"Protect the land and despoil the sea? It seems an odd bunch of rules to me."
This is a line from the story I'm currently writing - "The Giant of Tidesmouth." Obviously, there is more to it, and I expect many of my readers will get it and enjoy the reference.
But if you don't, I'm not telling you what it is. Neener neener.
Of course, if I hadn't told you there was something more to get, then those of you who saw nothing beyond the line of dialogue would not have known you were missing anything. Which, generally speaking, is good. In jokes are great for the people who share in them, but they make others feel excluded and that won't make readers feel welcome.
Thus, I try to make them subtly. I love making references, and homages, and little tributes to the artists and the people and the things that I love. I do it all the time. I even have some 'big' ones planned. Snippets of a song lyrics or a particularly poignant turn of phrase that I intend to - ahem - "borrow" into my books at some point. I do not intend to make them stick out. They will blend and only the people who instantly recognize the borrowed bit will know what I was doing - ideally, the tribute will blend so completely that even those people wonder if it was intentional.
After all, too much reference becomes gratuitous and gets in the way of the story - even self-reference, which has the added sin of being masturbatory. I'm talking story-telling sin, not religious, folks. As I hint at in the post where I introduced The Wandering Tale, I want people to be able to read these stories, starting anywhere in the series, and never have the feeling they were missing anything. Characters and themes and events might reappear, but in a quiet way. Too much self-reference would ruin the stand-alone nature of each story. Readers would know that there was something there weren't getting, and feel like I was pushing them to read the other parts. I don't want that - I want them to read cuz the writing is just so damned good.
This may be one of the hardest parts of writing this series. Despite being in my anti-epic kick for a little while, I normally like an expansive narrative, and it is in my nature to write that way. Perhaps it will be good practice to ensure that each entry into The Wandering Tale can stand proudly alone.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
The Art of Editing
Normally, I'm the kind of writer that moves fairly slowly through a story. I don't tend to write scenes out of order and I don't move on from a scene until I'm happy with it. This fits with my general philosophy of "Get it right the first time!"
As I try out self-publishing and start thinking about what life would be like as a professional author, though, I've been giving thought to different strategies. Namely, the 'get the draft done quickly and revise the hell out of it' method.
Changing habits has never been easy, and this is no exception. I keep trying to revise every scene to death while I'm writing it the first time, which - as my theory goes - might be wasting time in the long run because not every scene makes it into the final version, or needs to be heavily revamped due to choices later in the story.
Thus, I'm giving the rough cut a try lately. It is very hard to move on from writing I know is bad, but I'm doing it anyway - and it is oddly liberating. Empty as it may be, it feels good to add ~1000 words to a story most times I sit down to write. It also lets me write the fun stuff more quickly (I'm not sure when I'll try writing books 'out of order.' Not sure I'll ever be that kind of writer), or at least the parts of the story I see most clearly and have better figured out.
The biggest danger I see is that it might make revisions more complicated when I rewrite scenes and change details which have an effect upstream in the story. As the chaos theory and every good movie dealing with time travel tells us, "everything depends on everything else."
As I try out self-publishing and start thinking about what life would be like as a professional author, though, I've been giving thought to different strategies. Namely, the 'get the draft done quickly and revise the hell out of it' method.
Changing habits has never been easy, and this is no exception. I keep trying to revise every scene to death while I'm writing it the first time, which - as my theory goes - might be wasting time in the long run because not every scene makes it into the final version, or needs to be heavily revamped due to choices later in the story.
Thus, I'm giving the rough cut a try lately. It is very hard to move on from writing I know is bad, but I'm doing it anyway - and it is oddly liberating. Empty as it may be, it feels good to add ~1000 words to a story most times I sit down to write. It also lets me write the fun stuff more quickly (I'm not sure when I'll try writing books 'out of order.' Not sure I'll ever be that kind of writer), or at least the parts of the story I see most clearly and have better figured out.
The biggest danger I see is that it might make revisions more complicated when I rewrite scenes and change details which have an effect upstream in the story. As the chaos theory and every good movie dealing with time travel tells us, "everything depends on everything else."
Monday, March 5, 2012
Self-Pubbed Freedom
If I hadn't decided to try out self-publishing (and if services like Amazon's KDP and Smashwords weren't around to make that choice possible) I never would have been able to get stories like Swordsman of Carn Nebeth or Three Fingers of Death published. Even though they are perfectly good and I'm sure lots of people will like them, they're just too awkward a length. I can't think of even one professional venue that publishes novella-length fiction, though I imagine there are a couple out there.
I've been thinking lately of another little detail that self-published authors don't need to worry about as much, and that is cutting their stories down to size. Story length matters a lot less in digital publishing in any case. Printing costs are nonexistent and shelf space is unlimited (at least, in the physical sense).
I mentioned in my last post that the mantra of the writing world is "cut, cut, cut." Beginning writers are often told to cut every last unnecessary word out of their story. This always struck me as odd. We are writers, not chroniclers. Arguably, if a 'word' is entertaining then it is necessary. It certainly wouldn't do to simply state the cold-blooded events of a narrative - that's not a story, it's an outline.
I've always wondered how much of that pressure comes from the publishing industries worries about cost versus how much comes from actual concern about the best methods to tell a story. I'll bet that a lot of really good passages and wonderful character development has ended up on the cutting room floor over the years. It's the same thing that happens with movies: to hit a target 'theater length' a lot of scenes have to be cut out and the movie often ends up as a sub-optimal specimen until the inevitable (in these days of DVD releases) "Editor's Cut" is released. A lot of the time? Those Editor's Cuts really ARE better.
Might not the same be true of novels? How many writers have had to cut out perfectly good material because it wasn't essential to the plot? As I've said, very few things in any novel are truly essential to the plot. The element that matters is whether or not it will entertain the majority of the readers - if it adds to the quality of the book.
That being said, it makes it all the more imperative to know what adds to the quality of the book. For damn sure there still needs to be some cutting going on. It just doesn't need to be as drastic. The publishing industry impressed on us the need to do things with as few words as possible - it would be easy to fall into the trap, when self-publishing, of disregarding the value of a good lean piece of storytelling for something pudgy and fat.
Now, I don't want my stories ultra-lean or fat. As always, the optimal spot lies in between. "Fat is flavor" but it isn't substance. I'll do us all a favor and leave the meat metaphor behind (it was making me hungry anyways) and summarize that point I'm slowly realizing: Cutting is still important, but maybe we can afford to lighten up with the knife.
I've been thinking lately of another little detail that self-published authors don't need to worry about as much, and that is cutting their stories down to size. Story length matters a lot less in digital publishing in any case. Printing costs are nonexistent and shelf space is unlimited (at least, in the physical sense).
I mentioned in my last post that the mantra of the writing world is "cut, cut, cut." Beginning writers are often told to cut every last unnecessary word out of their story. This always struck me as odd. We are writers, not chroniclers. Arguably, if a 'word' is entertaining then it is necessary. It certainly wouldn't do to simply state the cold-blooded events of a narrative - that's not a story, it's an outline.
I've always wondered how much of that pressure comes from the publishing industries worries about cost versus how much comes from actual concern about the best methods to tell a story. I'll bet that a lot of really good passages and wonderful character development has ended up on the cutting room floor over the years. It's the same thing that happens with movies: to hit a target 'theater length' a lot of scenes have to be cut out and the movie often ends up as a sub-optimal specimen until the inevitable (in these days of DVD releases) "Editor's Cut" is released. A lot of the time? Those Editor's Cuts really ARE better.
Might not the same be true of novels? How many writers have had to cut out perfectly good material because it wasn't essential to the plot? As I've said, very few things in any novel are truly essential to the plot. The element that matters is whether or not it will entertain the majority of the readers - if it adds to the quality of the book.
That being said, it makes it all the more imperative to know what adds to the quality of the book. For damn sure there still needs to be some cutting going on. It just doesn't need to be as drastic. The publishing industry impressed on us the need to do things with as few words as possible - it would be easy to fall into the trap, when self-publishing, of disregarding the value of a good lean piece of storytelling for something pudgy and fat.
Now, I don't want my stories ultra-lean or fat. As always, the optimal spot lies in between. "Fat is flavor" but it isn't substance. I'll do us all a favor and leave the meat metaphor behind (it was making me hungry anyways) and summarize that point I'm slowly realizing: Cutting is still important, but maybe we can afford to lighten up with the knife.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
To Authors: Work on the those summaries
I knew for a month and a half that I was going to publish the story at the end of February.
I had a time-frame for initial revisions, beta-reading, and secondary revisions. I had target dates for getting cover art done and formatting done. Yet somehow I still waited until the night I published The Three Fingers of Death to write the story summary - you know, the little description field you see on Amazon or Smashwords.
Stupid, stupid, stupid me.
It's an old truth that many writers never really get the hang of writing succinctly. For those still pursuing the traditional publishing route (which I am) the mantra is 'cut, cut, cut'. Agents and authors will go on for pages (ironic, eh?) about the need to trim the fat out of your book. Stephen King had a rule of thumb he received from an editor at some magazine which went something like: "Final draft = first draft - 10%".
I'm not sure how I feel about the general pattern of 'cut everything that isn't essential.' I think a lot of that pressure came from traditional publishing's need to save money on printing costs and the general impatience that came from the industry being overburdened with too many wannabe authors and not enough time to wade through them. I'm okay with the odd paragraph of purple prose as long as it's a pleasant shade.
On the other hand, the story summary (or description, whatever you want to call it) is one place where the ability to write in a more taciturn manner comes very much in handy. Furthermore, you need to be able to use those few words to tease and tantalize the reader, hook them in exactly the way your opening pages should do (though if your story starts out slower, hooking them in the summary is a good avenue of attack!).
Needless to say, I will be re-writing the summary. Come to think of it, I need to do that for both my currently-available works, and I need to generally pay more attention to that aspect from now on. Especially in the self-publishing world, you can't afford to ever come off as an amateur. That summary is the first thing a reader sees of your book. You need to make it shine.
... and by you, I mean me.
(PS: The Three Fingers of Death now available on Amazon and Smashwords!)
I had a time-frame for initial revisions, beta-reading, and secondary revisions. I had target dates for getting cover art done and formatting done. Yet somehow I still waited until the night I published The Three Fingers of Death to write the story summary - you know, the little description field you see on Amazon or Smashwords.
Stupid, stupid, stupid me.
It's an old truth that many writers never really get the hang of writing succinctly. For those still pursuing the traditional publishing route (which I am) the mantra is 'cut, cut, cut'. Agents and authors will go on for pages (ironic, eh?) about the need to trim the fat out of your book. Stephen King had a rule of thumb he received from an editor at some magazine which went something like: "Final draft = first draft - 10%".
I'm not sure how I feel about the general pattern of 'cut everything that isn't essential.' I think a lot of that pressure came from traditional publishing's need to save money on printing costs and the general impatience that came from the industry being overburdened with too many wannabe authors and not enough time to wade through them. I'm okay with the odd paragraph of purple prose as long as it's a pleasant shade.
On the other hand, the story summary (or description, whatever you want to call it) is one place where the ability to write in a more taciturn manner comes very much in handy. Furthermore, you need to be able to use those few words to tease and tantalize the reader, hook them in exactly the way your opening pages should do (though if your story starts out slower, hooking them in the summary is a good avenue of attack!).
Needless to say, I will be re-writing the summary. Come to think of it, I need to do that for both my currently-available works, and I need to generally pay more attention to that aspect from now on. Especially in the self-publishing world, you can't afford to ever come off as an amateur. That summary is the first thing a reader sees of your book. You need to make it shine.
... and by you, I mean me.
(PS: The Three Fingers of Death now available on Amazon and Smashwords!)
Monday, February 27, 2012
Hoping for a fever?
Was a bit under the weather on Sunday, but sadly not enough to think about taking the day off of work. It's an oddity of where I'm at in life - wanting nothing so much as to write for hours - that I was hoping to get more sick, so I could justify calling in sick (with the painful little caveat that I really couldn't have afforded that time off, anyway...).
In other news, the cover for "Three Fingers of Death" has been finished by the wonderful Graham Hanks (same artist responsible for the glorious Le Morte d'Arthur cover). Barring some calamitous event, I will be formatting and publishing Three Fingers of Death tonight!
I'm excited to release this one to the world. My beta readers have told me it's some of my best writing yet. It certainly is more overtly fantastical than Swordsman of Carn Nebeth, though retaining a lot of the humble feel.
The third story in the Wandering Tale, "The Giant of Tidesmouth" has been underway for some while now and will hopefully be published by the end of March. Getting covers made at this pace is difficult... I might have to fall back on creating my own, for awhile. I can always replace them later with better, commissioned work when I have the cash.
What's that? You want to see the cover? Oh, very well. Since you've been good:
In other news, the cover for "Three Fingers of Death" has been finished by the wonderful Graham Hanks (same artist responsible for the glorious Le Morte d'Arthur cover). Barring some calamitous event, I will be formatting and publishing Three Fingers of Death tonight!
I'm excited to release this one to the world. My beta readers have told me it's some of my best writing yet. It certainly is more overtly fantastical than Swordsman of Carn Nebeth, though retaining a lot of the humble feel.
The third story in the Wandering Tale, "The Giant of Tidesmouth" has been underway for some while now and will hopefully be published by the end of March. Getting covers made at this pace is difficult... I might have to fall back on creating my own, for awhile. I can always replace them later with better, commissioned work when I have the cash.
What's that? You want to see the cover? Oh, very well. Since you've been good:
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
I wish this were my job
Aie. It has been a helluva couple of weeks.
I've come up against one of the key obstacles to writing 'professionally' - namely, that writing professionally takes the kind of time commitment that doing most anything professionally does, and I don't have that kinda free time. I already have a job, as well as numerous other non-optional parts of my life that soak up free moments faster than I can acquire them.
While I'm perfectly aware that I won't be able to devote eight hours a day to writing - and never expected to - the approach I was taking was to write every day. A few hundred words a day, at least. It shouldn't be too hard. Hell, when I taught Martial Arts for a living I was always telling my students that they waste plenty of time during the day that they could have been practicing in, and now I find myself struggling to free up one hour each day to write in. Some days it's easy enough, but others it really does seem like I can't string 60 minutes together to save my life.
I've tried writing in even smaller chunks of time, but for better or for worse I just can't settle into it enough in half an hour, or fifteen minutes. I need time to decide where the story is going, what scene I want to write, and most importantly to focus on the task. I consider myself a pretty mentally disciplined person, but that doesn't come without a bit of effort, which also takes time. Bloody hell, everything takes time.
The one thing I have been able to do is keep my mind on writing, which helps to a certain extent. If I can solve the little obstacles - like "How do they start this important conversation?" or "Why would character A do activity B which gets them in position C in time for Plot Device D?" - in my free moments here and there, it makes it all the more easier to settle into that writing time when I finally get around to it.
It's a good thing I take the bus to work.
I've come up against one of the key obstacles to writing 'professionally' - namely, that writing professionally takes the kind of time commitment that doing most anything professionally does, and I don't have that kinda free time. I already have a job, as well as numerous other non-optional parts of my life that soak up free moments faster than I can acquire them.
While I'm perfectly aware that I won't be able to devote eight hours a day to writing - and never expected to - the approach I was taking was to write every day. A few hundred words a day, at least. It shouldn't be too hard. Hell, when I taught Martial Arts for a living I was always telling my students that they waste plenty of time during the day that they could have been practicing in, and now I find myself struggling to free up one hour each day to write in. Some days it's easy enough, but others it really does seem like I can't string 60 minutes together to save my life.
I've tried writing in even smaller chunks of time, but for better or for worse I just can't settle into it enough in half an hour, or fifteen minutes. I need time to decide where the story is going, what scene I want to write, and most importantly to focus on the task. I consider myself a pretty mentally disciplined person, but that doesn't come without a bit of effort, which also takes time. Bloody hell, everything takes time.
The one thing I have been able to do is keep my mind on writing, which helps to a certain extent. If I can solve the little obstacles - like "How do they start this important conversation?" or "Why would character A do activity B which gets them in position C in time for Plot Device D?" - in my free moments here and there, it makes it all the more easier to settle into that writing time when I finally get around to it.
It's a good thing I take the bus to work.
Friday, February 3, 2012
The Wandering Tale
My published story The Swordsman of Carn Nebeth is the first in a series (but I must use the term loosely) of novellas I'm calling The Wandering Tale.
This is a series of stories for those who don't feel like starting another epic. Don't get me wrong, I love epic fantasy - Ice and Fire, Sword of Truth, Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, all great stuff - but sometimes I want a "one and done" deal. I don't always want to feel like I'm committing to an entire series by picking up a new book Some authors don't even bother completing a full story arc in their initial novel! Drives me nuts!
Turns out, both The Wandering Tale and my first novel are meant to be one-and-done. The Wandering Tale is a very, very loosely connected series. Each novella will be a completely stand-alone story arc, with one character existing as a connection between the last story and the present one.
The stories will exist in a single world, and yes I will continue to explore that world with each story - it's not like I don't want to reward people who stick with the series. I just don't want readers to feel like they need to read them all to get the whole story. Maybe this isn't good marketing, but I have plenty of EPIC SERIES in mind to write. The Wandering Tale is meant to fulfill a more casual fantasy reader's desires.
I do have a few small tie-ins brewing. Little things that I'm calling Loops where we eventually see previous characters return for a quick cameo. I'm not sure I'll even bring attention to the fact that they are returning characters, though. Returning readers will recognize them, but nobody else will be the wiser.
I'm actually quite excited for The Wandering Tale. I believe Swordsman to be one of the finest stories I've ever written, and I think The Three Fingers of Death - entry two of the Tale - is as good. It's also exciting to be 'discovering' a world as I write it. Many of my other stories, I do world-building as a separate task once the initial story is written (If you enjoy world-building as much as I do, check out the Mythic Archipelago). With the Tale, though, I don't have anything planned. I come up with it as the story needs it. It's like exploring in my own head!
It gets scary in there, sometimes...
This is a series of stories for those who don't feel like starting another epic. Don't get me wrong, I love epic fantasy - Ice and Fire, Sword of Truth, Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, all great stuff - but sometimes I want a "one and done" deal. I don't always want to feel like I'm committing to an entire series by picking up a new book Some authors don't even bother completing a full story arc in their initial novel! Drives me nuts!
Turns out, both The Wandering Tale and my first novel are meant to be one-and-done. The Wandering Tale is a very, very loosely connected series. Each novella will be a completely stand-alone story arc, with one character existing as a connection between the last story and the present one.
The stories will exist in a single world, and yes I will continue to explore that world with each story - it's not like I don't want to reward people who stick with the series. I just don't want readers to feel like they need to read them all to get the whole story. Maybe this isn't good marketing, but I have plenty of EPIC SERIES in mind to write. The Wandering Tale is meant to fulfill a more casual fantasy reader's desires.
I do have a few small tie-ins brewing. Little things that I'm calling Loops where we eventually see previous characters return for a quick cameo. I'm not sure I'll even bring attention to the fact that they are returning characters, though. Returning readers will recognize them, but nobody else will be the wiser.
I'm actually quite excited for The Wandering Tale. I believe Swordsman to be one of the finest stories I've ever written, and I think The Three Fingers of Death - entry two of the Tale - is as good. It's also exciting to be 'discovering' a world as I write it. Many of my other stories, I do world-building as a separate task once the initial story is written (If you enjoy world-building as much as I do, check out the Mythic Archipelago). With the Tale, though, I don't have anything planned. I come up with it as the story needs it. It's like exploring in my own head!
It gets scary in there, sometimes...
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