Constance Williams's Blog: Absolutely Me - Posts Tagged "writing"

Sometime I feel as if I’m the only person left with a desktop.

Yes, yes – I’m aware that’s a gross exaggeration, but it does feel that way at times. Like I should stand up and say to a group of people ‘Hi, my name’s Constance and I’m tied to my desk’.

Except, of course, saying it that way makes it sound like I’m ashamed to be a desktop user. I’m really, really not. I’m happiest working the way I am. I do have a laptop, but I choose not to use it unless I’m away for a few days (the days when I would pack up my entire computer into the back of the car and take it with me are long gone – and usually related to some kind of a LAN party anyhow...).

Being a desktop user has some real advantages. I adore my dual monitor set up and wonder how people cope with only one. And so small as well! I have all the space I need. I have a large desk, with room for my notepads and all the bits and pieces which inevitably surround me. I am not a tidy person by nature, unfortunately – though I can only stand a certain amount of mess before my imagination shuts down and I have to have a tidy up before I can write another word.

What would make my writing space better? A view. Unfortunately, I’m stuck in a corner, facing the door. Not ideal, but I share the space with my husband, who beat me out for the window spot. Of course, for my ideal view – maybe across some cliffs to the wild and racing seas beyond; or rolling hills where wild horses roam – we’d have to move house.

What’s your writing space like?

If someone had said to me when I started out on this whole ‘writing a series of novels thing’ that writing and publishing a novel (or a series thereof) is about so much more than putting words down on a page in the right order, would I have thought twice before starting?

...Okay, no, probably not. I’m stubborn like that. But, for those who are just starting out, especially those people who are considering the self-published route, it really does pay to be very aware of what you are signing up for. Some of it is obvious. Some of it, well, kind of silly. All of it will come up sooner or later.

This is some of what I’ve been up to, other than working on the second half of The Protectors.

Editing - 48 hours. That was how long we took off between finishing the editing of The Dreamwalker and starting on editing The Protectors. My husband now tells people that he had always thought that the hardest part of writing a book is the actual writing, but that he now knows he was wrong. It’s the editing. Anyone can write a book. It is the editing that ensures that it’s a good book. Preferably, a great book. Find a good editor. Someone you have a working relationship with. Then listen to them. If they don’t like something, it’s not because they’re out to get you. It’s because they believe in you, and they want your book to be the best it can be. Sure, there’ll be times when you fight to keep something in, because it’s there for a reason. Generally, though, if they say something needs changing, it needs changing. Together, as a team, you can make something wonderful. Won’t happen overnight though.

Social Media - Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest. Hell, even Goodreads. Watch these become your new second home. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but you need to get into all of these places, and let them get into you. It is, however, important to realise that you need time for yourself. I forget that sometimes. It’s hard – I have a full time job. I have a novel out and I’m working on the sequel. I’m marketing the first novel whilst writing the second. I have a husband, and a cat. There are only so many hours in the day. The phrase work life balance has never been more important. The smart phone is both a blessing and a curse.

Marketing - A follow on from the above. Our marketing budget is pretty small, so we have to watch every penny. We do pay for some advertising, but my co-author and myself have a lot of meetings where we end up analysing the return we’re getting for our money. It is being a real learning curve, and so much of what we’re doing is trial and error. We read everything we can get our hands on about what does and doesn’t (or what should and shouldn’t) work. At the end of the day, though, the only real way of finding out is to try it out.

Images - We’re currently working on designing the cover for The Protectors, the sequel to The Dreamwalker. Now, my co-author and I generally design our own covers. This is not something that I would recommend that you do yourself unless you have a real handle on graphic design. There are some great professional cover designers out there, at really reasonable prices. Given that so many people do actually judge a book by its cover, making sure that yours is as good as it can be can really pay off.

Anyway, that said, we design our own (we’ve both had a sideline in graphics for over a decade and a working knowledge of some pretty powerful art programmes). We’ve sat down and worked out what we want for the cover of The Protectors. Ideally, what we would love, is to be able to feature both Rhionnan and Colleen McCarthy on the front page. In order to do that, the starting point has to be trying to find stock models who embody the two women. This morning, all morning, has been spent on Skype together, pouring over stock imagery. Colleen is a challenge, because she doesn’t fit what people like to photograph. Colleen McCarthy is a mid-twenties, frumpy, plus sized redhead with terrible fashion sense. Really not that easy to find. Seriously – I’m currently taking any and all suggestions on our fan page, so if anyone has any suggestions of how they see either Colleen, or how they see Rhionnan (18 years old, petite redhead with a round face), please do drop them in!

Web Design - We are lucky. Very, very lucky. I’m married to a professional web designer. Check out our website to see some of his work! (Thank you Serious Ninja Productions) That’s the upside – we got a professional, bespoke website at a very reasonable price. The downside? I have spent most of the afternoon restructuring menus layouts and discussing coding. In other words: he does the hard stuff, but he teaches me how to do the donkey work myself. The rewrite is still ongoing. We’ve received such positive feedback for The Dreamwalker that we’re putting in a testimonials block in the next few days. Exciting, but another thing to add to the list that is ‘Not Writing Book Work’.

There are days when it all feels too much. There are certainly days when I realise why people travel down the traditionally published route. Most days, however, aren’t those days. Doing everything ourselves, whilst hard work, means that we really appreciate every sale. We really appreciate every ‘like’ we get on our facebook fan page. Every comment we get about the book. Every person who friends either of us on Goodreads, or follows us on Twitter. It’s hard work, but vastly rewarding.

Bring on the next challenge.

Just... make sure it comes with a cup of tea.

This is to all the authors, writers, bloggers and people who just put words together for one reason or another - be it professionally, for pleasure, or because you have yet another assignment due for school. In other words, pretty much everyone.

How do you write?

I don't mean style, pacing, tense or anything like that. I mean - when you write, what kind of an environment do you hold as key.

I ask this out of curiosity, and because, right now, it's fresh in my mind.

I've always been aware that I write best when I can sequester myself away with peace and quiet. I don't do well with distractions when crafting something. I didn't realise quite how much I needed that until today though.

At the moment, I'm on vacation. Some much needed time off from my day job. I have, however, brought 'work' with me - or what passes for work. I'm intending to work on The Protectors, of course - but I have also got an article to write for a news website. Okay, I had intended to get it done last week, but I wrote it twice and, quite frankly, the results were less than impressive. Not something I would be happy to release to the public.

'Not a problem,' thought I. 'I'll take it on holiday with me and write it at the beach. Won't take me that long and I'll be nice and relaxed.'

Actually, that part of the plan worked. I lay in bed last night, inspiration hit, and I knew exactly what I was going to write. How I would spin the article to put a new twist on what can be quite a dull topic.

I sat down to write it today, and I got the first two paragraphs written, words flowing out of the ends of my fingers like water. It was great, it would be done in no time, I was a genius!

Then the problem struck. I'm not alone on holiday. I'm away with family. Family who had said that they were going out for a walk, leaving me to get on with my writing in glorious solitude. Only they didn't go. They wandered back and forth. Looking at maps. Shouting from one end of the house to the other, wanting to know where hats, and keys, and sunglasses were. Coming up to ask me if I wanted a cold drink (no). Or a cup of tea (no...). Was I sure I didn't want anything (Yes. I'm sure. No - I want something - I want you to leave me alone.). Was I sure that I didn't want to come with (YES - PLEASE GO AWAY.)

So, instead, I'm here, writing this blog post, waiting for everything to settle. And then maybe, just maybe, I can finish the article, send it off to the editor, and at last be able to relax into my vacation.

Before that promised work on the book begins, of course...

I've been suffering from withdrawal this week, given that I left my Nook at my parent's house when I visited last weekend. I wouldn't mind, but I was half way through a book which I don't own in paperback.

It's made me realise something about time management though. Basically, that I suck at it. When I have a book, I feel like I have no time to read it. Writing takes precedence and when I'm writing, the last thing I want to do is read. I get word overload, I guess.

Yet this week, when I've had to take a forced hiatus from reading, I seem to have so much time that I'm not filling with anything else. Which, to me, says there's something missing. What is it when, when I have a book I want to read, I don't seem to have the time to get to it. Yet, when I am stopped from reading a book, I seem to have eons of time to kill.

Is time playing silly buggers with me again, or is something else going on?