Giving this another go!

I've been away too long from my blog, and from my writing for that matter. I recently got another job, after being unemployed for over a year. Although, I must admit, it was a wonderful year of sleeping in and reading books late into the night. My only regret is that I didn't use my days wisely to accomplish more writing than I did.

Since starting my new job (I've only been there a week), I haven't sat down to write anything and it really makes me want to kick myself. I promised myself that I would sit down this weekend to write. Of course, I've done that in the past and wasted my opportunity because I ended up watching a movie or playing a game instead of writing. Not today, though! Today has been a wet and dreary day outside. Oh, and also cold. Can't forget to mention the winter storm that supposed to be bearing down on us.

Well, I got online and visited some author sites to build my motivation. Actually, my motivation was pretty much piqued already, but it never hurts to read motivational words from other (successful) authors. So, I went to Dennis Lehane, Elmore Leonard, and Cormac McCarthy's websites and browsed for a little bit. Then, before I could let the procrastination bug bite me, I closed my browser and opened my editor. I started close to one o'clock this afternoon.

I worked on the first draft of a short story I started yesterday called Help Wanted. I had only written four pages previously. I finished the first draft today and it came in at a whopping 20+ pages! When I finished it, I opened another short story I had started earlier called Swiftly, the End Cometh. I only had one written page to begin with, but now that I've finished, it's well over ten. I know, that doesn't seem like much, but I looked at the clock when I finished writing and saw that it was almost 6:00 PM.

THAT'S A LOT OF WRITING, PEOPLE! Well, for me at least. Especially, in one day. And now look at this. I'm blogging, which means that I'm writing even more. I've been bitten by the writing bug and damn it feels good!

Okay, that's enough for today. I just wanted to write for any readers out there to let you know that if you make yourself sit down to write (even when you don't want to) you can accomplish a lot of writing. The key is making yourself do it.

One last thing, which I just discovered: my foot's asleep! Argh!

Away too long...but I'm back!

In my last blog, I spoke about perseverance being the most important thing to aspiring writers. I'm here today (after a lengthy hiatus) to reiterate and drive home that point!

It is with a heavy heart that I must return to the land of the 9-to-5ers. Due to certain circumstances, my time spent at home working on my short stories and novels has come to an end. I must return to work in order to pay down some bills like most normal people. For me, that means returning to an office environment where I will program computers. I know, I know. There are those of you who might read this and think an office job? when you work outdoors or in too-cold or too-hot warehouse jobs that think I'm a big whiny baby. Well, believe me when I tell you, it's not as nice as you think! I've worked in warehouses and outside during the summer and winter, and I can sympathize with you. I'd return to one of those jobs again if the money was there, unfortunately friends, it ain't!

Sure, the money for programming computers is really nice and you don't have to lift heavy things all day. Hell, you don't get dirty doing it and you get to sit down while you work. All of that is gravy...so why am I bitching about it? Because of two things: first, I am a writer (preferably novels and stories instead of computer code) and this is far from the writing I want to do; and second, office politics! Yes, office politics is the bane in the mix, which destroys the enjoyment of all the aforementioned benefits. I know, I've run into again and again.

When starting a new office job, it's usually really nice. The new people you meet are usually nice because you're new and they're feeling you out. Your workload is fairly light, until they determine how capable you are of doing the job. You're enlightened by the large paychecks you're receiving to start filling that dwindling checking account and hold the creditors at bay.

But, then the happy sunlight is obscured by dark clouds as those happy friendly people start turning sour. Your workload increases because they realize what a good worker you are. Others around you slack off and get you to do their work for them by complaining that their stuff doesn't work and it's your fault. Yes, that stuff actually happened to me at my last job. It was great at first, but after having been there for a couple of years and learning the ins and outs of the business, everyone around me began to pass the blame when something went wrong. Where did the blame end up, you ask? Why, with the programmers, of course. So, I am not happy at all by the notion that I must return to that cut-throat environment. I'd rather work in a warehouse or at a fastfood restaurant if the money was there, but it's not, as I've said.

So, back to my driving home the importance of perseverance. I felt myself getting quite depressed with the notion that I had to cut back my writing and begin mingling with the daytime workforce again. Not to mention, I received some rejections between Christmas and New Years for some stories that I thought were exceptional. A voice inside me said, You'll never make it as a writer now! This will suck out all of your motivation to write. That thought scared the hell out of me and when I whined to my wife about being a failure, about the publishing industry being a tight-knit incestuous group that went above and beyond to keep out members, she looked at me sincerely and said that I was getting too worked up, taking my rejections personally and that I could still write.

I realized she was right. I was being too over dramatic. I had cast aside my own advice to other writers. I reread my last blog and vowed that I would not give up my endeavor to continue writing and see my work through to publication. And, I want this to be a prime example to anyone who reads this and feels that they want to give up, that they just can't make it. DON'T QUIT NOW! KEEP GOING, PERSEVERING! Eventually, you'll make it. The climb to the top of writing success is steep and arduous. Persevere.

Perseverance: The most important word for authors

I've been struggling with demons lately. Of those demons, the worst has been procrastination. I find myself waking in the morning, vowing to accomplish a lot of work on my novel during the day. Instead, I find myself planted in front of the computer reading blogs by literary agents and editors about the publishing industry. I tell myself that I'm not wasting time because I need to know what's going on in the publishing industry. When I get off the computer, I pace through the house, looking for things to do. I might wash dishes, which is actually something that sucks if neglected. I eventually find myself sitting on the sofa, watching television or surfing through the channels to find something to watch. God knows that daytime television is an absolute waste of time to begin with because there's never anything worth watching anyway. Usually, I can pull myself away and plant my butt in front of my laptop to knock out some editing or to write a few pages. My goal is to edit/write 10 pages each day, but recently, that number has dwindled and I find myself compromising with a few pages, varying between 3 to 5 each day.

I'm losing my forward momentum and I realize that to stay on this path is the smooch of death. So, today I asked myself what was the problem. Why was I plagued with this monkey of procrastination on my back? I believe I've found the answer. When I wrote the first draft of my first novel, I made myself sit down and write 1,000 words everyday. During that time, I had days when I couldn't bring myself to reach my goal, let alone sit down in front of the computer. That's just life, we're not machines, after all. But, I also had a penalty system. If I missed a day, that meant that I had to double up the following day. I was pretty firm with myself about this and finished my first draft three months after starting it.

Now that I'm revising that first draft (I'm currently on the third revision) and working on the first draft of my second novel, I've found myself in a major procrastination rut. When I looked deeply at the cause, I realized that some of the problem arose from the blogs I've been reading. Most of the agents talk about certain elements that make a story sellable: intriguing plot, voice, style, believable dialog, rich characterization, visual settings and imagery, etc. I've since gone back and asked myself whether these elements were evident in my work. Feeling a boatload of self doubt, I find it intimidating to sit down and continue to embarrass myself at my laptop. Also, making repetitive passes through a mountain of pages to look at the dialog, characterization, etc. is such a daunting task that it takes the wind right out of my sails. I find myself without the motivation to continue.

Now that I've identified the problem, it seems that the only solution is to just persevere, to lower my head and charge into the task at hand. Internally, I feel as if I'm on a timeline with a quickly approaching deadline that I know I'll fail to meet. But rationally, I know there is no such deadline. My eagerness to sell and publish my first book is getting me worked up. Self doubt is playing into it as well, squashing my motivation. If I don't stop it now, this could be a never ending cycle. I guess this is what writer's block is like. I've heard many writers discuss about this problem, but have never experienced it myself until now. But, I know what I have to do.

When I finish this blog, I'll turn off the stupid TV and plant myself in front of my laptop, and like the Nike slogan says, just do it! I urge you to do the same.

How do you separate yourself from the multitude of other writers?

With such fierce competition between the numerous aspiring authors trying to get their books published, every author should do what he/she can to make themselves stand out in a publisher's mind so that they will get the recognition they deserve. Now, I'm not going to say that you should pull silly gimicky tricks to make an editor notice your query letter among the heap they peruse daily. No. I'm talking about using your craft to get the attention of an editor. What I am going to say here is very importnant. These are things I've noticed just from reading what publishers produce and communicating with other writers. Frankly, some of it is appalling.

I like to say that seeking a publisher or literary agent is very similar to competing in American Idol. I say this because if you watch American Idol, there are hundreds of thousands of people who audition for that show. Out of that multitude, some actually have talent. The rest? Well, they're disillusioned individuals that think they have talent. Now, I can't sing. If I tried, people might pay me to stop! But rest assured, you won't see me in line to audition for that show. At least I know I can't sing, so there's no use in me trying. But what about all those idiots that stand in line, waiting to waste the judges' time? How can they not know that they suck? I mean, really! Well, I feel that many aspiring writers today are equivelant to these talentless asshats that tryout for AI and think they have talent. Of course, I believe that editors and agents are too professional to tell a horrible writer that they suck as candidly as Simon Cowell delivers the news point-blank. I think it would be a much different industry if editors/agents were so blunt.

I like to follow literary agents' and publishers' blogs to keep abreast of the industry and changes in it. Also, I try to follow some professional authors' blogs (not only because I enjoy what many of them have to say, but because they can teach me things about the craft of writing and the publishing industry). I even follow some of the unpublished writers. Now, the aspiring writers are the best, in my opinion, because they are like a yard stick by which I can measure myself against the competition. For instance, one writer said they were going to write four different stories for four different submission calls they heard about. Well, that's fine and dandy, but I've read quite a bit of this writer's previous stories and they all stank (again, my opinion--well, and a few of my friends' opinions as well). The writer in question comes across too brash, always trying to whip out a story like a switchblade in a streetfight. When a writer acts that hastily, usually their work suffers because of it. This writer is no exception. All it takes is to read this writer's work to see that spelling and grammatical mistakes go unchecked because the writer is too caught up in the daydream of being in print and hurries toward it without heed. As a writer, your work reveals a lot about you. Writers should not try to publish (or self-publish) a piece of work until it is as error free as possible. Otherwise, you come across sloppy and/or lazy.

I also find it embarrassing to correspond with other writers only to learn that their messages are peppered with misspellings or that the idea the writer tried to convey was jumbled and difficult to follow. As writers, we're supposed to be wordsmiths. Our vocation is using words to paint visual imagery to our readers, to efficiently and elegantly describe or convey something to those reading our prose. When I read an email or message from a fellow writer and I see ungrammatical text and the sender is telling me they write, have written, or better yet, are published, I can't help but roll my eyes and wonder whether they are just lying. I mean, what kind of agent or editor would represent such a sloppy, lazy person? I know you may be reading this and asking yourself where I get off thinking I'm God's gift to the reading world. Well, I don't want to come off sounding so high-handed, but goddamn it, someone needs to bring attention to this situation.

I read the work of a professional author recently (I won't mention any names, but this writer is fairly prolific) and I was amazed that a major publishing house represented this writer. I actually thought that the writer must've finished a first draft and submitted it to their agent/editor. Well, maybe I shouldn't say editor, because if an editor did read any of the manuscript, he/she should've wiped their ass with it because to say they read it and then published it that way, well that agent/editor should be fired! So enough of my ranting. I wanted to talk about ways to set yourself apart from this large crowd of non-writers that are also seeking to publication.

First, I must strongly urge you to pay very close attention to your writing. Walk amongst the trees again! Reread your work once it's finished, seeking out those misspellings and unclear thoughts. Fix them! This is called editing. It exists for a reason. I know it's boring and sometimes very tedious, but without it, you may come across to the reader as a moron or lazy. I usually edit my short stories several times before they ever see the light of day. Another trick is to get a couple of close friends (people that will tell you honestly what they think of your story) to read your work and provide feedback. Also, make sure these people are fairly literate. There's no need asking someone that never reads for their opinion. Try to steer clear of people that will tell you that they love your work because they wouldn't want to hurt your feelings by telling you that they did not like what they read. I believe there are a lot of writers out there with this problem. Actually, I'm quite sure of it! I've seen authors with dreadfully bad stories posted on the internet and the comments have all been sugar-coated bullshit about how well the story was written, etc. Please! This does nothing to help the writer improve and only gives him/her a false sense of pride. Make sure you receive honest, educated feedback. My wife is my first reader (she's an English professor) and I listen to most everything she says about what I should correct. However, sometimes I might disagree with her on more subjective things. In which case, I leave it the way I originally wrote it, but this is quite rare.

Okay, I know I've praddled on quite a bit so I'll offer up one more bit of advice: study the really successful authors in the field. And not just one, but several. Get to know why they are successful. You should be able to glean this from reading their work and watching how they write descriptive scenes, their use of narration and dialog and a whole host of other things. You will learn volumes from their writing if you open up your mind to look for these things. Also, read some truly bad authors to learn what not to do. I think that if you follow this advice: learn your grammar, edit (edit, edit), let others provide unbiased feedback about your writing, and learn from the success or mistakes of other writers; you will single yourself out from the herd of talentless twits trying to take away from you that publishing slot.

One last thing: as a writer, you should always be improving and growing. Never stop doing that!

One Word, One Sentence, One Paragraph At A Time: Baby Steps Toward That First Novel

It's almost NaNoWriMo time again and while I've never participated in this event I thought I'd comment on writing a novel. This is by no means a nut-and-bolt breakdown of writing something as monumental as a novel, but it should spur some motivation in anyone who reads this and wants to make the commitment it takes to undergo the journey to produce something as lengthy as a book. Here's how I do it, in a nutshell...

It's amazing how many people want to become writers, or at least, how many say they want to write a book. Most of these people never make the time to ever write to begin with, but that's a whole different topic I may address later. For those that do make the time and then sit down, trying to write, they soon become frustrated by the monumental task of writing a novel. I didn't have that problem when I wrote my first book, The Shadow People. I read Stephen King's book, On Writing, prior to embarking on the task of writing. (I seem to do everything the hard way first)

In his book, King says to commit to a regimen of 1,000 words every day (and that it is permissible to take one day off each week). He said that in a period of three months, one could have a novel. Granted, there is a lot of other factors that come into play: creativity, a good story idea, and fortitude, to name but a few. I already had an idea, however, and I did as he said. I sat down each day in a closed room and did a brain dump, putting my 1,000 words (or more, sometimes less) down on paper. Well, actually into the computer, but whatever, let's not split hairs here.

After three months had passed I had my first draft complete. I didn't sit and worry about how long the story should be, or suffering through a certain number of pages. I think if any of those concerns had carried much weight I might have been doomed before I started. I simply began strolling among the trees, comprised of words and scenes, until eventually, I came out on the other side and was able to turn and look back at the forest I had traveled through. It was a spectacular feeling!

Oh sure, there were days when I sat and tried to write those thousand words, but nothing wanted to come out. Those days were tough, but I stayed at my desk until I finished, and then there were days when I wrote two to five thousand words. Those days didn't come as often, however. For me, I simply sat down and looked at where I had left off. Once I was reacquinted with my place in the story, I watched as it unfolded in my head like recapping a movie or television show. As it played out, I sat by as a spectator, recording what I saw happening on the stage of my mind. With this technique, it's harder for the writer to pace the floor worrying about how many words he/she has written, or how many more they have to write to be finished for the day. Your job at this point is to simply watch happens and write what you see. The content will make itself: first as a word, then a sentence, and finally forming each paragraph at a time.

Writing is not an easy job. It's hard! Much harder than I first thought. Sitting down to write for one's self takes a lot of the difficulty out of it, but if you're writing for an audience and a living, there's so much more to worry about than how many words you can suffer through. If suffering through them is your primary concern, you shouldn't be writing anyway because then there's no joy in it. So, if you still want to write and you take it serious, just sit back and let your mind play and your fingers fly. Your story will eventually write itself. Just get it from your head to the paper. There's no one else that can transcribe that masterpiece but you, and the second draft is where you worry about fine-tuning it.

Stranger in a strange land: Crossing over the genre line

When I first started writing, I wrote only horror stories. Horror is my passion. I'm a horror junkie. Whether it be movies, television, or books, I prefer horror. I love all the old slasher films. I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer and now I am a huge fan of the show Supernatural. I read mainly Stephen King for scares. Yes, I pigeon-holed myself as a horror writer because it's what I love to read, so naturally it's what I chose to write.

My best friend and writer, Mark, is quite the opposite. He is a sci-fi author. Which stands to reason since he is as passionate about science fiction and space as I am with the dark and my monsters. I do not want to be labeled as only a horror writer, however. When you stand back and look, you'll see that Stephen King, although called the King of Horror, does not write only horror stories. He has written science fiction (the first one to come to mind is a short story called The Jaunt), fantasy (the whole Dark Tower series) and other works of fiction, although I'm not sure quite how I would label them (The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile).

Although I love horror and want to dethrone my idol, Stephen King, I don't want to simply be complacent in the horror genre. I want to spread my wings, flex my creative mind and reach out to other realms of writing. It's definitely a great way to excercise your creativity. I decided to try my hand at science fiction because fantasy and other genres, mystery, romance, etc. do not appeal to me. I will say, however, that they may appeal to me one day, just not right now. Science fiction never appealed to me before, with a couple of exceptions: Stephen King's The Jaunt and Ray Bradbury's awesome story, Mars Is Heaven. I have always loved that story because it broke the stereotypical mold I had of the genre being dominated by pasty nerds in glasses swooning over space stories such as Star Trek and Star Wars. (Note: I enjoy watching Star Trek and loved Star Wars as a child, but Star Wars has somehow lost its luster to me as an adult.) What appealed to me about Bradbury's story was how it did not take place in a space craft among the stars (granted, there is a space ship, but the setting is more like that of Earth). The twist ending was the thing I loved most. I am a huge fan of Twilight Zone-Rod Serling-ish endings. That's what turns my dials up to ten. Another thing that turned me off from the science fiction genre was the notion that the field has been too heavily mined, much like Vampire stories in the horror genre, there just wasn't much unexplored territory.

That last notion is somewhat of a misconception, in my opinion. Sure, the genre has been heavily mined but so has the horror genre, that's why a creative mind is so vitalas well as reading broadly. Stephen King once said that writing is like being ushered into a vast building with more doors than one can open in a lifetime, and as a writer, you're given leave to open as many as you like. It's definitely true with all writing, no matter the genre. I recently read a sci-fi story called Blood Child, which blew me away. Again, it did not take place aboard a space craft, which intrigued me because of my stereotypical view of the genre. It now ranks top in my mind, next Bradbury's story, sitting aloft that pedestal with Mars Is Heaven. I decided to try my hand at writing some sci-fi. I explored the farthest recesses of my mind for a good story angle. I came up with a black hole scenario (again, mined to death). I kicked it around, looking for some new spin on it, but no matter what I dreamed up, it seemed too cliche. After letting the idea ferment for about a week, something came to me. I had the perfect twist ending. I sat down and pounded the story out and began editing it. I had written my first science fiction piece! One that I am quite proud of.

Bitten with the bug, I decided to see if lightning would strike twice. I racked my brain for different scenarios, but my lack of science fiction exposure hindered me. After all, I do not read much science fiction, so I was niave about what had been overdone and what was on the fringes of the genre. For me, it was unmapped territory. I began reading science fiction stories to test the boundaries and get a feel for the style of some notable authors. Finally, another idea came to me. I wrote it down in my Ideas file for later. While I thought I was stuck for ideas days ago, another story emerged from the abyss, bubbling up like Texas-T for old Jedd Clampett. I watched a television show that mentioned The Lost Colony of Roanoke, a subject that has always intrigued me. I turned the mystery around in my mind and got a great idea for a science fiction yarn. A story that I'm currently editing. Since then, I've had some other ideas for sci-fi stories. I've even written my first poem!

My point is this: don't try to pigeon-hole yourself because other genres don't appeal to you. If you give them a try, reading several different stories by several different authors, you may find that you like some of the works in a particular genre and that can open up a new area for you to excercise your writing abilities. This is why I said earlier that while I don't like romance and mystery, it's not to say that I never will. To subscribe to that theory would make me closed minded, and close mindedness (to me, at least) is an author's poison. So spread your creative wings and fly!

Releasing your book into the wild: When is the best time to submit your work?

I've encountered this quite a bit lately and even wrestled with the question myself. I recently read on a writer's bulletin board a post that basically asked when one should finish a work and move on to the next WIP (work-in-progress for those that don't already know). A literary agent even addressed this question as well, so I decided to further the topic. As I've said, I wrestled with this conundrum myself, but luckily, I've managed to see past it. While I still haven't actually released my novel into the wild yet, I have gotten the inspiration to get it finished much quicker.

Here's my account: I began writing The Shadow People in 2005, before my horrible divorce. It took me 3 months to write the first draft. I set it aside while my life was turned upside down. I tried editing the hard copy in 2006, but felt it was too monumental of a task along with the ongoing divorce, so I quit after 80 pages. In 2007, after remarrying, I pulled out the manuscript and began thinking of how to edit the monstrous thing. I had a ream of pages before me and the mere sight of it took the wind out of my sails. Finally, I sat down with a legal pad and pen and read the whole thing through, creating an outline of revision notes on the pad. I thought it was horribly written and decided it needed a rewrite. I eventually rewrote it, although I don't remember how long it took to do so, but I think it was relatively quick. I put it aside again, to let it mellow. While it was tucked away, I began other novels, leaving them in various stages to work on other projects that felt more interesting. Finally, I stood back and looked at the mess of WIPs I had accumulated, realizing that if I kept on like this I would always have plenty of unfinished projects out there and nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, I kept reading agent blogs and news of debut authors selling their books to publishers. If I wanted to join these new authors' ranks, then I knew I had to get off my ass and quit procrastinating with my work. Like writing a first draft, I vowed to set some limits to accomplish the goal. I committed to editing a minimum of 10 pages each day. With 380 pages, it would take me just over a month. I made it through and it felt great! Now, I've decided to make one more pass, a 4th revision, but this one will be a lighter version since I've already completed the line-edit. I'll look at pacing, dialog that doesn't progress the story, etc. and clean all this up. When finished, I plan to distribute it to my first readers who've expressed an intrest in reading it to provide me with feedback.

The moral of my experience is this: writers are great at procrastinating! Whether they think of it that way or not, it's true. Maybe it's the trepidation we feel toward rejection. I could've continued telling myself that my work just wasn't good enough with each revision. Reading it over and over, feeling that I can do better than this. Of course, as writers, we should constantly be growing in our craft and this means that we will always look back at our older writing and see where we could improve it or express something better than we did. Even the famous authors have published books they can look back on, thinking, Wow, I could've done better than that! At least they're published! This is what finally lit the fire under my ass. I want to join the ranks of published novelists, so I decided to get the story written to the best of my current ability. If you sit on the manuscript, thinking you can always do it better, then you'll probably find yourself in the same detrimental cycle I was in. Eventually, you have to see if it has wings and can fly from the nest.