Category: Musings

Last month I began the process of revising my 2013 NaNoWriMo rough draft. Having given it a few months to marinate, I was anxious to start reworking it. Normally I don’t mind editing and revision because it’s the opportunity to make something better. Sure, it’s a long and frequently frustrating process but writing is hard work.

This was different, though. I got through the first few pages of what I determined should be the prologue with little problem other than cringing at certain portions. After that, the more I started thinking about the story, the more I just didn’t like what I had written. Any of it. Not that it was necessarily poorly written it simply wasn’t my original vision. It lacked drama, tension, and emotion. The main character on paper wasn’t the one residing in my head. Granted that vision developed over the course of November and I know I ran out of steam toward the end due to a lot of real life stress.

And while I realized this, I soldiered through the rest of the manuscript highlighting phrases and parts I liked. Notes were made and stored in Scrivener. A small amount of research was conducted and again stored in Scrivener to help fuel my imagination. It’s okay to rework it; that’s the point of all of this I kept telling myself.

After reading an article outlining step-by-step a process which seemed simple and easy enough to use, I started working on creating a formal outline. I thought it would help me focus my ideas. I was wrong. In a span of just a couple of weeks, I think I came up with at least three different stories I could have written. Each time I started a skeleton outline for each idea, I started to hate it. I saw all the potential plot holes and nothing felt right enough. It was frustrating and demoralizing. At one point I considered abandoning the project.

Then one night in the shower, an idea that finally felt right popped into my head. After I was done with my shower, I rushed to my writing sanctuary and jotted down it on my whiteboard.

The next day I looked it over and transferred the seed of this idea into Scrivener and once again started a skeleton outline. It felt more what the characters wanted to communicate their story to be. I was excited to get to work because I had completely accepted the idea that I was starting from scratch.

Since April has 30 days, the same as November, I am going to use this month to write a new rough draft. It’s been exciting and scary at the same time. I’ve been wrestling with believing I wasted a lot of time back in November and last month. By now I had hoped I would have a second draft but now I’m back at square one. Lovely. I’m also wrestling with the notion that perhaps when this month is over that whatever I write may not be even worth revising.

Yet it is still a valuable experience to go through. I don’t know how to write a novel. It’s only through practice, a lot of practice, that I’ll be able to figure out what works best for me. Sure, I can read different methods, and I have, but time and time again it just comes down to what works best for a writer and the manuscript. Yes, it is embarrassing telling people ‘Oh, yeah that book I wrote in November, that really awful draft, yeah it no longer exists. I’m starting over.’ Seeing those confused looks is difficult to get over. I can see they don’t understand but I have to resist the urge to get defensive and explain my process.

Fingers crossed I’ll have gotten better at writing a novel by the end of this month.

Unless you live in a cave, social media is everywhere. Hell, even if you do live in a cave I think there’s access to social media. It’s unavoidable and like everything else, there are some advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages include the ability to connect with like-minded folks from all over the world, keeping in contact with friends, sharing life’s joys and disappoints, to name just a few. However, some of the disadvantages are people unwilling to restrain their verbal diarrhea, discussions that quickly turn into personal attacks, and everyone’s favorite, spam.

A big shock to me as a beginning writer was reading numerous articles espousing how critical it is for a writer to develop his platform long before he even considers getting an agent. Apparently in this digital age, a writer cannot make the transition into a successful author without being on Twitter, Facebook, having a blog, a website, reviewing books on other blogs and sites, Pinterest, LinkedIn, selling your first born to some writing god, whatever. You have to be active, whatever that is, on all of these or else YOU WON’T BE SUCCESSFUL these articles often loudly declare. What an exhausting thought.

Yet an important thing is often overlooked: the actual work. The pieces we labor over. The words we pour blood, sweat, and tears, loads of tears, into just hoping we’ve done justice to the characters and their story. Writing is a physically and emotionally draining activity so to ask, nay require, a writer to find additional strength to Tweet, Facebook, blog, etc. seems to me to create the potential for burn out.

I disagree with the assertion a writer must start building their brand early in their careers. Those terms, platform and branding, feel cold and sterile. I understand that we produce a consumable product in the form of a poem, story, or book with the purpose of making money however, incorporating terms dreamed up by some MBA student takes the main purpose of what writing is about. In my opinion, we start writing to express ourselves, to release the stories of characters banging a drum inside our heads, and to share those thoughts with others in the hopes they get something out of those words. We don’t write to view ourselves as a brand so why allow ourselves to become obsessed with metamorphosing from a person into a product?

Does a writer honestly need all of these social media tools? Recently, Anne R. Allen had a blog post regarding social media for writers. In it she argues that all of these isn’t as important as writers are led to believe. Number of likes on your Facebook page or number of followers on Twitter doesn’t usually translate into sales. The biggest thing that still drives sales is word of mouth. Of course it does make a lot of sense and is a good idea to let people know when your book is coming out and where it is available but believing that alone will get you sales is overlooking the importance of producing a quality story people will want to read and tell their friends about. Speaking from my own experience, it doesn’t matter if I like them on Facebook or subscribe to their blog; I still pick the vast majority of what I like to read from simply reading the back of the book or from recommendations.

Another point I agree with her is just participating in the forms of social media you want to be involved with. For example, I’m on Facebook and have a blog. I follow some authors, all of whom keep their posts mostly related to their work. Sure there are some posts about personal events, like Ken Follett mentioning playing with his band, or an amazing movie or book they’ve read. Those are the only two social media experiences I can stand and enjoy.

Because I’m a slow writer, I feel that my time is better spent writing. A novel concept but one that feels as if the focus has been lost by all of this social media. When used responsible and sparingly, I think whatever your ‘platform’ is can be of enormous use. At the end of the day, though, more effort should be put more into a manuscript than anything else.

Some may not think writers participate in career development but we do. I certainly never realized it when I began writing in earnest. I just thought writers sat down, or stood or lay down even, and just wrote. I had no idea writing groups existed, nor that there were conferences, books galore, classes, and associations.

Discovering this immense world of career development was mind boggling. It got me thinking about does a writer honestly need all those classes, conferences, writers retreats, and every book about the craft ever produced? Will that speed up the process to get from fledging writer to published author? Or is all of it just a waste of time and money, both of which many of us have little as it is?

To me, it all depends upon the individual writer and what his goals are.

Classes and Books: Sure, I knew there were creative writing classes, I even took one at the local junior college, but I had no idea that so many specialized classes existed. Many of these go beyond the basics of grammar and sentence structure, but how to add more drama to a story, landing an agent, one-on-one feedback for your manuscript, and even classes specializing in a genre.

Most are offered online and aren’t affiliated with any particular college or university. This means they are generally open to anyone. Some colleges offer online classes but you don’t necessarily have to be a student at that school to sign up. Like everything else, there is a cost. Some classes are free but many require a fee.

Personally, I haven’t taken any classes beyond the one creative writing class. Part of that is I am hesitant to shell out money to an online program not backed up by a college. I’m kind of old school that way. I much prefer books because I can take my time. A disadvantage is not getting feedback or being able to ask questions. I think in the future, when I’ve gotten a decent draft done of my first book, I’d like to look into courses that provide feedback. This would be in addition to any beta readers I can wrestle up. Any strengths and weaknesses noted will more than likely prompt me to investigate other courses.

Conferences, Workshops, and Retreats: When it comes to these particular types of help, I am woefully overwhelmed at the options available. I’ve been to one conference, attended a year and a half ago, and held over a weekend at a local library. It was great for me and helped solidify my decision writing was what I was meant to do. I attended a variety of presentations not knowing what to expect. The classes were small and the environment was welcoming. People of all writing levels attended which gave me confidence to ask questions.

In addition to the one conference, I’ve attended a one day workshop put on by the leader of the writers group I was in. It was a small group and we got to spend the whole day with two published authors. While there was a schedule of topics to cover, the day was flexible. Time was allotted for Q & A but the biggest thing I got out of it was just learning more about what a successful author’s life is like. It was a bit intimidating but also motivating.

One thing I have yet to experience is going to a writers retreat. A writers retreat is generally a place allowing writers to spend a set amount of time, could be a weekend or longer, secluded away from the rest of the world. Usually these are held in quiet, nature areas far, far away from the noise of everyday life. There are generally set programs but the main goal of a writers retreat is to set aside all those real life worries and just focus on writing.

I must admit, when I see some of the places these retreats are at, I can see why they are pricey but perhaps worth it. I am not at that point, though, to go to one. Besides the price, when I look closer at what kind of writer they target, I realize at this stage in my career, it might be too over my head.

For my experience level, I’m going to stick more to short conferences and workshops. The chance to interact with like-minded people is attractive. So, too is the opportunity to ask questions and learn. My goal is to attend at least one or two conferences this year. Since price is a huge concern, local is better. Local conferences and workshops seem to be more centered on craft development rather than landing an agent or publishing contract. True, there can be editors and agents a writer can speak with but it’s not the sole focus like some of the super big ones held in major cities tend to be.

I am optimistic that all this investment in my career will pay off. I may not see it in the immediate future but with any luck in five or ten years I’ll see that return on investment.