THE Group for Authors! discussion
The Craft
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Why do we write?
We write because we love fantasy and because we want to share the wonder and the magic of a really good book.
Right on John. With today's economy publishers will not even talk to you unless you're agented and agents will not talk to you unless they are sure they can sell at least 10,000 of your title in the first year of publication. Back in the day publishing houses were run by people who really cared about books and writers. Now it's all about the Benjamins. After enough rejection slips to paper any room in my house, I opted to go with a family owned POD imprint. I've had some good reviews including one from Kirkus Reviews. My add in this past Sunday's New York Times Book Review wherein I included four excerpts from some really good reviewers including Kirkus and Midwest Book Review. Must have had some effect since I see my ranking on Amazon's bestsellers rating scheme has gone from 5,000,000 to 75,000 (at times) for my novel Point Deception.Jim Gilliam
Peter wrote: "Charles wrote: "I am writing a new novel that is in my opinion a work of art. It is about the end of the world. Every author that I have ever talked to has an opinion about the end of the world. Ma..."I don't do remakes. If I write something, it has never been written before. My end of the world is better than the rest.
Peter wrote: "Dan: There's a difference between the theory that there are only a very stories which are told over and over again and using the same mechanisms to tell those stories. That's where originality come..."Again I agree. Everything that I write must not be something that has been written before. I just hate Hollywood for bringing back the past. We as writers must make them look for new material to put on film. We can only do that by writing new material. If we choose old winners such as the end of the world then so be it. We must speak to the new generation which seems to be TV addicts.
Dan wrote: "Peter: In order for you to know if the vast majority of "end of the world stories" are immitative, you would have had to read more than the vast majority; or at least read as many credible reviews...."Peter. I think you got the point. It doesn't matter what has been written so far, it is what is to be written.
My all-time favorite "end of the world" story is still Lucifer's Hammer. A great read.
Karen wrote: "My all-time favorite "end of the world" story is still Lucifer's Hammer. A great read."OMG, you just proved I'm getting old. I'd completely forgotten about that one. Thanks! Great book.
Conquest will be your next favorite. Wait! I am still gatherering research material.
Hello Jim, good to hear. I take it you're in the US?I am in Australia. A best seller here is anything over 2,000 books sold (depending on who you talk to) but it's still a struggle to achieve 'double figures' !
The reviewers you mentioned are unknown to me but I am listed in Barnes & Noble (Reluctant Hero by John Hickman)
Very good comments from all. Now let us talk about paybacks! If you are a writer, and I guess most of the comments came from writers, What if we don't sell our books very well. Will we quit? I think that this could lead to a good discussion on why we write?
Hello Charles, good to hear from you. I never wrote anything but business letters and reports before I retired in 2003, mainly because I never found the time. I developed a passion for writing when I found I couldn't play golf. It intensified when I tried 'smelling the flowers' - and they all smelled the same.
My wife of 45 years said I needed an interest between rising in the mornings and drinking alcohol - so I persevered. She says at my age I should be a mature writer, how about you?
Karen wrote: "We write because we love fantasy and because we want to share the wonder and the magic of a really good book."I love that Karen, well said.
John wrote: "Hello Charles, good to hear from you. I never wrote anything but business letters and reports before I retired in 2003, mainly because I never found the time. I developed a passion for writing whe..."
Nice. I hope you have gotten a better relationship with your wife. writing what you feel could be the way to tell the world how you feel.
Actually I think I've got a really good relationship with my wife; we've been together nearly 46 years!I don't know your age? I'm an old fart, but I've learned that writing what you truly feel, like always telling people the truth, might upset more people than you please. Maybe that's why politicians keep on keeping on? Because they don't tell the truth!
'Tripping Over' is a sequel to a book I published on Smashwords in April called 'Reluctant Hero' (a true story) about my dad, Bill's experiences as a Lancaster bomber pilot in WWII. What are you writing?
John wrote: "Hello Jim, good to hear. I take it you're in the US?I am in Australia. A best seller here is anything over 2,000 books sold (depending on who you talk to) but it's still a struggle to achieve 'dou..."
Very interesting John. I wonder what the number is for a NY Times bestseller? I don't know what the numbers are for a bestseller in Canada. I have a new book, Shame: Conception, coming out this month so I will have to ask.
I've heard the NY Times bestseller is 100,000, but that is 100,000 shipped to the bookstores not 100,000 sold. This is how books that have not yet been published can instantly be on the "best sellers" list. It is a way for the big publishers to manipulate the market but they only do this for books where they pay a really big advance and they want to make sure they recoup their investment.
Karen wrote: "I've heard the NY Times bestseller is 100,000, but that is 100,000 shipped to the bookstores not 100,000 sold. This is how books that have not yet been published can instantly be on the "best selle..."Thank you Karen. Sorry I haven't found out the numbers for Canada yet.
Charles wrote: "Very good comments from all. Now let us talk about paybacks! If you are a writer, and I guess most of the comments came from writers, What if we don't sell our books very well. Will we quit? I thin..."Even if my novels don't sell well, I'll never quit. Writing is such a big part of who I am that I don't think I could stop. I plan to keep attending workshops and taking classes so I continue to improve though. Hopefully that will help my odds! :)
John wrote: "'Tripping Over' is a sequel to a book I published on Smashwords in April called 'Reluctant Hero' (a true story) about my dad, Bill's experiences as a Lancaster bomber pilot in WWII. What are you wr..."I love that you wrote about your dad's experience John. What a fantastic way to remember someone. I write young adult fantasy.
Karen wrote: "I've heard the NY Times bestseller is 100,000, but that is 100,000 shipped to the bookstores not 100,000 sold. This is how books that have not yet been published can instantly be on the "best selle..."Unfortunately, that's accurate. It takes a lot of the prestige out of being a NY Times bestseller since it really isn't about sales at all. Though hopefully if the stores order in so many copies, they'll sell a bunch of them!
I think they should separate the "new york times best seller" from the "best shippers". One is earned, the other is a manipulated lie.
I've come into this conversation late, so as it has moved on so much further than 'Why Do I Write?', forgive me for wanting to answer the original question.For me it was a passion I had as a kid, but lost the drive until about ten years ago (in my mid-thirties). I'm so glad I rediscovered it.
I've always loved to communicate ideas and stories, but most of all I like to (hopefully) entertain an audience/readership. In another life I studied acting and our major rule was 'you are there for the audience, the audience isn't there for you'.
I guess that's what I like about the rediscovery of writing. It's easier to get ideas across than other artistic hobbies I have, and I love to (again, hopefully) put a smile on the face of someone who has read my work.
Great points Kevin! I have always been an artist in service of the story. I have worked in comic books for 25 years. So when I write I still feel that I my work should serve the story. I try to make my decisions follow that philosophy. However, I think that there is still a lot of leeway for me to make artistic choices. In that way I can feed my personal visions of how the should be told. And I can tell the stories I want to tell, whether I am doing work for hire or a creator owned story. As you said, it is that need to tell the story that we have to feed. We have to keep the kid happy and telling those stories to his audience.
Kuddos to both Kevin and Lovern. Why do I write is the main theme.
My end of the world book has just turned into a futuristic horror story.
Charles wrote: "Why do we write? Are we egomaniacs? I think not. I write because I can. I have new ideas that have never been published before. Let us write because there are voices to be heard. Join in please."
I write for many different reasons. I'd like to believe that the sole reason is that I absolutely love to do it, but not always. Sometimes it can be a drag, just like anything else, though when I write I feel like I am in complete control of my craft and that until I submit my work somewhere nobody can tell me what I can or cannot do. I'm a big believer in free will, and with writing there are no limits to that... like I said, until you try to actually make money off of it.
Which brings me to the next reason why I like to write: I've grown up being told to be careful in choosing your career because you should truly enjoy what you want to do, which is true to a certain extent. Maybe today not so much, with people scrounging for entry-level positions at their local Meijer just to pay their smart phone bill(s). Knowing that I have a unique talent and voice in my writing, and that I can make money off of it, drives me to push harder in my craft, to master it, even temporarily, so that I can leave a legacy.
Which is my third reason. Every human being searches for something to leave their legacy, whether their genes live on through their children, through the buildings they design, the cases they won, etc. With writing, you are given the utmost opportunity to leave a legacy with your words that generations to come may appreciate and use constructively to shape their lives. That is, unless there's some type of Farenheit 451 scenario going to happen in the near future.
Writers encompass everything in this world, they are maestros leading their orchestra, they are engineers and architects designing a piece so it doesn't cave in on itself. Writers speak for humanity, plead cases, support causes, what have you. Where would we be without writers?
Garrett Dennert
I write for many different reasons. I'd like to believe that the sole reason is that I absolutely love to do it, but not always. Sometimes it can be a drag, just like anything else, though when I write I feel like I am in complete control of my craft and that until I submit my work somewhere nobody can tell me what I can or cannot do. I'm a big believer in free will, and with writing there are no limits to that... like I said, until you try to actually make money off of it.
Which brings me to the next reason why I like to write: I've grown up being told to be careful in choosing your career because you should truly enjoy what you want to do, which is true to a certain extent. Maybe today not so much, with people scrounging for entry-level positions at their local Meijer just to pay their smart phone bill(s). Knowing that I have a unique talent and voice in my writing, and that I can make money off of it, drives me to push harder in my craft, to master it, even temporarily, so that I can leave a legacy.
Which is my third reason. Every human being searches for something to leave their legacy, whether their genes live on through their children, through the buildings they design, the cases they won, etc. With writing, you are given the utmost opportunity to leave a legacy with your words that generations to come may appreciate and use constructively to shape their lives. That is, unless there's some type of Farenheit 451 scenario going to happen in the near future.
Writers encompass everything in this world, they are maestros leading their orchestra, they are engineers and architects designing a piece so it doesn't cave in on itself. Writers speak for humanity, plead cases, support causes, what have you. Where would we be without writers?
Garrett Dennert
Charles wrote: "My end of the world book has just turned into a futuristic horror story."If you lived 'down-under' I'd suggest you've been watching too many 6 O'Clock News shows. If you follow the Global Crisis in the USA then it's obvious the end of the world is a futuristic horror story! And not far off! (Only joking!)
Tell us more about your book, please?
Best, John
I guess I struck a nerve or two. I have been busy rewriting my second novel "The Curse" a very different outlook on Romania and monsters and such. My third book "Conguest" has to do with what happens to the world because we humans have raped it to the point that catastrophies change the planet to a point that a modern Hitler, although he isn't as evil, can control a large part of the surviving human populace. It is just in the beginning stages but it is coming along quite nicely.
I've alway wanted to write and enjoy telling stories but after seeing the books my sons were reading I knew I could do better. The rest they say is history
Hi, new to the conversation--my first post. This question drew me in because I've asked myself that question often. I think I started writing because I loved to read and wanted to join in the big "conversation" I saw taking place in books. I wrote my first poem at seven and suddenly I was the family poet. (It was a way to shine among 9 siblings.) I found the same niche at school--became the class poet, the writer of plays for other kids to perform for school holidays. I found it easier to "speak" on paper or through actors.Writing became an addiction, part of my psyche--a way to tap into what I'm thinking, my view of the world, a way to express my thoughts coherently and/or symbolically. I started my first journal at 14 and have kept one ever since. I return to it when I'm writing a YA novel or when I want to recall what it felt like to be in love or pregnant or heartbroken for the first time.
Writing allows me to sound much more organized and intelligent than I ever could speaking off the cuff.
I discovered early that my characters could also speak for me and could always come up with the clever retort that I would have thought of days or weeks later.
For most of my writing life I wrote after hours or as part of my job--as a mentor for YAWT (Young Artists Workshop Theater) I always produced one of my own plays along with the young writers works to encourage and inspire them. I wrote for young readers at Scholastic. My short stories have been published in various literary magazines, but I wrote my first mystery CRIMSON ICE in response to a challenge from my sister. It was accepted for publication but then the publisher went bankrupt. I decided to reclaim it and publish it myself through Lulu and promote it on Amazon. Just now expanded to a Kindle edition. Of course I'd like to sell a million copies, but to be honest, it makes me happy just to hear that someone read it and enjoyed it. A mystery book club chose it and wrote me fan letters--my first ever-- and I was thrilled. I often give away copies to people I meet, hoping they'll enjoy it and spread the word, and I set my Kindle price low and even allow lending because I'd rather have it out there.
Getting an agent is a catch-22 for sure, but a good agent does much more than collect $$. She can be an advisor, a mentor, a critic, an advocate. My agent has assured me that when she loves a book she never gives up on it. I'm hoping it won't be long before my first YA is out there.
I really liked to topic of this group, and immediately knew that I wanted to contribute to it. For me, I like to write as it is an opportunity to create fictional worlds, and, be able to tell the stories that I want to tell, and, hopefully, which readers will find interesting.
I believe we writers are all seeking different truths, and, through our writing, wish to create more open discussion about the themes and topics which we are pursuing.
I believe that, in many instances, we seek to make a better, fairer world with our viewpoints, which are expressed through our writing.
I also believe for many writers that there may be a dissatisfaction with life itself, and writing is a way of "improving" upon life, albeit with our own individual stamps.
I've found that even if I don't write I'll be given new storylines in future dreams I have.
John wrote: "I've found that even if I don't write I'll be given new storylines in future dreams I have."I do the same thing...I keep pen and paper close by... then enter them into the laptop in the morning with dream dates
I have finished my second book, Learning to Love the Peso. The above topic for me is "Why do I like to write non-fiction". I respect fiction writers and what they create. Non fiction is a writer who is a good observer of their life and the world around them. Both Living Beneath the Radar and Peso are non fiction and I love to get into the grove and bring up the adventures and describe the exciting world around me, either as it happened 35 years ago or in a day to day recap as I made my move to Mexico to live. 2nd book out next year.
Ever since I was a kid, I felt inspired to write-- largely because reading prompted ideas for stories. Now, I think I additionally write because all of the wonderful and fantastic things that as an adult I realize don't really exist, can come to life for me through fiction.Fiction allows me to satirize the absurd, to make the unreal (and often surreal) real, and even get in that really good line I wished I'd thought of in live conversations.
I write basically as a way to entertain myself. I find something satisfying in having a story turn out exactly how I want it to. This would be why I give up on much of what i have written; it can become embarrassing to try and share. I've only tried to publish what turns out interesting in a way I believe others could understand.
Apparently, today is National Writing Day. Who knew? Anyway, there are a lot of people telling stories similar to these on Twitter with the hashtag #whyiwrite. Just thought you might want to join in.
I started writing for many reasons. I may be young, but my family has been having a lot of complications for years. We aren't very well "put together" as some would say. Eventually, a lot of emotions got pent up inside of me that I didn't know how to let out. I opened a blank word document and began writing furiously, letting emotions spill into my words, allowing all of those feelings be shown within a different story. When I finished writing that day, I read through my story and discovered that I had a hidden talent. My writing comes from my heart... I don't write because I feel like writing. I write because it's my obsession. I love the way my emotions look on paper, and for that reason, I keep going.
Thanks for sharing that, Amy. I think that many of us write for that reason. Someone recently asked me whether I always wanted to be a writer. I never thought of it that way, like I was making a decision. I just wrote.I wish I'd started writing fiction when I was younger. I kept diaries and was a prolific letter writer and wrote essays and creative non-fiction (and was a lawyer). It was probably a good background in some ways, but I had a lot to learn about developing a plot, and that has taken a few years.
If you have a natural talent you should develop it.Good luck on your writing career!
Thank you, S.B.! Like you, I also kept diaries and journals for a long time. When I was in fifth grade, my teacher was so blown away by my creative non-fiction essay that she insisted on reading it to all of the parents on information night. I'm not trying to brag... I don't do that kind of thing. But I think you're right. I should develop my writing skills more, and that's what I'm trying to do. Currently, my mother works at a college, and I can take classes there for free. I have taken some literature and English classes there, and they have improved my abilities by ten fold!
I guess the simple answer is: Because I had to. What changed recently was making that writing good enough to try to share with others and getting the editorial help I needed to be unashamed of the result.
I'm having fun Dan, but only now and then. Mostly it's torture. The self-selling that is.
Regards to all: David Rory.
I'm having fun Dan, but only now and then. Mostly it's torture. The self-selling that is.
Regards to all: David Rory.
I often write because of the satisfaction, the feeling that something at least was accomplished, when I manage to bring off a paragraph, a page, that reads well.
I started writing because I was disappointed with the science fiction I was seeing as a kid. Even at eight years old I though G.I. Joe had crappy dialogue and pathetic plot. Now I write to follow Rod Serling's footsteps of having the Martian say what no one else can get away with and Mark Twain's approach of being an honest liar.
I may be quite out of my league here, but I wrote my novel because I wanted to say something to my family without screwing it up. I wished them to know a little of the 'me' that lives inside. After I'm gone, at least that part will continue... if they pick it up and read.
I have been writing most of my life because it's something I love to do. It makes me feel good. I was never really into sports and when I did play I was average at best. Writing lets me do things I wouldn't get to do otherwise. I go places that only exist in my fantasy-filled mind. I like bringing joy and hopefully laughter to my readers.
For me, writing feels like breathing or thinking. Much of the time it seems like I can't think unless I'm holding a pen. Writing helps me to know myself better, which is extremely important to me. It also helps me to communicate the things I feel I must communicate. There's so much more to it, of course.
In answer to the topic question, I could not have said it better myself.
But this: Ali wrote: "To write a book is easy; it only requires pen and ink and the ever patient paper. To read a book is more difficult, because of the tendency to go to sleep...but the most difficult task of all that ..." is the most profound comment yet.
And @Peter. Thanks for the laugh!
Sharon