad – impact my pets.

This new revelation got me thinking about my role as a leader. Attitude is also habit. We’ve all seen how infectious a negative person’s attitude can be to a team. It spreads faster than the flu. Whispered gossip and petty bickering between team members will derail a project faster than any risk. If allowed to run wild, the team’s chance of successfully reaching project goals severely decreases.

The leader’s attitude can make or break a project.

I’ll be honest. Leader is one of the toughest roles I have to play in life. Nothing irritates me more than a negative team member who uses passive-aggressive behavior to spread drama and negativity. I’ve seen this taken to the extreme. One person was so entrenched in her spiteful behavior, she was willing to actively work on destroying a program rather than allow others to be successful. This person was finally removed. The simple change turned the team around and they were successful.

One powerful secret weapon I use as a leader is my habitual positive attitude. Being positive allows your mind to remain open to new ideas and opinions. Most folks would rather follow a leader who exudes positive thoughts and encouragement. They shy away from the old grump who insists on continuing down the same comfortable, but unproductive path.

Remember: Being positive isn’t always easy. Everybody has their bad days. If you work at staying positive and being an encourager to your team, it will eventually become a useful habit. Promoting a positive environment results in increased productivity and more job satisfaction for you and your team.

That Four Letter Word

There are many rungs on the publishing ladder. Boy is it ever tough to lift yourself up to the next rung. Sometimes you climb them with ease only to fall back down again with bloodied knees and wounded pride.

You spend months or years ripping the story out of your brain. Then you fork out hundreds of dollars to give the book to an editor who rips it apart. This is the stage you begin to question your life choices about being a writer. Eleven run-throughs of the manuscript later, you start sending the story out to agents and editors. The rejection letters fill up your inbox. You hold on, because you have faith in this thing you created. Finally you get a nibble. They want to publish your book! Woo Hoo! Cool. Great. Let the waiting begin.

A year passes without a word. One day you get the heads up your book will be released in two months time. BTW – you have some editing to do! Several stressful nights and days filled with giddy anticipation pass. Finally, the day comes when your book is released to the public. Hooray! You wait for the readers to stampede the bookstore (brick and mortar or virtual), but they don’t come in droves. Instead, the thunderstorm of love turns out to be a slight drizzle.

Why climb the ladder at all? Do we do it out of stubborn pride? Are we driven by some unseen force to share our creative gifts? Or is it simply brain damage? I think it boils down to one little word. Though small in stature, this tiny word has a whole lot of power. That word is HOPE.

HOPE kindles the flames of possibility in our hearts. It is a siren’s call to every dreamer on the planet. Against all rational thought or impossible barriers, HOPE keeps us putting one foot in front of the other.

What is the source of this magic? YOU! Think about what you’ve accomplished. It doesn’t matter how much achievement you’ve had in your career so far. You are a source of inspiration for someone who hasn’t reached your rung on the publishing ladder yet. Someone is watching you (not in a creepy way) and admiring the determination you’ve shown in reaching your goals.

Next time you’re attending a writers conference, be mindful of your conversations with those who ask your advice. Are you being an encourager? Or are you unintentionally squashing someone else’s HOPE?

Choke the Yabut Frog

We’ve all known a friend or co-worker who had half a dozen excuses as to why suggested solutions to their problems wouldn’t work. They laid their problem at your feet. You’d listen patiently and then give suggestions. They’d say “Yeah But…” to each and everyone. I call these folks “Yabut Frogs.” Some people just like to roll in their own garbage. They don’t want their problems to be solved. Not sure if their motivation for this behavior is sympathy or attention (shrugs). Don’t care. I’m too busy choking my own internal Yabut Frog.

As I write this post, I���m sitting in another hotel room in the third city I���ve visited within a month���s time. Dusk is falling and frankly, it���s too damn cold to go walking around. Here I sit pondering one of the questions I get asked most frequently at writers conferences.

���How do you kick out so much work?���

It���s a fair question. Based on my earlier statement, you can see I travel for my day job as a project manager. Sometimes I���m on the road far more than others. It depends on the project(s) I manage. Right now I���m juggling three national projects and working on the first book in an epic fantasy series. How do I do it? Well, it comes down to three things (in reverse order):

#3 Be Where You���re At (aka Time Management): One of the best investments I���ve made was taking a course in Time Management. It taught me how to focus on what I was doing in the here and now. In other words, I am present in the moment. I define a goal for the day job or my writing and I focus only on that task during the time I���ve allotted.

Example: I allotted two weeks to complete the edits on the first eight chapters of my epic fantasy. I allotted a few hours each night for the task and committed to have the edits completed before leaving on the trip I���m on now. Goal accomplished.

#2 Lifestyle: I never know when I���ll get the call to hop on an airplane. I also never know what to expect when I get there. It could be a regular work day. I go in at a decent hour and am off by 4:30 local time. Then there are the harry trips. I arrive at the office by 7:00 am and don���t get back to the hotel until 9 or 10 pm. The goals I set for my writing time during these trips are planned in advance.

Don’t let your Yabut Frog start croaking excuses as to why you can’t write! Choke it!

Set reasonable goals: What do I mean by reasonable? Start with something compact like the opening scene of a prologue or finishing edits for the first part of a chapter. If you finish your first goal, then treat yourself. Then move onto the bonus round. Have another goal of something you���d like to accomplish if you have time. Starting an outline for the second book in your series or finishing that rough draft of a short story you���ve been fiddling with.

Personal note: I make sure I finish my first goal, even if I complete it at the gate in the airport on my return trip. However, as much as I love to write, I do take time for fun. A friend of mine is taking me to a local haunt. Will I skip a night of work to visit a pub housed in a building built during the time of the American Revolution? Oh yeah, you bet I will.

#1 Desire: You have to want it bad enough. Yeah. I know it���s a clich��, but that doesn���t make it wrong. If you want your dream bad enough, you���ll find the time and the discipline to make it happen. And you will choke your internal Yabut Frog.

I���m going to wrap up with another clich��: “It���s the journey.”

Writing goals are important. Adhering to the time frames to accomplish those goals are equally important. However, it doesn���t matter how many pages you write if you don���t remember to enjoy the journey. Readers are smart. They can tell how much love you���ve put into your work. If you don���t love it, they won���t love it either. ��

Ode to Indie Dreamers

I recently watched Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp. It’s a quirky film based on a horror soap opera I used to watch when I was a kid. Johnny’s performance is brilliant (of course). It struck me how this amazing actor could have any role he wanted. Captain Jack Sparrow has solidified his position on the A-List Actor platform. And how many Golden Globes, etc. has he won? Instead of doing the typical Hollywood cookie cutter movies, Johnny has chosen to stick with eccentric and creative roles. Why? I get the impression he wants to stay true to his creative self. He remains an artist, not another money machine. I love that about him.

There are others out there who have just said “Screw it, I’m doing things my way.”�� The people I admire most are the independent dreamers. They write books, make films, create art and open businesses despite the struggles. These aren’t the major money makers. They have limited commercial success (right now), but they keep on living their dreams. It takes guts, drive and talent to keep moving when everyone tells you to stop.

I struggled for years to break into traditional publishing and when I finally got through the gate I didn’t like what I saw. It was like being in a factory. My perception – nobody really cared about this thing you created. They moved it along the conveyor belt until it was finished. Then they kicked it out the door. On to the next cog. Coming from a project management background, I had assumed I was ready for anything. I had no idea, however, I would be completely ignored.

It finally occurred to me if I didn’t like how my book was being treated, why not use my business skills to take charge of my own art? Hey, I was being ignored anyway. Why not start doing things on my own terms for better or worse? Lost Man’s Parish was my test run at Indie Publishing. In one month, this horror short story did better than my traditionally published novels have done in a year. Crazy wild!

Can I quit my day job? No. Am I happier and more fulfilled as an artist? Oh yeah. I’ve taken control of my own creative future. Like Johnny Depp, I’m doing what I love the way I feel it should be done rather than playing to a chronically changing market. My dearest hope is that my readers love what I do and continue to read my books. So to all you Indie Dreamers out there, keep doing what you do and stay true to your dreams!

Music Soothes the Savage Writer

I’ve always loved music. Songs have a way of connecting with our souls, provoking emotions and inspiring our lives. Music is a big part of my writing process. Certain songs capture what I’m trying to put down on the page. They help me focus, to express the emotion I need to communicate to my readers. I become Gideon (Phantom Harvest) as he struggles to rescue a mother who brutally abused him. Or Jin (Pariah) fighting for his life, grasping at any opportunity to prove his innocence against the charge of murder. And then there’s Bill Dolan (Lost Man’s Parish). Convicted murderer trapped in a desolate prison. Oh yeah, the song says it all.

Each of my stories has its own theme song. I’ve linked them to their Youtube videos. Enjoy!

Published Stories:

Phantom Harvest – Bring Me To Life by Evanescence
Lost Man’s Parish – Bad Company by Bad Company
Pariah – Die Another Day by Madonna (James Bond Flick)

 

Works In Progress:

The Lords of Valdeon – Inside by Sting (Seth’s Theme) and Hey Brother by Avicii
Book Two in the Gifted Series – Say Something by A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera (Preston’s Theme)

Wait. Didn’t I just finish this?

Everyone has a creative process they use to complete their artistic projects. I’ve honed mine to a comfortable routine. Everything starts with a wonderful spark of an idea. I grab that spark, bounce it around in my brain for a while before finally writing it down. I’ve got files full of Sparkies waiting for attention. Work on the idea doesn’t begin in earnest until after I’ve made the multi-year commitment to the story.

My new year has started in an on again/off again relationship with the epic dark fantasy series, Heart of the Warrior.�� I put the series up on blocks six years ago while I pursued other stories. Bad advice and novice skills made Book One unsellable. Crushed, I walked away. BUT here I come again like that cheatin’ cowboy in a Dolly Parton song. The series is back on in a big way.

While I’m excited to be working on my long lost love, I’m in the heavy lifting editing stage. Ugh. It seems like I’ve just finished final edits on my Urban Fantasy, Pariah. What happened to the fun part of taking a fresh idea and playing with it until I form a new story? Not going to happen this time around.

Amazon, Smashwords

How do I plan to keep plodding along on my current work in progress (WIP) without burning out? I rely on a few techniques to keep the old brain fresh. The first (and simplest) – I take a break for a few days. Pencils down. It’s a wonderful opportunity to read someone else’s book as well. Second – I reach a good stopping point with the WIP and work on something else for a while. This comes in handy when you’ve committed to write more than one book at a time.

Burnout can ruin your day/life. If you feel its fingers wrapping around your throat, don’t feel guilty about taking some time off. Writing is supposed to be a fun journey, not a chore (though I’ll argue this point when it comes to editing). Enjoy the ride and take time to savor the experience.

Not Another Retrospective. Ugh.

One of the most important tasks a project manager performs at the end of a project is close-out. The project manager and her team wrap things up neatly before moving on to the next thing. One of the most important tasks within this close-out phase of the project is to conduct a “lessons learned” session with the team and the folks who paid her to complete the project. The group typically sits around a table to talk about what they did right and what they could do better next time. It may not sound like a critical activity, but these lessons learned sessions have covered my back side more than once. I’ve also taken what I’ve learned from one project close out and used it to avoid problems on future endeavors.

And so, here we go on my lessons learned from 2014 as a Writer:

Stay true to my dream. It became clear to me this past year, in order to reach my writing career goals I would have to take risks by Indie Publishing. Thus I became a Hybrid Author. I released two works of Indie fiction in 2014.

Are they represented by a major literary agency? No.
Were they picked up by one of the big houses? No.
Am I pleased with them and proud of my accomplishments. Yes!
Did creating in my art form make me happy? You bet!


Life is like the weather. I can’t control it. The best I can do is prepare for the storms and hold on tight. Oh yeah. And have chocolate on hand
Don’t be too quick to follow the crowd. If I must try new social media trends, make sure I’m actually getting something out of it. Don’t let it become just another time sucker. I’m talking about you, Facebook!
I remembered why I write. It isn’t for the fame. It isn’t for the hope of a fat royalty check. It isn’t for the ego strokes either. I write…scratch that. I tell stories, because that’s what storytellers do. I and others like me have been sharing our imaginations since the beginning. We tell our stories, because the world has, does and always will need to hear them.

These are the lessons I’ve learned from 2014. I’m going to carry them to the next year with me to draw strength from and use for my next new thing. Anything else I can’t use stays in the past. Don’t drag negatives with you. Start fresh from a positive foundation. Each project/ year/ relationship is different. Embrace the difference and enjoy the ride.

Wishing You Peace, Joy and Goodwill

Ignore the constant barrage of shallow commercialism. Forget the asinine car commercials featuring Santa mooning over expensive cars most of us can’t afford. Try to put out of your mind stores hanging Christmas decorations among their aisles in early October. I know it’s hard, but try to forget all that.

Remember instead how folks seem a little cheerier the closer we get to this wonderful week. Look around a bit. If you stay away from the rabid shoppers at the mall, the rest of the world seems to slow down. We hold our breaths, waiting for our one day of peace. I’m going to turn it over to the Master. He explains it far better than I ever could:

“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,” returned the nephew. “Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round – apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that – as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And, therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”

Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol

Dodging Bullets in a Winter Wonderland. Trapline

Focus on Mystery and Suspense

Murder and deadly sport in the Colorado Wilderness.

A badly chewed-up corpse high in the Flat Tops Wilderness leaves Colorado hunting guide Allison Coil mystified and wary. Obvious signs suggest the dead man is the victim of a mountain lion attack but Allison���s wilderness-savvy bones scream otherwise. A few miles away and a few thousand feet lower in downtown Glenwood Springs, a controversial candidate for U.S. Senate is shot during a campaign stop as newspaper reporter Duncan Bloom dodges the long-range gunfire. Coil and Bloom follow leads to the city���s overlooked communities���encountering both the powerful and those who keep their heads down���and follow traces to the for-profit prison industry. Coil is joined by neighbor Trudy Heath, a popular businesswoman whose use of immigrant workers is attracting attention. Coil���s tracking skills and Bloom���s dogged investigative experience attack a shadowy organization from opposite ends.�� The snare tightens as the pair trade explosive details around who is benefitting from a for-profit prison. Determined to protect the Flat Tops Wilderness from criminal mayhem, Coil knows she must take every means necessary to uncover the conspiracy even as she realizes she is tangling with an organization engaged in a cruel sport that sets a new, dark low for depravity.

Available for Purchase: Amazon

Check out the special December Edition of my Books and Banter Newsletter for more information about today’s story. The newsletter features new book releases from several talented authors. Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery and Suspense, and Romance. You’re sure to find a good read!