Hi everyone!
It's been a long day. I left the house around 7:25 AM and I got back around 17:00 PM. It's not 17:15 PM. I managed to eat something and immediately raced to my computer to write a blog post for you. Why? Because it's important!
I'll get to it.
This morning in the train to my commute I started reading a book called 'Story Driven' by Bernadette Jiwa. It's the second goal-setting/achievement/success book I've read in the last two weeks. (I'm astonished I actually had time!) It doesn't talk about stories or fiction as the title might suggest but about success in business.
Why did I buy this book? I bought it because (like most millennials) I'm a bit lost in this world. It's a book about how to achieve success and the first chapter explains why competition isn't necessary and aggressive money goals usually backfire. I'm not going to quote it but I'll sum it up quickly:
There seems to be a trend that once companies start to think about profit and success and reaching their goals rather than how they can help people/improve their vision/improve people's lives they inevitably do two things: They fail and they lose money. This has happened to Volkswagen (the emission scandal a few years back). Instead of focusing on their product and improving it in a legal/people-friendly way (their goal used to be to make an affordable and family-friendly car for the people) they decided to cheat the system and installed software that would show their emission levels of CO2 below the allowed standard. In reality their emission levels were 40 times higher than the standard. As soon as this was revealed they not only lost money (a few billions to the law) but also the trust of their customers. Their stocks dropped rapidly and... well let's say a lot of people won't be buying their cars any more.
This really struck me as significant because I know this happens to myself as well. At some point when a story is difficult I'll stop thinking about what I wanted to do with it and try to cut corners. I'll set myself easily achievable goals (cheating!) and think about how to get it out as quickly and as 'ok' as possible to still make money. An example: if a story is tough and I have no more idea what to do I'll lower my goals. Instead of 150k words for the first draft I'll establish a goal of 60k. If that doesn't work then maybe 30k. At the end - you can guess it - there's really nothing left and the story fails. This happened more often than not because of panic and because of very competitive thinking (I have to get this story out QUICKLY to make money! I need to beat everyone else's quantity of books on the market to ever make money! And so on).
Obviously this doesn't work. As soon as I fail to follow my story-goals (as opposed to money/copies sold goals!) the story inevitably turns bad. I lose sight of my actual goal (my theme/why I am writing the story in the first place) and then I try to revive it by adding things that are either tantalising (for example a shocking/violent action scene where none should be) or take a break. These two methods inexorably turn into 'this story sucks' and I drop it. To my shame it's happened more often than once.
If you're feeling lost in your story (in general) or are thinking too much about which corners you could cut: Don't.
If you're lost in your story go back to what you originally wanted to do. Think about your theme. What was it you wanted to teach people? What did you think people should REALLY REALLY know when you started this book? What did you have in mind?
Did you intend for them to learn compassion? To see how even an angry and selfish teenager can be compassionate to a random old man she meets by helping him across the street? Did you want to teach your readers how to deal with sorrow or regret?
There might be a $ symbol hanging before your eyes. You might be panicking (If you don't finish this book/story quickly you'll lose... well everything!). And if that's the case you simply need to buckle down. It's hard. Definitely. But it's the only thing worth it. You can't lose sight of your theme in favour of quick money or meeting your goals. A story will take the time it takes to be completed. A project will suffer when you stop investing into your theme and start looking at the clock.
Volkswagen's theme was to create a car everyone could easily acquire and drive safely. They then overlooked this goal in favour of quick money and intentionally mislead their customers. In turn their car ('s emission) actually became harmful to the very people they had promised to keep safe.
Don't be Volkswagen.
You'll lose much and while you might make up for it your reputation will forever be tarnished. And in this internet-obsessed age who can afford that?
Have a think on that and a nice evening!
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Monday, November 5, 2018
What value does your fiction give to your readers? On theme.
Hi folks!
It's been a long day and I've finally finished preparing meals for the rest of the week (yes. This is meal prep Monday instead of Sunday!). In any case, here are some thoughts about theme, and the value of stories to readers.
So.
There are a lot of questions out there on the internet about 'What is theme?'. They usually come with the follow up question 'How can I put theme into my book?'. It's not easy to answer this and yet it's not impossible either.
Theme by itself is an ethereal thing. It's intangible (except it isn't really). It feels mythical. A lot of question marks pop up in people's heads when they hear 'theme' (or maybe those are just the literary students). Theme is a bit like a unicorn. It's beautiful but it's also shy. It's rare. It's difficult to find in most mainstream books. Has anyone seen it? Does anyone even really know what it is? Does it even exist? (Well - it should.)
A simple way to include theme in your own fiction is to ask yourself a single question before you write.
This question is:
It can be paraphrased into 'What do you want to show/teach people with this story?'. Hold on. I said 'teach'. But that doesn't mean 'preach'. There is no excuse for preaching and no one wants to read it, neither in fiction nor non-fiction (pay heed non-fiction authors who write textbooks!). The entire jig of theme is that it's subtle. When done well it should sink into your readers' minds (subconscious) WITHOUT them realizing that 'OH THAT IS THE POINT AUTHOR WANTED TO MAKE'. If they know it and they're not a literary student then that's usually a bad sign. Don't suffocate your reader with your opinion/theme.
All right. Back to What do your readers get out of your book once they're reading it/have read it?
This is one of the most important questions you should be thinking about as soon as you start your first draft.
The answers might be varied (and this is where theme comes in).
Your own unique answer to the question will be - or at least tie in - with your book's theme. The question can be answered in many different ways. A few examples:
When my readers read this book they gain/learn...
... an understanding of love!
... a sense of security in their life!
... how to trust!
... how to become selfless!
If you consider this well before you write the ideas that come into your mind (such as 'I want my readers to learn the value of friendship!') will automatically colour the text while you compose it. The theme will usually wind itself into the story without your being aware of it. It's how I wrote Hourglass (in which I wanted to show a greedy and selfish boy learning the value of friendship and loyalty over shiny trinkets) and Hourglass's theme is coherent throughout the five book series. And I did not plan these books. I simply wrote with that sole idea about selfish to selfless (valuing his friends more than the artifacts he wants to collect) in mind and it worked out beautifully.
There are however two caveats.
The first one is that sometimes it's HARD to know your theme before you've written the story. It can be really excruciating to FIND the answer to the question and determine what exactly it is you want your readers to experience/learn while reading your book.
The second one concerns the writing itself. If you have no idea about the characters and the rest of the plot this method of weaving in theme subconsciously might not work. And if you're still trying out your characters you might not be aware immediately what they want/what you can teach your readers through them.
It might even take one or more drafts to know your theme - and then it might be necessary to do a re-write of the whole book. But that shouldn't scare you. The more you learn about your characters and story the better it will be. There's no need to rush.
So the next time you write something try to get the basics down: the characters and what happens to them. Then think about what this teaches your readers. Or do it the other way around. What would you like your readers to know? What do you think is so valuable it must be written down for everyone to read? Then build on that with your characters.
Does this blog post help you in any way? What do you think about this approach to theme? WriteBot would love to read your thoughts in the comment section below!
Happy evening!
It's been a long day and I've finally finished preparing meals for the rest of the week (yes. This is meal prep Monday instead of Sunday!). In any case, here are some thoughts about theme, and the value of stories to readers.
So.
There are a lot of questions out there on the internet about 'What is theme?'. They usually come with the follow up question 'How can I put theme into my book?'. It's not easy to answer this and yet it's not impossible either.
Theme by itself is an ethereal thing. It's intangible (except it isn't really). It feels mythical. A lot of question marks pop up in people's heads when they hear 'theme' (or maybe those are just the literary students). Theme is a bit like a unicorn. It's beautiful but it's also shy. It's rare. It's difficult to find in most mainstream books. Has anyone seen it? Does anyone even really know what it is? Does it even exist? (Well - it should.)
A simple way to include theme in your own fiction is to ask yourself a single question before you write.
This question is:
What do your readers get out of your book once they're reading it/have read it?
It can be paraphrased into 'What do you want to show/teach people with this story?'. Hold on. I said 'teach'. But that doesn't mean 'preach'. There is no excuse for preaching and no one wants to read it, neither in fiction nor non-fiction (pay heed non-fiction authors who write textbooks!). The entire jig of theme is that it's subtle. When done well it should sink into your readers' minds (subconscious) WITHOUT them realizing that 'OH THAT IS THE POINT AUTHOR WANTED TO MAKE'. If they know it and they're not a literary student then that's usually a bad sign. Don't suffocate your reader with your opinion/theme.
All right. Back to What do your readers get out of your book once they're reading it/have read it?
This is one of the most important questions you should be thinking about as soon as you start your first draft.
The answers might be varied (and this is where theme comes in).
Your own unique answer to the question will be - or at least tie in - with your book's theme. The question can be answered in many different ways. A few examples:
When my readers read this book they gain/learn...
... an understanding of love!
... a sense of security in their life!
... how to trust!
... how to become selfless!
If you consider this well before you write the ideas that come into your mind (such as 'I want my readers to learn the value of friendship!') will automatically colour the text while you compose it. The theme will usually wind itself into the story without your being aware of it. It's how I wrote Hourglass (in which I wanted to show a greedy and selfish boy learning the value of friendship and loyalty over shiny trinkets) and Hourglass's theme is coherent throughout the five book series. And I did not plan these books. I simply wrote with that sole idea about selfish to selfless (valuing his friends more than the artifacts he wants to collect) in mind and it worked out beautifully.
There are however two caveats.
The first one is that sometimes it's HARD to know your theme before you've written the story. It can be really excruciating to FIND the answer to the question and determine what exactly it is you want your readers to experience/learn while reading your book.
The second one concerns the writing itself. If you have no idea about the characters and the rest of the plot this method of weaving in theme subconsciously might not work. And if you're still trying out your characters you might not be aware immediately what they want/what you can teach your readers through them.
It might even take one or more drafts to know your theme - and then it might be necessary to do a re-write of the whole book. But that shouldn't scare you. The more you learn about your characters and story the better it will be. There's no need to rush.
So the next time you write something try to get the basics down: the characters and what happens to them. Then think about what this teaches your readers. Or do it the other way around. What would you like your readers to know? What do you think is so valuable it must be written down for everyone to read? Then build on that with your characters.
Does this blog post help you in any way? What do you think about this approach to theme? WriteBot would love to read your thoughts in the comment section below!
Happy evening!
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Elegy of the Stars and Warlike PUBLISHED!
Hi again everyone!
'Who is the Monster?' is coming along nicely. In the meantime there's an announcement I have to make!
As I explained in my post yesterday I've uploaded two more stories on KDP. These are two novels: Elegy of the Stars and Warlike.
I'm pleased to inform you they are now ONLINE! They are finally finished and available for purchase!
You can find them with the links above (just click on the titles of the books!) or in my Author Profile: https://www.amazon.com/Jasmin-Gelinck/e/B01H703DRC
If you do read them and like them leave a review! As you can probably tell by now: Reviews are the best! WriteBot greatly appreciates reviews!
D'you want to see the covers? They're really gorgeous!
ELEGY OF THE STARS
On the planet of Glast Oria's only missive is to survive, against the cold, the hunger, the Priests of the Seirios, the Administration of the planet, but when Quinn, another urchin, saves her life from the Administration and lets her stay in his hideout, her allegiance to only herself begins to change.
Over time, a reluctant trust between them forms, and Quinn proposes a heist to steal food from the local cult.
Their plan turns to action in early winter, and at first seems like a success, but once inside the Chantry, the Seirios Cult's headquarters, everything goes terribly wrong, and both of them might not survive to see the planet's spring.
WARLIKE
In the far future on Earth, the names of most cities have been forgotten, and wastelands have taken their places. Thresha's lived in the jungle-forest all her seventeen cycles. A young woman too stubborn to admit defeat when the tribe's strongest war party is slaughtered by the raptors, ancient reptilian giants that were supposed to have been extinct thousands of years ago. Thresha is convinced she can kill the beasts and free her tribe once and for all, but she needs to throw her spears wider than elder Kava allows. Thresha soon finds herself trapped in an ancient maze, in a world before a time anyone of her tribe can remember, faced with monsters she couldn't have imagined and, when she is discovered, exile. But for Thresha, the only way out is forward, and to the east, the Sands and the weapons they hold beckon. The Sands, the end of the world, which no one has ever returned from, and no one believes there is an end to.
It's only when she meets Zon, an almost-outlaw, and his shooting tubes, that her hopes of destroying the raptors earns a chance to succeed. But Zon has problems of his own, a horde of metal men so different from anything Tresha has ever known, and those will have to be dealt with before the raptors can be destroyed once and for all.
'Who is the Monster?' is coming along nicely. In the meantime there's an announcement I have to make!
As I explained in my post yesterday I've uploaded two more stories on KDP. These are two novels: Elegy of the Stars and Warlike.
I'm pleased to inform you they are now ONLINE! They are finally finished and available for purchase!
You can find them with the links above (just click on the titles of the books!) or in my Author Profile: https://www.amazon.com/Jasmin-Gelinck/e/B01H703DRC
If you do read them and like them leave a review! As you can probably tell by now: Reviews are the best! WriteBot greatly appreciates reviews!
D'you want to see the covers? They're really gorgeous!
ELEGY OF THE STARSOn the planet of Glast Oria's only missive is to survive, against the cold, the hunger, the Priests of the Seirios, the Administration of the planet, but when Quinn, another urchin, saves her life from the Administration and lets her stay in his hideout, her allegiance to only herself begins to change.
Over time, a reluctant trust between them forms, and Quinn proposes a heist to steal food from the local cult.
Their plan turns to action in early winter, and at first seems like a success, but once inside the Chantry, the Seirios Cult's headquarters, everything goes terribly wrong, and both of them might not survive to see the planet's spring.
WARLIKEIn the far future on Earth, the names of most cities have been forgotten, and wastelands have taken their places. Thresha's lived in the jungle-forest all her seventeen cycles. A young woman too stubborn to admit defeat when the tribe's strongest war party is slaughtered by the raptors, ancient reptilian giants that were supposed to have been extinct thousands of years ago. Thresha is convinced she can kill the beasts and free her tribe once and for all, but she needs to throw her spears wider than elder Kava allows. Thresha soon finds herself trapped in an ancient maze, in a world before a time anyone of her tribe can remember, faced with monsters she couldn't have imagined and, when she is discovered, exile. But for Thresha, the only way out is forward, and to the east, the Sands and the weapons they hold beckon. The Sands, the end of the world, which no one has ever returned from, and no one believes there is an end to.
It's only when she meets Zon, an almost-outlaw, and his shooting tubes, that her hopes of destroying the raptors earns a chance to succeed. But Zon has problems of his own, a horde of metal men so different from anything Tresha has ever known, and those will have to be dealt with before the raptors can be destroyed once and for all.
WriteBot has worked on these books the last three years. They are great! Do leave if a review if you want to make WriteBot happy!
Have a good day!
News that make me even happier than reviews: Fier Zoo Rescue
Hi and good afternoon folks
Today I learned even better news than yesterday.
A bit of background: About two weeks ago terrible images came to light about a zoo in Albania - Fier Zoo. In this zoo the animals were neglected. All of them were starved and their enclosures much too small and dirty. The conditions were horrible. A lion with painfully infected eyes was photographed by an anonymous visitor to the zoo, as well as starved wolf cowering in a closet-sized rusty metal enclosure, a three-legged bear (I learned she's called Dushi!), and many other animals whose suffering was greatly visible.
I will admit without any shame that the pictures made me cry (and not many things do these days).
An animal rescue organization called Four Paws International took up the case and was asking for donations in order to save these animals.
This was the first time ever that I donated. I couldn't give the millions I wanted to (at some point I will be rich enough to donate millions!) but I know one thing today: My contribution was 100% worth it.
The animals were finally rescued on the 29th of October. As usual for me I learned of this late because I was incredibly busy (and depressed) last week. But today I checked up on the project's progress today and... I cried. I am so happy. These animals are so precious. They were so hurt. And now they're getting better! Added bonus: The lions will be taken to a rescue in the Netherlands. This means I can actually go there and visit them (which I definitely want to as soon as they are 'ready'). I will be able to see first hand how the poor lion with his infected eyes is doing and that they are taken care of. What could be better than that? The review I was so over the moon about yesterday, while still definitely a great achievement, does not compare to what I feel today. I am just so deeply happy the animals are now safe and taken care of it is difficult (even for me as a writer) to describe it in words.
All my appreciation goes to Four Paws and everyone who donated to save those animals. Thank you so much. You did the greatest thing you could have ever done.
Please also consider extending your help once again. The animals (and Four Paws) can still use your assistance.
(Note: I want to add here that I'm in no way affiliated with Four Paws. I am simply a writer who appreciates what Four Paws is doing in the Fier Zoo case and others and would like to show my support not only through donating but also by using my gift of writing itself.)
Yesterday I was elated. Today I am deeply grateful and satisfied that the animals are safe.
That's all.
But not quite.
As soon as I heard about the horrible conditions of the zoo in Albania I did not only donate. The first thing (while calculating how much I could give without serious repercussions in my own life) I did was actually to take to my keyboard. Of course! I'm a writer and the pain I felt when seeing these images woke in me a fury. That's where a new short story came into being.
It's called 'Who is the monster?' and I will be releasing it later today! It will be here on my blog - free to read and I'll let you know on Twitter once it's up.
Unlike my other stories this one is not gentle - and it's not supposed to be. It's a story of rage and pain and a means to release all these emotions for everyone who was just as affected as me by the pictures of Fier. (And really all other animal mistreatment cases included.)
With that in mind I'll head off to making the publishing of the story a reality. Stay tuned!
PS: WriteBot is still indescribably angry about what happened at Fier Zoo. WriteBot also considers it a great win that the animals are now free.
Today I learned even better news than yesterday.
A bit of background: About two weeks ago terrible images came to light about a zoo in Albania - Fier Zoo. In this zoo the animals were neglected. All of them were starved and their enclosures much too small and dirty. The conditions were horrible. A lion with painfully infected eyes was photographed by an anonymous visitor to the zoo, as well as starved wolf cowering in a closet-sized rusty metal enclosure, a three-legged bear (I learned she's called Dushi!), and many other animals whose suffering was greatly visible.
I will admit without any shame that the pictures made me cry (and not many things do these days).
An animal rescue organization called Four Paws International took up the case and was asking for donations in order to save these animals.
This was the first time ever that I donated. I couldn't give the millions I wanted to (at some point I will be rich enough to donate millions!) but I know one thing today: My contribution was 100% worth it.
The animals were finally rescued on the 29th of October. As usual for me I learned of this late because I was incredibly busy (and depressed) last week. But today I checked up on the project's progress today and... I cried. I am so happy. These animals are so precious. They were so hurt. And now they're getting better! Added bonus: The lions will be taken to a rescue in the Netherlands. This means I can actually go there and visit them (which I definitely want to as soon as they are 'ready'). I will be able to see first hand how the poor lion with his infected eyes is doing and that they are taken care of. What could be better than that? The review I was so over the moon about yesterday, while still definitely a great achievement, does not compare to what I feel today. I am just so deeply happy the animals are now safe and taken care of it is difficult (even for me as a writer) to describe it in words.
All my appreciation goes to Four Paws and everyone who donated to save those animals. Thank you so much. You did the greatest thing you could have ever done.
Please also consider extending your help once again. The animals (and Four Paws) can still use your assistance.
(Note: I want to add here that I'm in no way affiliated with Four Paws. I am simply a writer who appreciates what Four Paws is doing in the Fier Zoo case and others and would like to show my support not only through donating but also by using my gift of writing itself.)
Yesterday I was elated. Today I am deeply grateful and satisfied that the animals are safe.
That's all.
But not quite.
As soon as I heard about the horrible conditions of the zoo in Albania I did not only donate. The first thing (while calculating how much I could give without serious repercussions in my own life) I did was actually to take to my keyboard. Of course! I'm a writer and the pain I felt when seeing these images woke in me a fury. That's where a new short story came into being.
It's called 'Who is the monster?' and I will be releasing it later today! It will be here on my blog - free to read and I'll let you know on Twitter once it's up.
Unlike my other stories this one is not gentle - and it's not supposed to be. It's a story of rage and pain and a means to release all these emotions for everyone who was just as affected as me by the pictures of Fier. (And really all other animal mistreatment cases included.)
With that in mind I'll head off to making the publishing of the story a reality. Stay tuned!
PS: WriteBot is still indescribably angry about what happened at Fier Zoo. WriteBot also considers it a great win that the animals are now free.
Saturday, November 3, 2018
I got my first review! (And other achievements)!
Hi again!
Today is a very good day. I've been able to set up two of my books on Amazon KDP. These are Elegy of the Stars and Warlike (links to follow for both as soon as they are online) and I can cross them off my goal list! (Remember that long-as-heck list I made earlier today?)
They look really great too! They're all new with new detail information and an insightful author's note inside of them.
Several new goals have been added to the list when I crossed the two publishing goals off:
Next we come to the best thing that's happened to me all week. (Although it's already two weeks ago since it happened... I just didn't realize it.)
I GOT MY FIRST REVIEW! Yeee-haw! That's so great! The story I got it for is Catching Fireflies.
You know why reviews are so important? Other readers can find me (and their other favourite authors) by reviews. The more reviews you have the more up the ladder you move on Amazon.
And it's a 5-star review too! Here it is (sorry about the quality... It's very small for some reason!):
I don't know who wrote it. They didn't identify themselves. Their pseudonym is 'Amazon Customer' (like the other millions of anonymous people who sometimes post reviews). BUT if I did. I'd send an e-mail just to thank them soo much. This review means so much to me. It's my first review. It's like a first book deal. I am going to celebrate it.
So really! Whoever you are, anonymous reviewer, thank you so much! I love that you took the time to review my short story. I know it's short (it's a short story after all) and I know you would have loved to read more (according to your review) and... here comes the best part! You will! I'm currently working on another part of Catching Fireflies. I never thought it would come to it because I considered the story finished. But Alas. It did. Mairie wasn't yet done telling me all of it. I just had to wait. Because you purchased the story (thank you so much!) you will of course get to read the update for free. I hope you'll enjoy it when it pops up on your Kindle in the next few weeks!
Again - thank you so much! I hope you're having the best day today and you'll find thousands more books you will love. (PS: check out some more of mine. They're great adventures!)
WriteBot Wins! I told you! Have a cheerful day.
Today is a very good day. I've been able to set up two of my books on Amazon KDP. These are Elegy of the Stars and Warlike (links to follow for both as soon as they are online) and I can cross them off my goal list! (Remember that long-as-heck list I made earlier today?)
They look really great too! They're all new with new detail information and an insightful author's note inside of them.
Several new goals have been added to the list when I crossed the two publishing goals off:
- upload an author picture on my website and amazon author central page
- keep track of publishing status and inform readers once the books are online
- publish the short story anthologies next
Next we come to the best thing that's happened to me all week. (Although it's already two weeks ago since it happened... I just didn't realize it.)
I GOT MY FIRST REVIEW! Yeee-haw! That's so great! The story I got it for is Catching Fireflies.
You know why reviews are so important? Other readers can find me (and their other favourite authors) by reviews. The more reviews you have the more up the ladder you move on Amazon.
And it's a 5-star review too! Here it is (sorry about the quality... It's very small for some reason!):
I don't know who wrote it. They didn't identify themselves. Their pseudonym is 'Amazon Customer' (like the other millions of anonymous people who sometimes post reviews). BUT if I did. I'd send an e-mail just to thank them soo much. This review means so much to me. It's my first review. It's like a first book deal. I am going to celebrate it.
So really! Whoever you are, anonymous reviewer, thank you so much! I love that you took the time to review my short story. I know it's short (it's a short story after all) and I know you would have loved to read more (according to your review) and... here comes the best part! You will! I'm currently working on another part of Catching Fireflies. I never thought it would come to it because I considered the story finished. But Alas. It did. Mairie wasn't yet done telling me all of it. I just had to wait. Because you purchased the story (thank you so much!) you will of course get to read the update for free. I hope you'll enjoy it when it pops up on your Kindle in the next few weeks!
Again - thank you so much! I hope you're having the best day today and you'll find thousands more books you will love. (PS: check out some more of mine. They're great adventures!)
WriteBot Wins! I told you! Have a cheerful day.
10X WIP (How to manage all your works in progress)
Hi folks.
It's been a while but here is your one and only WriteBot!
I am currently working on 10 WIPs. They're not all books or short stories but include my marketing plans as well. I've been making many plans and trying to out more writing in the last few days (since having a complete meltdown and deciding to go ALL IN).
Here's a list of what I'm working on:
This is the point where we switch from actual craft to publishing - something that absolutely has to be done!
Last but not least we'll talk about marketing:
We all know we'd rather be writing than marketing - right? But what if you can be creative while doing it? What if you can make it actually fun with little giveaways and promotional posters as well as CUSTOM BOOKMARKS?
The plan includes:
All right! These are my plans for the rest of the year and beyond. I want to keep adding targets to work towards and really make this work. It's been a wake-up call when I (shamefully admitted) spiraled into depression even after doing very well in the last few weeks in real life. But that's a topic for another day. My goals at this point are as they stand.
It can only get better!
Remember: WriteBot Always Wins! And WriteBot will win THIS too. (PS: You can become WriteBot as well! Do it. Write, and become WriteBot! Practice your backside off! Practice some more. Push when you feel like you're being destructed at the seams like some lowly scrap bot! Keep pushing even while your partner's already watching the telly or gaming on their PC. Keep pushing towards those goals!)
WriteBot off to publish Elegy of the Stars (Jollyroger, I'm scared.).
It's been a while but here is your one and only WriteBot!
I am currently working on 10 WIPs. They're not all books or short stories but include my marketing plans as well. I've been making many plans and trying to out more writing in the last few days (since having a complete meltdown and deciding to go ALL IN).
Here's a list of what I'm working on:
- editing the fairy tale Catching Fireflies. CF will be getting another part approximately twice its length to enhance the story. It's by far my most sold story and it will be even better with the new edit!
- editing Of One Mind. This is a story inspired by psychology and the question of what will happen when people try to join themselves directly to each others' minds. It's grisly (BUT AWESOME!)
- editing Eye in the Sky (A bit of cosmic horror because that's one of my favourite genres and our Lord Cthulu has to be praised).
- editing Hourglass. This one is hard. I've been working on it for about five years by now and it's a huge project. I have written three (actually four but the fourth is a spin off) novels in this series and plan to finish the fourth main story novel within this year. It is one of the best stories I've ever written but needs much help so it'll go to another two of my beta readers on Monday!
- hand in hand with the above: finishing all of Simon Walker's adventure in the ancient world! Hourglass is the first book. There are three more (The Tower of Fear, WIP novel three, and WIP novel four.) It's such a great adventure story!
- finishing Ris's story. You remember the leshy story I posted a year (Oh My! A year!) ago? It wasn't complete then and it still isn't. But I plan to complete it still.
- writing the NEW STORY. It doesn't have a title yet but it's... already really amazing. It makes my skin tingle just thinking about it (but that might just be the mid-writing panic). This new story is pure sci-fi. It's set in a dystopian cyberpunk town called Clockwork City. It has androids, cyborgs, humans, pretty clockwork girls, and war.
This is the point where we switch from actual craft to publishing - something that absolutely has to be done!
- publishing short story collections. I am currently working on three of them: Into the Deep (mostly mysterious water-related stories such as Catching Fireflies), Xenos (weird cosmic alien stories - a bit like Solaris by Stanislaw Lem), and a new collection which doesn't have a title yet but will have mostly nice magical stories. (PS: this is the best one if you just want to read something relaxing and sweet. But it'll still make you think and consider your life.)
- publishing Elegy of the Stars. This is another story very dear to me. Very. (But then again, they all are...) It's a story that was excruciatingly hard on me if I'm completely honest. It was very emotionally taxing and I cried every time I picked it up and tried to work on it. That's probably why it took me about five years to finish even though it's a novel and doesn't have anywhere near as many words as my great epic Hourglass.
- publishing Warlike/The Torn Earth. This is a bit more YA than the rest of my stories. It's also kick-ass and you should definitely check it out once it's out. I'm currently fixing the title/name on the cover.
Last but not least we'll talk about marketing:
We all know we'd rather be writing than marketing - right? But what if you can be creative while doing it? What if you can make it actually fun with little giveaways and promotional posters as well as CUSTOM BOOKMARKS?
The plan includes:
- intelligent twitter pieces
- artwork (posters/bookmarks) to hand out on the streets
- 'free book day' giveaways on KDP (including the necessary promotion by handing out flyers and posting it on twitter)
- an appearance at ComicCon in March (that's the Dutch comic con because I live there)
- a few panels of comic for Hourglass (I'd love to fully make Hourglass a comic as well as book, but it's a huge project. That goal has to wait a bit still.)
- frequent blog posts (at least twice a week with useful content for readers and writers. By the way, this includes my
dustybook review blog, WriteBotWins!)
All right! These are my plans for the rest of the year and beyond. I want to keep adding targets to work towards and really make this work. It's been a wake-up call when I (shamefully admitted) spiraled into depression even after doing very well in the last few weeks in real life. But that's a topic for another day. My goals at this point are as they stand.
It can only get better!
Remember: WriteBot Always Wins! And WriteBot will win THIS too. (PS: You can become WriteBot as well! Do it. Write, and become WriteBot! Practice your backside off! Practice some more. Push when you feel like you're being destructed at the seams like some lowly scrap bot! Keep pushing even while your partner's already watching the telly or gaming on their PC. Keep pushing towards those goals!)
WriteBot off to publish Elegy of the Stars (Jollyroger, I'm scared.).
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
How about a writing session?
I've been chugging along steadily on some stories in the last few weeks. It's been going quite well at about 2.5-4k words a day and I haven't spent more than 2-3 hours on it daily (helpimsoboredtherestofthetime). However I have noticed that after those sessions my brain will usually go into shutdown until I've gotten a) a lot of sleep or b) had a lot of fun. b) is a bit problematic. Depression makes it difficult to have a lot of fun even if I do have the time. Anyway. I do what I can so let's move on.
At this moment (right now!) I usually would be writing on my stories but I've decided to type up this post instead. That's ok. I don't work per schedule (although I do try to get the writing done first thing in the morning after breakfast). And also: the less I work by schedule the easier it seems to be to get work done at the moment.
So then what's so important about this post and why should anyone care about what I have to say?
Eh. All I can say is: I've tried a lot of things when it comes to consistent work. I've tried to work punctually (start at 9AM finish at 12PM) and I've tried to work by wordcount and by page count and by a lot else. None of it worked.
What does work is this:
WRITING SESSIONS
These sessions are not defined in time (because then I'll just get angry about HAVING TO do this) or wordcount (because I'm a fast writer and will get lazy/bored if I reach my wordcount too easily AND also will get exhausted/demotivated if the word count is way too high). They're more like a choice. I can choose to do a writing session on any given day and USUALLY I want to (because I want to improve). And if I don't want to I'll still try to do it (or I won't improve).
These writing sessions work ok-ish for me when nothing else has. 'course I still get lazy and sometimes stuck but at least I know this is 'sit down and work' time (work can also be THINK ABOUT PLOT/what happens next and that usually gets me unstuck even if it might have to be deleted later).
Why do they work for me?
In a writing session I'm completely focused. I'm in the zone. I USUALLY write about 2.5-4k words in a given session. I don't have to force myself to do this. This is just my normal writing speed (after years of practice). Of course some of this will be deleted in later drafts.
A writing session is about 30 minutes to 2-3 hours at the most. On average I'd say an hour and a half (that magical 90 minutes recommended for any type of learning).
After these writing sessions I'm free to do whatever the heck I want (and I allow myself to skip sessions too but I usually actually DO want to write and practice to get better). Watching dog and other-cute-animal videos? Playing video games? Reading other books? Reading non-fiction? Braving the outside world for some exercise? All good! Wasting time on the internet? Also good! Anything goes as long as it's fun! (still working on finding what I truly think is off-time fun though...)
Note: I usually choose to do a writing session a day. Sometimes two. So far no more than two (depression again making it difficult to focus and I don't want to sink down into the real depths of it by overworking myself too much).
Another valuable lesson:
If not writing and not editing or working on your all-important writing bsns try to have fun. Try. You need to recharge after an intense session just like anyone else. Construction workers don't work 24 hours a day and neither should you.
So.
Does this help anyone? Let me know in the comments or twitter or so. I can't promise I'll reply but I'll try.
will start using #writingsession sometimes.
sometimes.
And now it's back to work.
At this moment (right now!) I usually would be writing on my stories but I've decided to type up this post instead. That's ok. I don't work per schedule (although I do try to get the writing done first thing in the morning after breakfast). And also: the less I work by schedule the easier it seems to be to get work done at the moment.
So then what's so important about this post and why should anyone care about what I have to say?
Eh. All I can say is: I've tried a lot of things when it comes to consistent work. I've tried to work punctually (start at 9AM finish at 12PM) and I've tried to work by wordcount and by page count and by a lot else. None of it worked.
What does work is this:
WRITING SESSIONS
These sessions are not defined in time (because then I'll just get angry about HAVING TO do this) or wordcount (because I'm a fast writer and will get lazy/bored if I reach my wordcount too easily AND also will get exhausted/demotivated if the word count is way too high). They're more like a choice. I can choose to do a writing session on any given day and USUALLY I want to (because I want to improve). And if I don't want to I'll still try to do it (or I won't improve).
These writing sessions work ok-ish for me when nothing else has. 'course I still get lazy and sometimes stuck but at least I know this is 'sit down and work' time (work can also be THINK ABOUT PLOT/what happens next and that usually gets me unstuck even if it might have to be deleted later).
Why do they work for me?
In a writing session I'm completely focused. I'm in the zone. I USUALLY write about 2.5-4k words in a given session. I don't have to force myself to do this. This is just my normal writing speed (after years of practice). Of course some of this will be deleted in later drafts.
A writing session is about 30 minutes to 2-3 hours at the most. On average I'd say an hour and a half (that magical 90 minutes recommended for any type of learning).
After these writing sessions I'm free to do whatever the heck I want (and I allow myself to skip sessions too but I usually actually DO want to write and practice to get better). Watching dog and other-cute-animal videos? Playing video games? Reading other books? Reading non-fiction? Braving the outside world for some exercise? All good! Wasting time on the internet? Also good! Anything goes as long as it's fun! (still working on finding what I truly think is off-time fun though...)
Note: I usually choose to do a writing session a day. Sometimes two. So far no more than two (depression again making it difficult to focus and I don't want to sink down into the real depths of it by overworking myself too much).
Another valuable lesson:
If not writing and not editing or working on your all-important writing bsns try to have fun. Try. You need to recharge after an intense session just like anyone else. Construction workers don't work 24 hours a day and neither should you.
So.
Does this help anyone? Let me know in the comments or twitter or so. I can't promise I'll reply but I'll try.
will start using #writingsession sometimes.
sometimes.
And now it's back to work.
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