An Audience Of One?

I’ve often been told to write for an audience of one, meaning that I need to write stories I enjoy reading and forget trying to please others.  Sounds great, right?  But is it realistic?

To be up front, I write what I want.  I’ve often said that reading tastes are subjective, so one person’s thoughts or criticisms mean little in the grand scope.  What I pay attention to are trends.  Still, doesn’t that mean I’m writing for more than just me?

Without someone else to read my work, it becomes little more than a hobby for me.  As brilliant as I am, I know that my writing can always be improved, which is why I’ll see if there is a trend in criticism that sparks a change or edit.  Again, though, that shows that it’s not all about writing the story just for me.  It can be about 75% for me, but audience input is important to create a better story.

That’s part of the point though, isn’t it?  We’re looking to get better as writers, and self-criticism is often limited.  Fresh perspectives allow us to grow beyond what we’re capable of by ourselves.  Think about it – if you only played basketball by yourself, without a coach, could you really get your jump shot where it needs to be?  It’s on you to shoot the ball, but others can see things in your shot that maybe you missed.

So write the stories you want to write, but know that, just possibly, you’re writing for more than yourself, and accept that.  It’s still enjoyable, and it creates room for growth.

Does Setting Drive Plot?

As I mentioned before, I’m working on a sci-fi/fantasy mashup story, and it got me thinking about how much a setting drives the plot.  Take The Martian, for instance.  Yes, we get a close up look at Mark Watney, but if he wasn’t on Mars, it’d just be a story about a farmer.  It’s similar with everything from Treasure Island to Robinson Crusoe to Guns of the South – in each one, where/when it takes place is what sets the mood and drives the plot.

Does this mean the setting is paramount?  I don’t think it’s paramount, but it’s really, really high on the order condescendi.  Characters come and go, but outside of one or two main ones, they don’t have the influence the setting does.  Even in a story like Harry Potter, where Harry and Voldemort drive the action, the setting is what creates the world.  After all, would you care as much if the story was set in a cornfield in Nebraska rather than a castle in England?

And maybe that’s the key to creating a good story, to figure out first where it happens.  The worlds my mind creates always drive the focus of the tale.  Fantastical worlds need people to drive them, but those people are meaningless if the setting is random and ordinary.  So it takes extraordinary settings to create extraordinary stories.

Or maybe I’m off my rocker and stuff can happen anywhere.  Who knows?

Plot Versus Character

What means more, plot or character?

In an ideal world, they’d balance each other out, but let’s face it – the world isn’t ideal.  If it was, I’d be 6’5”, with a body like a Greek god and athletic skills that currently elude my 5’8” frame.  Which means that I often tend to lean on one more than the other.  And that side is usually plot.

I admit, I’m much more into story than people.  Maybe it’s because I envision myself in most stories, but I want to know what will happen, and someone self-reflecting too much or working on hobbies extraneous to the story rarely interests me.  The only time I really spent time on a particular character was in Salvation Day, and that was because of the personal elements of the story rather than anything I mapped out.

Or it could be that I don’t get to know people all that well in my personal life.  I’m just too Sheldonian.  People are fascinating, but where they’re going interests me far more.  I’ve never been one for idle chit chat, and I’m usually the guy who arrives at the party waiting for an excuse to leave, so I don’t get to know many people well.  I’d rather someone tell me an adventure he or she was on rather than tell me about their upbringing.  I know that sounds cold, but that’s simply the way my personality works.  What about yours?

New Ideas Versus Sequels

As Hollywood demonstrates, new ideas are hard.  They recycle so many ideas, I wonder if they’re capable of figuring out something new.  In fact, the last “new” idea I saw in Hollywood was The Martian.

The Martian was a great book as well.  It was new and exciting, opening us up to an entirely different universe than other things out right now.  But it also required us to be open to new ideas, and getting that hook into people is obviously one of the more challenging parts.  That’s why sequels are so much easier, because they pull people back into a world they already understand.

However, as I got to thinking about it, sequels have their own challenges.  Yes, the world is already familiar, but that can limit new ideas.  Sequels have to stay within the world already created or readers and fans won’t tolerate it.  Think about it – if Harry Potter suddenly went to space or abandoned the magical world to become a British spy, no one would buy it.  If she wants to have fresh stories within the Harry Potter universe, JK Rowling can’t let her imagination stray too far.  In effect, her imagination must be limited to keep working on what she knows.

So is it easier to write new ideas or sequels?  Each has its limitations for the writer, and each brings different frustrations for the audience.  Maybe in order to expand, a writer needs to try both?

The Travails Of Publishing

Writing is great, but in order to get people to see my work, I also have to publish, and that’s where things get challenging(and expensive).  The travails of publishing keep me more occupied than writing, and I went into writing to write, not to pour over minute details of publishing(I think every writer feels this way, which is why traditional publishing remains so hard to dislodge).

For starters, uploading the documents and covers themselves isn’t as easy as some would suggest.  The slightest error, especially in ebooks, creates a long hassle to figure out how to correct it.  It’d be fine if I understood how to create ebooks myself, but that’s beyond my technical expertise.  Then there are the covers that have to be a certain size(I know how old I sound right now).

As a book is brought out, careful attention must be paid to how it is set up.  For example, Ingram Spark has an option that allows retailers to buy your book and then return the unsold copies.  The problem is that printing the book still costs money, so if a retailer returns unsold work, you’re on the hook for it.  So you need to be real careful top select the option that does not allow for returns…which, of course, means fewer retailers will take a chance on your book(why would they accept losing money any more than you?).

Going to KDP, there are issues such as enrollment in KDP Select.  In theory, selecting this will get Amazon to publicize your work more prominently, but I’ve seen little data that shows it works unless you’re already a fairly well known name.  Moreover, as long as you’re enrolled in KDP Select, you can’t put your book out on other platforms(like Apple).  That limits your potential audience.

Bottom line is that all those who think that a book is published and just magically appears on shelves should understand how much goes into getting it there, especially for indie authors.  So maybe all of this sniveling is just a plea to get you to buy my books so I can see benefit from doing this.  😉

Drafting

I’ve written nine books and am working on a tenth.  That said, the quality of my writing has varied wildly.  Some of what I wrote, like Salvation Day or Akeldama, are fine.  Some, like Akeldama’s sequel or the weird post-apocalyptic telekinetic thrilled I wrote are…well…a dumpster fire.  Looking back, I’ve tried to determine what is different between them.

The answer – drafts.

Each book that is decent started multiple times, each one working its way through how to introduce the characters and plot.  They didn’t just barrel in and find themselves out in the middle of a wild story that grew out of control.  They also didn’t just feed the reader information, but rather let the story develop, like a chef cooking a quiche instead of getting impatient and turning it into scrambled eggs.

Now look, I hate writing multiple drafts.  It’s up there on the scale of being despised the way I view The Last Jedi.  It’s more work on something I already thought I’d gotten through.  It makes me feel like I wasted a lot of effort and am starting from scratch.

Of course, that’s nonsense.  Each rework brought something new out in the story, and it allowed it to flow more naturally rather than just be an in-your-face thing.  What builds my frustration with multiple beginning drafts is that I’m impatient and want to get out the story.  It’s all in my head, so why can’t people just see it?

I reworked Akeldama and Salvation Day several times over the course of months which is what slowed the pace and let things proceed on a scale the reader could follow without being overwhelmed.  The other books in my inventory that aren’t even close to ready for release were done in one draft, which lends to why they’re an incoherent blob of thought rather than a refined story.  It’s work I know I need to do, but that doesn’t make it less taxing to do.

Akeldama As Pulp Fiction

Got an honest, in person review from a friend recently.  Regarding Akeldama, he said something along the lines of, “Solid B+.  A good pace, but not real deep.”

I took it with mixed feelings.  I wanted at least some thought to be created when looking at the relationship of Judas, God, and Satan.  Plus, hopefully the twist of how the protagonist came along would get some juices flowing.  But I also wrote an action story that requires a fast pace to keep readers interested.  So maybe it is more pulp fiction than I originally thought.

Is that necessarily bad?  I don’t think so.  Novels represent escapes for us.  They let us become engrossed in a world beyond ours, so that maybe we can set aside our worries for just a bit.  If Akeldama, or any of my novels, accomplished that, I’ll say that’s success.

Writing Under Emotion

I’m a mess of contradictions.  I can be coldly logical, but there is a side of me that can be emotional too.  It’s like the yin and yang of my personality, and while yin may usually hold sway, yang may rear its ugly head from time to time.

The reason I bring this up is that although emotion is a good tool to use from time to time to spur writing, I’ve also learned that if it is unfocused, it can be destructive for my writing.  Too much amped up emotion, what I call “getting my blood up,” rarely produces anything of value.

Anything I write while my blood is up is laced with impatience and biting invective.  The snap-reaction side of my characters comes out, and while that may work for characters that are known for snap judgments and not thinking things through, most of my characters are a bit deeper than that.

So what do I do when my blood is up?  I don’t write.  I find a way to cool off.  I try to stay away from social media(posts written in emotion rarely win friends).  If I do write something, I make sure to come back and correct it later(and yes, it inevitably needs correction).

Don’t think me an angry person.  I do this when I’m emotional over any issue.  If I’m sad, that comes out in what I write(the characters are too morose).  If I’m overly happy, then my characters are naïve and far too optimistic about life.  I need to be balanced to create depth, for too much of any one emotion will create one-dimensional characters that lean too heavily on the emotion I felt while writing them.

How does emotion affect your writing?  Does it affect your writing?

Resubmitting For Errors

Mistakes happen.  They’re part of life.  In writing, they come off as more pronounced, because now your mistakes are on display for the world to see.

Every single one of my books has had errors after submission.  Every.  Single.  One.  Even after hours and hours of proofreading and editing by outsiders, errors still creep in.  That creates frustration as I find errors in work I thought was complete.  It also creates a lazy dilemma for me – do I resubmit the work and get it fixed, or do I let it slide.

Readers are a savvy bunch who pick up on spelling and grammar mistakes.  In fact, it’s kind of a point of pride.  Of course, that also turns the reader into an English teacher rather than a reader and detracts from the story, which isn’t desirable.  So do I let stuff go, or try to fix it?

In an ideal world, I’d correct every error the moment it comes to my attention.  However, it isn’t a perfect world, and sometimes there’s a real question of whether or not the juice is worth the squeeze.  There’s also sometimes a question of money, as numerous resubmissions can cost money(usually the first one or two is free, but formatters need to make money too, and constant resubmissions without more payment makes the pricing inefficient).

Honestly, one or two errors are things I tend to let slide(find them if you can, kind of like a scavenger hunt).  It’s when folks find enough to make that the focal point that I grudgingly comply with the mob and resubmit with the errors corrected.  Sometimes pride and shame overwhelm me, as has been the case with Akeldama where I found a pretty prominent error involving a restaurant I’d lobbied to get permission to use, misspelled their name, and was so mortified I never sent them a corrected copy.  I’ll need to get past that.

So is it pride, or is it laziness.  Maybe it’s a combination, and the circumstances decide.

Social Media Distractions

Social media can be a valuable tool.  It can help us market our work, stay in touch with friends, and allow us to express ourselves.  Unfortunately, it can also be a HUGE distraction.

In addition to publishing a new book, I’m also trying to stay ahead on blog posts and start a new novel.  Yet I find myself checking Facebook much more often than I think is healthy.  I’ll get into a discussion, and I just have to go back time and time again to see if anyone has yet responded.  Whether it’s about masks, or the election, or which football team is poised to win it all, I sometimes find myself glued in ways I shouldn’t.

It’s akin to an addiction, and like most addictions, it both takes up an inordinate amount of time and isn’t healthy for the mind.  I need to scale back, but that’s easier said than done.  On the few occasions I am able to dislodge and write, I feel better, but like a junkie looking for his next high, that rarely lasts long.  I keep saying, “Just a few minutes,” and it turns into an hour or more.  Not productive to the writing process.

Plus, writing is hard.  Not as hard as creating a new vaccine or building a software database, but it still requires strength.  One of the allures of social media is how little intellect or energy it requires to get hooked and keep looking at it.  Anyone have any suggestions on how to better manage the habit?

Rising Prices

Some may have noticed that my most recent book, Schism, has a higher price than my other books.  That’s because it’s much larger than my other books and costs more money to print.  Were I to charge what I did for Wrongful Death - $14.95 – I would literally lose money with each printing(Ingram Spark won’t even let you do this).  Plus, I still need something of a profit margin so that sales tax and income tax doesn’t eat all of my labor.

I also upcharged the ebook since it was also larger and cost more to produce with my formatter.  Plus, and I know this sounds self-serving, but people tend to notice glaring differences in prices.  If the print book is $18.95 and the ebook is $2.99, they’ll wonder what the hell is creating the difference.  By charging a couple of bucks more, I maintain the illusion of equality but keep it low enough to (hopefully) get folks to take a look.

The market drives everything.  Much as I love to write, it’s not just about getting my work out there; it’s about also (hopefully) making some in return.

Push-Plan

Are you a plotter or a pusher?  Do you plan out every scene and piece of dialogue, or do you sit down and write, confident that the words will come?  I can’t just sit and write without some kind of direction, but planning everything out makes writing too clinical to me.

I think pushing has to be done with both.  I force myself to outline a little, but I also sometimes just have to sit and write.  Which way do you prefer to do it?  Can you tell a novel that has been just written versus one that’s been planned?

Worried Over Publicity?

As mentioned in my last post, I got a major boost on Schism from Instapundit.  The comments thread even started blowing up a bit.  What I found most interesting about the comments were the number of assumptions about the book from people who obviously haven't read it.  Apparently, I committed the sin of not condemning or lifting up one side of the political spectrum or the other(at least from the blurb).

However, that wasn't what worried me.  As I've said multiple times in the past, reading tastes are subjective, and people will either read it or they won't, and they'll either like it or they won't.  However, so many on the thread saying they were going to buy it is what worries me.  Strange, isn't it?

I've written three other novels, and while I like all of them, none of them has generated this buzz, not even the one that won the Indie Reader Award for Paranormal Fiction.  This one is getting attention, which puts my work in the spotlight in a way none of my others have yet been.

I think all writers have a certain degree of insecurity.  We not only want people to like our work, but we also want them to think we're good storytellers.  As more people pick it up, I start wondering, will people find errors(I didn't use a conventional editor since the format is really bizarre); what will they think of the lack of a central character to follow throughout the story; will they be bored; and a host of other things that I wonder now if they were done right.

In the end, I know I should probably stop reading comments.  The urge to respond will always be there, even if that's a horrible idea, and as I said above, not everyone will like it.

So strange to think too much publicity could hurt my writing career if people find mistakes.  Perhaps it'd be best if I just remembered that I don't really have a writing career right now, based on the size of my audience(as judged by book sales).  I'll try to not be so neurotic now.