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NaNoWriMo 2018 Report: Week Three

Current word count:  31,290

Words this week:  11,605

Average words per day:  1,658

This week’s word count is not quite where I would want it to be (I usually set a goal of 1,800 words/day, just to make sure to have a buffer for less productive days), but I will definitely take it, as it puts me within (relatively) comfortable range of hitting the 50,000-word target for the end of the month.

The story continues to move along. There is no new action happening and we are finally starting to get some hints of the concept on which I based this entire story. I think they are coming off as a little too obvious, but I can fix that in any rewrites. Also, as tends to happens pretty much every year, the ending of the story came to me about mid-week. As always, I’ll keep that in my proverbial back pocket for days when the muse deigns to be stubborn.

Until next week . . . Thank you everyone, on this day and every day, for your support and friendship.

NaNoWriMo 2018 Report: Week Two

Current word count:  19,685

Words this week:  12,529

Average words per day:  1,790

This is way better progress than I had at this point last year. Again, I am pleased and surprised by this word count, as I am rapidly approached what I expected to be my word count for the entire month.

The story continues to grow steadily, but things are finally started to happen. I still haven’t gotten to the part that sparked my idea for the story in the first place. I don’t know whether to be concerned or pleased with that (from a word count perspective). Surprisingly, I suffered very little from the Week Two Slump. However, Star Trek: Discovery being released on Blu-ray this week was not appreciated.

Until next week . . . Write long and prosper!

NaNoWriMo 2018 Report: Week One

Current word count:  7,156

Words this week:  7,156

Average words per day:  1,022

This is far better progress than I had at this point last year. In fact, I am rather pleased and surprised by this word count, considering all of the other demands on my time this week.

The story is growing slowly, but steadily. I don’t feel blocked yet at this point. At least, I have ideas for some scenes that need to come up next. I think those should get me through Week Two. Week Three could be a whole other … um, well … story.

Until next week . . . Write on!

NaNoWriMo 2018 Report: Keeping in Character

Yes, it’s already NaNoWriMo time again …

Until early yesterday, I barely had a clue what this year’s novel might be. Then I remembered a story that has been occasionally, albeit persistently, all year. After the absence of a few years, I am returning to the space opera universe of my Emerald Flight series.

Back in 2014, I was inspired to tell the backstory of the Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Geoffrey Hawkes. This year, it’s time to tell the tale behind the Chief Engineer, Russell “Rusty” Rayna. Although I did not originally create the character, I always had an idea what some of his real “story” was. While some of it was directly referenced in an earlier story (well, actually, teleplay), “Derelict Duties”, that describes his first encounter with Captain — then a young lieutenant — Devereux, his entire his personal history has never been fully explored before.

I hope I can do Rusty’s character justice. And thank you, Lisa!

You can, as always, track my progress here.

WorldCon 2018 Reports: Listing

Here is a convenient list of all of my reports from WorldCon 2018:

WorldCon 2018 Report: WorldCon, Here I Come!
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day One — Getting Started in the Dealer Room
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day One — Creating a Book Cover: Part 1
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Two — The Art and Craft of Anthology Curation
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Two — Interview: GoH Spider Robinson
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Two — Autographs: Spider Robinson
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Two — Imposter Syndrome: You DO Deserve To Be Here
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Three — Lady Dings the Prudes
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Three — In Memoriam: Harlan Ellison
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Three — Which Road to Publication?
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Four —WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Four — The Paths to Publishing
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Four — Creating a Book Cover: Part 4
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Five — Autographs: Spider Robinson
WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Five — Packing It All In

Enjoy!

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Five — Packing It All In

Monday is typically a slow day at WorldCon. For many people, it is a travel day back to wherever they came from. Dealers tend to start packing up early to avoid the crunch at the close of the convention.

When WorldCon was (is?) held on Labor Day weekend, it makes more sense to me, as Monday is a holiday (at least in the U.S.) when people can attend with their family and free from work. On the other hand, by Sunday night, we tend to be pretty wiped out and Monday is a good day to chill, reflect on the Hugos, and maybe get in some last-minute shopping.

Monday for us was mostly logistics and packing (and a lot of carrying boxes to the car). And, at the end, the table was once again the blank black canvas on which we had built our dreams for the weekend.

To everyone I met, and to everyone I saw: Thank you!

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Five — Autographs: Spider Robinson

I waited in line for an hour and a half. I met some new people — and met up again with a few people from the line on Friday.

Shortly after I arrived in line, I was informed by a staff member that I was the last person probably guaranteed to get a signature. (WHEW!)

And, this time I did. Spider was every bit as charming and personable as you might hope and expect and thought he probably was.

From what I heard, from talking to people later, everyone in line at the time the session started got autographs.

I sincerely hope that this is part of a “comeback tour” for Spider, and not a “last hurrah” as one of the staff members implied.

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Four — Creating a Book Cover: Part 4

Lee will present the illustration to Elliott and Heather. While working through any small requested changes, they’ll contemplate type and line design of the book. Type, design, focus, the spine, and readability on the web will all be discussed.

Panel: Elliott Kay, Lee Moyer, Heather McDougal

This was largely a visual sessions, with lots of images projected, so my notes are sparse as you really need to see what they were referring to in order to understand the context. Also, I won’t repeat points that were made during the first session in this series.

“Everyone is an Art Director … and very few are qualified.”
“Covers are iconography, not just illustration.”
How can you tell when something is self-published?

cover image is clearly a stock photograph
reliance on basic fonts like Helvetica
the cover doesn’t use fonts that reflect the content or tone of the book


don’t use crazy fonts or wild special effects with the fonts

WorldCon 2018 Report: Day Four — The Paths to Publishing

The publishing market continues to evolve with new technology, new business models, and an ever-changing ecosystem of publishers, booksellers, and distributors. Professional writers looking to profit from their work have more choices than ever. How do you choose between pursuing an indie career or a traditional one? What are the benefits to working with a larger publisher? What are the opportunities available if you do it all yourself? Panelists will discuss the paths to publishing success, how to decide between the options, and the factors that go into making the decision.

Panel: SL Huang, Amanda Bridgeman, Scott H. Andrews, Wesley Chu, Linda Nagata

Self-Publishing

What do you like to read?
Reading short stories vs. novels: “Nibbling on a cracker vs. gorging on a steak.”
Be at the point where you’ve actually written something; there’s really no point in doing it sooner
How much time (patience) are you willing to invest to do traditional publishing?
short fiction is a great way to learn the craft; however, it’s a completely different muscle than writing a novel
it’s easier to go from traditional publishing to self-publishing than the reverse; it does happen, but those instances are actually quite rare
if you’re not patient, you probably shouldn’t be a writer (particularly if you want to go the traditional publishing route)
“There is no easy path.”
self-publishing takes a lot of time and mind-time
“You have it love it.” (all of the aspects of self-publishing)
“Even with traditional publishing, you will get stuck with a lot of the promotion.”
“At the end of the day, it’s your book and your career.”
It can get frustrating with traditional publishing to get the promotion that you want
“Being in control can be very satisfying.”
“We don’t see the back end of things with traditional publishing.”
“The path of a career in writing is littered with dead associates.” (I think he meant this metaphorically)


Agents

“An agent is like dating.”
at the end, it’s a business relationship
“You need to value yourself.” (Don’t stick with a bad agent.)
Some agents wear many hats

some are editors
some are contracts
some are sales people




“We are declining and depressed industry.”
audiobooks are harder to produce outside of the U.S. (because some countries don’t support the royalty-share model)
Misconceptions (about self-publishing and writing)

“It’s not a mean to print money.” (Sure, some writers get fantastically successful, but you probably won’t.)
“If you’re writing for the love of it, you’ll be far happier.”
“If you don’t want to do it, don’t do it.” (about writing)
“If you need alcohol to write, don’t write.”
need an inner drive
“When you’re contractually obligated to write, then you’re a writer.”
“Everybody in their life has one good book in them.”


Social networking

if you have no social network presence, then write more books
can be very valuable for making connections
use it as just another tool in your promotional toolbox
you do need to monitor your time on it (vs. actually writing)


Promotions

email newsletters are the best, but take a lot of time
BookBub is a great way to sell lots of copies at a low price


How to tell a bad agent

want money up front or a reading fee
they don’t treat you with respect
they ignore your messages
people keep bad agents because they believe they must have one

WorldCon 2018 Reports: Coming Soon!

As during past WorldCons, I had planned to post my notes from sessions as I went along. Unfortunately, between trying to get to the session that I want to attend, and also working the Paper Angel Press table, I haven’t been able to keep up.

Watch this space for all of those posts after WorldCon is over.

Thank you for your patience and understanding!