We’re nearing the end of our quest… to publish our very own book. Just a few more questions to answer, and then it’s a short (approx. 12 hours or less) wait, before the money starts pouring in.
You’ll notice that the very first thing you see on the final page is: Verify your publishing territories. This is just asking you if you own the rights to publish your book worldwide… or only in specific areas (because you sold the rights already). Chances are, you’re gonna pick worldwide… and that means that Amazon is going to sell your book around the world for you.
Been following along? If not, go back a few posts. By now, we should have the following:
For the rest of this week, I’m going to hit on the steps I take to edit my written work. I actually go through four run-throughs. After writing, you’re supposed to take a break (or at least, that’s what I’ve heard) to give yourself some distance from what you’ve just written. With my short stories, that’s been impossible. With my book… I’m still sitting on my hands over three months later.
Today is a very disjointed day. I’m feeling the after-effects of yesterdays non-stop running around, and still reeling from the news that I finally get to see my girlfriend… after almost eight long months of anticipation. All of that combined, leaves my brain in a state of limbo… no real motivation to write… no idea WHAT to write, but with the help of my awesome writer’s group… I’m writing about disjointed writing. (clear as mud, huh?)
Sometimes we get on a roll (like the proverbial un-fuzzy boulder), and have a time where writing is like an unbidden spring pouring forth from your brain directly to the paper/screen. When this happens, it’s very much like a bus or tank, loaded down to the hilt…. plowing down the city street, pushing and crushing cars along the way.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been ingrained with this inner editor (I call mine, Mr. Editor) based upon years and years of school trying to prevent you from embarrassing yourself. Or, maybe you don’t… maybe you have this niggling little feeling deep inside when something just doesn’t sound right… or flow correctly. Whatever you may happen to have… how do we turn it off while writing?
It caught me… hook, line and sinker. I had resisted for so long, yet it got its dirty, blocky talons in me. What is this evil thing that lurks around the corner? Minecraft. All the chunky wondrousness of it finally hooked me and dragged me flopping from here to kingdom come.
You may find yourself hacking away at the jungle one day… and the jungle hacks back. I’m talking about your characters getting all grumpy and misbehaving. In one of my short stories, my main female character got assaulted. First of all, I wasn’t aware that it was going to happen (I’m a pantser, remember?), and secondly, her reaction was just plain completely out of character. So, I’m sitting there, completely flabbergasted with her and the way she handled the reaction, and my jaw is sitting in my lap.
How on earth do we continue? I ask myself that on a daily basis. Sometimes, writing isn’t fun… other times, it’s all you can do (foregoing food on occasion). While not a writer’s block, exhaustion can set in. It takes a lot to keep the fingers/pencil/typewriter going.
For anyone that may have been paying attention, I didn’t have a post on Friday. I just plain forgot. But what happens if you just need to take a day off? What if you’re just so under/overwhelmed, that you can’t write?
