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Agony Aunt
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Today I mostly wrote ... the word count thread.
message 3701:
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Anna
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Jun 28, 2021 01:20AM
Big smiles here for you, Alicia!
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Thanks, Anna. I love how the authors here understand - and support.It is a profession where it is rare that we can do anything directly to help the writing - but can always do something to help the writer.
MUCH appreciated.
Alicia wrote: "There are 535 words sitting in the beginning of the new scene. Some of them are already in the right position.Getting to the starting line and putting a few in was the work of today - the first d..."
That's brilliant Alicia, I hope this is the start of a run of good days.
I wrote 1.2k today. I wanted to write some more but events overtook me and I hadn't time. There are two things which are progressing well for the moment so I'm just going with the flow.
M.T. wrote: "I wrote 1.2k today. I wanted to write some more but events overtook me and I hadn't time. There are two things which are progressing well for the moment so I'm just going with the flow."Great job. In the not-too-distant future, when the young one is away at University (I assume) or similar, you will have more control - and you will be SO well started already!
M.T. wrote: "I wrote 1.2k today. I wanted to write some more but events overtook me and I hadn't time. There are two things which are progressing well for the moment so I'm just going with the flow."Does it feel that the tide has turned? I hope so.
Anna wrote: "Does it feel that the tide has turned? I hope so..."I'm not sure it's turned exactly, it's more like surfing, a period of struggle followed by an easy ride in ... right now after a difficult period of paddling against the current it does feel as if I'm riding the wave so I'm enjoying it while it lasts. The trick is to write lots of stuff at the same time so there's always one that's in caught-the-wave mode. It doesn't always work out like that though.
Alicia wrote: "Great job. In the not-too-distant future, when the young one is away at University (I assume) or similar, you will have more control - and you will be SO well started already!."
Mwahahahrgh! Thanks. Fingers crossed. It depends how long Mum is around and whether McOther (or I) get dementia. Judging by McOther's ability to remember whether or not he's seen a TV programme before it's going to be him. Obvs I hope it will be neither of us!
Jim wrote: "Published four books! :-)"Wow - bows down in awe!
M.T. wrote: "Even more excellent, Jim.I wrote just under 1.5k yesterday. Was dead cuffed with that. This is a new series and I intend to have written three or four books before I bother publishing the first one...Then I'll sell it as straight sci fi which will be way, way easier than trying to sell humorous sci fi, which has become a sub genre of romance, therefore rendering my books invisible."
Good grief, that's mind blowing. Romance?????
Alicia wrote: "There are 535 words sitting in the beginning of the new scene. Some of them are already in the right position.Getting to the starting line and putting a few in was the work of today - the first d..."
Excellent!
Just finished a through edit of two chapters for a book being workshopped round my crit group and reached the end of the KK readthrough of the other book, with a few pages of things to address in the last few chapters (I note things on paper as I listen). Then it will need to be repeated and all the front/back matter sorted out too.
M.T. wrote: " Judging by McOther's ability to remember whether or not he's seen a TV programme before it's going to be him. Obvs I hope it will be neither of us!..."Ditto. Maybe it's just a male thing - he seems okay otherwise.
I read somewhere that a mark of dementia is that the person knows something is wrong, and start trying to hide their confusion by pretending they know what's going on. If so, the husband is fine - he admits he doesn't remember, and seems surprised that I do. Often it just takes him a lot longer into a rerun before he will start to realize he's seen it before.
Both of our mothers had dementia - I hope we got our fathers' genes!
Pam wrote: "Just finished a through edit of two chapters for a book being workshopped round my crit group and reached the end of the KK readthrough of the other book, with a few pages of things to address in t..."Progress is nice.
Pam wrote: "Just finished a through edit of two chapters for a book being workshopped round my crit group and reached the end of the KK readthrough of the other book, with a few pages of things to address in t..."I love the way everybody does things differently and all the methods seem to work :-)
I wonder how many writers in this group do it all themselves, how many are traditionally published, and what percentage of the work the remainder pay someone else to do (editing, covers, formatting, proofing, etc.).
Nothing yesterday. Went to Mum's. Had to go the long way. 80 miles longer because the M11 was borked. Coming back I had to take a detour because the M25 was borked. Somewhere round Chipping Ongar in the middle of said detour my gearstick fell off between gears leaving me stuck in neutral. Got home eventually but ... let's just say it was an interesting day.
Alicia wrote: "I wonder how many writers in this group do it all themselves, how many are traditionally published, and what percentage of the work the remainder pay someone else to do (editing, covers, formatting..."I don't think many are 'traditionally published' as in the biggest five or six, but I suspect a number have or have had contracts with small publishers
I think a lot do pay for some editing, or covers or whatever but I don't think there's a one size fits all for this
Some will rely on good friends, others will have some of the skills necessary to do, for example, covers
Jim's on the ball again, Alicia. I do it all except for the very good friend who does the covers (though I often source the pics). A couple of beta reading saints, er friends, are essential people in my world!However - marketing... grr. That costs - a lot.
Was just curious about the specifics of those who might respond in this group.On the first one, I did everything. Wasn't planning to - but my proofreader was in the middle of something when I needed her, and I ended up doing it.
I know there's a wide variety here of those who write.
Alicia wrote: "I wonder how many writers in this group do it all themselves, how many are traditionally published, and what percentage of the work the remainder pay someone else to do (editing, covers, formatting..."I self publish but I have paid for covers and a professional copyeditor. I have been lucky enough to have a pro writer do a developmental edit on my first one, and for another indie writer to beta read another, plus I send books round my online crit group for comments. I do the formatting myself.
I have a small publisher who do the lot. In that respect I am very fortunate because I am chronically disorganised, easily distracted and have more hope in my bones than is good for me.Still. It's all good fun!
There's no right or wrong answer, but I was curious whether we had more indie or traditional authors.When you say you have a publisher, are you paying, Stuart? Do you get an advance?
Stuart wrote: "I have a small publisher who do the lot. In that respect I am very fortunate because I am chronically disorganised, easily distracted and have more hope in my bones than is good for me.Still. It'..."
Having someone who 'does the lot' gives you more time to write, so it can be sensible. I'd like an unpaid, keen marketer... dream on, Anna.
Hi Alicia - I don't pay the publisher nor do I get an advance - just a percentage of the sales.
Belatedly answering the how much do you do question ...I get someone who knows what they're doing to design the covers but I retain copyright of the results. I do all the formatting myself. I use beta readers to look at the finished manuscript and then when they've spotted a whole host of crap and I've corrected it, I send the manuscript off to the editor who is good but expensive. I reckon the Beta readers just about halved the editing costs of Too Good To Be True. I format the innards of the paperback. So ... yeh, I pay for editing and covers ... ah yes, and Audiobook narration. Which I could probably do but the editing the files and all that gubbins would be a nightmare.
Stuart wrote: "Hi Alicia - I don't pay the publisher nor do I get an advance - just a percentage of the sales."Sounds like an excellent arrangement. I'm envious. Wish you and the publisher much success.
M.T. wrote: "Belatedly answering the how much do you do question ...I get someone who knows what they're doing to design the covers but I retain copyright of the results. I do all the formatting myself. I use ..."
Every cost that is paid to someone else is an investment - which I hope works out for you really well long term.
I'm not doing anything else with my retired life but getting this trilogy right, so I can afford to learn to do the small tasks. I can also afford to pay for some of them, but then I'd have to interface with other people, something that hasn't gone well for me before: it's my lack of energy combined with high standards and the inability to explain when visions differ. I tried - cover, editing, formatting, and took it all back in house because of my seeing things so differently from others.
I can't believe I started the scene I just finished (not polished yet, but that's an hour or two, and much more predictable) on JUNE 15th. It's been an absolutely horrible almost four weeks, with doctor's appointments and a bunch of things that had to be done, and me taking forever to recover from each (I am never going to a doctor again as long as I live).
On Monday I will pick up my two sets of new glasses, and that is it.
I have finally located, interviewed, and hired a new assistant. It's good because I will have help twice a week for two hours from 3-5pm. It's bad because of the same, but whatever I accomplish WITH her help will surely be more than without, and I/we/the apartment we never fully moved into because pandemic and I was waiting for a former assistant will finally progress toward a habitation for humans. We will start with the dustbunnies on things I haven't let Housekeeping near.
And another milestone: I have been saving to tuck into the right spot something I acquired from Patti years ago: it is the last line in the end of the scene, transmogrified from Scotland (her original) to Ireland (long story):
He brought the saddle.
She had a thought. “Shouldn’t we wait until it stops raining?”
He snorted, kept buckling.
“What?”
“This time o’ year, the most ye can hope for is a slightly drier rain.”
I am a happy camper again. Also, no surgery.
Thanks, Patti.
Jim wrote: "never throw away good lines :-)"The trick is remembering you have them, and being able to find them. Scrivener saves me all the time.
I just store them away in a word document, if I forget I had them they weren't all that good :-)
With you there, Jim - although I am far too disorganised to store anything. Throwing myself into finishing The Truth About Trees. Have a deadline of 30th August as after that I'm off travelling for six months or so!
Trouble is that with each successive draft, I'm deleting two or three thousand words and replacing them with six or seven thousand new ones!
Stuart wrote: "With you there, Jim - although I am far too disorganised to store anything. Throwing myself into finishing The Truth About Trees. Have a deadline of 30th August as after that I'm off travelling f..."
OMG I do understand that problem, Stuart, good going though.
Stuart said Trouble is that with each successive draft, I'm deleting two or three thousand words and replacing them with six or seven thousand new ones!Yup! Funny how that happens.
Stuart wrote: "Trouble is that with each successive draft, I'm deleting two or three thousand words and replacing them with six or seven thousand new ones!.."sounds to me that you're on a roll :-)
Just done a bunch of crits for my online group. Now need to produce a rough ebook and do another Kindle Keyboard read through of the book I'm trying to get out next to make sure I didn't introduce any clangers when editing it last time.
It can be embarrassing when you add more errors than you take out :-(
It can be but I do it the whole time so if you have you're not alone.
Me too. I find errors have a certain character about them I rather like. Always try to leave one or to in so the endearing little tykes don't feel too marginalised.
I was wondering how you all come up with (if you do) your chapter titles? I've always had great fun with mine but not sure that's the point of them!
When a reader looks at the Table of Contents, a list of numbers is useless.My Chapter titles, chosen after each chapter is finished, the epigraphs are in place, and I know what would remind ME of the contents, are there so people who lose their place might be able to figure out where they were.
They can be anything from a biblical or classical literature reference to something I made up that sounds like one. I find them fun, too, Stuart.
I've begun using random phases from each chapter which is rather enjoyable.Certainly a step up from one of my novels where each of the 12 chapters was headed by the roman numeral sequence of the 12 bar blues progression...
What is an epigraph, by the way, Alicia?
A quotation at the beginning of a chapter. Sort of a mood-setter for the chapter, but I use them for much more.There is another layer of my story which is set in the entertainment word, writing and movies: the outside world's incessant commenting on everything. I have two group characters - Good fans and Bad fans - who can be counted on to provide a description of what they think is going on among the principals that has a positive spin or a negative one.
You don't have to read the epigraphs - many people are used to seeing poetry as epigraphs, and often skip reading them - but IF you do, you get that extra layer of 'outside' opinion/information.
The critical pieces will be referenced inside the text of the story anyway, but there is a constant nattering at my characters in gossip columns and by critics and fan sites that among other things shows how biased and wrong the fans can be. And how vocal about it.
My chapters have 2-4 epigraphs.
I put them there for what they add to the story, and some of my readers really love them.
I just do a couple of words about what happens. EG, Chapter 4: Uh-oh.
But MT - aren't many of your chapters uh-ohs? That sort of the point, isn't it?The real point is to do what pleases you - these are your books, and one of the pleasures of indie is to do as you please.
Most things don't work as well as we'd like, but that's because there are too many people all trying to find the clever way to stand out from the crowd, not because we aren't doing the right things.
Pity the readers. At least we have our eyes open about our own stuff - they have to wade through everyone's to pick something to read.
Stuart wrote: "I've begun using random phases from each chapter which is rather enjoyable...."
I've done that for my Dark Moon series. Just picking out a phrase which encapsulates the mood or the action. Bit of a tussle when it came to doing the Table of Contents. I stopped doing it for my last book but I've been thinking I'll do it for the wip.
If I couldn't find an interesting phrase, it would mean there's one stodgy chapter showing up.
M.T's shorts looks like a good idea.
Anna wrote: "Stuart wrote: "I've begun using random phases from each chapter which is rather enjoyable...."
I've done that for my Dark Moon series. Just picking out a phrase which encapsulates the mood or the..."
It’s more a case that I find it easier, otherwise, choosing the chapter names is a bit of a headache!
Alicia wrote: "But MT - aren't many of your chapters uh-ohs?..."
Mwahahahrgh! Yeh, there are several Uh-ohs in several books and there are a few called Disaster! as well. And yes, I think we just have to do what we’re most comfortable with.
I’ve written nothing again. I suspect the novel I want to write isn’t working because I haven’t got the world down yet, even though the characters won’t shut up. And now I’m pressuring myself too much about the K’Barthan short so it’s not happening. On the up side, I could probably finish a different one if I just sat down and got to it. although it isn’t really one I want to write, I could do it relatively easily so I should probably get that done so it’s ready to release in November. Then at least I’ll have had two books out this year, which is a relief.
I’d sort of forgotten about the summer holidays, which are always a washout, and then there’s Christmas, so basically, if it isn’t written by the end of May (our birthdays are in June so that’s always a wash out too) it ain’t gonna get written. I’m alright with that, but at the same time, I’m in the mood to write, so it’s a bit annoying in other ways. The fickle muse and all that.
Onwards and upwards!
Ah, M.T. real life sure does get in the way of the imagined.
Yep. Just got the end of my chores and McOther comes in, smiles sweetly and says, 'When you're done here, is there any way you could just make a quick salad?' So instead of doing half an hour's writing, I'll be making a potato salad and then a green salad and then our mates will arrive and I'll be humaning again. This is the holidays, then the September term is catching up on all the things I tried to do over the holidays but couldn't. Then, finally, in about February, March and April I get to write something but to be honest, if it isn't finished by May, the same shit starts all over again. It's weird but I've only just realised that this is The Way Of Things. Duh. Now I have though, I can devise a system of production. Essentially this year I spent my writing time indulging myself writing a book I'll probably never finish or publish - but which I'm enjoying writing immensely - and so there may be one more release this year, if I manage to finish the Christmas novella while I'm on holiday. We shall see ...
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