Writerly Stuff

I think I was supposed to do a post about titles this morning, but I forgot and that one should probably be written ahead of time instead of on the fly.  Right now is definitely 'on the fly'.  LOL

Amazon, in its infinite wisdom, has changed the KDP page for checking out book sales - the Dashboard.  (And even the tiny picture next to my bookmark for them is different, making it so I have to go looking for it instead of going right to it.)  Turds.  I guess, for a limited time, you can still see the data the old way, but I'm not inclined.  If you're landing there for the first time, you might see that some of the metrics have a picture of a lock on them.  Click the lock, fix your preferences, and all will be well.  (It doesn't tell you to do that.  I found out by accident.)

I probably don't need to say this, but I detest change for the sake of change.  We'll see if the Dashboard is actually better or just different.  I'm holding off on my opinion there.

I guess now I could use a sale to show me exactly how it would work in the new Dashboard. :shrug:  If wishes were fishes, we'd all eat like kings.

I don't need to tell you that sales have sucked this year.  Well, ever since I went wide, I guess.  Of course, there's been very little marketing on my part, so that might be a huge factor.  The will to market is a dry, dry well.  As is the budget for marketing.  With no budget, all things markety have to be done by me, and with a dry gumption well... Umm, yah.

Anyway, enough with my whining.  I'm making progress on Shroudlands 2.  Not great leaps and bounds, but progress.  I'm almost at 18K words now.  My brain threw a curve at me last night that I wasn't expecting, so we'll see how that plays out.  Or whether I need to trash that plot path and initiate a do-over.

How are things in your world?

Music and Words

Recently, I created a station on Jango specifically for this book, which is as close to a playlist as I'll ever get for my books.  I started out with the band Of Monsters and Men then added in The Lumineers and Phillip Phillips and then Delta Rae.  All artists that, for me, say 'fantasy'.

It has totally helped me get in the mood for writing.  Even when I don't feel like writing, once I throw this on, I can sit down and at least knock out a few hundred words.  And this is totally awesome, considering I've had a tough time these past couple years getting the words out.

Last night, I was in the process of knocking out way more than a few words when a song came on that was totally not in line with the mood I was going for.  Oh, it was in line with the general theme of the station, so I wasn't going to give it a thumbs down and have it removed permanently from the playlist.  I was just going to click next and move on.  But by the time I had made the necessary move from Word to browser, I was already hooked on the song.  Then I went to my search engine and looked for the video of it and listened not only to the song, but to the lead-in where the songwriter talks about writing the song and why he wrote it.  (The song was No Piece in Quiet by Delta Rae, btw.  It's pretty and kinda sad.)  

By the time that was finished, I was derailed.  Pretty and sad is fine, but it definitely didn't put me in a place where I could write the next BIG SCENE.  I mean, if the next scene had been a pretty and sad scene it would've been great inspiration, but the next scene is fraught with tension and action.  I need zippier music for that.

In the end, getting derailed was okay because it was after 8 anyway and I did already have over 1700 words.  The song probably derailed me because I was already getting tired.  My writing stamina ain't what it used to be.  I let it atrophy.  Still, I really should've just clicked past this song and kept writing.  Worked on rebuilding the stamina and all that.

What about you?  Does music help or hurt your writing?  If you don't write, does it help or hurt your focus on other things?  Do you ever just get derailed by a song?  

Epiphany

I've been struggling this week, trying to create an awesome climax for this book.  The big battle scene.  What's a gal to do when she's created a baddy so bad that nothing could stop it?  

I knew when I reached the point of actually needing to do something about the baddy that I wouldn't be able to sleep unless I fixed this.  The hamster was running hard on its wheel and not getting anywhere.  And it would continue to run.

So, I stopped.  I got up off my chair and put on my workout clothes.  This is the point where I'd usually go for a walk, but it's so hot and humid right now, I'd probably drop over halfway through.  Instead, I got on the exercise bike.  (Which I've moved into the spare room, positioned so that it looks out a window and I've placed the stereo next to it so I can listen to jams, too.)  Eighteen minutes on that sucker.

I still didn't have the answer, even if I was in a more-receptive place.  

I flopped into my recliner and vegged out while Hubs watch Mountain Men.  (He loves that show.)  And I let my mind wander over the problem.  I was determined to figure this out no matter how late I would have to stay up.  What to do.  What to do.  What to do.

Epiphany!

I got right up, grabbed my beverage, and headed into the office where I made magic.  The answer was bloody brilliant, if I do say so myself.  

Plus, I got it all out and finished in time to go to bed at the normal time.  Of course, I was totally hopped up on cold coffee drink and iced tea by then, so while I had hoped to avoid not being able to sleep because my brain was turning over the problem, I still didn't sleep because of the caffeine.  

Time and readers will tell whether my brilliance was actually brilliant, but right now, I'm loving it.  

It looks like I will actually finish this book this time.  The hard part is over.  Now there's the denouement and some additional excitement as there's still a thing or two the characters have to deal with.  (Which actually might be dealt with in edits.)  I'm just over 89K words as of last night.  Maybe another 5K... perhaps 10.  

I do love epiphanies.  I wish they'd happen more often, but then again, they wouldn't be as awesome if they came more frequently, would they?

Rolling Along

After spending several days last week NOT writing, I changed one little thing about what I'd already written and the floodgates opened wide.  I'm over 12K now.  Yay.  1900 words Monday night.  1800 words Tuesday night.  Woohoo.  Keep 'em coming.  

I have no set date for this to be finished, so I have no way of knowing when it'll be edited sufficiently to get it into the hands of readers or, further down the road, the hands of the book buying public.  But I'm writing, so that's something.  It's the end of April.  I finish the writing by the end of May, edit in June, get it to proofers and back in July... August maybe?

I read something yesterday that Rex Stout - the author of the Nero Wolfe mysteries - took about 45 days to write a book, usually during the winter.  If I could do that, that'd be great.  

As it is, I'm happy to be rolling along.  If the words are flowing out of my fingers, then all's right with the writing.

Kicking My Own Ass, Yet Again

It's been a hard couple of weeks and I've been letting things overwhelm me when I should be working.  I know it's natural.  I also know it can become an excuse rather than a reason.

All in all, despite the grief and the changes and the fears of what lies ahead, things really haven't changed that much here at Sanderson Publishing (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanderson, Inc. LLC*.)  I still have a computer to write on and internet access to communicate with the outside world.  My brain still works and so do my fingers.

So, yesterday I took myself in hand.  I didn't make huge strides into the editing, but it was a start.  

Also, I'm thinking about a sale.  My 6-year anniversary for publishing is coming up on the 13th, so that's cause for celebration.  It would be a nice time to market something.  I'll let you know what I decide.

Allowing myself to be derailed is not an option.  Not for any length of time anyway.  It's a luxury I can't afford.  I let myself be derailed for most of last year.  And we all know how that went...  $108.50 in sales** for an entire year (November 2019 - October 2020), that's how it went.

I have to do better.  I cannot wallow in my misery or let outside stuff live rent-free in my head to the point where the work isn't getting done.  

Consider this a personal ass-kicking.  And expect to see more writerly work out of me from here on out.  Feel free to jump on the ass-kicking bandwagon if you don't.

*Not a real company, folks.  It's just me and Hubs.  But I like to joke about being a company.

**According to Amazon's 1099.  If you haven't downloaded your 1099, best get to it.

Friendly Ass Kicking

Okay, so Silver James yelled at me yesterday because I was whining about not writing (see Sunday Update and comments from The Writing Spectacle).  I thought about the book and how to get past where I was so I could move forward again.  Last night, I ended up with 1644 new words.  And I finished on a shocker I hadn't seen coming.  So... Thank you, Silver, for verbally kicking my ass.  I needed that.  

I also set up a sale for the genie books.  The first book is free from the 23rd to the 27th.  The others are all 99c for the same days.  Merry Christmas.

Anyway, as you can plainly see, sometimes I need my ass kicked.  Usually I kick my own ass.   This time, someone kicked it for me because I was, at that point, unable to.  That what friends are for.  

Maybe I need to do some friendly ass-kicking, too.  I have a couple of writer friends who aren't writing right now.  Both of them are awesome writers.  I've loved everything I've read from either of them.  I'd love to see more.  So...  If they're reading this, and I suspect they are, here's a message to them both:  Get your asses in gear and write me some more stories, dammit.  Don't make me thrash you soundly.  Your mothers were hamsters and your fathers smelt of elderberries*.  Write or I shall taunt you a second time.  

Not sure if that was sufficient to get either of them going again.  Maybe I'll sic Silver on both of them.  She's better at it than me.  

*If you haven't seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you really need to rent a copy**.  It's hilarious.

** do people even do that anymore?  Rent movies?  

Progress Report - Duke Noble 1

Ten days.  I've worked on this book for ten days straight.  Which is all Huzzah and Hurray for me.  I wrote every day but one and that day I deleted part of a scene that was bothering me.

In those ten days, I added 12143 words.  (12693 written, 550 deleted.)  Last night was my best night with 1928 words laid down.  And with those words, I rolled the book to over 20K words.

Right now, this morning - having gotten out of bed at roughly 3:30 again - I'm not sure if anything I wrote last night is any good.  And right now, I don't care.  If I still don't like it after I write THE END, I'll fix it in edits.  The point right now is to get the story out.  Blast through it all like blowing a hole through a mountain.  I'll clean up the rubble once I can walk out the other side.

I had a bunch of thoughts about the book as I lay not sleeping.  Some of them are still there this morning and I wrote those down.  I think I know who did it.  And why.  Now to get from here to there in another roughly 30K words.

I need a shower today.  And a boatload more coffee. 

Progress Report 8/5/20

Hello and good morning to you all.

It's the fifth of the month and I've already done 5 days of what I had originally called AugNoWriMo, but I like Silver's suggestion better, so it's now AuGoWriMo - August Go Write Month.

Here's how it's played out so far:

7/31 - 1347
8/1 - 1471
8/2 - 818
8/3 - 887
8/4 - 642

For a total of 5165 words added to Cinder Ugly.  Yay.  Remember, no judging here.  Words every day.  That's it.

And I'm not sure if what I'm laying down is any good.  Also, no judging there.  They're words assembled in some cogent form and editable later.  Not 5165 instances of VERY.  LOL  The story is moving forward toward the climax.  That's all that's important right now.  Whether they're in any shape for other humans to read can't be a consideration.

As an aside, I've heard critics of this style of fast writing (or dirty drafting, if you prefer) question the quality of the writing.  Quality sacrificed in favor of quantity.  Well, duh.  This is NOT good writing and I wouldn't want anyone to see it - not even my BWFs*.  It's supposed to be dirty and gross and messy.  That's what editing is for, silly pants people.  You can't write a book this fast and hope it will be of publication quality when you're finished.  Derp.  Books written the long, slow way still need editing, too.  Perhaps not as much, but the first draft of anything isn't perfect for anyone.

Anyway, progress is being made.  When I don't feel like writing, which has been the last three days, I do it anyway.  Those days I don't make a huge amount of progress, but I make progress. 

How are things going for you?

*Best Writing Friends