Writing vs. Writer

I've read about wanting to write vs. wanting to be a writer.

Me, I want to write more than I want to be a writer.

So what does that mean? Allow me to illustrate by telling a story.

In January of 2009, I went to the New York Comic Con. I had a still-cooling first draft of A Monstrous War in my hands and wanted to talk to some writers, editors, marketing people, and whoever else would talk to me about the industry. I wasn't going to pitch (This is not the place to pitch, and I wasn't ready anyway), I just wanted to get the lay of the land.

I spoke to an undisclosed editor, who told me point blank that this was not the time to try to sell a traditional fantasy novel. If I wanted to get published, undisclosed editor said, I should write urban fantasy. The only way traditional fantasy would be published, they said, was someone had to be in love with the book. I'm paraphrasing, but the gist was, an agent and editor had to be willing to put everything on the line to get it published.

I was told my book had better be a very special book if I had a chance.

Now, my first reaction was to say "Don't worry, it is." However, I just nodded and asked undisclosed editor how their weekend was going and wished them the best.

I could have went home, shelved A Monstrous War, and tried to write an urban fantasy novel. Actually, that's a lie -- I couldn't have done that. Because I didn't have an urban fantasy novel in my head that needed to be written.

If I wanted to be a writer more than I wanted to write, then I would have grinded one out, and maybe it would have cut the mustard in a hot market, but it wouldn't have had any spark or magic.

I want to write. I want to tell the stories I have in me that need to be told. I just don't have that mercenary quality. If someone asked me to write for an anthology, and I thought I had something worth it, I'd go for it. But if not, I'd have to pass.

Because of that, what I write is always going to have magic in it.

Orb Bestiary: the Blood Cardinal

The Damphel is also known as the Blood Cardinal. It is a small bird, weighing only 165 grams. Its plumage is the color of dried blood, but other areas of the bird, such its beak and feet, are a deep, fleshy pink.

The most interesting feature of the Damphel are the bony projections that extrude from its head, in the approximate location where a normal cardinal would have a feathered crown. These projections are a veiny pink, which appear to be tied to the cardinal’s nervous system and brain. This strange adaptation has been employed by those with knowledge of the beast for centuries.

If one can obtain a blood cardinal, and prick their finger upon the bone crown, an interesting reaction occurs. The cardinal will sit quietly for approximately 30 seconds, then take flight, leading the owner of the blood it bears to the thing they most desire.

Why this occurs is unknown. It is theorized that the blood is somehow absorbed by the cardinal’s bone crown and signals are sent to its avian brain. However, it has been noted the bone crown must pierce the skin; blood that has been exposed to open air will not activate its seeking mechanism.

Because of this power the Damphel is used by investigators, treasure hunters, and thieves. It is also used by those whose loved ones have disappeared or been kidnapped. Young romantics often use the blood cardinal to attempt to find love, but beware: if your motives are impure, and you seek carnal desire, it will simply take you to the most likely candidate.

A lord with a Damphel as a totem will be seen as a seeker of things, and person of great desire and passion. They will also be seen as a possessive person, with many wants and needs. They may be thought of as quick to change their hearts, or uncertain, as the Damphel is needed to guide them. Of course, if the holder of the totem engages in a life of service, this perception changes, as they often help others seek what they want most.

The Damphel was the totem of Saint Raphael Christholm, Valadin and head of King Thane I’s Quests and Crusades division. Christholm was a famed seeker of lost artifacts, and secured many treasures for his King, most famously recovering the King’s amulet after it was stolen by “Lord” Herne in AA 4137.

The Boyscout Approach

My first writing conference was very successful. I attribute this to being prepared.

- I had a finished book, synopsis, and query.

- I knew my book and could describe it in 25 words.

- I had business cards. This is a must.

- I dressed the part. Actually, I overdressed a bit. Still, I looked professional.

- I did my research. I knew who would be there, who I needed to talk to, and even if I didn't need to talk to them, I familiarized myself with their work, so if I ran across them I could strike up a conversation.

- I was passionate about my book. I think that really showed.

- I put myself out there. I made an effort to walk up and talk to people. I wanted to get on their radar. This isn't so hard for me (I love talk, and I am interested in hearing people talk, a.k.a. be a sponge), but even if you aren't outgoing you have to do your best. Volunteering to introduce speakers was well worth it.


Writers at all stages of their careers are at these conferences. Some want to learn how to get started, some want to get motivated, some are just curious, and some (this is me) are there to find an agent and publisher. Whatever your goal is, be prepared for it. I went into Pennwriter's determined to suck every ounce of worth out of it and it really paid off.

Conventions are good for you: 2

Pennwriter's was a well designed conference, and I can't recommend it enough. I'm going to focus on aspects and people instead of timeline. Today, let's talk about C.J. Lyons.

C.J. writes medical thrillers (my description of her work, not hers), a genre I don't read whatsoever. However, she was running a pitch clinic first thing Friday morning (see how smart Pennwriter's is, they put this where it did the most good) and I was keen to attend.

I have to say, C.J. is great. She knows her stuff, has incredible energy, and is genuinely concerned about other writers. She made a fan out of me.

Her session on pitching was invaluable. I went to the conference prepared (an entry for another time, fair reader), but she helped me sharpen my pitch and will let you know what is working and what is not. I am sure a lot of new writer's look at classes and wonder if they are worth it or not. Hers are.

After her talk, we had a chance to pitch our book in front of the class (a hundred people? more? I'm not good with counting crowds), and I took it.

It was a wise decision.

One: I got valuable practice. Two: It put me on everyone's radar. People came up to me, commented on my pitch, offered advice, etc. It was a great icebreaker.

I heard a lot of "I don't usually read those kind of books, but yours sounds interesting" from people, which was a boost, because I wrote A Monstrous War with a mind on accessibility. I want to bring new readers into the genre.

I got off to a great start, and I owe it to C.J. Lyons. Thanks, C.J.

Moving Day

I've moved my blog to a place where it will be easier to find, and unpacked all my old entries. Have a peek at them, and I'll see you soon.

Conventions are good for you

Rather than give you a run down of my weekend, let's talk people, starting with David Pomerico of Del Rey Spectra.

He gave a panel on the state of the publishing industry, what was in demand, what they looked for in new authors, etc., then opened it for questions, which sparked a debate over internet platforms. David maintained that a wannabe writer should have an internet presence, and that readers should be able to google their name and find them online.

This made total sense to me: as a writer, you have to promote yourself, and you have to be out there. Also, the guy works at a big time publisher and he was telling those present how to make yourself more attractive to publishers.

However, a few people in attendance took up issue with this. They didn't want to have to go through all the time and effort to build a platform. At one point, a woman asked what they (the publishers) wanted: the authors to be writing or blogging?

David handled the heat very well, answering their questions while explaining himself, and man, did I want to chime in, but I didn't want to add fuel to the fire or start a discussion. I was there to be a sponge, not argue. But what I wanted to say was:

BOTH.

They want you to write and be out there, promoting yourself. They want to know you have the tools to get your book out there, and that you want to connect with readers. They want to know you want to be part of the process.

Hell, I want that too. I want people reading my books, its why I want to be published. Second to that is the idea of making money doing it, and as a newcomer, let's face it: I'm not going to be there for a while, if ever.

I can't write for eight hours a day (unless I am on tear) anyway. After 2,000 (or around 6,000 on second drafts) I start to slow down a bit. That usually runs around three to four hours. Blogging and website stuff is a cooldown while I make notes and chart the path for tomorrow.

In the end, to quote Stephen King quoting someone else: The Book is the Boss.

If you have a good book, that has some sort of audience, you'll get published. I really do believe that.

But if you want people to read it, you should do everything you can to make it happen, up to and including shoving the book in their hands.

Back to David Pomerico. I spoke with David several times during the weekend and was encouraged by him. He knows his stuff and he loves books. That's what you want in an editor. He offered to talk about my book more than once, and genuinely wanted to help writers. He's got a good feel for stories, and improved my first few pages dramatically with a few comments.

It's important to remember that editors aren't the enemy. They love books and they want to read and work on good ones.


P.S. On getting home, I immediately learned how to submit my site to search engines. The process takes around two minutes to do and six weeks to take effect

Conventions

Let's get right into it.

I finished the first book, and had no idea how to go forward. My query letter and synopsis weren't good and I knew it. I also had no writing mentor, group, etc. So I decided to go to a conference. I chose Pennwriter's based on which editors/agents were going to be there, and I was not disappointed. In the meantime I worked on other projects (secret for now, sorry) and went through A Monstrous War sentence by sentence.

I learned a lot and finally got some pages in the right hands.

I want to keep things shorter, in order to update more often, so next time a little about David Pomerico of Del Rey Spectra, who in about 10 minutes vastly improved my first few pages.

Everything ! (But the Book)

So, I have begun looking for an agent. Getting published is an exhausting process, designed to weed out the serious wannabees from the sorta wannabees. A lot goes into selling a book (and yourself). Besides the actual complete and worth-it novel, you need to write a query letter, a synopsis, and a chapter by chapter synopsis.

Each takes time and practice to craft.

First there is a query letter. It contains some specifics about the book (genre, number of words), and then a few catchy paragraphs - what you'd read on the back of a book. This is the writing equivalent to approaching a girl at a bar. You don't have much time to get her interested, and saying the wrong thing means instant rejection.

Then comes the synopsis. A synopsis is an ugly, cliff's notes version of a book. I've just written a 400+ page novel, and now I have to condense it into one page and still make it sound interesting.

In one page, I have to describe thecharacters, their story arcs, the plot, and the ending in such a wayit makes a person want to read it. This was not easy. Every word matters. I stared atsentences over and over again, shifting and replacing words andreading them out loud to see how they sounded.

Its tough, because my style involves using foreshadowing and mystery, and I stress character development. These things take time to unfold. For any of the work to have gravity, you have to go on the journey.*

Next is a chapter-by-chapter synopsis. You get one paragraph for each chapter. Ever try to explain an awesome movie to someone? You know that awkward moment that happens while you're explaining it and getting a blank stare back? Then you realize you're ruining it, maybe making the person not want to see it now, which is the opposite of what you wanted? Yeah, that's how a chapter-by-chapter synopsis is.

And if you screw any of the above up, the agent or publisher will reject you without ever actually reading the book. Now, this is not their fault, they get dozen of these every day, they can't read every wannabee's book. It's just frustrating knowing you have a great book but not being able to get the right people to read it.

Query letter, synopsis, chapter-by-chapter synopsis. And we're still not done. Next is the research. Now you have to look into agents. This is the person who is your advocate. As a writer, they represent you and sell your book to the publishers. It has to be someone you think would be a good fit for you and your work, as well as someone you think can sell your book. And they actually have to be looking for new, unproven authors. Then you have to tailor the above materials to that agent's sensibilities - whatever you think those may be.

In the process of becoming a published author, writing the book has been the easiest part.


* Where that asterisk is, that's one page, the length of a synopsis.

Using a Framework

So, people wonder how you manage to write a book-length story. Perhaps they've given it a try themselves, and when they're done, they have around fifty pages. What's the trick to having enough material? How do you know what comes next? How to you prevent the ending from coming too soon?

Well, there is no trick, but having a framework helps. By that, I mean a structure to help you get from point A to point B to point C and so on. A lot of stories move through time (spending a year in a new place) or through space(traveling cross-country), giving the author a base to plan the story around. Let's find some popular examples.


Harry Potter and the School Year

J.K. Rowling uses the school year calendar to frame Harry Potter. She goes from the first day of school to Halloween to Christmas (dodging Easter—she handles religion well in those books by never addressing it) to final exams. She fills it in with a sports season. This gave a young author a nice structure to fit her story into.

As a side note, she necessarily abandons it in the last book, and as a result people thought the book meandered a bit. The pace of it seemed off. Rowling stated she's most proud of that last book, and I understand why. It must have been a challenge to abandon the structure she'd used for her first six books.


J.R.R. Tolkien, Map Master Supreme

Now Tolkien was different. He had a whole world ready to draw upon. This is pure conjecture, but I suspect he simply traced the path his characters would take and that dictated what they would encounter. A lot of his chapters encapsulate a location. There is a chapter for the Prancing Pony Inn, Helm's Deep, etc.

It's also an excellent way to show off your settings, giving the reader a tour of your world. I admit, I use this one a bit. It's really helpful having a fully designed world at my fingertips. Having to build it as I wrote would have been daunting.

Ender's Game: the Repeating Framework

Ender goes to Battleschool; he's new and has to prove himself. He does and earns respect. Ender becomes a commander; he's new and has to prove himself. He does and earns respect. Ender is sent to command school. Everything is new, and he has to prove himself. He does and...

The framework here is introducing the character into a new environment, having him master it, and then going on to another new environment.


A Series of Unfortunate Events, a Series of Settings

The kids go to a new area and they meet their new guardian. Count Olaf shows up in disguise and causes problems, forcing the kids to move on a robbing them of any allies. I've only read the first three of these, so don't come after me if it eventually changed.

---

These works have a few things in common:

- They are all early works by new authors. I think each found a framework that helped them chart apath and fill out their stories.

- They are all great books. Having a framework doesn't mean a book will be bad. It's just a structure for the story and characters.


T.V. shows follow the same frame work all the time, House and Scooby Doo being prime examples. Don't ask me why Scooby Doo came to mind. Movie sequels often follow the framework of the first film, but I think that's an attempt to safely emulate the first film's success, basically giving the audience the same movie.


So my suggestion would be to choose either time or space and establish the starting and ending point. Move your characters and story through it. Knowing what comes next can help when deciding what happens next.

A Book Down

After 350 days, my first novel is in the can. The first draft took eight weeks of intense writing. I realize now that was the easy part. Its there-writes that are the real grind, going through line by line, taking out what doesn't need to be there and cleaning it up. Each re-write took as long as the first draft, and you have to sit the draft and let it cool down in your mind. That time is essential. I didn't realize how important it was to get distance from the book.

My last draft was my forth draft, and I was still finding errors and plain bad writing. And I had two good proof readers besides myself going through it. In the end, I read the whole thing, one sentence at a time, out loud, and that helped a lot.

I'm excited to get back to the first draft of the second one. I miss drafting. I used to think of it as"real writing", but really its creating. Its all real writing, but that first draft is the funnest part.

I'm back to chronicling my day to day writing, as well as doing my best to give everyone an honest look at the submission process for a first time writer, which is bound to be brutal.

There are two roads: straight to a publisher and trying to get an agent. I plan to submit to one publisher at a time while shopping agents. For those of you who don't know, its a rejection filled process. Writers tend to have fragile egos, and the rejection tends to make people quit trying.

In the end, its about belief. I have to believe that the book is good and not give up. This is the sort of thing that no one can do for you - you have to find it in yourself. Its not anyone else's dream, its yours.

Polishing

Yes, I know. But I'm back now. Don't be mad, baby.

So, I've been polishing A Monstrous War. Its shiny.

What comes next is querying and submitting samples. I am not going to lie, I'm scared. I guess this is where a lot of new authors wash out. They have the product but are afraid of the rejection.

I'm feeling that.

There are a lot of excuses. Its a bad time in the market. Its a worse time for traditional fantasy. Saturn is obscuring Uranus, etc.

But the truth is I'm just plain scared. I know I have a good book. Now I have to get the right people to look at it.

Another Lap

Hello again, it's been a while. Did you change your hair? It looks nice.

My job became two jobs the last few weeks. It's tough to work double time, then try to write. I just didn't have the energy for it without constant stream of liquid sugar flowing into my gullet. I had to give up soda. I hit that point of unhealthy where it affected my energy levels and everything was harder. Thankfully, I can still work out when mentally exhausted.

The good news is that I got the manuscript of A Monstrous War back from my brother, who painstakingly performed the copy editing. I am now making the final changes, and hope to be querying agents and publishers this time next week.

It's good. I don't know what else to say. I wrote a book and it's good. Maybe this is what fatherhood is like.

Male vs. Female Fantasy

In the fantasy genre, a divide exists. Fantasy stories are ether for boys or girls (usually depending on who the protagonist is). I've been looking closely at what agents and publishers are looking for (not that it matters, I'm going to tell the stories that I have in me. I'm not a mercenary and I'm not sure I could ever be). There are a lot of requests for strong female characters.

From what I've read, there are more female than male fantasy readers, and they want different things from their books. Mostly because they are interested in different characters.

Neil Gaiman talked about this in Sandman: A Game of You.

Little boys have fantasies in which they are smarter, or faster, or able to fly...Little girls, on the other hand, have different fantasies. Their parents are not their parents. Their lives are not their lives. They are princesses...from distant lands.

I would say I write more for boys. Not intentionally, but I write the stories I would have loved to read as a younger guy (and still would). So, my potential audience is shrinking. That's okay. I believe in me.

Interestingly, even though fantasy novels for females are more popular, male fantasy is what they make into movies. I don't read Laurel K. Hamilton, but I know she is rather popular with the ladies. IFC is making an Anita Blake show, and the press release said it was geared for males 19-32. Uh. What?

36,000

Another tough week. Work really piled on and I spent too many days laying around in a zombified state. I didn't even read much this week, much less play video games or watch t.v. Where did I find the time to write a book six months ago? It wasn't this hard last time. I don't do anything but work and write.

Of course, last time I mainlined mountain dew and stuffed my face full of kit-kat bars. I'm trying not to do that again, but I have to admit I write better on a sugar high. Maybe I need to decide if I want to be a muscular wage-slave or a fat, toothless writer.

It's not much of a decision, really. The books would outlive me even if I ran five miles a day and ate only spinach.

All in all, the second book is going really well. There have been some challenging sections, but so far it blows the first one away.

Oh, I bought a phone that has msword on it. I can write anywhere now, just very slowly and with a lot of typos. I wonder if I have unusually large thumbs. I wrote 450 words last night sitting in a bar. I need a different type of phone or more practice. My fingers can't keep up with my mind.

32,000

I almost never listen to music when I write, and if I do it's always something specific - a song I that matches the scene. But I felt like it today and thought I'd give it a try. If it hurt my writing, I could always turn it off. I borrowed my buddy's ipod and learned two things:

My friend has pretty decent taste in music and I need an ipod.

It cut down on the distractions. The words came easy and fast. When I got up I was so pumped I could have flipped over a car.

Writing Thought:

The good days are the ones that make you believe in yourself. Remember days like today.

30,000

I had a bleh week. I don't like excuses, so let's just say I got very little done. It was a mix of poor health, lots of work, and being a bit stuck on how I wanted to move forward with the second book.

So instead, I worked on my query letter and continued research into literary agents and publishing. I've never written a query before, and there is an art to it. It's essential, so I'm crafting it carefully. There is a lot to do, if you want to do these things right and make it.

Writing is lonely sometimes. But it's my dream, not anyone else's.

Writing Thought:

Not every chapter is a home run - they can't all hold big moments. Sometimes you have to down shift gears and start building things up again.

Inventing Checkers

One upon a time, two giants were playing chess. They were rather aggravated by the game. None of the pieces moved the same way and some of them made no sense. Surely, a knight could topple a castle, and a pawn may slay a queen (most queen-slayers have been pawns, actually). And anyone could kill a king - it's generally how one became a king. It was the bishops that drove them crazy. They hadn't known many bishops, but how in Urd's gizzard were they able to kill a knight?

Perhaps it was some sort of political statement. Giants are not fond of political statements.

(I won't even get into the issue of the chess board. Everyone knows giants only see one color, that color being red, so it just looked like a big square to them.)

Finally, in their anger, they pounded their huge hands down onto the board and flattened all the pieces. When they looked down, they were all the same. They all had the same potential. They moved the same and killed the same, and any one of them could become a king.

And no, that is not a political statement.

23,000

fter a week of catching a few hours here and there, I finally crashed and slept for twelve hours. In doing so I lost a day. I'm going to have to put in an extra 300 words a day this week to make up for it. Such are the perils of whatever.

Long session tonight - I had to find my way and it took some time. When this happens I just push on, rather than get stuck on a scene. I've learned I'll work it out later - that's what second drafts are for. The same goes for finding just the right word, the right sentence, etc.

Writing Thought:

Forge ahead. Blaze the trail, and pave the road next time you pass through.

Today started slow but I typed the last 500 or so words with a smile on my face. I hope people are as amused reading it as I was writing it. The tone of it, the description, the dialog all mixed together effortlessly as if I was working from a recipe.

The thing is, after 1,000 words, I wanted to quit. It was late on a Friday night and I was wanted to hang out with my friends and kick back. It's something I've done before many times: forced myself to walk away from a room full of the people I love being around to get my words done for the day.

The question is: How bad to you want it? If you're walking away day after day without finishing what you set out to do, then the answer is "not enough".

This is generally how I give myself pep talks, by the way.

Writing Thought:

If I had skipped out today, would that last 1,000 words have come? Or would the magic been left there, deep in the ground, undiscovered, because I was tried of digging?

21,000

I let myself get distracted today. It's easy to find excuses not to write, and research is a good one, but let's face it, it's still an excuse. At least we have the internet now. Going to the library constantly would be a pain. For night writers, it would have been impossible. I guess that's why there used to be encyclopedia salesmen.

Now that my words are done, back to researching. Need to break some books out of storage.

Writing Thought:

Planting seeds is fun, but remember where you put them. You're a farmer, not a squirrel.

19,000

Had me a nap, so I ended up getting my words down from 5am to 9am. Have to be careful not to lose a day when that happens.

I read the same books over and over. It's embarrassing how many times I've read some things.

Anyway, re-reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Destruction of the Endless paints, sculpts, writes poems, and cooks...and he's terrible at them all. It's because they all involve creation, and he's the personification of destruction.

Did I know that once, and forget it, or did I just see it for the first time?

Either way, I'm not doing that thing were I am inserting texture where it may not be. Gaiman meant to do that, I'm sure. Unlike many things from my youth, Sandman holds up really well. I still remember reading the first issues at my friend's house in 8th grade.

The Graveyard Book was pretty good, and I felt a real joy for him when he won the Newberry. I like Gaiman to the point where his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses. The man loves the hero's journey. Neverwhere, American Gods, Anansi Boys, etc. all deal with the main character discovering their origins and finding their inner power. I'm not knocking it...I do the same thing in A Monstrous War with Ithurial Styx. However, I'd love to see him write the next step. What happens to Shadow or Nobody once they know who they are? That I care shows he creates strong characters.

There is no denying the influence he had on me. American Gods might be my favorite book. If you like fantasy, especially urban fantasy and you haven't read it, read it.

Writing Thought:

Again, things I did not foresee keep happening. It's one of the things that makes me feel like a real writer, when the story creates its own twists and turns. The danger is too many tangents and hurting the pacing.

17,000

Worked, did my taxes, then sat down to write. I didn't want to - I wanted to goof off and play video games, but hey, books don't write themselves.

I'm finding myself looking back at the first book to make sure I don't contradict myself or copy the same phrase (especially descriptions) twice. When there are several of these, that's going to be a pain. Then again, I'm going to have an ear to ear grin every time I reach for the stack of books.

Also, there is the issue of re-capping, re-describing, etc., things encountered in the first book. How much is too much? How much is not enough? Hopefully when I get an agent and an editor they'll be able to clue me in. Looking forward to that.

In other news, sometimes I know where I want to go, but I don't know how I'm going to get there. That's when it's nice to have a world at my fingertips. I check my maps, trace the route, and look at what the characters will cross paths with. Then I think about how they will react to what they encounter.

It's a very organic process that feels spontaneous and darn good...a balance between outlining and natural growth.

The map is not the land.

Still, this would have been really hard, had I not built Orb slowly over a long period of time.

15,000

2,000 more in the bank.

More heavy stuff tonight. I'm not a time-waster in these books. Man, does this one move. I want that to be one of the things I am known for: when you pick up one of my books you know that a lot is going to happen.

I had a goal in mind tonight - a big scene, and I was presently surprised when I discovered that the events had more texture, more meaning to them than I had first planned. An outline is just an outline. A map is not the land.

Today's thought:

You'll have big scenes in your mind. Scenes you've been planning for a while, that have been building and gaining gravity, and you'll want to do them justice. Don't let it intimidate you. Writing scared is bad. Don't get in the ring with your mind on survival. Get in the ring to win.

13,000

Worked on my second book today. As I mentioned before, I had 11,000 words down already, so the 2,000 I did today puts it at 13,000.

It was my first day drafting in a while. Coming back after four months off wasn't too bad. For the last two months I've been re-writing, which is much different from writing a first draft. Re-writing is more craft than creation.

Things were a little rusty, but they still worked. It was a good day. I'm happy with the pages. Nice to know I still got it. There's always this fear that some day I am going to sit down and nothing is going to happen.

There is a little more horror in this one. It's not intentional, and it doesn't change who the audience is. Fantasy is a great genre. You can have mystery, horror, romance, etc., under its back drop. Such freedom.

Today's writing thought:

Writing verse is hard. As Conan said, "I have no tongue for it."

But if used sparingly, it has a real weight to it.

Going in the Tank

I'd like to write two novels a year, and I think its an attainable goal. I wrote my first in six months (including the 10 week resting period between 1st and 2nd drafts) and didn't feel rushed at all. Of course while writing it I worked full time. I did, however, give up going to the gym. I just couldn't juggle all three. (When I go to the gym, I get sucked in. I'm there for 3 hours, and with driving and showering, that's 4 hours. Hopefully with summer here I can do smaller workouts around the house. You can tell the book was my baby...I look a little pregnant from the pounds I put on making it.)

So tomorrow marks six months from when I started writing A Monstrous War. It's time to start the second one.

Except I cheated, it's already being written.

Firstly, I know where the characters are going (development and geography) and what happens (including the ending, can't stress that enough). I have pages and pages of outline and notes. These are a haphazard blend of plot points, conversations, and little world building nuggets. I built it slowly. As I wrote the first one, I had the outline for the second one open (and the third to be honest), and whenever something didn't fit into the first (the first is a lean machine, baby), I'd toss it in the second. Of course, the second runs on all cylinders, so if it mucks up the engine, it gets tossed again.

Secondly...

Okay, so I told myself that I was going to take a break, as to not burn myself out. But the day after I had printed the (ugly) first draft for the chosen reviewers, I was drying the dishes and POW, the first sentence of the second book came into my head.

[Quick aside. I think first sentences are very important, as are last sentences. They don't have to be a bolt of inspiration - you can craft them - but they have to be solid. I felt a tremendous pressure for the first sentence of my first novel to be great. And I rather like it.]

I set down my dishes and ran to the laptop. I was just going to jot down what was in my head and stop when the tank ran out. I had moved my table to the living room and wrote looking at the Christmas tree. It was quite the little moment.

5,000 words later I had written two rather kick ass chapters. The next day I got up and wrote 4,000 more that were also solid. And it moved at a sick pace, giving answers, character development, and my first romance type scene ever (which I am strangely happy with, future blog post noted). Its everything a publisher wants in the first 50 pages. Too bad I had a write a whole first book to set them up.

The next day I wrote the worst 1,000 words of my life (and I'm counting the story I wrote in 7th grade that was a cross between Batman and King Arthur. At least that had honest energy). It was painful. I tried to gut it out to 2,000 words, but I realized that I was going to delete those 1,000 one day anyway. I got up from the laptop and said DONE and walked away from drafting for four months. Don't get me wrong, if lightning struck, I'd sit down and bottle it, but I wasn't making it.

And when you don't try to make it, good luck folks.

Lastly, it's been "cooking" in my head. I'm a slow stewer. That's my process...things just drift around, connections form, and a feeling builds. I guess that feeling is close to tone, or maybe style. Sometimes I get the two confused (not formally trained here people).

So tomorrow (by that I mean Sunday...night person.) it's back to 2,000 words a day. And I have to tell you, I'm looking forward to it. I've been missing the process. It's weird, I don't love it when its happening. Let me be honest and say I don't sit there with a huge grin on my face, slamming keys like Dracula at a pipe organ. It runs the gambit, from airy inspiration to a dry grind. But every time I get up from the chair I feel great.

What happens to this blog?

It becomes a day by day log of how the draft is going. I'm going to try to keep it short (take grain of salt now).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go delete 1,000 words.

Making It Make Sense

I like making things up.

Let's take the expression "right hand man". The expression is usually used to describe the head underling, the close assistant, the chief aid, etc. Now I'm not sure of the origin of the this phrase but...

Imagine soldiers in a line, sword in their right hand, shield in their left. The man to your right, shields you, as you shield the man on your left. Your right hand man guards you. You trust him with your life.

Now is that where the phrase really comes from? I honestly don't know. It might be - it seems to make sense. But guess what?

It doesn't matter. Because in my world, that's where it comes from now. In my books, that's the origin of the phrase. That's the beauty of fiction writing.

I like making things make sense.

I'll invent reasons why certain stories make sense, even if they aren't there. I'll add texture where it may not exist. I love to fill in the blanks.

Lets take the movie adaptation of Watchmen. If you watch closely, each character has a different fighting style.

The Comedian fights like a boxer, which fits the era he grew up in. In the 30's, you aren't learning oriental martial arts.

Ozymandais uses kung fu, (watch his flowing hand movements, especially in his first fight). In the graphic novel, he mentions in passing that he learned to fight in China and Tibet.

Silk Spectre uses a lot of roundhouse kicks, spinning kicks, and backfists. In the Watchmen Sourcebook (mayfair games published it for the DC roleplaying game back in the '80s), its mentioned that Bruce Lee trained Laurie. Sure, its more his move style than his real style, but this is a movie. (This also makes sense, he was still teaching in the early 60's, and taught celebrities like Steve McQueen, so he may have taught a celebrity's daughter).

Nite Owl uses straight karate - linear, powerful motions. He even chops a a guy out of the air. Makes sense for a rich, idealistic kid to take local karate classes.

Now was this intentional? Did they really put that much thought into it, or did I see what I wanted to see?

It doesn't matter. For me, its there.

Another example: The second Narnia movie, prince Caspian. The movie, not the book.

I love Peter in that movie. He's lived a lifetime in Narnia, but when he comes back, he looks 17. Here's a man, a king, with a lifetime of experience, and he's treated like a child. And you can see it gets to him. When he duels King Miraz, you're to think that Peter is in trouble, I mean he's a just a kid.

But me, I giggled. To me, Miraz doesn't know what he's getting into. He's a fighting guy older than him, way more experienced, in a young man's body. Maybe Miraz is physically stronger, but 17 year olds have sick cardio.

Now, did they intend this to be there? No clue. But in my mind, it's there and the story is better for it.

I could go on all night about this, and in the future, I may make note of what I see in stories. I'd like to know what you see. in them. I think those are great conversations.

Also, I love the idea that people see things in my writing. It just gives me a glow.

I love to make things make sense in my writing. It all fits together. You see the reason for everything. Make its a response to the real world, where we wish things made a little more sense.

A Night Person

Ever since I was a wee lad I've had slight insomnia. I remember being in grade school, staring at the clock, watching it go from 9 to 10 to 11.... then turning my alarm clock face down when I couldn't stand it anymore, thinking about how tired I was going to be the next day. Laying in the dark bored out of my mind I couldn't do anything but lay there quietly - it was past my bedtime. It was just me and my thoughts.

My family would tell me to settle down, its time for bed. They'd ask why I wasn't tired. As I got older, they assumed something was wrong. But nothing ever was. I'd tell them, look, if I could go to sleep I would. I'm not trying to do this.

In high school I'd get yelled at if anyone noticed light under my door at three in the morning, so I'd put a towel at the base of my door and read by flashlight.

I read and read and read.

There's something about night. When it hits a certain hour, I just feel energized. I've read that there are daytime writers and night time writers. I guess I'm a night time writer, with one exception: I tend to write a bit soon as I wake up in the morning (dreams are another blog topic for the future). A lot of the time I'll wake up, stumble right to the laptop and start typing.

In the deep hours of night, the world is quiet and you're all alone. Sometimes you're dying for conversation. You call people in the insomniac version of a drunk dial and they want to know what's wrong, but nothing ever is.

People don't know when to call me because they have no idea when I'll be awake or asleep. If I didn't work from home, if I had an office job, I have no idea what I'd do. Probably what I did in high school: drift around like a zombie making stupid jokes and inappropriate comments because I'm slap happy.

Sorry about that. I really am a nice guy. I'm not trying to do this.

Being up all night regularly, you end up haunting your own house. The only light on is in whatever room you're in. Everyone is sleeping, so you creep around in the dark, trying to be quiet, but fully conscious at how much noise you make doing simple things.

If you make yourself something to eat in the daytime, you don't realize the racket you're creating. But at 4 a.m., you feel like you're a cast member in Stomp. I can't count how many times I've apologized to bleary eyed family member, friend, or lover standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

I'm not saying this is what made me a writer. I don't think there is one single thing. But there's no doubt that not being able to sleep at night had something to do with it. I think about that little kid staring into the dark with only his imagination to pass the time, and that skinny teenager silently turning pages as the sun came up with a certain level of fondness now. In the movie of my life it would be the world's slowest, quietest, most boring training montage.

Why Write Fantasy?

I love my genre.

I have a few science fiction ideas, and I'm brewing a "rural fantasy" story. I might even have a Star Wars book in me (if I had the ability to introduce new characters and play with the myth a little). But day in and day out, I'm a fantasy guy. Fantasy stories are the kind of stories I want to tell.

Why fantasy?

Because of the power of myth.

Stories about gods and heroes have a weight to them, and I love putting a human face on those archetypes.

Because of big stakes and big moments.

When you make the world, you have absolute control. Because its not our world, you can do whatever you want. You can depict events that if read in a more realistic fiction setting (let's say a nuclear war on earth) don't work as well, because readers might say "That would never happen."

In fantasy, the statement "that would never happen" does not exist, because anything can happen.

Because of larger than life characters, and the big choices they get to make.

You can have a character make a choice that changes the world. You can put them in situations that show you true character. You can build them and break them down and put the weight of a world on their shoulders.

Because its a great way to explore theme and symbolism.

When you deal with monsters and magic, you can really play with theme. My first book is about racism. True racism, as in human vs. other. Fantasy is such a sneaky way to affect people's outlooks. Its why we tell children fairy tales.

Because it strikes a chord.

And even if you can't put your finger on it, if you can't understand why a story affected you, it does. Because it jumps past logic and goes right for your gut.

Because there are no limits.

No other genre gives you the freedom to tell any story you want, to put the images you have in your mind into form. There's a reason why its called speculative fiction.

What about science fiction? The two genres are close, no doubt. But the word science is in the description. In the end, the readers want a sense of possibility.

In fantasy, they want the sense of impossibility.

Defining Success

Being a successful writer is my dream. But what is success?

I'm a daydreamer. And in my daydreams...well let's just say that in my head there are different levels of success.

Level 1: Being published

At this level of success, I have books on a shelf in a store. Look! That's me! Pretty sweet. I'm published, but I'm not a big seller. Writing is something I do for love after work.

Level 2: Professional Writer

I make a living writing books. To me this is akin to being a porn star or playing video games for a living. I can never wipe the grin off my face. When I go out in the backyard, forest animals come to greet me and we sing songs together. I can go live anywhere I want for months at a time. (I write best on vacation but that's for a different blog.)

Level 3: Rich and Famous

I'm a best selling author. I'm semi-famous (as in at conventions people recognize me, but I can still grocery shop without being bothered). Money is not a concern, which is nice. I don't love money, I just like not having to worry about money.

Level 4: Harry Potter Famous

I'm the male J.K. Rowling. In interviews people call me the "story teller of my generation", and the "American J.R.R. Tolkien". There are movies and video games and action figures. I have the sort of wealth that means being able to write for charity and take care of those around me.

With endless wealth and a rapidly swelling ego, I purchase on my own private island. I don't allow people to come to it by plane, because I'm so pursued my paparazzi that I've become a paranoid technophobe. The high cliffs and treacherous reefs mean that you must hang-glide in to visit me. I force my agent to do so to pick up my manuscripts.

I send out cryptic messages and hold writing tournaments, where young writers come to compete to the fictional death. In my twilight years, a young writer comes to the island to avenge a story I wrote about his mother. In our final story-battle, he writes that I'm his father just before he kills me off in a well crafted descriptive paragraph that ends with me flying into the volcano during our hang glider duel.

So yeah, there are definitely different levels of success. As of now, I'm at level zero, but I'm fairly optimistic.

A Monstrous War, the 2nd Draft

Once again, I have to give credit to Stephen King's On Writing. I used it as a guidebook when I tackled the second draft of A Monstrous War.

When I was writing the first draft, I didn't let anyone read it. I'd call my close friends and read them a few paragraphs here and there. Writing can be very lonely, and I needed a little encouragement. I'm not going to lie...I only read them the best bits.

As an aside, I write for other people. I write to entertain. I know some people write for themselves, but I can't imagine that. I could never write something and pack it away in a box. So when I finished the first draft, I was dying to have people read it.

I made ten copies and thought about who would get one. Half the people I chose were readers of the fantasy genre. The other half - not so much. Half were familiar with my fictional world, its characters and history, and the other half had no idea. I wanted a few total noobies, and here's why:

Fantasy is a strange genre. When you write a mystery book set in NY or LA, you assume that the readers know what a car is, or how an elevator works. But when you make everything up there is a definite worry that the reader is going to have no idea what the hell you are talking about. I wanted to know if I had written a book that was accessible and comprehensible. (Also, this might be why urban fantasy is becoming so popular. The real world settings are easily identifiable and don't require such a jump.)

So I passed out the copies and waited for someone, anyone to finish it. This was the single most nerve wracking period in the process. Would people like it? If they didn't, would they be honest and tell me? We're talking about friends here. It's hard to ask a total stranger to read a book for you.

A friend of mine whose opinion I highly value finished it first. He's very good at tearing apart stories, the sort that sits down to watch a movie and always knows what's going to happen next. Also, he's not the type that is going to spare your feelings.

His review was very positive. My impression was that he a little shocked at how much he liked it. He admitted he had been worried that it would suck and he'd have to tell me so. We talked about the book and what it needed, where it was slow, what characters needed more "camera time". All his suggestions made good sense. I took notes while we talked, thanked him profusely and hung up so I could go breakdance in my living room.

Other reviews began to trickle in. All the reviews were positive, but let's face it, it's your friends and family. The trick was to get people's real feelings out of them.

If someone just said "it's good", I ignored them. Passing the draft out wasn't an ego-building exercise. I needed honest feedback. If they asked questions about the characters (as in they want to know what happens next) or bring things that happened in the book up casually when we were just hanging out, then I realized they really liked it. If they never mentioned it again, chances were I was being humored.

Certain threads began to emerge. When five people tell you the book needs a certain thing, it's time to listen. I'm not the sort that holds his writing sacred, let's get that out of the way.

According to On Writing, you're supposed to let the book rest for eight weeks. This gives you time to forget about it a little. It puts distance between you and the book. I'm not going to lie, I thought but for a few grammar/spelling issues my first draft was golden.

Still, I put it down and tried not to touch it...

...and failed miserably. Every day I'd crack it open, read a few pages, then make myself stop. I didn't make any changes, I just would hold it and flip through it and assure myself that yes, I had written a book. It was real. I carried it around with me like it was a child or a new pet. After reading it once (or twice), I was finally able to leave it alone.

On February 4th, the eight weeks were up and it was okay to look at it. I sat down to open it up and found that I was terrified. Every day, the same thing, paralyzed by fear. Two weeks went by before I realized why I was so scared.

I'd never written a second draft before.

I told myself: "Look Self, you didn't know how to write a first draft either and that didn't stop you. Do you really want to be a writer? Is this your dream or what? Are you going to wuss out now because you might fail?"

Damn straight. That Self guy is a hardass, just listen to him. So I sat down and opened the book up and I learned something.

My first drafts are ugly.

Holy crap was it ugly. Remember when I said I was worried about it being comprehensible? Yeah, I guess so, because I said the same thing over and over again. All over it was the sign of a writer who was worried he wouldn't be understood. Also there was a writer who was at times too timid.

"It was as if..."

I used that a lot. Let me make up an example real quick.

"It was as if the man had a limp."

Yeah, guess what pal? He has a limp. Delete that junk.

"It seemed that..."

"It seemed that he was out of orange juice."

No, he's just out of orange juice. Delete, delete, delete.

Also I had fallen in love with the word "great". As in "the great doors of the castle....he drew his great sword....she had a great love for roasted chicken."

Can I just say I'm not the thesaurus type? Writing the first draft, I was just getting my words down, man. I don't like to stop and look words up. I think you can trap yourself trying to craft the perfect sentence, or find just the right word, when you should just forge ahead.

So I got out my shears and started pruning. I reminded myself to be bold with my writing. I took out as many adjectives and adverbs as possible.

I deleted a great many greats.

What else? A lot of sentences had too many words. I combined sentences and deleted whole paragraphs. Looking at it now, they won't be missed.

I added new passages where they needed to be added, fleshed out characters people (rightly) suggested needed more attention.

Between the fist and second drafts I somehow added around 3,000 words. I have zero idea how that happened. I remember adding three new scenes, each about a page long. And I revised a few things, but they seemed around the same length.

I've read that that when it comes to writers, they either a natural adders or subtractors. I guess I'm an adder. But anytime I went to add something, I made damn sure it belonged here.

If it doesn't move the story, build the world, or build the characters, what the hell is it doing in there?

I finished the second draft on March 29, 2009. So, give or take six weeks.

The time had come for a few trusted souls to read it again and scrub it clean, so I could try to sell it.

A Monstrous War, the 1st Draft

Before I get into how I wrote the first draft of A Monstrous War, I have to give credit where credit is due. I owe a lot to Stephen King's On Writing. Whether or not you're a fan of Mr. King, if you're a prospective writer, this book is a must read. It gave me the structure, guidance, and the kick in the butt I needed to sit down and write a book.

I started writing A Monstrous War on October 12, 2009. At first, I resolved to sit down every Sunday and write for 8 hours. I wanted to write 2000 words a week, and in a year have a first draft done.

That first Sunday, sitting in the sun room of my grandmother's lake house, hearing the water outside, it took me around three hours to get down 2,000 words. It went much quicker than I had hoped, so I decided that every day I'd sit down and write a minimum of 1000 words, more if I was on a roll.

At the end of the first week, I had 16,000 words. I again revised my plan. I was going to get serious. I would write 2,000 words every day, just like Stephen King and Isaac Asimov.

And I did. Some days it was easy. If the road was clear at 2,000 words, I'd keep going until I hit a bump. On my best days I'd cruise to 5,000 words and when I was done I'd sit there in utter disbelief that I had done it. Other days it was like running a marathon. I'd be checking word count every 200 words, wondering if the damn thing was broken. But I never gave up until the 2,000 words were done.

All the while I fought doubt and worry. Was it any good? I thought some of it was, and believe me, I'm pretty hard of myself. Was it going to be a book? I mean, what if I told the story I wanted to tell and it was only 100 pages? That isn't a book.

I hoped to hit 70,000 words. I didn't try to hit it, I just told the story I had in mind and when I sailed over the 70,000 word mark I breathed a sigh of relief.

I learned a lot of things about myself writing the book. I learned that for some reason, once I had gotten my words in the new ideas would come. I'd get up from the desk then run back in half a dozen times to type notes into my outline document.

I learned that when you work every day, the book takes over your mind. You're always running back to the laptop to make a few notes. In the shower, things start coming and you fight to hold onto them, running to the laptop dripping with a towel held around yourself.

Did I always know where I was going? Well, I knew how the book ended before I had committed a single word to the paper. I am an ending oriented writer...I know where my characters will end up. Most of the time I start with the ending, or its clear to me early on how things will end.

While I knew the ending, sometimes I had no clue how i was going to get there. But I knew my characters, and I knew what they wanted. Knowing that, it became clear what they would have to do and where the book would go.

On 12/10/2009, I finished the first draft. If you write 2000 words a day for 60 days, you have a 120,000 word book.

Inventing Lightning

...there was a boy that wanted to be real. He believed that almost everything was real. He believed in magic and ghosts and monsters and mysteries.

But he didn't believe in himself.

The people around told him that he was real, but for years and years he wasn't able to find proof what they were saying was true. He waited for a sign. Something would happen and prove he was real.

Perhaps lightning would strike him and he'd come to life.

He'd look out the window, waiting for sky to darken. But day after day and year after year the skies were maddingly clear.

He grew up and became an adult and did adult things. But still he believed in almost everything, including vampires and werewolves and aliens and goodness. Every day, he looked out the window and waited and waited. Blue, blue skies. Hard to complain about that. And he realized that he was a little afraid of the lightning. What if it hit him and he found out he wasn't real after all?

Finally he couldn't stand it any longer. He had to know. If the lightning wasn't going to come, he'd build a lightning machine and make some of his own. He had no idea how to build one, but that wasn't about to stop him. He tied a key to a kite, then dug up some potatoes and pounded nails into them.

Out in his backyard, crucified potatoes in the pockets of his fleece robe, he sent the kite into the clear sky. He held the key tight and rubbed his slippered feet together and thought: There's no place like Orb.

The skies turned his favorite shade of gray and thunder rumbled, but no lightning came.

Every day he did this for hours and while a storm threatened, it never broke.

Until it did. Until one day the sky went black and the thunder rumbled to a pause. The lighting ripped the sky in two and it came for him. He caught it like a fish on his kite string and it baked the potatoes in his pockets in a flash. It surged through him, sending shocks from the ends of his hair to the tips of his toes. He felt the goosebumps all over and he knew he was real. He was as real as winged horses and mermaids and a competent president.

And he learned something. He had learned that lightning doesn't just come out of the blue. You have to build a lightning machine and you have to make it yourself.

And that, kids, is how I wrote my first book.