Elizabeth Einspanier's Blog, page 4
November 25, 2014
NaNoWriMo 2014 Day 25: The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Hello everybody! Many of you have been powering your way through NaNoWriMo like I have, and at this point you're close to the end (one way or another). The NaNoWriMo site started accepting word count validations last Thursday, and while I wasn't there yet I think I'll be able to finish my draft in plenty of time.
Some of you might not be so lucky. Some of you might see the craziness of Thanksgiving and Black Friday coming up and wonder when the heck you'll have time to finish. Some of you might see how far you have to go yet and want to give up.
Don't!
Even if the task seems daunting, do whatever it takes to give yourself the will to push through this last week. Bang out as many words as you possibly can! Remember, NaNo isn't about writing a perfect novel in a month, but just as 50,000 word rough draft in a month. Even if you think that what you have is a giant flaming mess, console yourself with a plan to revise and edit later.
Heck, this month I seem to have entirely lost my ability to spell for the sake of sheer word count. I plan to pass my draft through a spell-check program before I try to validate it so that I know that the NaNo software won't just skip over the horribly mangled words that it doesn't recognize. I'll still give it an actual eyeball check as well, though, so that words that are misspelled so that they become other words don't slip in. But that will come later.
For night now, I plan to focus on the goal that as of this writing is just over 5k words away. I'm sprinting towards the climax like a crazy person, and I know that I'll be done before I know it.
You might be, too. Just keep at it. In the end, the actual word count isn't the important part, but rather you writing that rough draft and getting it out of your head.
Happy End of NaNo!
Some of you might not be so lucky. Some of you might see the craziness of Thanksgiving and Black Friday coming up and wonder when the heck you'll have time to finish. Some of you might see how far you have to go yet and want to give up.
Don't!
Even if the task seems daunting, do whatever it takes to give yourself the will to push through this last week. Bang out as many words as you possibly can! Remember, NaNo isn't about writing a perfect novel in a month, but just as 50,000 word rough draft in a month. Even if you think that what you have is a giant flaming mess, console yourself with a plan to revise and edit later.
Heck, this month I seem to have entirely lost my ability to spell for the sake of sheer word count. I plan to pass my draft through a spell-check program before I try to validate it so that I know that the NaNo software won't just skip over the horribly mangled words that it doesn't recognize. I'll still give it an actual eyeball check as well, though, so that words that are misspelled so that they become other words don't slip in. But that will come later.
For night now, I plan to focus on the goal that as of this writing is just over 5k words away. I'm sprinting towards the climax like a crazy person, and I know that I'll be done before I know it.
You might be, too. Just keep at it. In the end, the actual word count isn't the important part, but rather you writing that rough draft and getting it out of your head.
Happy End of NaNo!
November 18, 2014
NaNoWriMo 2014 Day 18: The End is in Sight
I'm on Week Three of NaNoWriMo, and I think it will be all downhill from here. Not as far as the quality of my writing goes (though with a rough draft it's hard to tell) but as far as how hard the slog will be. I'm past the midway point (yay!) and at last check I was at 30k words (yay!) so it looks like I'm going to finish this thing for NaNo (yay!).
It will be easy at this point for me to get lost in the plot threats I've started weaving together, like a kitten with a ball of yarn, but I don't think that will be a problem for me. For one, I haven't even started to bury myself in subplots, and for another, I've got a great support group that I can use to bounce ideas off of and comb out any problem spots.
Of course tying everything together in the climax is going to be interesting, considering the foundation I've laid out, but as long as I keep getting those words out I should be fine, and any plot holes can be filled in with my rewrite (and yes, I'm already planning on rewriting this thing because it's deep in the Hemingway Zone.
For now, though, I'm just going to keep pushing forward. 20k more words doesn't seem like that many considering what I've done so far, and the path ahead is wide open. Banzai!
It will be easy at this point for me to get lost in the plot threats I've started weaving together, like a kitten with a ball of yarn, but I don't think that will be a problem for me. For one, I haven't even started to bury myself in subplots, and for another, I've got a great support group that I can use to bounce ideas off of and comb out any problem spots.
Of course tying everything together in the climax is going to be interesting, considering the foundation I've laid out, but as long as I keep getting those words out I should be fine, and any plot holes can be filled in with my rewrite (and yes, I'm already planning on rewriting this thing because it's deep in the Hemingway Zone.
For now, though, I'm just going to keep pushing forward. 20k more words doesn't seem like that many considering what I've done so far, and the path ahead is wide open. Banzai!
November 11, 2014
NaNoWriMo 2014: Day 11
Today marks Day 11 of NaNoWriMo 2014, and as we plow (or slog, as the case may be) through Week Two, many of us writers may be starting to lose momentum. Some of you might be having doubts about how good your story really is. You might be getting buried in subplots or research opportunities. You might be ready to set this beast aside for another day.
Don't.
The Week Two Wall might be looming large in front of you, mocking you for your foolish plans to write a rough draft in a month. This is not the place to give up. Rather, this is where you give your main character a swift kick in the butt. Throw a plot point at him that throws all his preconceived notions down the stairs. Shock him into doing something that furthers the plot, and watch him rocket back out of the gate. Even if it seems as stupid and random as him finding an assassin hiding in his coat closet, that's an action point (you can figure out why the assassin was hiding in the coat closet later) and you can build on that.
In my case, I felt my momentum flagging, so I took a backstory point from one of my side characters and twisted into a plot element in the current narrative. Now my heroine is shocked and shaken and out of her element and a major part of her emotional support system (which is sparse enough to start with) is going to be sidelined for a while.
Remember that kicking the legs out from under your protagonist isn't going to kill them. If anything, they will come out on the other side stronger than ever before and even more ready to face the challenge of the day/week/month/whatever, especially if said plot point involves said threat going after your hero's loved ones. One laser-guided hero missile, coming right up.
So if you find yourself losing steam, have something blindside your protagonist and worry about making it less random during rewrites. It will give both you and your hero something new to do, and it will keep your novel from stagnating.
Happy writing!
Don't.
The Week Two Wall might be looming large in front of you, mocking you for your foolish plans to write a rough draft in a month. This is not the place to give up. Rather, this is where you give your main character a swift kick in the butt. Throw a plot point at him that throws all his preconceived notions down the stairs. Shock him into doing something that furthers the plot, and watch him rocket back out of the gate. Even if it seems as stupid and random as him finding an assassin hiding in his coat closet, that's an action point (you can figure out why the assassin was hiding in the coat closet later) and you can build on that.
In my case, I felt my momentum flagging, so I took a backstory point from one of my side characters and twisted into a plot element in the current narrative. Now my heroine is shocked and shaken and out of her element and a major part of her emotional support system (which is sparse enough to start with) is going to be sidelined for a while.
Remember that kicking the legs out from under your protagonist isn't going to kill them. If anything, they will come out on the other side stronger than ever before and even more ready to face the challenge of the day/week/month/whatever, especially if said plot point involves said threat going after your hero's loved ones. One laser-guided hero missile, coming right up.
So if you find yourself losing steam, have something blindside your protagonist and worry about making it less random during rewrites. It will give both you and your hero something new to do, and it will keep your novel from stagnating.
Happy writing!
November 4, 2014
NaNoWriMo 2014: Day 4
Today is Day 4 of my first serious attempt at NaNoWriMo, and so far things are going fantastic. My word count is well above par for this far in, even though I had a minor slowdown yesterday due to my persistent need to buy food and pay my bills, but I'm still plugging away at it and I need no reason to give up just yet.
I mean, it's only Day 4 out of 30. Giving up now would just be bailing.
I'm still pretty excited about this whole thing. I've joined the NaNo community, collected a bunch of writing buddies, and I've been bouncing ideas off the forums and getting help with things like research, as well as sharing a good laugh about our speed0induced typoes.
The goal of NaNoWriMo, of course, is not to write a perfect novel in 30 days. That would be so close to impossible that it's barely worth considering. When you're going for speed, certain sacrifices will need to be made, like your ability to spell, airtight plotting, and frustrated ramblings at your apparent inability to make things up on the fly.
And that's okay.
Not only is this my first NaNo, but it's my first real foray into YA literature, so that's an interesting switch from my usual target age group. I find myself having to remember what it was like to be a teenager, and to accept and embrace the fact that as a seventeen-year-old girl, my main character and many of her peers are going to be gigantic drama queens.
And that's also okay.
At this point, while I'm not quite writing by the seat of my pants (as is my usual strategy) I still have a handful of major plot points to map out, but I still have most of the month to get that done. This is not the time for panic just yet.
For the rest of you also doing the NaNo thing, keep it up! I'm right here with you!
How far am I towards my goal? Check it out!
I mean, it's only Day 4 out of 30. Giving up now would just be bailing.
I'm still pretty excited about this whole thing. I've joined the NaNo community, collected a bunch of writing buddies, and I've been bouncing ideas off the forums and getting help with things like research, as well as sharing a good laugh about our speed0induced typoes.
The goal of NaNoWriMo, of course, is not to write a perfect novel in 30 days. That would be so close to impossible that it's barely worth considering. When you're going for speed, certain sacrifices will need to be made, like your ability to spell, airtight plotting, and frustrated ramblings at your apparent inability to make things up on the fly.
And that's okay.
Not only is this my first NaNo, but it's my first real foray into YA literature, so that's an interesting switch from my usual target age group. I find myself having to remember what it was like to be a teenager, and to accept and embrace the fact that as a seventeen-year-old girl, my main character and many of her peers are going to be gigantic drama queens.
And that's also okay.
At this point, while I'm not quite writing by the seat of my pants (as is my usual strategy) I still have a handful of major plot points to map out, but I still have most of the month to get that done. This is not the time for panic just yet.
For the rest of you also doing the NaNo thing, keep it up! I'm right here with you!
How far am I towards my goal? Check it out!
October 28, 2014
NaNoWriMo 2014: DON'T PANIC
Here we are in the last few days before the National Novel Writing Month begins, and if those of you who are participating are anything like me, you're in a flat panic. Questions and doubts may be flooding your mind:
What if my idea sucks?What if I don't finish?How will I manage writing so many words a day between work/school/social life/errands/sleep?What if I get writer's block halfway through?What if there's a crisis and I just can't devote the time?I know how you feel. This is my first NaNo, and I've got all those doubts and more keeping me from sleeping and threatening to make me lock up in front of my computer screen. (My brain is really sadistic that way.) Let's see if I can address them in order, shall we?
What if my idea sucks?
There are very few ideas that cannot be salvaged or improved on editing. If you enjoy your idea enough to use it for NaNo, then it can't suck that much. Just remember that this is a rough draft. Nobody has to see it but you. (You do plan to edit it, right?)
What if I don't finish?
This is actually two questions.
What if I don't manage to write 50,000 words in November?
When you will still be further along in your novel project than you were on November 1. There's no penalty for not hitting that benchmark, and not everyone will get there. Relax.
What if I write 50,000 words, but my story's still not done?
Then you can continue writing it through December or however long it takes for your story to be done.
How will I manage writing so many words a day between work/school/social life/errands/sleep?
You'd be surprised how much writing you can get done if you dedicate yourself. You might have to make a few sacrifices, though--like no spending hours at a time on your social media and/or games. Any requirements for prime functioning, absolutely stick with those, but other than that, block out as much time as you can and get that draft written.
What if I get writer's block halfway through?
This is why NaNo support groups are awesome. The official website itself allows you to find writing buddies (local or not) to help you power through the tough times. Try free writing and turning over ideas in your draft. Add padding if you like (you can always take it out later). Just keep those words flowing.
What if there's a crisis and I just can't devote the time?
Well, honestly, stuff happens. If you have a major Crisis with a capital C that completely torpedoes your entire month, that's okay. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Write when you can but remember that there's nothing wrong with not making your word count.
As near as I can tell, the best (but by no means only) way to get through a successful NaNoWriMo is to just sit your butt down and write. Write until your vision blurs and your fingers ache and your brain goes numb. Then do it again the next day, and the next, until it's done. Don't worry about plot holes or spell checking or editing--just get that draft down as quickly as humanly possible. Don't second-guess yourself. Don't go back and fix anything, even that typo that's just screaming at you from the page. Editing comes later. Just find your zone and write that sucker.
As for myself, I'm going to keep blogging throughout NaNoWriMo and share with you my experience as a first-time participant, including (drum roll) a word count graphic.
Here it is:
My username on the NaNoWriMo website is GeekGirlWriter (same as my Twitter handle) so if you're participating and want to be writing buddies, go ahead and look me up!
Happy NaNo!
What if my idea sucks?What if I don't finish?How will I manage writing so many words a day between work/school/social life/errands/sleep?What if I get writer's block halfway through?What if there's a crisis and I just can't devote the time?I know how you feel. This is my first NaNo, and I've got all those doubts and more keeping me from sleeping and threatening to make me lock up in front of my computer screen. (My brain is really sadistic that way.) Let's see if I can address them in order, shall we?
What if my idea sucks?
There are very few ideas that cannot be salvaged or improved on editing. If you enjoy your idea enough to use it for NaNo, then it can't suck that much. Just remember that this is a rough draft. Nobody has to see it but you. (You do plan to edit it, right?)
What if I don't finish?
This is actually two questions.
What if I don't manage to write 50,000 words in November?
When you will still be further along in your novel project than you were on November 1. There's no penalty for not hitting that benchmark, and not everyone will get there. Relax.
What if I write 50,000 words, but my story's still not done?
Then you can continue writing it through December or however long it takes for your story to be done.
How will I manage writing so many words a day between work/school/social life/errands/sleep?
You'd be surprised how much writing you can get done if you dedicate yourself. You might have to make a few sacrifices, though--like no spending hours at a time on your social media and/or games. Any requirements for prime functioning, absolutely stick with those, but other than that, block out as much time as you can and get that draft written.
What if I get writer's block halfway through?
This is why NaNo support groups are awesome. The official website itself allows you to find writing buddies (local or not) to help you power through the tough times. Try free writing and turning over ideas in your draft. Add padding if you like (you can always take it out later). Just keep those words flowing.
What if there's a crisis and I just can't devote the time?
Well, honestly, stuff happens. If you have a major Crisis with a capital C that completely torpedoes your entire month, that's okay. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Write when you can but remember that there's nothing wrong with not making your word count.
As near as I can tell, the best (but by no means only) way to get through a successful NaNoWriMo is to just sit your butt down and write. Write until your vision blurs and your fingers ache and your brain goes numb. Then do it again the next day, and the next, until it's done. Don't worry about plot holes or spell checking or editing--just get that draft down as quickly as humanly possible. Don't second-guess yourself. Don't go back and fix anything, even that typo that's just screaming at you from the page. Editing comes later. Just find your zone and write that sucker.
As for myself, I'm going to keep blogging throughout NaNoWriMo and share with you my experience as a first-time participant, including (drum roll) a word count graphic.
Here it is:
My username on the NaNoWriMo website is GeekGirlWriter (same as my Twitter handle) so if you're participating and want to be writing buddies, go ahead and look me up!
Happy NaNo!
October 21, 2014
Gearing Up for NaNoWriMo 2014
I have an announcement to make. This year, I am definitely (You hear me? I mean it!) going to participate in NaNoWriMo. Whether I finish or not is another matter, but I'm going to be writing my little fanny off and giving this rough draft my best try.
Why?
A couple of reasons.
I keep saying I'll do it every year and then just don't.I want to see if I can.What's the worst that can happen?Of course, pursuant to this, I'm going to need to make sure I have a few things close at hand (or at least kept in mind) before I fling myself headlong into the NaNo breach.
A story idea. This isn't a problem. I have a story idea that's been fermenting for a while, entitled Necromancy Will Kill Your Dating Life. I haven't actually started it because... well... reasons. It's been percolating more over the course of October, and I think it might be ready to put to the page. Or computer screen. Or whatever.A plan. Normally I'm a pantser. I take to novel planning like a cat to water, but with something like NaNo, I need to be able to belt this thing out as fast as humanly possible. I have a writer friend who can write thousands of words a day. If I can manage that, awesome. But I will need to know where this thing is going to go so I don't stumble over a lack if ideas.A support group. These are all over the Internet. I'll be signing up on the official NaNo site and posting my progress on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.Time. At the minimum, I have an hour a day that I can dedicate to writing (assuming I can ignore the distractions hollering for my attention. If I'm lucky, I can probably carve out an additional hour or two in the evening, but I will need to budget my time wisely.Chocolate. ...shut up. I'll need the endorphins, and chocolate has been scientifically proven to boost inspiration. So there.Now, if I manage to claw my way through this, you know what I'm going to do with my shiny new NaNo novel? Well, one thing I'm not going to do is send it straight off to a publisher. Hell no. (I've heard of this happening, and I cringe every time.) Part of NaNo is turning off your editor in order to Get Stuff Done, so the rough draft is definitely going to be in the Hemingway Zone. I'm going to edit this thing until most of the plot holes are repaired and the wrinkles are gone, and then kick it over to a beta reader like I would with any other manuscript, because I want it to not suck.
So that's my plan. (Yay planning!) Now let's see if I can follow through.
Why?
A couple of reasons.
I keep saying I'll do it every year and then just don't.I want to see if I can.What's the worst that can happen?Of course, pursuant to this, I'm going to need to make sure I have a few things close at hand (or at least kept in mind) before I fling myself headlong into the NaNo breach.
A story idea. This isn't a problem. I have a story idea that's been fermenting for a while, entitled Necromancy Will Kill Your Dating Life. I haven't actually started it because... well... reasons. It's been percolating more over the course of October, and I think it might be ready to put to the page. Or computer screen. Or whatever.A plan. Normally I'm a pantser. I take to novel planning like a cat to water, but with something like NaNo, I need to be able to belt this thing out as fast as humanly possible. I have a writer friend who can write thousands of words a day. If I can manage that, awesome. But I will need to know where this thing is going to go so I don't stumble over a lack if ideas.A support group. These are all over the Internet. I'll be signing up on the official NaNo site and posting my progress on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.Time. At the minimum, I have an hour a day that I can dedicate to writing (assuming I can ignore the distractions hollering for my attention. If I'm lucky, I can probably carve out an additional hour or two in the evening, but I will need to budget my time wisely.Chocolate. ...shut up. I'll need the endorphins, and chocolate has been scientifically proven to boost inspiration. So there.Now, if I manage to claw my way through this, you know what I'm going to do with my shiny new NaNo novel? Well, one thing I'm not going to do is send it straight off to a publisher. Hell no. (I've heard of this happening, and I cringe every time.) Part of NaNo is turning off your editor in order to Get Stuff Done, so the rough draft is definitely going to be in the Hemingway Zone. I'm going to edit this thing until most of the plot holes are repaired and the wrinkles are gone, and then kick it over to a beta reader like I would with any other manuscript, because I want it to not suck.
So that's my plan. (Yay planning!) Now let's see if I can follow through.
October 14, 2014
What the Heck Was I Doing?: The Torment of Rewriting
I've developed a couple of quirks since deciding that writing was really my thing:
I don't let anyone see the rough draft.I yell at myself while I'm marking the rough draft for revision.I have a number of perfectly valid reasons for both of these. Once upon a time, when I was a young an naive writer in high school, I would just bang out a story and consider it done, and then wonder why none of the publishers I sent my stories to could perceive my genius.
Yes.
I sent out rough drafts.
Take all the time you need.
A couple *coughdozencough* rejections later, I learned about a wonderful thing called editing, and a further, even more wonderful thing called self-editing.
You mean I can refine my work without showing it to someone else?
Yes, which was awesome because I'd realized, after taking a week or two for the endorphin rush to wear off, that nearly every rough draft I'd written in the mania of I have a story and I must write it down and show the world was utter dreck. Redeemable dreck, but dreck nonetheless. I became ashamed that I would in all honesty consider showing this to something else, which was both disheartening and a step in the right direction because with the degree in English I'd earned in the meantime I could pick out the problems.
Most word processing programs have a feature by which you can highlight areas and leave notations, and I use that in spades when I go through my rough drafts. In one of my current manuscripts I actually left the note, "This doesn't make sense. What the hell were you thinking?" I have become my own harshest critic, which is both good and bad.
It's good because a critical eye (simmered gently over the course of two weeks to a month) allows me to pick out the problems both big and small so I can fix them before anyone else sees what an embarrassment my rough draft is. I've found an affordable editor, but I don't even have to send her my rough draft this way. That's a real load off my mind.
It's bad because, while putting on the Simon Cowell level of snarkiness with my own work can be fun, it can get schizophrenic very easily, and if I'm not careful there's a chance I might give up on the manuscript altogether and never look at it again. Instead, I try to put suggestions in my notes rather than only criticisms, even if I have to chainsaw out an entire scene and rewrite it from scratch. Even if the note says simply "wat", I know that something that seemed so clear in the drafting phase has fallen out of focus. I've been known to switch plot points midstream while drafting, so this helps keep me on course.
Fortunately, after doing this a few times with several different manuscripts, I've happily fallen into the habit of self-editing. My rough draft need never see the light of day, let alone the desk of a prospective publisher. I can send a version I'm moderately happy with to my beta readers without worrying that it's a horrible mess. I still let my inner critic dance all over my rough drafts, but with a firm leash so she doesn't discourage me from writing altogether. In the end, this has made me a more confident writer, rather than one living in a state of "oh god all my stuff is crap I'll never get published what am I thinking".
I'm still not showing anyone else my crappy first drafts, though. Someday I may make a bonfire out of them.
I don't let anyone see the rough draft.I yell at myself while I'm marking the rough draft for revision.I have a number of perfectly valid reasons for both of these. Once upon a time, when I was a young an naive writer in high school, I would just bang out a story and consider it done, and then wonder why none of the publishers I sent my stories to could perceive my genius.
Yes.
I sent out rough drafts.
Take all the time you need.
A couple *coughdozencough* rejections later, I learned about a wonderful thing called editing, and a further, even more wonderful thing called self-editing.
You mean I can refine my work without showing it to someone else?
Yes, which was awesome because I'd realized, after taking a week or two for the endorphin rush to wear off, that nearly every rough draft I'd written in the mania of I have a story and I must write it down and show the world was utter dreck. Redeemable dreck, but dreck nonetheless. I became ashamed that I would in all honesty consider showing this to something else, which was both disheartening and a step in the right direction because with the degree in English I'd earned in the meantime I could pick out the problems.
Most word processing programs have a feature by which you can highlight areas and leave notations, and I use that in spades when I go through my rough drafts. In one of my current manuscripts I actually left the note, "This doesn't make sense. What the hell were you thinking?" I have become my own harshest critic, which is both good and bad.
It's good because a critical eye (simmered gently over the course of two weeks to a month) allows me to pick out the problems both big and small so I can fix them before anyone else sees what an embarrassment my rough draft is. I've found an affordable editor, but I don't even have to send her my rough draft this way. That's a real load off my mind.
It's bad because, while putting on the Simon Cowell level of snarkiness with my own work can be fun, it can get schizophrenic very easily, and if I'm not careful there's a chance I might give up on the manuscript altogether and never look at it again. Instead, I try to put suggestions in my notes rather than only criticisms, even if I have to chainsaw out an entire scene and rewrite it from scratch. Even if the note says simply "wat", I know that something that seemed so clear in the drafting phase has fallen out of focus. I've been known to switch plot points midstream while drafting, so this helps keep me on course.
Fortunately, after doing this a few times with several different manuscripts, I've happily fallen into the habit of self-editing. My rough draft need never see the light of day, let alone the desk of a prospective publisher. I can send a version I'm moderately happy with to my beta readers without worrying that it's a horrible mess. I still let my inner critic dance all over my rough drafts, but with a firm leash so she doesn't discourage me from writing altogether. In the end, this has made me a more confident writer, rather than one living in a state of "oh god all my stuff is crap I'll never get published what am I thinking".
I'm still not showing anyone else my crappy first drafts, though. Someday I may make a bonfire out of them.
October 7, 2014
Things I learned at Archon 38
Last weekend, I attended Archon 38, the latest iteration of a cozy (but ever-growing) sci-fi/fantasy convention held in Collinsville, IL. I'd been to Archon before, but not in several years, and it was refreshing ot get back into the swing of things. More to the point, this was my first time with a dealer table at any convention EVER, so this was a prime opportunity to get a feel for the whole process. I had a lot of fun in the end, and I also learned a bunch of stuff in the process.
Don't panic. When I got there with my two boxes of books and all the promotional materials I judged I would need, I was in a bit of a panic. I didn't know where to go, who to talk to, where my table was, or what would be expected of me. Fortunately, the convention staff were super helpful and made sure I got where I needed to go, especially when it came to pallet carts to schlep my stuff to the site.You will forget things anyway. I spent half the day Friday kicking myself because I left my phone charger and the envelope of cash I'd brought to make change in my hotel room. Bleh.You may accidentally meet famous people. As it turned out, my table was set up next to Tony Todd. I knew him as a horror actor in films like the Candyman series and all but one of the Final Destination movies. My roommate knew him as an occasional actor on various Star Trek series. Fortunately, he fell neatly into my mental category of Nicest Guys on the Planet and he helped me settle in.Make friends with Klingons. Boxes of books are astonishingly heavy, and I occasionally had trouble getting them in and out of my sales space. The Klingon cosplayers were super helpful in moving boxes for me.Don't expect a lot on day one. I discovered that Saturday is the busiest day of Archon, which may have something to do with the Grand Masquerade on Saturday night. On Friday and Sunday I sold two books each. On Saturday I sold about a dozen.There will always be people with more publicity stuff than you. This is especially true for indie authors who are just starting out and thus have to squeeze every microgram of usefulness out of every dollar they have. Your more experienced booksellers will often have some very useful advice for you if you ask. People love free bookmarks. Seriously, have a box of bookmarks printed up and give those things away like candy.People watching is fun. The hall costumes this year were awesome (as usual). I must have taken fifty pictures of people passing by on Saturday alone, including several that were later entered in the Grand Masquerade.Chocobos are adorable. One of the costumes that I saw all throughout the convention was an awesome chocobo with a noise-maker in the head to make the requisite "wark" noises. I think she won best in Novice Class at the Masquerade. Steampunk will never die. I saw a lot of steampunk costumes this year, including Steampunk Green Lantern, Steampunk Wolverine, and Steampunk Batman.Cosplay is fun but hard. I dressed as Twilight Sparkle on Saturday. Because I'm thirty-five years old and I can dress like My Little Pony if I want, dammit. I had a wig (half hour of detangling Saturday morning), unicorn horn and ears (on elastic bands requiring a bunch of hairpins to hold in place) and a t-shirt with appropriate cutie mark (after searching the internet fruitlessly for a suitable one, I had it custom vinyl printed at Threads). I didn't use nearly enough hairpins, so my ears and wig kept trying to escape down the back of my head, and the elastic gave me a bit of a headache after a few hours, but I persisted all day. In the future I need to learn how to better manage my cranium accessories.Bronies are everywhere. Throughout Saturday five people under the age of ten and three people above the age of twenty ran up to my table yelling, "Twilight!" I think I got verbally glomped by one girl who simply ran up to my table, arms extended, and bellowed, "YES!" before running off. During the Grand Masquerade, one of the sound guys sent me a bro hoof via messenger.The final day will be hard. Seriously, it's the last day of the convention, and everyone's been geeking their asses off all weekend. In the end, though, I came in, complete with cosplay hangover from the previous day, and set my stuff up for one final day of "PLEASE BUY MY CRAP!" And you know what? People did. A bunch more took bookmarks and business cards for later reference, and I imagine I will have a fair number of digital sales coming down the pipe in the next few weeks (hope hope). Finally, I packed my things up, said my farewells to my neighbors on Bookseller's Row, and got ready for the drive home, satisfied with a modestly-successful first dealer-table experience.As you can see, I learned a lot during Archon, and I feel more confident about the prospects of my next dealer table experience. I have ideas on how to improve my table presence. I hope that I'll do a lot better at my next convention (though I'll have to decide when that will be), but until then, I still have my local sales I can focus on.
And now for something completely different...Here comes the expected update on book sale progress! I also have a book signing scheduled at Panera Bread this coming Saturday, so hopefully I'll sell a bunch more then.
3.8%
Don't panic. When I got there with my two boxes of books and all the promotional materials I judged I would need, I was in a bit of a panic. I didn't know where to go, who to talk to, where my table was, or what would be expected of me. Fortunately, the convention staff were super helpful and made sure I got where I needed to go, especially when it came to pallet carts to schlep my stuff to the site.You will forget things anyway. I spent half the day Friday kicking myself because I left my phone charger and the envelope of cash I'd brought to make change in my hotel room. Bleh.You may accidentally meet famous people. As it turned out, my table was set up next to Tony Todd. I knew him as a horror actor in films like the Candyman series and all but one of the Final Destination movies. My roommate knew him as an occasional actor on various Star Trek series. Fortunately, he fell neatly into my mental category of Nicest Guys on the Planet and he helped me settle in.Make friends with Klingons. Boxes of books are astonishingly heavy, and I occasionally had trouble getting them in and out of my sales space. The Klingon cosplayers were super helpful in moving boxes for me.Don't expect a lot on day one. I discovered that Saturday is the busiest day of Archon, which may have something to do with the Grand Masquerade on Saturday night. On Friday and Sunday I sold two books each. On Saturday I sold about a dozen.There will always be people with more publicity stuff than you. This is especially true for indie authors who are just starting out and thus have to squeeze every microgram of usefulness out of every dollar they have. Your more experienced booksellers will often have some very useful advice for you if you ask. People love free bookmarks. Seriously, have a box of bookmarks printed up and give those things away like candy.People watching is fun. The hall costumes this year were awesome (as usual). I must have taken fifty pictures of people passing by on Saturday alone, including several that were later entered in the Grand Masquerade.Chocobos are adorable. One of the costumes that I saw all throughout the convention was an awesome chocobo with a noise-maker in the head to make the requisite "wark" noises. I think she won best in Novice Class at the Masquerade. Steampunk will never die. I saw a lot of steampunk costumes this year, including Steampunk Green Lantern, Steampunk Wolverine, and Steampunk Batman.Cosplay is fun but hard. I dressed as Twilight Sparkle on Saturday. Because I'm thirty-five years old and I can dress like My Little Pony if I want, dammit. I had a wig (half hour of detangling Saturday morning), unicorn horn and ears (on elastic bands requiring a bunch of hairpins to hold in place) and a t-shirt with appropriate cutie mark (after searching the internet fruitlessly for a suitable one, I had it custom vinyl printed at Threads). I didn't use nearly enough hairpins, so my ears and wig kept trying to escape down the back of my head, and the elastic gave me a bit of a headache after a few hours, but I persisted all day. In the future I need to learn how to better manage my cranium accessories.Bronies are everywhere. Throughout Saturday five people under the age of ten and three people above the age of twenty ran up to my table yelling, "Twilight!" I think I got verbally glomped by one girl who simply ran up to my table, arms extended, and bellowed, "YES!" before running off. During the Grand Masquerade, one of the sound guys sent me a bro hoof via messenger.The final day will be hard. Seriously, it's the last day of the convention, and everyone's been geeking their asses off all weekend. In the end, though, I came in, complete with cosplay hangover from the previous day, and set my stuff up for one final day of "PLEASE BUY MY CRAP!" And you know what? People did. A bunch more took bookmarks and business cards for later reference, and I imagine I will have a fair number of digital sales coming down the pipe in the next few weeks (hope hope). Finally, I packed my things up, said my farewells to my neighbors on Bookseller's Row, and got ready for the drive home, satisfied with a modestly-successful first dealer-table experience.As you can see, I learned a lot during Archon, and I feel more confident about the prospects of my next dealer table experience. I have ideas on how to improve my table presence. I hope that I'll do a lot better at my next convention (though I'll have to decide when that will be), but until then, I still have my local sales I can focus on.
And now for something completely different...Here comes the expected update on book sale progress! I also have a book signing scheduled at Panera Bread this coming Saturday, so hopefully I'll sell a bunch more then.
3.8%
September 16, 2014
The Fine Art of Steampunk
My latest project is a steampunk novel entitled The Demon of Butcher's Row, and in light of this it seems like a dandy time to go over exactly what the heck steampunk is. It's one of those weird little subgenres of science fiction and fantasy that seems to be making a minor resurgence these days, but it has a couple of cousins with which is is occasionally confused.
So, to start: what makes a work steampunk? Steampunk is any work that takes place between 1850-ish and 1910-ish that combines historical details with science fiction elements. A lot of early science fiction would be considered steampunk today, simply because it was contemporary to that time. Of course, modern steampunk tends to use the Disney version of Victorian England, polishing away the grittiness of the era to something that Phil and Kaja Foglio have called Gaslamp Fantasy. True steampunk embraces rather than ignores the dirty underbelly of Victorian society, much like cyberpunk does with its near-future societies. Of course, the full spectrum of gritty-to-shiny encompassed in steampunk ranges from A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to Girl Genius, so the reader is free to choose how they like it.
So why is it called steampunk? A lot of the tech used in steampunk fiction is based on steam technology, the main source of power under development and thus takes place right on the leading edge of the Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, in real-world terms, steam and coal turned out to be a technological dead-end, so many steampunk works handwave this with an element of magic or occult assistance. Since we sci-fi nerds love our cool gadgets, a lot of modern steampunk works will be heavy on the awesome dingbats and light on explanations of how sustainable they are.
Magic in a steampunk setting may come in many forms, if it is used. The main interest of the society of the day was occultism and spiritualism, in particular communicating with the spirits of the dead or generally contacting other worlds. As such, a steampunk spellcaster may find himself called upon to summon or communicate with beings from the afterlife of distant planes, or else to identify and clean up after a supernatural menace that some nimrod called up and couldn't control. There may also be some overlap with alchemy, using quasi-scientific processes to transmute Substance A into Substance B, or to bind elemental forces in ways that augment the technology of the setting (see above). Magic can also cover the ways that certain scientifically-minded individuals can do inadvisable or flat-out impossible things with Science, in much the same way that Dr. Frankenstein was able to create a human being out of spare parts and a nebulously-describe process, Dr. Jekyll was able to unleash his own dark side, or the average Igor in the Discworld universe is able to generally tell the laws of physics to sit down and shut up.
Gender roles in real-world Victorian society were strictly regimented. Women were often the property of the nearest male relation or husband, and typically were not allowed out and about without an escort, to prevent the potential sullying of their honor. By contrast, women in steampunk works are often in active roles in the story beyond damsels in distress. They may work as spies for the government, assassins, spellcasters or other subtle roles which wouldn't be considered ladylike. This can set them up in a contrast against male characters, such as male intellectuals vs. female intuitives, male bruisers vs. female persuaders, or obvious male menace vs. subtle female menace. Of course, their active role has a darker side, as it may be caused by or result in a female protagonist being put into greater danger--and if she can't defend herself ably from the start she better learn in a hurry.
Steampunk can be a fun genre to read and write if you're interested in that general time period and really dig the idea of beating history over the head with the spec fiction stick. When done well, it is a fun look at what might have been, if technological advancement had taken a left rather than a right. You might even have read some steampunk without knowing it, as much of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne fits tidily into this category, as do some of the later Discworld novels, as mentioned above. Done badly, though, it can easily turn into an anachronistic, incomprehensible mess (though I won't name any names). Like with most of the smaller genres, my best advice for a hopeful steampunk author is to start with the classics and find your way from there.
So, to start: what makes a work steampunk? Steampunk is any work that takes place between 1850-ish and 1910-ish that combines historical details with science fiction elements. A lot of early science fiction would be considered steampunk today, simply because it was contemporary to that time. Of course, modern steampunk tends to use the Disney version of Victorian England, polishing away the grittiness of the era to something that Phil and Kaja Foglio have called Gaslamp Fantasy. True steampunk embraces rather than ignores the dirty underbelly of Victorian society, much like cyberpunk does with its near-future societies. Of course, the full spectrum of gritty-to-shiny encompassed in steampunk ranges from A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to Girl Genius, so the reader is free to choose how they like it.
So why is it called steampunk? A lot of the tech used in steampunk fiction is based on steam technology, the main source of power under development and thus takes place right on the leading edge of the Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, in real-world terms, steam and coal turned out to be a technological dead-end, so many steampunk works handwave this with an element of magic or occult assistance. Since we sci-fi nerds love our cool gadgets, a lot of modern steampunk works will be heavy on the awesome dingbats and light on explanations of how sustainable they are.
Magic in a steampunk setting may come in many forms, if it is used. The main interest of the society of the day was occultism and spiritualism, in particular communicating with the spirits of the dead or generally contacting other worlds. As such, a steampunk spellcaster may find himself called upon to summon or communicate with beings from the afterlife of distant planes, or else to identify and clean up after a supernatural menace that some nimrod called up and couldn't control. There may also be some overlap with alchemy, using quasi-scientific processes to transmute Substance A into Substance B, or to bind elemental forces in ways that augment the technology of the setting (see above). Magic can also cover the ways that certain scientifically-minded individuals can do inadvisable or flat-out impossible things with Science, in much the same way that Dr. Frankenstein was able to create a human being out of spare parts and a nebulously-describe process, Dr. Jekyll was able to unleash his own dark side, or the average Igor in the Discworld universe is able to generally tell the laws of physics to sit down and shut up.
Gender roles in real-world Victorian society were strictly regimented. Women were often the property of the nearest male relation or husband, and typically were not allowed out and about without an escort, to prevent the potential sullying of their honor. By contrast, women in steampunk works are often in active roles in the story beyond damsels in distress. They may work as spies for the government, assassins, spellcasters or other subtle roles which wouldn't be considered ladylike. This can set them up in a contrast against male characters, such as male intellectuals vs. female intuitives, male bruisers vs. female persuaders, or obvious male menace vs. subtle female menace. Of course, their active role has a darker side, as it may be caused by or result in a female protagonist being put into greater danger--and if she can't defend herself ably from the start she better learn in a hurry.
Steampunk can be a fun genre to read and write if you're interested in that general time period and really dig the idea of beating history over the head with the spec fiction stick. When done well, it is a fun look at what might have been, if technological advancement had taken a left rather than a right. You might even have read some steampunk without knowing it, as much of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne fits tidily into this category, as do some of the later Discworld novels, as mentioned above. Done badly, though, it can easily turn into an anachronistic, incomprehensible mess (though I won't name any names). Like with most of the smaller genres, my best advice for a hopeful steampunk author is to start with the classics and find your way from there.
September 2, 2014
A Modest Request: August Summary
I hope that everyone had a fantastic Labor Day! I did (got a bunch of writing done and watched Maleficent at the dollar show), and now I'm ready to barrel into September!
In August, I discovered a possible regular venue to selling my books, and one that I wouldn't have considered when I first started with self-publishing: Panera Bread. Yes, the sandwich shop that in the St. Louis area is still known as the St. Louis Bread Company. I set up a table there a couple Sundays ago and sold four books, two to walk-ins. I think this coming month I'll do this again, especially since I'm coming up on Archon 38 and Bookseller's Row, to get me used to selling books face to face.
Aside from the book signing sales, I sold one copy over Amazon and three audiobook copies on Audible. I'm going to rearrange the page for Sheep's Clothing on my website sometime this week to allow my readers to more easily find my stuff, and starting this month I've knocked a dollar off the price of the paperback.
I will be making a big advertising push through Facebook and such, not only to tell people about all the myriad ways they can get Sheep's Clothing, but also to tell them about my author page on Facebook so I can get more "Like"s. I've found a website called Tweet My Books which has a big list of free review sites, so I will be working my way through that as well.
To that end, here is the expected raft of links:
To Buy Sheep's Clothing
Amazon Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Sheeps-Clothing-Elizabeth-Einspanier/dp/1495358372/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1402671109&sr=1-2
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Sheeps-Clothing-Elizabeth-Einspanier-ebook/dp/B00IWY0Z6A/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-2&qid=1402671109
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sheeps-clothing-elizabeth-einspanier/1118630507?ean=9781495358371
Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Sheeps-Clothing-Audiobook/B00MJ3LWZI/ref=a_search_c4_1_6_srTtl?qid=1407942119&sr=1-6#publisher-summary
Find Me Online
Website: http://elizabetheinspanier.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.einspanier.author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GeekGirlWriter
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ElizabethEinspanier/about
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/GeekGirlWriter
Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com/profile/eeinspanier
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a1002742061/Elizabeth-Einspanier/
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/elizabetheinspanier
Is there anything you've like me to write an article about on my blog? Let me know!
In August, I discovered a possible regular venue to selling my books, and one that I wouldn't have considered when I first started with self-publishing: Panera Bread. Yes, the sandwich shop that in the St. Louis area is still known as the St. Louis Bread Company. I set up a table there a couple Sundays ago and sold four books, two to walk-ins. I think this coming month I'll do this again, especially since I'm coming up on Archon 38 and Bookseller's Row, to get me used to selling books face to face.
Aside from the book signing sales, I sold one copy over Amazon and three audiobook copies on Audible. I'm going to rearrange the page for Sheep's Clothing on my website sometime this week to allow my readers to more easily find my stuff, and starting this month I've knocked a dollar off the price of the paperback.
I will be making a big advertising push through Facebook and such, not only to tell people about all the myriad ways they can get Sheep's Clothing, but also to tell them about my author page on Facebook so I can get more "Like"s. I've found a website called Tweet My Books which has a big list of free review sites, so I will be working my way through that as well.
To that end, here is the expected raft of links:
To Buy Sheep's Clothing
Amazon Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Sheeps-Clothing-Elizabeth-Einspanier/dp/1495358372/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1402671109&sr=1-2
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Sheeps-Clothing-Elizabeth-Einspanier-ebook/dp/B00IWY0Z6A/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-2&qid=1402671109
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sheeps-clothing-elizabeth-einspanier/1118630507?ean=9781495358371
Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Sheeps-Clothing-Audiobook/B00MJ3LWZI/ref=a_search_c4_1_6_srTtl?qid=1407942119&sr=1-6#publisher-summary
Find Me Online
Website: http://elizabetheinspanier.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.einspanier.author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GeekGirlWriter
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ElizabethEinspanier/about
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/GeekGirlWriter
Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com/profile/eeinspanier
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a1002742061/Elizabeth-Einspanier/
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/author/elizabetheinspanier
Is there anything you've like me to write an article about on my blog? Let me know!
