A post about writing.
I’ve chosen to go with the label of ‘speculative fiction’ when it comes to explaining the stories I write. Almost all of my stories are different from each other, and almost none of them can be socketed neatly or cleanly into one of the main genres used to describe books these days.
“But why?” you ask. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples:
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Written in Time and Other Short Stories is now up on Amazon for pre-order.
There were a lot of difficult decisions I had to make in order for this book to come about. The first of these was including the 3 short stories that were previously published as separate ebooks. I’m still very proud of them. One is even being made into a short video/movie… slowly. So, just looking at that one point, if you choose to buy this book, you’re already saving a buck on those 3 stories, alone.
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How long should a book be? Hundreds of thousands of guidelines have been posted on the internet. Publishers each have their own requirements based on genre and topic. Well-meaning people from all walks of life have chimed in with what they believe to be the magic range to keep a book at. It’s mind-numbing at times.
I guess the first question is: Who are you asking? I would guess that if you ask an author, you’ll either get pointed to one of the myriads of guidelines I was talking about up there or even a shrug. Personally, I write my stories to be as long as they need to be.
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Last night, it snowed… about 10 inches. Last night I also got sick (at least, began feeling the effects of getting sick). Today I woke up a little before noon because my body needed the rest. I’m still tired and sore and doing my best to keep my head in one piece. I’m also recovering from blowing the snow off the driveway and scraping the car.
Why didn’t I call in sick? Why am I still going to work tonight? Because a coworker has called in sick every day for the last week. I’ve seen how it effects everyone else’s schedules… how people need to be called and shifted around, how this person is asked to stay longer, how management is suddenly on the hook for people not willing to come in. When a monkey-wrench is thrown into a well-oiled machine, things tend to go downhill fast.
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…or, a rebuttal to yesterday’s post.
I got a few comments regarding my complaint about the advertising habits of a few writers I’ve recently started to follow on Twitter, yesterday. The essential gist was, “Why do you hate the writers/writing community on Twitter?”
I don’t. I hate certain habits of a very few. But that was another post, this is a different one. This is about the redemptive qualities of the writing community on Twitter, and why I enjoy interacting and engaging with them.
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I’ve been following more authors on Twitter lately, and I’ve noticed something that has me a bit concerned. The constant deluge of advertisement and self-promotion to the point of annoyance.
I’m not going to point fingers and name names, but there are a few people that I’ve recently followed who seem to have a series of targeted tweets set to auto-post every single day. I’ll load up Twitter, reading tweets and catching up on my echo-chamber of news that has been deemed important enough to mention, when out of the blue, I’ll see a familiar post… one with a picture chosen specifically to capture an emotion that said poster hopes to evoke from the viewer/reader. Then, invariably, there will be the exact same selection of tweets to follow… each one with a book cover or image, that are very indelibly inked upon my brain… in the exact same order that I’ve seen them tweeted every day since the day I followed that person.
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Since I’m giving away 3 copies of Mal-adaptive, I figured I’d talk a little about it.
What is Mal-adaptive? Mal-adaptive is a story about Malaika, a barista working in a big city just trying to make a living. She lives in an apartment with her roommate, Aaya, an ultra conservative girl who just so happens to work at a shop that sells BDSM supplies. Her best friend (and coworker), Ven, is a free spirit… likes to drink, likes to party, likes to have sex (and isn’t too particular who with). On the same day, an angel (Ephra) and a demon (Corson) show up at the Cruel Beans coffee shop in order to find Mal. They both have orders to follow her around. There’s also something about Armageddon, an evil corporation, and a Weapon that’s supposed to win the war for the side that has it. Add in a pinch of humor, and you’ve got Mal-adaptive in a nutshell.
Where did I come up with the idea? My girlfriend has fibromyalgia, which affects her muscles… especially in her neck and shoulders. Hearing her describe the pain as someone shoving knives into her shoulder blades is a bit… disconcerting to say the least. My brain seemed to jump on the idea of, ‘what if that’s NOT what’s causing her pain?’. instantly responding to the question, ‘she’s an angel who’s had her wings removed, and this is the residual pain she’s feeling’. Thus, the idea of Mal came to mind.
Today’s topic is about reviews. The picture I’ve used is a review for one of my books. That single review is worth more to me than I can express. THAT is how I really get paid as an independent author. I’m not saying that the reviews have to be that good, either. An honest, one-star review, that takes the time to tell me ‘why’ I only deserve one star… can be just as valuable as the one over there.
They say that if a street performer makes you stop and watch them for any amount of time, you owe them a buck (who are THEY?). While I would be okay with this ‘rule’, I rarely get a chance to see anyone performing on the street here in rural north Idaho. A street performer is putting on a show, displaying what they’ve got to entertain you with. They don’t get to pop out a sign with a cool picture and a few words describing their routine and a promise to entertain… they just do what they do to entertain and get paid based on how entertaining they were.
First of all, that title is a little bit misleading. Some people like to use words… some like to use pages… others will only set aside blocks of time. It really doesn’t matter what you use to measure progress, though. Whether you write 5,000 words per day, or 5 words per week, progress is progress.
While setting a goal is important, one part of the process that people tend to forget is setting ‘reachable’ goals. Something you are actually able to do. Not only does this mean setting an attainable goal, but to also take into account what you are physically and/or mentally capable of. Those with disabilities and/or illnesses (be they visible or hidden), aren’t always able to sustain, maintain, or even reach goals that are repeated on website after website (such as: Write every day). So, the caveat regarding advice is: Take what you can, throw away what you can’t, and tweak what you need to for it to fit your needs.
When life gets you down, you tend to drop everything… and I mean ‘everything’… that doesn’t pertain to just surviving. I’ve not been a very good human being the last almost year or so. I’ve neglected friends, family, and myself. So this is a giant “I’m sorry.” to all of those. I’ll try to do better.
On a different note, I have been slowly editing my next book, Praising Kane. I’m not sure why editing gets harder and harder with every book and story, but it does (maybe because I’m learning more each time).
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