Interviw with a special guest today

 GNS:  Here we are, Rita Trevalyan with the Global News Service interviewing another member of the Famous doughty Proserpinan Exploratory Mission team  training to take off next month for that mysterious dark planet.  Nadyezhka Politovna of Russia.  How are you today, Dr. Politovna?

NP: I fine, very healthy.  Please to call me Nadyezhka.  Moi mother Dr. Politkovna.

GNS:  Your mother must be very proud, and father too, to have two doctors in the family.  Wow!

NP: My mother physician for littles I am humble PhD.  Big difference.

GNS:  Your mother is a pediatrician?

NP:  Da.  

GNS:  What is your field of expertise?

NP:  I in charge of hydroponics.  You know on ship there will be hydroponic plants.  They scrub air and provide food better than most space food.  Fresh food.  Very healthy.

GNS:  That will be very good.  You have a green thumb as they say?

NP:  Da, I have green thumb.  Been growing things since I little one.  

GNS:  Is the rest of the team easy to get along with?

NP:  Oh, da!  All of us have as you say pleasing personalities, especially the Brazilian.  She most pleasing to me.  

GNS:  Oho!  Have we picked up the germ of a romance stirring in the team?

NP:  I know not.  Too early to tell.

GNS:  These plants all look very healthy.

NP:  I feed them many nutrients besides water.  Have strawberry.  [hands reporter strawberry]

GNS:  [eats strawberry]  Mmm.  Delicious.

NP:  I grow many things one would not think could be grown hydroponically.  

GNS:  Stay tuned next week, same bat time, same bat channel when we’ll have a chat with yet another member of this intrepid team.

Why having honest feedback is so important

I'd be the first to admit, my writing is very close to my heart. It is a part of me, a way to communicate and showcase stories and ideas. What it isn't is polished and perfect without the help of editors, beta readers, and critique partners

Before anyone thinks of publishing their work, they should make every effort to ensure it is free of any errors or completed to the best it can be. The first step is having someone look at it with a critical eye. This is where writing groups and critique partners and groups come in.  They can give you the insight and feedback you need to make your work a cohesive and thrilling read.

No matter if you've been in the industry one year or ten or twenty, if you have one book or one hundred books. If you do not have the right people to give you the harsh truth of your writing you will struggle. Keep in mind a writing career is one where you must continually work toward improving your skills and connecting with your readers with stories which are fresh, exciting, and entertaining. 

How do you do this if you grow complacent, or perhaps you put on blinders and pretend you are doing great? 

You can't. 

Let's start at the beginning. You've written your book. Great. Are you ready to publish? No. You're far from it. 

So what do you do? What's the next steps? Edits? Revisions? What do they even mean? At  what point do you say you're satisfied? 

Your self edits and revisions are important, and should be done with care. You want to be thorough but let's be honest, you aren't going to catch everything. So, what you want to do is simple. Do you self edits, the revisions, work the book to where you're happy with it and then -- this is the scary part -- put it before your critique or writing group with a massive vat of red ink. 

Then you sit back with a notepad and wait. You may be asking for what? After all, you've spent weeks polishing this manuscript what could be wrong with it? What your readers will see may be different then you envision and as such, you have to be prepared for this. 

So allow yourself the chance to get your work the necessary feedback before it goes to the editor or publisher. Let your peers point out areas of weakness, of passive writing, of scenes which don't make sense or a character who is flat. Soak up their feedback and don't get discouraged. 

The critique or writers group you work with is a valuable resource. They will give you the honest feedback you need, not necessarily what you want. Having someone point out a weakness in your book before it hits the market can only benefit you. It was something I struggled with myself. I got used to having those around me who worked with me give me only positive feedback and when the chance arose to get a more in depth and critical look at my work came, I took it. 

I truly believe it was the best move I made because the book is growing, developing, becoming a much more intense story. It's becoming the story of two people who want the same thing but the deck is stacked against them. There's depth and a sense of recognition to the characters. Things I would not have seen if not for the tireless and brutal honesty of my critique partners. 

There is value in working with others to get your book ready for the next phase of the publishing journey. Your book will be all the better for it, your editor will love you and you may even find your readers are twice as eager to get into your book. 

Honest feedback is ultimately worth more than endless accolades from family and friends who only see the person they care about and don't wish to hurt.  

Reach further, put aside pride, and you will find your writing becomes the jewel you know it can be.  

Procrastination: The Pros and Cons

Procrastination: pros and cons.  It’s all in what you’re putting off, isn’t it?  We learned the fine art of procrastination in school, didn’t we.  Our teach assigned us our term paper at the beginning of the semester or the quarter, and we put it off and put it off until it’s the last week of the semester, and we’re having to do all the research in five days, and pull an all-nighter to write the paper.  Fortunately I was always a pretty good writer, so I managed to pull it off.  It’s when No-Doz became our best friend, or maybe the chick down the hall had diet pills, which she shared.  And I went to school in the Dark Ages BI Before Internet.  I used the card catalog in our library like you use Google today.  I wonder:those of you who are going to school, either high school or college/university, does your instructor accept Wikipedia as a source?  If I were writing a paper today, I would peruse the Wikipedia entry to get some background on my topic, but wouldn’t cite Wikipedia directly.

Instead, I would note down Wikipedia’s sources, and request those books from the librarian.  Ben Franklin wisely wrote in his Poor Richard’s Almanac, “Put off not until tomorrow what you can do today,” but how many of us follow that dictum?  We always seem to think we have next week or even next month or next year.  But one day there will be no next week, or next month or next year.  One day we will run out of time and regret what we didn’t get done.  As Larry the Cable Guy famously said, “Git ‘er done!”  Whether we get too old and feeble, or we catch a deadly disease, or an asteroid crashes into our planet and creates the 7th great extinction event, our time will be up.  So hug your kids, spend time with your kids’ other parent, if you are still with hir, or your new partner if you have gone on to someone else.  Write that book.  Trace your family tree.  If Europe ever opens to us Yanks again, travel to Europe, travel to Latin America. Che Guevara did just that.  He took a motorcycle journey around South America, and everywhere he went he saw how the people Lived.  It was why he was so anti-United States. He saw firsthand how the CIA in collusion with their despotic governments enslaved the people and made them subsist in grinding poverty, all the while opposing every person whose heart was with the people, and would have them prosper in peaceful democracies.

But this blog is not about politics.  It is about our own mortality, and how we spend the time we have left to us.  I was reminded of my own mortality today, as I struggled to reach the testing site for Covid-19.  All my symptoms except one were consistent with seasonal nasal allergies.  The one that wasn’t consistent with these, and might be a danger sign was my occasional shivers.  No one took my temperature, but I doubt I have a fever.   Testing was the easy part.  3 swabs and I’m done. Then I had to be escorted back to the hospital, and take several rest stops on the way to catch my breath.  The lady “(she worked security) who escorted me there to the testing site, told me she figured we’re all going to catch the virus eventually.  

Here’s where the pros aspect procrastination comes in.  I said, “I’m going to procrastinate that as long as possible.  As a writer, I’m good at procrastination.”  She gave a little laugh and guided me to the place where I saw “Station D.”  Death is another thing I’m procrastinating.  If I’m lucky and eat right, I might be able to put it off until I’m 103.  That’s 30 years.  Olvia deHaviland of Gone with the Wind fame has managed to put it off until 104, she might make it to 105 or 106.  Put off death as long as you can, but don’t put off your dreams and worthy ambitions.

Rita

Newsletters - Still Relevant or outdated?

In today’s rather hectic and overwhelming marketing world, we are constantly bombarded by different methods of marketing. Things we perhaps find annoying or easily overlooked. As authors, it is important we understand marketing and how to get our books before readers. When we are browsing online, one of the most readily available methods is the newsletter. They pop up on websites can be the first step in gaining followers. It's become the first line of drawing in new readers and visitors to our websites and turning the traffic into click throughs, reads, and buys. A way for those with a product or service to connect with prospective leads.

Those subscription boxes which we all have a love/hate relationship with are a valuable tool in an author's battle to attract new followers, readers, reviewers, and fans. Without an active list of followers, it becomes even harder to sell our work. Our books get lost in the ever-deepening sea of other releases and can be forgotten or overlooked far too easily. It is far easier to sell to one who is following your releases than it is to generate a new lead, though not impossible.

So how can we as an author generate these vital leads, and ultimately grow our following?

There are a lot of options out there for marketing and promoting our work, for the purpose of today, I’m covering perhaps one of the easiest to start. Newsletters. 

Newsletters are among one of the quickest and most cost-effective methods an author has at their disposal to begin building a list of readers who are inclined to buy their books. With a number of options out there, an author can start one for nothing. They can build a list and expand with relative ease. Still, having the newsletter is only the first step and is not an instant return. When developing your newsletter we must keep in mind it does not bear fruit immediately, but needs to be tended and worked at to see success. Growing your list is like any other endeavor one undertakes...it takes dedication, determination, and time. 

So what do you, the author, need to focus on when looking at the idea of creating a newsletter? 

Well, firstly what is the purpose of your newsletter. If you do not have a clear plan in mind of what your purpose is, then you will struggle. Personal experience has shown without an idea of what I am aiming for with my newsletter, I floundered and it became a task I hated. 

What if my sole purpose of having the newsletter is simply to sell my books?  Then you may find yourself rather disappointed when it comes to reading the reports and seeing who you retain on your newsletter subscription list. Content is one of the key ingredients in producing a newsletter readers will open, read, and click through. 

Content. What do you put into the newsletter? This is one of the hardest aspects I find, outside of actually connecting to followers. What should one put in their newsletter? This is a question with  a number of answers, and the right answer varies depending on what the aim of your newsletter is. I have found pumping the newsletter full of self-promotion and pushy sales information works against me. So I took a more personal approach when it comes to putting my newsletter together. I asked myself what I would like to see in a newsletter, and the answer was simple. Yes, I want to see more about the author’s work, what’s new, what’s due to release, what’s on sale...but I also want to see more. Within the newsletter I want to be able to get a sense of being able to connect with the author. See them as a person rather than their books. So including information which is personal is important.

When I say personal information I mean, details which connect you with your followers.One thing to avoid is becoming political, your newsletter is not the place for that. This allows your readers to make a connection with you and makes you far more approachable and recognizable. It's not recommended you go into too much personal detail, allow yourself some privacy. You want to ultimately offer information which keeps your reader engaged and connected while affording you an ability to reach them and generate sales.

Being consistent is the next best advice I can offer. Regardless if you have one subscriber or a thousand, posting the newsletter on a clear schedule, creates a sense of expectancy from your followers. Perhaps, you're thinking, I haven't got that much to say for a newsletter. Even if you don't have anything pertaining to your work, there are other ways in which to fill the newsletter. You can spotlight other authors, cover artists, a publisher, even a character. You could engage the reader with other tidbits such as a recipe, seasonal information, or something about your likes or hobbies. Doing this engages the reader on a deeper level than "Buy my Book". It's a way for your reader to connect with you on a personal level, and makes them feel more important. Also you do not have to release a newsletter weekly or even monthly, you can do a quarterly newsletter when you feel you have enough information to satisfy your readers, with minor updates or announcements in between. 

When you're looking at doing up a newsletter, don't be easily discouraged. You won't have thousands of followers immediately, but you can build your list using newsletter swaps, cross-promotion, and offering 'sneak peaks' on social media. It's about engagement and visibility, and focusing on informing your followers and attracting new ones. Be prepared to put out a number of newsletters with little response, or no opens or clicks. This is, while frustrating and depressing, in all honesty, normal and once you are more established you will learn what your readers want to read in your newsletter. Personally,  I put out my newsletters with the mindset I've got tons of readers, even if I don't. This helps to keep the motivation to do the newsletters. 

Next when you’re ready to put out your first newsletter, it's vital to find the right program for you. There are a lot of newsletter programs out which range from free to expensive. In this post, I'll touch on the ones I've used in the past and continue to do so. Let's start with the easiest and cheapest.

Email: If you have a sign-up sheet or something similar you've amassed, you can do a basic email newsletter with ease. It is in my experience a basic, clean look with only the limitations of your provider to act as a guide. Google is an ok option to do this, you can create your sign up form, database, and newsletter all in one place. It's as simple as opening a new page, and is directly connected to your email. This also allows you to plan and track your newsletter through scheduling to release because there’s a handy calendar feature available to you. Highly recommend this one if you’re looking for a simple, clean looking newsletter without getting too technical.

However, Gmail does have some limitations which can result in frustration for yourself as well as your readers. Because of the way it is set up, there is a cap on the number of emails one can send out in mass in a day. This does not mean you can send out the max amount of emailed newsletters and then continue to use your gmail. No, once you hit your cap, then the account is unable to send out another email for a full 24 hours. This means if your list is larger than 500 you’re going to run into problems. 

As well, you may find the newsletter is not going to the inbox of the subscribers but rather to the spam folder. This can lead to another set of problems with regards to your gmail account. Under their guidelines, Google can and will suspend your account if you violate the deliverability standards. I’ll include a link in the description box for you to follow up on. 

Gmail can be useful in a sense if you’re just starting out with only a few email subscribers, or if you want to use Google Docs as a means of collecting the data you need, but in the long term, it is perhaps not the most viable option. 

Third Party Newsletter Platforms: Depending on what you use for a website there are built-ins features that can create a beautiful email campaign. Free, quick, easy. and readily accessible. There is no coding required. I know with several of the hosts they do have the bonus of having newsletter platforms attached to them you can use if you are a member of their hosting clients. It's always best to check with your hosting platform to see. 

If you feel the need to expand your search and want to get started with easy to use software which is readily available to you, I have compiled a list of a few for you. 

Mailchimp. It offers me the development I want/need and has various levels of service ranging from free to full service depending on the number of subscribers you have. The free one has some limits and you can have up to 2000 subscribers, but if you're just starting it is an excellent program to use. It offers a wide variety of options, from landing pages, to segmentation of your newsletter followers, to integration with your wordpress website. It is also incredibly easy to use and while the limits on the free program are there, you are able to adjust and grow your list. There are a number of options as well for linking to your social media and direct posting. The sign up and pop up options are easy to design and post to a website. 

Constant Contact is one of the highest ranking newsletter platforms. It offers a variety of options including free images, segmentation of your lists, tracking and data regarding clicks and opens. It does, however, have a fee, but it may be worth it to get it set up and organized. There are also social media options where you can use these to generate posts for social media and thus gain further exposure and possible leads . It is a key factor in today’s search for leads and new subscribers. 

Another excellent factor in Constant Contact’s favor is it is Wordpress friendly. If you use Wordpress for your website or blog then it’s important to have a newsletter provider which works with your platform. 

If you’re looking for a free option to help your budget then one of the platforms I researched which had some good feedback and reviews would be SendinBlue. There are some limitations, but having upto 300 Emails a day can be a good thing if you’re looking to send out in bulk. For those who are interested, I’ll have the links to these platforms in the description box.

ConvertIn is another option, which looks good. It offers a wide variety of options even under the free plan. There is a paid plan, which is based on the number of your subscribers. However, if you’re looking to just get started on building then this will work for you. 

Regardless of how you do a newsletter, the value is putting one out. The return on investment for your time and energy is ultimately going to be invaluable when you have readers who wait for the next book to come out to snap it up...and thus tell others who can potentially become followers and fans. 

If you haven’t already thought about it, I would suggest thinking about a newsletter. Their relevance in today’s industry is understated but necessary. The hard work put into them will pay off in time and if you create a consistent, streamlined newsletter platform you will find it doesn’t take as much time as you think and provides a return on investment which is well worth the effort. 

I hope you’ve found this helpful. Thank you for joining me today, if you haven’t already done so, please click on the follow or subscribe button so you never miss an upcoming episode. 

Structure in my Writing

Structure in my writing.  I tried to write an outline for one of my stories once.  I used the Hero’s Journey by the late great Joseph Campbell.  I then shuffled a Tarot deck and drew cards to help me structure the plot.  But I didn’t WANT to outline.  What I wanted to do was write the story.  I’ve read a slew of books about writing, and the basic premise is to ask two questions:  What does my character want?  What or who is keeping hir from getting it?  So I guess my books grow organically from this premise.  I have it in mind when I start and it’s the overarching story, and all the other characters have goals they want to reach, but something or someone is keeping those characters from attaining it.  In a trilogy of novels which is coming out sometime, one of the characters, Master Sergeant Gorsuch wants his men to reach their enemies’ nest and destroy it, but there are many obstacles they must overcome.  The Empress wants the people of her realm to be prosperous and happy.  What will she have to do in order to attain her goal?  

Another structural element I use is the chapter.  I use it because very often the story I’m writing is for either NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) or one of the Camp NaNoWriMos, I use the division of the chapter to help me keep track of my word count, which is very important when you are trying for a word goal for the day.  My word goal is usually 2000.  It’s easier for me to count if I round up.   This enables me to almost have a little short story within the novel.This time though, I got too stressed out, so had to drop out of Camp NaNo.   I readied several manuscripts for submission, then returned to writing my WIP with renewed vigor.  Now that I was no longer writing it for the competition, I could relax and write until the words for that way ran out.  I have a tee shirt that reads:”The voices are back.  Excellent.”  That’s how I write.  A voice in my head tells me what to write.  Actually, I dictate, because I have a Dragon, which is voice recognition software.  I’d been dreaming of it for decades, so when the opportunity came along to nab one, I took it.  It cuts my actual typing time down by at least a half.  It doesn’t eliminate it completely, because I must have a strange accent or something, because it renders a lot of my speech as gobbledygook.  I was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is one of the centers for broadcast journalism, because we have no regional accent.  We speak perfect American Standard English, and this is how I was taught to speak my native language.  

Some of the words I must type are exotic, either because they are terms of art, or I made them up out of whole cloth because they are the names of aliens.  But back to structure.  We have the basic premise, which is what does the character want and what will keep hir from getting it, and the story within a story.  

Rita

The Divide between Reason and Emotion

The divide between reason and emotion, and how it has impacted my creativity, that is, my writing.  I write speculative fiction. My SciFi tends to be more science fantasy than Science fiction because I’m always trying to skirt around certain laws of space and time that in today’s science are inescapable.  Here is where the divide between reason (scientific facts) and emotion (my trying to skirt about the laws of astrophysics) comes in. From being a regular viewer of the Science Channel’s How the Universe Works every Monday evening to collecting a year’s worth of Scientific American, I have garnered a little scientific knowledge, and you know what they say about a little knowledge.  How can I bend those laws without breaking them? One way I do it is to either set my story thousands of years in the future, or have a civilization so advanced that they’ve found ways around those seemingly unbreakable laws of physics.  There are some ways, for example, of breaking the universal speed law, i.e. the speed of light. There is a particle that goes faster than the speed of light. They discovered that in the CERN particle accelerator in Switzerland. Now to harness that and build an engine around it.   

Next there are the mechanics of writing (reason), and expressing my characters' emotions in any given scene.  I use the mechanics of putting one word in front of another, plus what I know about psychology (reason) to express my characters’ feelings.  Sometimes, and especially if I want to spice things up with some drama, I can get them into a real dust up. What fun! If you haven’t guessed by now, I am what used to be called a pantster, but which I prefer to be called a discovery writer, that is, I discover the story as I go along writing.  I’ve tried to outline, honestly I have, but it just makes me want to dig in and write the story.  

That’s another way in which the divide between reason (or as Spock would say, “logic”) and emotion has impacted my writing.  The Reason or Logic part of my mind says “Outline. Plot everything out. Know what your character is going to do before s/he does it.”  But the Emotion or passionate part of my mind says “Write it! Never mind the outline or those other silly sheets of paper! Tell the story!  Get it all down before you forget it!”  

What I know about brain science is that my emotions are chemical reactions, combined with 1.5 volts of electrical charge, come together to form an idea.  I am left-handed, so the halves of my brain are reversed, so that the logical, language-based, sequential side of my brain is the right side, while the creative holistic part of my brain is the left side, where most people’s logic centers are.    Truly is it said that we southpaws are the only ones in our right minds. The right side likes to get everything, all my thoughts organized in some logical rational way. The left side, highly influenced by my emotions, just wants to go for it.

What I’m waiting on now are the edits to Takuhi’s Nightmare and Takuhi’s Daydream so we can get the trilogy released soon.  Be looking for it on your favorite platform.  Whatever news I have on it you will be the next to know.  See you next week!  

Rita 

Is It Despair or Excitement Which Drives Me to Write in Today's World?

That’s an excellent question.  Those of you who have been following this blog know that I am a writer of speculative fiction.  This includes: Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, Science Fiction and Science Fantasy. There may be some other subgenres which should be included, but I couldn’t remember them.  I write for the same reason I read; to escape. So I guess part of my answer to that question would have to be at least partially that I write out of despair.  

But instead of writing some dreary sort of claptrap like Franz Kafka’s in which the main character is turned into a disgusting pest that is almost impossible to be finally and fully rid of, I prefer to create a reality in which the bad guys are vanquished by a very idealized version of myself in a world (or space) where such things as getting rid of the bad guys are not only possible, but downright probable and plausible.  Here is where the excitement comes in. It is not a world of universe of black and white or even shades of gray, but a brightly colored landscape full of flowers and birds and other fantastical creatures. Having grown up at a time when most of the movies I saw were in blazing Technicolor, and the fact that when I dream, I dream in color. I’m always very conscious of the color something or someone is. The characters in my stories are often the brighter shades of the rainbow, going beyond black, brown brick red, golden, olive or pinkish-beige to blue, green, teal, cherry red, purple, or orange.  These are my alien characters, who have names I create with my Scrabble tiles. I once met a woman who really had blue skin. It was an after effect of a medication she had been given as a young girl to correct some physical condition she had had back then. She was Evangeline Walton, the author of four books I have in my library to this day, and we had a most interesting talk. I was working security to pay my way into a fantasy convention, and it was my job to keep her from being mobbed by her fans. She was charming and affable, and very easy to get along with. She was also very much an introvert, as I suppose most of us writers are, to a greater or lesser degree.  Writing fantasy or Scifi is by and large a solitary activity, and one must be comfortable staying by oneself for long periods of time. But the payoff is no one is teasing you, or tormenting you. No one is playing keep away with your property, as happened to many of us when we were young. We grew to value our own company, and the worlds and characters we created, because that made us gods and goddesses.  

So there is the despair and  the excitement.  The despair comes from realizing there are such cruel people in the world, many of whom either run the world or manipulate the world in order to subjugate and torment those whom they deem as lesser than they.  The excitement comes from realizing that the imagination is as big as the universe, and within it, one has divine powers to create, and like Shiva, to destroy whatever and whomever one Wills to.  

What's a Writer's Greatest Tool?

What is a writer’s greatest tool?  No, it isn’t your PC, your laptop, your tablet or your favorite pen.  It’s right between your ears, and yet as large as outer space itself. It is where all your ideas come from, the fount of all our symbols and images.  Sigmund Freud called it the subconscious, and Carl Jung called it the unconscious. I put it on 2 different levels, and call it the sub/unconscious. We are only dimly aware of the subconscious.  It comes through in our dreams, and some of the things we say when we are not thinking. The unconscious comes through literally when we are unconscious, under anesthesia or from an accidental blow to the head, or the hallucinations of a schizophrenic or under the influence of LSD or shrooms.  

They are different for everyone, and are the sum total of everything you’ve ever experienced, through life experiences, books you’ve read (including the Bible.  A frightening amount of images come from religious imagery) TV or movies you’ve seen. If you are religious and go to a church where an effective orator is preaching, many images can come from listening to that person’s sermons.  All this is uploaded to our own personal mental Cloud, to use computer terminology, and can be accessed almost spontaneously.

In the days before I made friends with my own sub/unconscious, I used to try to scare myself with these images because I was then writing a novel about a woman who was being pursued by something so horrible that she could not even face it.  This will be featured in a forthcoming novel. I wanted to see what was so horrible that one could not even face it. Then there is what Paul Atreides said in Dune to his grandmother the Reverend Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam, “Try looking into that place where you do not dare look.  There you will find me, staring back at you.” I have tried looking into that place which is unlookable to “us, to women.”There I only see a reflection of my own face.

Then, sometime in my late forties, (I am now only a couple weeks short of turning 73) I made the conscious decision to make friends with my own sub/unconscious, and do you know what happened?  The images I used to frighten myself with no longer had the power to frighten me. I could look upon the face of the Christians’ pet thought form Satan himself, and be unfazed. I imagined the bloodiest scenes I could, the better to describe them for my stories, and still I was unfazed.  Now I wonder why this is. Have I become so callous and inured to these scenes that they have no effect on me? Has observing violence on television gotten me so unsensitized that I am immune to any emotional effect? I have a tendency, when things bog down in a story, to start a war or an argument among my characters.  

There are three and a half months until the first Camp NaNoWriMo, and I already have an idea for it.  Where did that idea come from? (See last Thursday’s blog about where story ideas come from.) Superficially it came from a show I was streaming on Netflix called The Pyramid Code, that that idea germ merged with some memories in my mind about Nikola Tesla, and before I knew it, I had a full blown story idea in my head.  Certainly some images from my sub/unconscious must’ve gotten in there and clinched the deal, because soon I was scribbling the story idea in my notebook, which I keep in the bookcase headboard of my bed.  

I urge you in the strongest possible terms to make friends with your sub/unconscious.  Who knows what hidden treasures you can discover between the veils?

Rita

How I'm Coping with Shelter-in-Place and how it affects my Creativity

 I’m currently working on a book I found when I looked at a flash drive I hadn’t seen for awhile.  There’s at least a half dozen novels I haven’t done anything with since I won NaNoWriMo with them months ago.  I’m currently working on “And Love Will Steer the Stars.” I’ll resume working on it in May, after Camp Nano is finished until July, when we’ll have another Camp Nano.  March 31st I’ll have to reread what I’ve done on Intergalactic Encounter  so that the new chapters I’ll write next month will mesh with the first few chapters I’ve already written.  

I may write in a disease next month.  Have the politicians utterly stupid. As a writer, I’m usually pretty creative, and I don’t get out much, but I would like to eat at a restaurant once in a while.  I’m of the generation who cooks, not this lazy generation who orders in. Eating out should be reserved for a treat, not your fallback position. Of course, I’m retired, so I have the time to cook.  Even so, I favor dishes that feed an army, so that I only have to actually cook twice or 3 times a week. Cooking is a kind of alchemy, where you apply heat to “ordinary” ingredients, and come up with something magical.  I even apply the alchemical principle to luftwaffles. I take mix, water, oil, and add pumpkin pie spice and vanilla.. But I want enchiladas, which I can’t make.  

Creativity is somewhat of a compulsion for me.  I noticed about a year ago that the elastic on several pairs of my slacks was getting loose, so I set about  crocheting belt loops for them. It’s a simple pattern, really, chain 3 or 4 inches long, and half double crochet around the chain, working a double crochet in each corner to square the corners.It should take no more than a couple rounds, maybe three, to complete.  I like to make at least seven belt loops for each pair of pants, Sew to the pants a few stitches at each end of the belt loop. If you’re lucky enough to have pants with existing belt loops, you can use these to measure how long to make your crocheted ones.  

What I’m hoping for is enough extra energy to do a little coloring.  Maybe if Facebook gets boring enough, I can swap out my Facebook time for some coloring time.  But the time I spend on Facebook isn’t ALL looking at memes. Outside of funny cats, and stupid human tricks, most of it is chatting with my friebds and acquaintances.   The evening of the 31st of March I’ll be handwriting what I’ll be dictating to my Dragon the next morning. I hope I write a lot.

Well, that is all for now.  If you are in Patricia’s circle of authors, you might write a blog about how you are coping with the shelter-in-place, and how it is affecting your creativity.

Writing a Series: Why you should look at the whole project

Back in 2016, when Ciara Lake and myself sat down to work out the series #TheForsakenSeries, there was so much we didn't know. So many things we had an idea on but when we got into writing the series, there were some large learning curves.

We planned for the number of books, the characters, the ideas for plots, and now, as we continue with the series  (Book 14 is being written and fifteen's ready to go to the publisher) we are at the point where the lessons we've learned are invaluable.

So, to help you, we thought it would be a great idea to share some of the things we've learned over the course of working on this series.

1. When working on a series, consider each book to be a standalone. You may say this sounds fishy or it doesn't make any sense, each book is part of the bigger series. And you would be right. However, as we've learned not everyone out there picks up the first book. And sometimes this means the information in book one doesn't make it to book eight. So, keeping in mind each book needs to stand alone while being part of the series is key. I found it easier to keep a running spreadsheet on my desk where I can put in the details from each book's world so there's continuity.
On that spreadsheet I also keep details such as physical descriptions, scars, tattoos, the spellings of places and names. This enables me to keep track of what is in the series and the books.

2. Ensuring each book has a clear plot. Just because they are part of the series, doesn't mean you need to be lax in your creativity. Keep the momentum going with each book.

3. If you're working with another author, here's the bit where it becomes a bit trickier. You're working with another person, which means a different personality, writing style, writing voice...and how you work with them will have an impact on your story series. When Ciara and I sat down to do this series, we were both aware our writing styles are vastly different. As such we came to the decision to work together on the whole project, but each would work on their own book within the series. This has created a unique project.

4. Organisation. This has been one of the hardest and most rewarding parts of writing a series.I recently did a podcast on being organized in the general sense, you can find that podcast on Google Play, iTunes, Spotify, and at Distinct Authors Podbean.

Organization, an author's Best Friend

ORGANIZATION AND PREPAREDNESS: How it benefits an author.

Podcast is Here

As an author, it is incredibly easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated when it comes to the craft of writing. To make it a little less stressful, and perhaps more productive here are a few tips and suggestions to help you get on track with your organization. 

The first step in getting organized to write is to understand: It isn’t always about making sure you keep a tidy work space, or a note to yourself. You have to be mentally prepared to engage in organization and preparedness. Success is a State of Mind not simply a physical manifestation we can engage or push aside when the mood strikes us. 

As an author one of the most prevalent scenarios is having a book you’re working on, deadlines are rapidly approaching, and you need to get the first draft, the revisions, edits, etc done. Yet, imagine if you will, you sit down to write and you can’t find what you need. Or worse, you have no idea what is going to fill your time as you haven’t made any plans for promotion. 

How do you overcome this potential for disaster? Being organized, being prepared, planning are all vital aspects we as authors need to embrace. Now, there are some of us, myself included, who do not plot out a book. Oh we may take down some notes, do some character interviews, figure those details, but to actually sit down and plan out every aspect of the book, naw. In truth this can be a hindrance when it comes to being prepared and organized, but for those of us who are pantsers - or people who work without a concrete plot - its a normal state to be in. 

It doesn’t mean we can’t be organized, can’t prepare our writing and our minds. We just go about it in a different manner. So how can we as authors get ourselves to the point where we are able to meet the demands of our writing career? 

Life is messy, it's cluttered, and one of the ways to ensure success is to get ourselves organized. How this looks will be different for everyone, but there’s a few general tips for you to work with to get started.

Before the start of any project, I would recommend you take the time to figure out a few details. These are going to be the starting point for you to write. What is the idea you’re writing about? How many words are you thinking the project will be? Is it a novella, a novel, a full length book etc. I’ll have the word count for each in the description box for those who are interested. Logging your word counts is important as well, especially if you don’t get back to your writing for a day or so, knowing where you were and where you need to go can help you keep on track. It also provides encouragement and a clear pathway for you when you’re writing. But, don’t get too hung up on your word counts, they act as a guiding light or directional force but are fluid and you may find you need more or less words depending on the story.

Knowing when you’re looking at having the first draft finished is important. This allows you to have an idea of what word count you are going to need each day to reach your goal. I tend to give myself two dates for the completion. One which is the optimal date and another which allows for me to have a little leeway in case of unforeseen circumstances. Also giving yourself a firm date for revisions and edits is key. This keeps you on track and encourages accountability. I also set time frames for the space allotted between the completion of the first draft and the start of revisions. So for example if I want to have a book written, revised and ready for submission or publication within six months then I need to understand how long I have for each portion of the process. 

Something to keep in mind as well, once you have completed your first draft you may want to look at starting to build your buzz around the book. Talk about it on social media, to friends, include details in your newsletters etc. You also want to ensure you’re making time to spread the word and keep your previously published works before readers. Your back library needs promotion and attention as well. 

When you are writing, there are a few things you can do to ensure you are organized and thus keeping yourself on track and ensuring success. Putting a note taking journal or system for recording notes is vital. There may be a detail you need but haven’t researched so making a note for yourself to go back to ensures you keep writing without forgetting what you need to look up. It also helps you to keep track of what topics you’ve looked at and . 

How much time are you spending writing? What about promotion and marketing? Have you kept a journal for these details? No? This is one aspect where having a spreadsheet set aside to record this information has unlimited benefits. Knowing what your writing and promotion time looks like allows you to understand how  much constructive time is being spent as well as how much time is being wasted. I would strongly recommend you track the amount of time you spend on social media and other things when your writing should be at the forefront of your mind. 

If you are spending five hours a day writing and promoting and only getting in 500 words then you need to see which areas need strengthening. A spreadsheet with the writing time, time spent promoting, and researching gives you the full picture. It is a habit we need to develop, especially if one is considering their writing to be their full time job and thus their sole source of income. Or even if you’re writing while working a day job. Developing the habit of writing in a scheduled environment means you are going to be more productive. 

Organizing your writing space is one we often overlook. Not all of us have a set writing location, sometimes we write in front of the television, or at the table whilst we are making dinner, doing laundry, etc. This disorganization impedes the creative flow, and ultimately detracts from what we can do. However, if the only time you have to write is while you are cooking dinner, then planning around the preparations for your meal and cooking time is extremely important. When I started writing with the mindset of getting published, I was one of those who wrote around a day job, household chores, family life, etc. and my writing space was wherever I could sit. I found I wasn’t getting as much done as I’d have liked and had to make some tough choices about how I could get myself organized. Was I immediately successful… nope, not in the least. But I did learn something. Organizing the writing space was as much about mentally preparing and organizing for the writing as the area I was in. Remove distractions wherever possible, focus on what you need to get done, treat it seriously. These are the best suggestions I can offer. When you do this you find your mind shifts and you are able to write more consistently and prolifically. 

Allocate tasks. This may seem simple but it is one we rarely follow. Each task you do is important, and as an author it is important to ensure you do each one. So if you are looking at your daily plan for the tasks you need to do, allocate time for each of them. One thing I have found is if you set aside a day to pre-plan and schedule promotional posts you are able to free up time later in the week for other tasks which are just as important. Planning ahead for the tasks is just as important when you’re allocating tasks. Prioritizing each task will also ensure it is done and you are able to move through your list of tasks seamlessly.

Own your writing tools. Don’t let them own you. Don’t spend your time worrying about having the latest and greatest tool out there. If you’re writing on a notebook with a ballpoint pen, you’re getting more out of it than spending hours and days searching for the best software, computer, printer etc. Remember Dickens didn’t have the fancy hardware we do, nor did Shakespeare, nor Tolstoy. They had paper and pen. Focus on the story you’re sharing rather than the location you’re sitting, the hardware or software you’re using. You’ll find this is more productive in the long run.  

Track the expenses you incur with your writing. Keeping track of these expenses will give you a good idea of your expenditures and how you are doing when it comes to the payments you will be receiving. Having a spreadsheet or account book with the expenses and payments in it gives you a full picture of the cost and rewards for your writing. This will also help you when it comes to figuring out how much money you need to make vs how much you are making. As well, having the details on hand will help you at tax time because you will be able to do write offs. Expenses are more than simply advertisements, you want to record every dollar you spend when it comes to writing. If you buy a book - include it, if you buy a pack of pens, include that expense. Hosting, domains, all of those details should be included in the spreadsheet as well. 

When it comes to organization and being prepared, I’m a huge advocate of using spreadsheets because they are so customizable. Of course not everyone likes them and you may find a different method which will be better for you. 

I hope these tips and suggestions will prove to be helpful for you as you move forward with your writing. Thank you for taking the time to be here with me, if you haven’t already, please hit the follow button so you never miss any upcoming episodes. I thank you in advance if you. Have a great week!

Embracing Diversity

In today’s world of rushing about, and interaction with our electronics have we lost the art of connection? In the industry like the one we are in, where our words are our greatest gifts, we often times forget they can also be our greatest weapons.

I see the lack of respect and professional courtesy everywhere. Social media is full of it. As a society, as an industry have we lost the sense of professionalism we once had in the midst of being opinionated and looking at our own desires before others? There was a time when having a difference of opinion was accepted, when we encouraged thought

Very recently I was following a post on social media where an author, looking to break into the industry posted a question. This person had to suffer the wrath of other authors who obviously felt their skills far outshone those of the new author. There were comments on everything from the spelling of the question to telling them to quit.

If I’m being honest, it was painful and horrifying to see. It made me ashamed and really made me question why there is such anger and hatred amongst us. It really brought to mind the fear we have lost our ability to be professionals. As an author, I know what it takes to gain the courage to submit a project to a publisher, editor, agent…and I know how devastating it can be to be rejected.

How can we judge a person just getting started on their journey into the wilds of this industry? What would we think, or feel if we were in the individual’s place. There is no place for bullying in this world, it is hard enough as it is. Regardless of skill level, or perceived weakness, we are in this together and as such we should be helping to build others up rather than tearing them down.

We cannot believe our success is dependent upon the shredding of another’s dreams. That we rise only because the next person falls. It is not the way to go through this world. I believe in loving your neighbor, respecting them, treating them with fairness and kindness. If you truly desire to have success, don’t allow yourself to fall in the darkness of destroying others. Lay a solid foundation of likemindedness, of awareness and embrace the differences we have.

Words dusted off and reused

This is another episode in the life of an amateur philologist.  As the log- will tell you, it’s about words, the philo-meaning love for ist meaning person a philologist is a person who loves words.  As a child, I studied the origins of both words and personal names, believing that the meaning of a name held clues to that person’s character.  I spent my babysitting money on baby name books to appropriately name the characters in my stories. This was long before the days of personal computers or the internet, so I typed my stories on my mother’s, and later my own typewriter.   Once in jr. high, due to a transgression, the nature of which I do not now recall, I was sentenced to a couple hours of detention, and the teacher in charge very unwisely assigned us to copying pages out of the dictionary.  I say unwisely because while he may have gotten the desired groan from the boys, in my case it was a squeal of delight. Here I was exposed to a whole wonderland of new vocabulary. He would have done better to have given me the sports pages.  That would have quelled my feeling of delight.   to suppress; put an end to; extinguish: The troops quelled the rebellion quickly. to vanquish; subdue. to quiet or allay (emotions, anxieties, etc.): The child's mother quelled his fears of the thunder. Instead, I chortled my way through the punishment, which for me, was no punishment at all.  to chuckle gleefully. verb (used with object), chor·tled, chor·tling. to express with a gleeful chuckle: to chortle one's joy. noun a gleeful chuckle. A word listed with chortle was snigger.  I always pictured this one cartoon dog sniggering.  My favorite reference defines it as snicker. WORDS RELATED TO SNIGGER dump, twit, gird, slam, deride, jest, rally, caricature, leer, snicker, swipe, insult, lampoon, decry, travesty, crack, scorn, smile, gibe, slight They’re probably not old words, but they’re good words which onomatopoeically describe the words themselves.  The great Bard William Shakespeare would have loved them. If he didn’t use them himself, which I believe he did, in at least one play, he should have.   Fustilarian is a word the Bard did use as an insult, but the dictionary lists no definition for it, but from the context I can guess at the meaning.  It would mean someone fussy about his appearance, but has no basis for being so.  onomatopoeia noun the formation of a word, as cuckoo, meow, honk, or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent. a word so formed. the use of imitative and naturally suggestive words for rhetorical, dramatic, or poetic effect. What words would you like to see dusted off and used again?  Words are the very stuff of writing, so there is the connection to writing.  Words are both my tools and my toys. What are words to you? Rita Trevalyan ReplyForward