Yes, I’d have to say it was definitely a good idea to work longhand with this edit. The evenings where I’m focusing solely on this project is when I take the binder to the loveseat across the room and settle in. I’m not chained to the desk, but I can still have the tunage going while I work.
Which brings me to the subject of unplugging again. It seems every six to eight months I need to unplug from the internet and do some IRL things. Or more to the point, needing to remind myself to unplug from the internet and do some IRL things.
What this usually means is that, even though I kvetch about it from time to time here at WtBt, I don’t always follow through. Sometimes I’ll just have a long day at work and want to goof off online and watch cat-drifting gifs all night. Or I’ll consistently distract myself with the Twitter feed. Sure, I’ll catch myself and shut down the browser right there and then and do something more productive with my time.
It’s not like I haven’t eased up on the distractions over the last year. I’m not as passive about them as I used to be. In fact I’ve become quite tight with my latest writing schedule of practice words, blog entries and exercises, balancing them quite nicely with the Day Job and the regular writing work.
This time out, however, I’m thinking about actively unplugging for a bit. I mean, doing some serious longhand work, for various reasons:
–Obvious: Less chance of distraction.
–Health: Reasons for me to start moving around and getting out of the chair more often. Also, considering my Day Job is to look at a laptop all day, and following it up by looking at a PC later that evening, I really should give my eyes a break more often.
–Personal: Sitting with A. instead of hiding away in the back room all day and night.
–Mental: Focusing solely on the task at hand because, well, it would be the only thing I have at hand. Also, I have something a little more tangible to work with, rather than having to remember where I was in the document, especially if I’m flipping back and forth.
–Physical: Handwriting tends to be less straining on my wrists than typing, even with my new PC and its wireless keyboard and mouse.
–And let’s be honest here: when I write new projects longhand, I need to be able to write on the fly. The habit of editing on the PC is far too ingrained right now, thanks to the Epic Trilogy Editing Seasons. Once the trilogy project is done, I can reassess.
But yes…it’s one thing to say “I’m thinking of doing [X] to make my work better” or “I’m going to close the browsers now so I can work”, but it’s another to make good on those statements. And unplugging does seem to be the only way to do this cleanly and efficiently.
Does that mean all my blogs are going on hiatus? Nope, not this time around. Those will still be around, as long as I have something to say. I don’t have to unplug for mental reasons this time.
I’ll admit, that’s not a question I often thought about when I first started writing, because the answer was most likely going to be: well, ME, of course. What a silly question!
I’ve tried in the past to write for a specific audience, and it never quite panned out the way I wanted it to. Love Like Blood was me trying to write to the urban fantasy crowd. Two Thousand was me trying to write for the litfic crowd. True Faith was me trying to write for the sf/virtual reality crowd of the mid 90s. All three projects have since been trunked, as I found them to be some of my worst work. Paved with good intentions, but let’s face it: I was pandering. I was trying to write for an easy buck.
Recently I’ve been thinking about who I’m writing for, and each time, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m still writing for who I want to write for: just your regular blue-collar joe who likes to read. Yes, I’m still writing for me, but I’ve noticed the biggest response I get from readers is not always the avid science fiction/fantasy reader, but those I know who like to read a little (or a lot) of everything. Someone who might read the latest George RR Martin but follow it up with, say, a history of 60s counterculture. Or maybe not even that: someone who just likes reading what they like reading, and don’t necessarily fit into the definition of ‘avid fan’.
That’s not to say I find avid genre fans beneath my stature, far from it. I just know that I’m not a hard sf writer or a military sf writer or even a high fantasy writer. I just write what comes to mind, and I try to fill my created worlds with people and ideas that my readers will connect with.
The Mendaihu Universe might be chock full of spirituality, but I try not to write religious/spiritual fiction, which is its own genre. The characters in this universe of mine have the same issues as readers: frustration, fear, indecision, confusion, irritation. I put the characters into an everyday situation that just happens to have a supernatual/spiritual setting. And for the most part, I think I pull it off, because nearly all my readers so far have commented on that as a definite plus to the worldbuilding.
I’ve been thinking about this in part because I’ve been trying to figure out how to sell my trilogy now that two-thirds of it is already out there. It’s one thing to self-publish and release it, but it’s quite another to get it out there and advertise it. As much as I dislike sales, I do need to think about who my target audience would be. I know, I should probably think of this WHILE I’m writing the stories, but that can’t always happen. Again: if I write to order, I write horribly. I can only write what I know I can write.
But what about my other projects? The non-MU stories? Who am I writing for then? I probably won’t know until the project starts. I have some non-genre stories in mind that could easily be quirky litfic. I have some genre stories that would fit nicely in the urban fantasy mold.
For me, I guess the only way I’ll know is when I start writing the damned things!
Your personal reminder, from one writer to another:
Don’t forget to get up from your chair every now and again to stretch. Your lower half will thank you.
Try not to slouch in your chair. Straighten that back as soon as you suddenly find yourself hunkered over like Quasimodo over the keyboard! Your back will thank you. And it will surely let you know (as mine did today) if you don’t follow up.
For the love of pie, turn the chair! Don’t swivel at your waist like that, because your sciatic nerve is going to make some noise soon enough if you keep that up. Face your whole body in the direction you’re looking in.
Walking is always a good thing. Even if it’s across the house to check up on your kids/cat/significant other and let them know you’re still one of the living.
And yes, I know it’s tempting to spend all your waking hours writing everything you love to write. But it’s not that healthy to be sedentary for so long. Change it up every now and again. It’s healthy!
And this is mostly for myself: drink a lot of fluids. And by fluids, I mean water, tea, and other healthy things. A sufficiently hydrated writer is a happy, healthy writer!
This is brought to you by Jonc’s Sciatic Nerve and Its Attending Back Pains.
Yes, I have returned from the shadows and back to the land of the living! I’ve been so busy as of late, it took me a few days to realize that I didn’t have any pressing OMG deadlines weighing me down!
The last few days have been spent mostly doing project clean-up and getting everything back to some semblance of order. This meant an often precarious balance of Day Jobbery-related fires to put out (and there were many), doing the post-production and release prep for The Persistence of Memories, and generally just taking time to BREATHE again.
So now that it’s midweek and my brain has stopped spinning some, what do I have on tap for the close future?
Glad you asked! A partial list:
— The Persistence of Memories to be released in ebook on 4/15! WOO!It’s available directly from Smashwords in all kinds of formats, including Kindle, for $4.99. And for a brief time, you can buy the first book ABSOLUTELY FREE! Two for the price of one! [Note: As before, since the formatting of the physical book takes more time, I’ll let you know as soon as I can when it’ll be available through CreateSpace/Amazon.]
— I shall be taking part in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge this year, here at WtBT! It’s a fun blogging exercise that I’ve done a few years in the past on my LJ, and thought I’d give it a go here. I was thinking of doing an A-to-Z of the Mendaihu Universe, partly to get me to talk about it more (as I’m sure you’re all wondering, what the hells is he talking about in these books?), and partly to get me back into the blogging habit. Hope you enjoy what I have in store!
— And speaking of blogging, I’m still planning making good with my ‘alternate plan’ for the Walk in Silence project by turning it into an ongoing series over at the WiS blog. This series will start the third full week of April (around the 20th or so). Stay tuned!
— Returning to the whiteboard schedule. I purposely put it aside a few months ago when I chose to focus solely on the TPoM revision/edit/remaster/release, and now it’s high time to return to it. Which means more practice words at 750 Words, more WiS entries, and maybe even some words and music elsewhere. Truly looking forward to that.
So yes! Definitely looking forward to returning back to the writing and the other projects. It’s going to be a fun and creative summer, that’s for sure!
I subscribe to a handful of writing magazines, many that I’ve been picking up for a good few decades. Over the years, they’ve helped me rethink how I look at my stories. Sometimes they’ll point out the blatantly obvious that I’d been ignoring for one reason or another (weak prose and word repetition for a start). Sometimes they’ll provide insight on what agents and publishers are looking for and how to contact them. It’s all helpful, and over the years their advice did help me get a lot farther than just guessing or assuming I was doing it right.
On the other hand, I’ve been quite contrarian lately, and I’m not entirely sure why.
Well, maybe I am sure; I think it has to do with self-publishing my work. Also that I’ve been a nonconformist at heart since I was a kid.
Thing is, lately I’ll read these advice articles and think, ‘well, why can’t I do it that way?’ For example, I saw an article earlier this morning regarding a novel having too much plot. I get where they’re coming from, don’t get me wrong; the example they used was bombastic and ridiculous (some litfic plot regarding way too many characters causing way too many plot twists and coincidences that even reality gave it the side-eye), and in that instance, it’s probably for the best that you back it up a bit and maybe narrow the focus. My reaction, however, was this: well, how is it that apparently readers don’t like way too much plot, and yet we love reading doorstop novels from George RR Martin, Kate Elliott, Neal Stephenson, and so on? How can I write the plot-heavy book and still make it readable and enjoyable? The kind of doorstopper that makes readers go ‘damn, that’s some great world building!’ In other words, the kind of books I love to read.
That’s when it dawned on me: it’s not that the writer of the article is stifling creativity; they’re just trying to keep your novel’s highway from gridlocking. If you’re going to write a doorstopper, just make damn sure it’s navigable.
Getting back to my bit about nonconformity, here’s an ironic admission: I’m also a pathetic conformist as well. Let’s just say that even though I touted my individuality in my high school years – sometimes to annoying extremes – and tended to question authority when needed (again, usually in the form of “well, why can’t we…?”), I also found myself desperately trying to fit into the status quo at the same time. I’m a proud self-contrarian in that respect.*
[* – A good example of my proud self-contrarianism: Yes, I am aware of the irony of using a Psykosonik song in a blog entry about writing my sf trilogy, considering that one of the band’s principal songwriters was one Ted Beale, aka Vox Day. I’m not a fan of his politics in the least, but I did love the Unlearn album when it came out in 1995, so I’m fine with keeping the two separate.]
With regards to my writing, I went through quite a few phases of trying to shape my novels into something that agents and publishers would enjoy. The truth is out: one of the reasons it took me so long to self-release the Bridgetown Trilogy is that I spent a good number of years trying to figure out how to revise it so that it was more commercially acceptable to agents and publishers. Suffice it to say, I never successfully figured out how to do it. I didn’t want to give up on the Mendaihu Universe, I just wanted to make it marketable.
I could never figure out why nobody was biting, though — and that’s the downside to the form rejection letter. No one is telling you why. I understand the reason behind the process…most agencies and publishers are actually quite small in crew and literally can’t respond personally to thousands of submissions. At the same time, though, it doesn’t help the writer one bit. It’s like being trained at your workplace for a new system, and when you’re baffled and stuck and ask for clarification, the trainer responds with “Well, what do you think it does?” My initial response to that kind of question is almost always “How the fuck should I know? That’s why I’m asking you!”** I get that they’re trying to make you think it through, but some need a frame of reference first before they can answer that question. If I’m not doing it right, I want to know how I should be doing it to your specifications. I’m a writer: asking that question of me provokes about 3,425 different responses. I have no idea which one is the right one or which would bring me success. I have nothing to base it on.***
[** – Yes, this has actually happened at one of my day jobs.]
[*** – I am aware that this is what writing groups and beta readers are for, but they’ve never quite worked for me. They’re great for talking out ideas and suggestions and I love the camaraderie, but more often than not they end up doing little more than confirming problems and issues I’ve already noticed and hadn’t yet acted upon. I’ve come to the conclusion that I just happen to work better solo and should trust my instinct more often.]
And the nonconformist in me, after so many years, finally decided that DIY seemed like a more viable and entertaining option. The time was right, the field has been quite strong, and I’d already done my research on it. This time I listened that rebel in me.
I’ve mentioned here before that music is an incredibly huge influence in my life, and I took that to heart this time out when I chose to rethink how I viewed publishing. I’ve read so many music bios about punk bands scraping by on a meager pittance and a beat up van yet absolutely loving the lifestyle; I’ve read about their wonderfully creative ways of getting their singles out to radio stations and audiences. There’s a reason why the image of a telephone pole covered with the bark of a thousand nightclub flyers is so iconic; that was punk’s social media of the time, to let all and sundry know that you were in town and were going to play at some seedy bar close by.
So this is what happened in 2015: I chose to unlearn the process of publication as I knew it. I already understood it all too well…if I want to publish commercially, I already know what steps I need to take, and I think I have a bead on how I can make my lighter stories marketable. What I had to do for my self-published work, though, was think like a nonconformist: what makes sense to me, first and foremost, and be consistent in that belief. I taught myself to react to moments of weak prose and plot. I learned to completely trust my creative instincts. I taught myself the mathematics of creativity (thanks again to music), of being aware of what makes a pleasurable work. And most importantly, I taught myself to ignore any self-doubt that popped up. I’m proud of the creative things I can do; I love writing and drawing and playing music, always have since I was a kid, so it was about damn time I followed through with those long-held dreams and make them realities.
I won’t lie…sometimes the DIY route can be daunting. It can be emotionally nerve-wracking. It can also be expensive. But I really do think unlearning the process of trying to be a commercial writer was one of the best moves I’d ever made. I’ve never been happier and more excited about being a writer.
Oh, hey there! I’ll be scarce the next couple of weeks as I kick my own ass trying to get The Persistence of Memories out and (relatively) on time by end of month. I’m making serious headway on this last Evil Red Pen No Seriously This Is the Final Line Edit, cleaning it up so y’all will enjoy it when it’s released.
This always happens, damn it. I give myself a reasonable, decent timeframe to finish the line edit for The Persistence of Memories, and something comes along and says “OH HEY You need to get this done first, there’s a couple of errands you also need to do outside the house, and oh, by the way, Day Jobbery has been busier than usual, so chances of you sneaking any writing in during the day is slim to nil. Oh, and remember those blogs that you ignored all weekend because you were too busy shopping and doing housework, and watching the new X-Files episodes?”
Grumble grumble whine whine.
But you know, I’m not going to let it get to me. This has happened enough times that the most I can do is work around it. I’ve read too many blog writers and webcomic artists that have this same issue, and that’s all you can do: soldier on the best way you can. I say this, as it seems my original schedule has gone a bit wonky. I’m pushing the release of The Persistence of Memories out a few more weeks, mainly because after this line edit is done, I’m going to need to give it another surgery. It’s great as it is, but it’s still far too long at nearly 169k words. That’s actually about 15k more than A Division of Souls. The response to that book, by the way, has been quite positive, except for the words no writer really wants to hear: it’s too long. And Book 3 is even longer than Book 2, which is not a good sign at all.
But! But! It’s a piece of art! You’re supposed to savor the pace both when it’s fast and slow! Why does no one understand my genius?
Heh. Yeah, right. More like, “….Oh. Yeah. Huh. You’re right, that bit’s pretty sluggish. I should definitely speed it up.”
The thing with self-publishing is that you’re going to see it, warts and all. The original 150k version of ADoS is still out there as an e-book and a trade until I get around to re-editing that. On the one hand, as a writer, I feel like a failure because I put the book out there well before it was completely ready, and now No One Will Ever Trust Me as an Author Ever Again.
On the other hand, I can just get back on the horse, fix what needs fixing, present it again, and move on.
Whatever works, kids.
Granted, I’m also giving myself quite a lot to do in the next six months. Editing and revising books 2 and 3 in the trilogy, as well as writing Walk in Silence. My original plan for WiS was to have it released in April, but due to the trilogy editing and re-editing, work has been embarrassingly slow on it (about 2 handwritten pages a day, which really isn’t much). I’m thinking that one will end up being released during the fall semester. I’m okay with that…as long as it’s done by some point this year.
And then, maybe, finally, I’ll be able to work on new stuff. Maybe.
Featuring the Pilot Metropolitan pen that A got me for Christmas. I haven’t used a nib pen in ages!
I’ve been writing and editing via my PC for so long that it still feels weird to be writing new things longhand. The last major project I wrote longhand was The Phoenix Effect; the trilogy was written completely on the computer, using MS Write and MS Word. I still have the 3″ floppies containing all the early .wri files, come to think of it. I did do a lot of the world building and the brainstorming longhand, mostly on scrap paper from work (these were the Yankee Candle years), but the new words were all generated downstairs in the Belfry, tapping away on my PC.
Even later incomplete and/or trunked projects like Love Like Blood, Can’t Find My Way Home and Two Thousand and even the earlier versions of Walk in Silence were started or at least primarily written on the computer. I liked working that way for varying reasons: I could chart my daily word count and my production in general; I could edit while writing when it was clear it was needed; I could open multiple documents for reference use and note taking; and peripherally, I could keep myself amused and entertained with my mp3 collection playing in the background.
Writing on the PC can be a great thing, and I still enjoy it, but over the years I’ve realized its limitations as well. I have a penchant for distraction, whether it’s multiple games of FreeCell and Solitaire, futzing around with the tags and the arrangement of my mp3 collection, or the continued refreshing of my Twitter feed. I’ve also been hiding myself in Spare Oom far too long. And then there’s the fact that I already work from home, so I’m spending most of the day back there already, sitting on my duff for eight hours. Spare Oom may not be a man cave, but over the years it began to feel like I was using it as a hideaway from the world. It’s the one room in the apartment that has the best view (see the banner picture over at Walk in Silence), but I don’t look out that window nearly as much as I should.
Starting up my personal journal a few years back was my way of combating all this. Its original purpose was to divert my kvetching habits from social media to paper and curtail them somewhat, and it worked almost immediately. I also made it a habit to write its entries away from my desk. For the last year or so I’ve been writing in it during my midmorning break, sitting on the loveseat across the room where I can glance out the window as well. Much to my own surprise, I’ve kept it up consistently since then, skipping only weekends and vacations.
Early last year, when it was clear that I’d be wrapping up the trilogy project by year’s end, I started writing the new Mendaihu Universe story. This was the first new story I’d be starting completely longhand, in a yellow-covered 3-subject spiral notebook I picked up at Target. This too was kept up consistently until late last year when I put it aside to self-release the trilogy. Once that project is finally wrapped, I’ll be able to pick it up again. In the meantime, though, I’ve been starting new projects longhand, such as this latest version of Walk in Silence. My return to artwork and renewed dedication to weekly poetry have finally torn me away from the PC as well. In addition to that, I’ve been trying to make a concerted effort to work more often on my laptop out in the living room (where I am currently typing this) if I need to use MS Word. And yesterday afternoon during the two football playoff games I sat at the dining table, writing a few WiS pages.
I’d commented elsewhere that I don’t plan on turning myself into a Luddite writer; I just feel the need to change up the habits to keep everything fresh. I can view using the PC as a positive work process rather than a distraction or a slog. I’m not chained to it, and shouldn’t be. When I was working on the trilogy back in the early ’00s, working on the PC was something I looked forward to as an evening process, maybe even as ‘going to the office’ for my writing career, and I kept that separate from the rest of my life. Returning to longhand after so long is sort of a return to that.
2015 was definitely a banner year for me. One of my best writing years in a long time.
I trunked a majority of dead story ideas and created a number of new ones to work on in the future. That was a big move for me; finally letting go of stories that no longer sang to me, and making the decision not to revive them. That’s always a tough move for a writer, but it has to be done to clean house, so to speak, to make way for newer and more robust ideas. By retiring many of these stories, I’ve given myself more room to focus on the new Mendaihu Universe story, as well as others not in that universe.
I was more consistent with my other creative endeavors that aren’t exactly for public consumption (yet): writing daily journal entries, photography, poetry, artwork, and playing guitar. Are these ever going to be shared elsewhere? Who knows…I’m not aiming to be a semipro poet, artist, photographer or musician for the moment, as these are personal and not professional projects. Things I do purely for selfish enjoyment. I’m able to push myself and get better at them without having an expected plateau to hit.
I hit one of my highest goals of seeing the trilogy out in the wild by self-releasing A Division of Souls as an e-book (and soon to be available as a trade paperback). I was also included in Uniquely North Quabbin, a collection of essays about the area of Massachusetts where I grew up. The trilogy was an extremely long term project for me (spanning over a decade, technically over two), so releasing it has very much given me a sense of closure. I can finally move on to new projects, both within the MU and elsewhere.
So what does 2016 hold for me?
On the professional end of things, I’ve already made the choice to have at least three books to be self-released next year: the second and third book of the trilogy, The Persistence of Memories and The Balance of Light; and my memoir/music book Walk in Silence. I’ve been working on all three since October, just after I released A Division of Souls, so I’m still on schedule to see these come to fruition. TPoM should arrive early next year, WiS sometime late spring or early summer, and TBoL by autumn.
After that, my writing calendar will be disturbingly, frighteningly clear for the first time in ages.
Which means that I should look for another project to focus on. If I’ve learned anything from the trilogy project, it’s that I now understand the level of dedication and focus I should give to my writing. Whatever project comes next will be given that same amount of dedication and focus.
Do I have ideas? Yes I do! There’s the new Mendaihu Universe novel that’s currently on pause while I get its related novels out. This one probably won’t see the public eye until 2017. Then there’s the musical family idea (aka The Lidwells Story) that’s also on the backburner. That one’s a compact standalone, and a very rough draft has already been written via my daily words earlier this year, so this one could very well be another quick turnaround.
But other than that? It’s wide open. I’m as curious as you are about what I’ll write next.
Speaking of daily words, I’m hoping to return to writing them via the 750 Words website in the new year, especially now that I’ll have more time for them. This is where many of my recent ideas have arrived on the scene, so I think I’d be remiss in passing it up. The key is to not be stressed out about it. The point is not to ensure I write 750 or more words on a daily basis, but to exercise my imagination and have fun with it.
I haven’t updated my whiteboard schedule yet, but I usually end up doing that on January 1, so you’ll see that post tomorrow. Oh! And speaking of updates…I plan to have a much tighter and more frequent schedule here at Welcome to Bridgetown as well as Walk in Silence. Maybe one or two posts a week for starters, but I’d like to expand on that later on. I’d like to expand on the subjects I write about as well. As much as I love talking about college radio or how I write, I’d like to investigate different avenues related to writing and music. Different genres, different processes, that sort of thing.
Other than that, I’m going to revel in the fact that the road looks much clearer than it has in years. I want 2016 to be the Year of New Things. I’m really looking forward to where it takes me.
My cellphone battery went on the fritz the other day, so for the first time in I’m not sure how long, I haven’t had my cell with me when going out somewhere. No looking up my book shopping list that I have saved to Dropbox, no checking Twitter while we wait for our food at restaurants, no checking in to Swarm, no reading what few news sites I still actually read with any regularity. I’ve had to make do with analog diversions such as the local paper or whatever’s playing on the big screen above the tables. Or, y’know, talking to people.
I was able to enjoy yesterday’s errands without distraction or needing to get somewhere or find something specific. I spent an hour or so at Green Apple Books (I had a few items to pick up that we’d ordered), did a bit of shopping close by, and stopped at Café La Flore for lunch. My only entertainment while eating was a writing magazine I’d picked up.
I’ll be honest, I already knew that I’m online way too much. Working from home, I have my work laptop at one end of my desk, and at the other end of it is my home PC, where I’ll distract myself with some online radio station, my Twitter feed, my email, YouTube, or whatever else might be going on. I’ve already made a conscious effort to lessen my dependency on social media and newsfeeds, especially when I sense that I’m about to be irritated or annoyed at something currently trending. Again, it’s the white noise — it tires me out, and I don’t feel like adding to it anymore. So I’ll close whatever tabs I have open, save the radio station (or my music player), and do something offline. I’ve also made it a point to use my work breaks for longhand writing, which forces me to cut screen time as well.
Yesterday’s errand-running up Clement Street was definitely a nice diversion, especially since it forced me to think of other ways to distract myself other than via my cellphone. And more to the point, it was a reminder that being online really is a bit of an addiction, at least for me. The good thing is that I’m aware of it, that it cuts into my personal time and my writing time, and that I’ve been doing things to combat it. I make time for things, because I know that in reality, most of the things I want to do don’t take that long at all. A bit of guitar noodling? Working on my art? Writing in my journal? Writing a poem? Surely I can afford to take an hour or so out of my day to dedicate to those projects. Lately, I’ve been noticing just how true that is, once distraction has been taken away.
And without a cellphone (which, let’s be honest, I use mainly to go online, and not to call anyone), I’m finding myself with more time on my hands, connecting to the world in a different way. It’s slower and there’s less novelty to it, but that’s just fine. I get to enjoy the Zen-like quality of people-watching and letting my thoughts percolate for a bit. I get to listen to the world a little more closely. Overhearing interesting snippets of conversations and pondering what the context may be. Noticing habits, personal tics, cultural quirks. Thinking about why people do what they do. Letting it all enter my memory without having to take pictures of it. Everything that goes into character development and world building.
Am I going to keep this up, once I finally get my replacement battery? Who knows. But for now I’m just going to continue with this acoustic living for a bit longer. I’ve really come to enjoy it.
Welcome to Bridgetown 