My Nanowrimo this year

October is slowly ticking away as I prepare for Nanowrimo. For those who are unfamiliar with this wonderful annual event - it is a challenge. The concept is scarily simple - write a 50k novel in one month, this works out to 1,666 words per day for thirty days.

Lets be realistic though. Is your real life and maintaining your health during this challenge going to allow for you to write 1,600+ words per day? Probably not. From past events, I have found its often best to give yourself few days to write say twenty-five of them to write and recalibrate your numbers to best suit the new data. This allows you to have days where you may not even get on to write in the novel because of outside forces.

So with such thoughts in mind, this year I am aiming to write 50,000 plus words in the space of twenty-five days. Can I do 2k a day? I have done so in the past. There are factors which must be taken into consideration for me to ensure success on this project. Firstly, I need to have my notes, research, world built as best as I can before November 1. This will ensure I am able to simply able to sit down and allow the story to carry me away.

And what am I writing this year?

I am extremely excited to return to my historical romance roots. I will be writing a Celtic romance set in early 6 or 7th century Ireland. Sounds daunting I know but I have been researching the topic for the past couple of years. Learning all I could about the history of Ireland specifically, and reading titles featuring the era I'm looking at. I've also had some help with an friend who used to work at a Library and who is Irish!

I haven't titled the work other than "Celtic Romance" but it is the story of two young people who are from clans who are bitter enemies. The heroine is a strong willed, opiniated woman who is used to standing on her own two feet. She is the youngest of thirteen children with only one boy - who is her twin and ten minutes older. The hero is a minor chieftain - his uncle is the high king of their clan who has to find out what happened to his younger cousin. When the heroine's brother and the hero's cousin vanish it puts warring clans at odds and on the brink of war.

The truth however, is far more dangerous to the kings because it has far reaching consequences. Its also the second story playing out within the novel - but in the background. Amid treachory, youthful inpulsiveness, and forbidden love, the hero and heroine will have to find a way to stop their families from going to war - and stop those who would use their hostilities to seize power.

Research is invaluable in writing a novel such as this for a couple of reasons. I find inacuracies affect the story - for example if you're reading something about Elizabethan England and there's details from the Victorian era it makes one stumble. As well, have the mixture of details can make a reader question the author or editor of the piece even if they don't realize it. I'm not critisizing anyone, this is simply my opinion and why I am so criticial of my own researching ability.

But it definitely means I need to ensure my accuracy when I'm writing a period novel.

With my plans for Nano this year, I've dug out my workbook I created and am updating for patrons (It will be available later this month with a pledge for Distinct Author's Patreon! )

It's something I use when I'm short on time and need to keep track of things. It has multiple sections, pages, for everything from the correct spelling of names - with meanings - to space for cultural trivia, recipes, fabrics, and more. My workbook is formatted so you can print it off and tack it up to a work board, or manipulate it to show the high points or specific details you really need to keep at the forefront of your mind. I like to think its a handy tool to use with your plotting (if you plot) and handy if you're a pantser because you can do all your note take, research etc and have it in one place.
As well, there's a spot to put links and list your sources of historical details - you never know when someone is going to question where you got your details from. 

Let the Nanowrimo Fun Begin

Hello readers and writers alike. It is October...the month preceding the biggest challenge for a writer which until recently only happened once a year...now there are events three times a year. What am I speaking of?

Oh the horror...the stomach twisting nerves, the gut clenching insanity...okay you get my point.

If you aren't aware of what I'm speaking about, let me fill you in. I am speaking of Nanowrimo...otherwise known as writing a novel in a month. Yes, a whole novel. 50,000 words of creativity and mind numbing word craft.

Have I scared you off yet? No, well then come on in, pull up a chair and let me bend your ear. Coffee? Tea? Pumpkin Spice Latte? 

Nanowrimo is an event I've taken part in for the last four years, and I've won it by reaching my 50,000 word goal. But there is more to it than simply writing 50k, there's maintaining your mental and physical health, learning how to function with deadlines and goals. For myself, learning to forgive myself for not reaching my goal of 50,000+ words was tough. Real life kind of kicked me in the behind and I just wasn't able to do what I wanted.

I know this year is going to be hectic - heck, it's going to be insane. I'm doing two projects one as Elise Whyles and one as Patricia Bates. (I've got blog posts detailing Patricia's story) For Elise Whyles, I'm going back to Forsaken Heart, book one in #TheForsakenSeries and telling the story of two of the characters from the novel.

To ensure success, I'm building worlds, creating lives, and cultures, and really expanding on some of the cultural details revealed in Forsaken Heart while I'm also bringing the two characters forward into the current hostilities in Dreken. As I pondered this, I realized, I needed to be prepared. I need to have notes jotted down for quick reference, to ensure I can maintain my writing goals. As loathed as I am to plot anything, for November I realize if I am to have any semblance of success I'm going to have to plan for things before November 1st, and utilize some of my note taking resources.

I'm a huge fan of spreadsheets you can manipulate them in any number of ways to help you keep on track. Currently I have two open on my computer, one for the Forsaken Novella and the other for the Celtic Romance (See Monday's Post) ;). The one for the Forsaken Novella is a mix of information from now, as well as information from the Treatment for Forsaken Heart detailing the physical characteristics of the characters, the setting, and space for me to add in more details.

There are several sheets opened in each file, allowing for me to document character wants and needs, conflicts, goals, motivators, and more. Having everything in one place this way allows for me to color code details, move them around, and really get everything laser focused. I can hear some say, well isn't that what plotting is. And the simple answer is yes. The big difference I find is using the spreadsheets I can track things like correct spellings of names, if there's a recipe or dish being made I want to try making myself - of course making a demon or vampire dish is a little tricky but still...

I will be making a workbook of what I'm doing for the novella and offering it starting the 19th of this month when you sign up to become a patron. Becoming one helps me, my family, and supports the Distinct Author's channel. Fore more information you can find out about Distinct Author's here. 

Negative Reviews and how to deal with them.

I'm certain we've all gotten a negative review. The one-star review or a review where your book is literally torn to pieces leaving you ragged and raw. Every one of us has had to deal with such a review at one point or other in our career. It's not the review we must worry about, but how we deal with it.

Many years ago, (10 years or so) I got some amazing advice from my publisher at the time. She told me to consider how my life had altered and for me to consider what it meant to have a book on the market. For better or worse, I was a public figure, even if it was only to a select group of people. What I did was being watched closely.

Her words ring true even now after she's retired and I'm working on book number...thirteen or so. In some ways, my life altered with the first contract, in other ways, it's still the same. For me, the biggest difference is how much thought I have to put into what I say online.

Okay, I can hear you say, "Nonsense, what could possibly have changed?"

Well for starters, I had to be aware of getting into controversial arguments on social media. Not that I was into them, to begin with, but I've seen some authors who have lost their s**t over a bad review, or some percieved personal attack. I'm all for defending one's self, especially in light of some of the negatives out there such as Piracy but that's another topic for another day.

Reviews are a keystone for authors, you need them to create sales. Unfortunately, you need sales to get reviews. It becomes an endless cycle of hope and prayer, lol. But let's get back to the topic - I meandered away there, my apologies. We write this book, pour our sweat, blood, and tears into it. It becomes a living entity to us. After weeks, months even, of work, it's published and on the market. And we want people to love it, but you check and see a *gasp* review. Reading it, the anger rolls, steam's bursting from your ears, and you're ready to throw the laptop out the window.

How dare someone tear it apart? What do they mean giving it a single star?

Guess what, it happens.

The way we handle it will set the tone for ourselves and our reputation as authors. No, you don't toss out the laptop or break things. It won't change anything, and you'll have to clean up the mess. Instead, take it for what it's worth. A review is a reader's opinion, and there is very little likelihood you're going to satisfy every person who picks up your novel.

So we have to balance it out. Yes, a negative review sucks, but if we expend all our energy on that one review - what's left. In my experience, and I make no implication I'm speaking for anyone else, the best way to deal with the negative review is to pick it apart. What is the reader telling me? Was there some plot hole which I didn't see and it pulled the reader from the book? Maybe it was pacing? Is there a kernel of information within the review I can use?

If you can answer any of these questions positively, then I would say make this a positive review.
One thing an author should never do is attack the person leaving the review. If you want to lose any credibility, or gain a bad reputation then engage in an all out troll war.

Now, if there is no way to look at the review in a positive light for whatever reason, then just getting passed the review is your only option.

Put your energy into a more positive endeavour such as writing. There is never going to be a day when you will please every person who reads your book. And it's been proven, bad publicity can work in your favour. Keep in mind, reviews are opinions, and trying to force, cajole, or otherwise please everyone so you get nothing but 5 star reviews will ultimately hurt you when you suffer burnout.

Nanowrimo? Is it for me?

It is officially Pre-Nanowrimo month!

What does this mean? For a number of people - me included - this is the month where we get ourselves prepared for the challenge of November. For myself, its figuring out what I'm going to write during the month long writing challenge of Nanowrimo. I'm still considering what it will be as I'm going to be tackling more than one project.

My first project will be one for me, Elise Whyles, which means it'll probably be a contemporary or fantasy/paranormal novel. I do have an idea hanging around, circling me like a shark, just waiting for the right time to snap its massive jaws into my tush.

The second project will be one a little different. I've (as Patricia Bates) have spoken to one of my publishers and we're going to be doing some revamping of some of my historical romances. To follow this up, I'm going to be writing a historical romance. I have an idea for the novel, which means research is going to be my main goal in the next few weeks.

There are a lot of authors I know who take part in the yearly challenge and there have been some great works come out of it. But is it for everyone? Personally, I would say its for everyone who wants to write, but there are things to consider to ensure success.

What do I mean? Do I lose if I don't finish the novel? The measure of success is within your mind, if you start off with the idea to get a book plotted out and research started and only get five thousand words done, who am I to say you aren't successful.

I measure it in the number of goals you manage to complete.

For me, I have two main goals for November:

1. Finish the first draft of the manuscripts I'm working on for the month.

2. Forgive myself if I don't get as much done as I want.

If I can do both of those things by December 1, 2019 I figure I'm ahead of myself.

So are you going to take part in November's challenge? Let me know, I'd love to hear about your progress and if you took part!

Success comes in many forms

I have often sat and wondered just what success meant.  Can I define what it means to me? Was it the balance in my bank account? Or maybe the number of followers I have? Perhaps it is something else, maybe something someone has done better at than I? To see if it was within my grasp, I first needed to define it, and to do so, I had to truly look at more than the dictionary's definition.

Recognizing how you identify success is extremely important. If you don't know what success looks like, how will you know it when you see it?  This leads into the big question: What is success to you?

If we compare our success against another person who has made more money or is better recognized, how can we really measure our success. Which is not to say we should discount those who have gained more than we have. It's human nature to feel some emotional response to another's success. Be it jealousy, anger, or joy, it impacts our ability to see our own place within the spectrum.

The answer to this question is intensely personal. At least for me it is.

My measure of success is different than my neighbors.
And that's how it should be. It's very likely two people have the same goal, or goals. What's unlikely, is if they're going to do the same in the pursuit of those goals. It is only when you get down to it that you see the differences. Like the murky waters of a lake, what lies beneath the surface is where the action is.

So what do I aim to acheive within my writing career?

Thinking big, as if I had the world at my fingertips, my successful achievement would be to see my books on the NY Times best seller list for weeks and royalty cheques  in the seven or eight digits.

Pretty lofty, isn't it?

Perhaps. If I'm honest with myself  (and that's the key here) my success is not obtainable. It is. But if I sit down and really study what I'm wanting, then it means I have to look at the whole picture, not simply the royalty cheques, or the rave reviews. But I also have to look at the road to reach said goal, then it can be overwhelming and I am ultimately setting myself up for failure.

I was read the way to eat a bear was one bite at a time. The anology works. There isn't anything you can't do if you take it step by step. Having the drive to do it, and the will to overcome the negative energy, the self-doubt, the fear, is what is needed.

So if I look at my goal of NY Times Best Seller List, then to ensure success I have to break it down.

1. Setting Realistic Goals for myself.
2. Making them clear and concise.
3. I need to be honest with myself, and accountable.
4. The goals must be trackable.

Breaking my ideal success story into smaller, more easily managed bites, ensures, I don't end up on a sinking boat in the middle of shark infested waters with no lifejacket.  How much success I get will be determined by the amount of work I put in...and if the end goal stands when I get closer to it. What do you think? What does it mean to you to be a success.

Obstacles Writer's Face: Rita Travalyan

What obstacles face writers? Many people have a day job, and by the time they get home from work, they are exhausted.  Others, mostly women, but some stay-at-home men too, have small children they must care for, who would distract them from their writing. My particular obstacle is a yeller. We’re both retired, so have lots of time to pursue our passions. He writes computer programs. This would be fine, except that he yells a lot, and I'm not permitted to make a sound, because he's easily distracted. When you're writing a computer program, it is much more exacting than writing a story. Every jot and tittle has to be just so. The slightest slip can result in an error, which means that the program will crash and not run. That's what he tells me, anyway. But in this yelling disturbs me and I like peace and quiet when I write. If I had my druthers, I’d play one of my Napster playlists which puts me in the Zone. Ohl, you know what the zone is. If you're a programmer, the code is falling into place. If you're an artist, the paint is going on the canvas just so. If you’re a music composer, the notes are coming as fast as you can put them on the clephs. As a writer,. I use  Dragon, which is voice recognition software, so I speak my story, dictating into my computer so that it types the words on the screen.

To avoid the stress-producing yelling, I do my writing in the early morning while my SO sleeps. Because he's sleeping in the next room I can't play my music so it’s more difficult to get into the Zone. But it's not impossible. If you have the writing compulsion like I do you find ways of coping. He tells me he can almost hear when I'm writing about. Sometimes he even has usable suggestions for a direction to go in when I get stuck. But the yelling is hard for me to cope with. I have attempted to tell him a new way to cope. "You can't control what the people do, but you can control how you react to their actions." Why does he yell? Well, you may ask. He has enemies. He left Christianity for paganism and the church he left feels the need to punish him for leaving it. He runs an operating system (Linux) they don't like because they have money invested in Microsoft. So they hack into his system and continuously interfere what he intends to do. And he reacts predictably. He yells. He loudly utters implications and curses. It's been going on for over 11 years. One would think he would have found another way to cope with the situation; different ways of putting one over on his enemies, for example, but he hasn't. He just yells.  .Being an empath as I am, I feel the psychic pain in his yelling. But I guess I am naturally more logical and analytical than he is being as I am a Virgo ascendant. I would take pride and joy in continually foiling those bastards. I would emulate Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame. What a role model he was!

Plans have changed for the re-release of Takuhi’s Dream.  We are in the process of getting the 2nd installment, Takuhi’s Nightmare, ready for publication.  But I am doing the 3rd, and probably the final installment, Takuhi’s Daydream, for November’s NaNoWriMo, and she wants to release them in succeeding months, to take advantage of the buzz created by each book.   I am presently thing phase, to the extent that I plan any book. I am an inveterate pantser.  Outlining this makes me want to go ahead and write the book. And I find that each chapter is a new adventure.

My Books:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BKQ58Z8 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HQUR6QC 

When is The Best Time to Edit?

As an author, editing has become an old friend - one I think most of us have a love/hate relationship with. It's necessary regardless of what level of skill one has. Without the final stage of editing our work may not be as professional and polished as we would like. Which isn't to say it isn't a painful endevour, it can be.

Personally, its something I tended to start doing as soon as I opened the manuscript and started back at page one to get my mind into the writing. Since I know there just isn't enough hours in a day to do 70K, I often save and come back to the manuscript. As a pantser (I'll discuss in another post) I rarely have a map of what I'm writing. I usually start with the premise and go from there. So, I have to breeze through before I get down to writing the next chapter. This means often times I'll find things I question, leaving little notes on the side of the manuscript.

However, as I have found over time, editing as you go is not something I could do with the level of success I wanted to get. It often changed the story to the point where the idea was so twisted and moulded by the end it wasn't even what I'd envisioned. Am I the only one who feels like this? No, by no means am I alone in this. I've spoken to other authors who have said the same thing or variations of it.

Editing as you go is a destructive habit, in my humble opinion. If you can do it, kudos to you, but my brain won't work that way. I spoke to an author one time at length about this, and her words were profetic. If you're editing from the start every time you open the manuscript, how can you say you're finishing the piece? You spend so much time editing the first chapter(s) or pages and you lose sight of what is happening with the rest of the story.

The old adage of "You can't edit a blank page" is very true. To edit and polish, there must be something on the page, otherwise, you're not editing. But, when you think about editing, the last thing I'd recommend is editing as you go.

There are several reasons why I say this. Firstly, if you're editing as you go along, are you really gaining ground? The human brain is an amazing thing, we're able to do a lot of things because we have such a powerful inner computer. But, even the most experienced author cannot look at something they've just written and see anything wrong with it. Why? Because we see what we want to see when we're editing as we go along.

This isn't something we can change, though we can be a bit more aware of it.

Is It A Career or A Hobby?

I often hear people tell me, oh you write, it must be a fun hobby. But is it truly a hobby?

By the definition given on Wikipedia: A hobby is a regular activity done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time, not professionally and not for pay. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements. Participation in hobbies encourages acquiring substantial skills and knowledge in that area.

When I sit down to write, yes I do it for enjoyment, but I also do it with the expressed idea at some point I am going to make money from it. Which leads me to question my own intent. Is it a hobby I can make money from? Or is it something which I wish to actually be able to support myself and family with?
Is the money the driving force when I sit down to write? Or is simply the enjoyment and thrill of creating something which is a motivating factor. 

If its the money driving you? How much money do you need to consider it a career? What are the goals you have to meet to ensure you reach the financial benefit you want? How many sales do you have to make on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis? 

I want to be clear here, you can have a career as a hobby and vice versa, there isn't anything to say you can't. There are a lot of people who make their hobbies their primary career and do it with flair and no small amount of success. 

These are questions every author must ask. Deciding is an extremely personal and emotional path, and the answers will ultimately ensure one is faced with an even larger group of questions. Let's break it down even further. 

Is my writing a hobby? 

Writing as a hobby is not a negative in my opinion. Hobbies are healthy, productive events which allow us to have positive brain activity. But I get up every day, get ready and go to work at the day job only to come home and dabble here and there with it. 

Is it something which isn't a prime focus? If you answered yes to any of these questions perhaps your writing is a hobby. Or maybe its something you work on because you haven't decided to make it a career. 

But I only write for myself. My writing isn't good enough. I've heard these before, let me tell you a little secret I said those words myself. Writing, telling stories was something I did to relieve stress, to express myself, and yet deep within my heart, I knew at some point I wanted to share my stories. 

So I had to make a choice - do I keep considering my writing a hobby, a side venture or do I make it more? The true decision is only something, I as the author could make. I chose to try and make it a career.

Oh my goodness, a career as an author?

Have a career as an author is a major undertaking. You have to be dedicated to the hard work, the hours you'll put in, and comprehension you are your own boss. There has to be an understanding of what you need vs want from writing.

Not only in a creative manner but also in a financial one. How much do you need to make on a daily, weekly, monthly basis to ensure your bills are paid? Now, how do you take that number and equate it to how many sales you need?

Marketing and promotion will become a double-edged sword as you work to get your book title out there before readers. Remember, however, you're not simply promoting a book but the whole brand. And that is you. Connect with your readers, focus on making relationships and not simply sales. You will love it and hate it but eventually, it becomes second nature.

Awareness and desire will guide you in the direction you want to go in.  Follow your heart and it will guide you down the path best suited to what you're meant to do.