Time to Write

The one thing writers need that can't be taught (other than talent)

A successful writer needs to master the craft of writing, but there's another requirement and this one can't be taught: a thick skin. Writer Barbara Henderson revealed her experiences with this, for an article on ChronicleLive.com, written by Hannah Flint:

"The 53-year-old said she had suffered major setbacks in her career and that let-downs from publishing companies could be hurtful.

The former BBC Look North journalist said aspiring writers had to learn to pick themselves back up again after facing rejections from publishers if they wanted to make it.

She spoke of her 'blackest moment' as a writer in which her children’s novel, The Serpent House, was rejected after a year of it being held by a publisher.

It happened after the book was shortlisted for the 2010 Times/Chicken House prize, but Barbara had missed out on winning. And then Chicken House, a children’s book publishing company, kept the manuscript for a year before telling Barbara that they were no longer interested.

She said: “That was such a setback and I was gutted. I can’t do anything about it, but that was my blackest moment. After a while, I was able to feel strong enough to put it out again.”

I can relate to that: it took 13 years between the time I wrote the screenplay for "The Real Howard Spitz" and the time it was produced. And one of my sitcom proposals was held by a broadcaster for more than a year before they decided although they liked it, they felt the audience wouldn't get it. I'm sure just about every writer has one or more stories like that...but that doesn't mean it gets any easier.

Barbara Henderson said it took her 18 months before she recovered from the disappointment and sent the manuscript out again. It's a good thing she did, because the book found a publisher and won praise. 

She said, “My advice to anyone else would be to be very persistent and try to toughen up a little bit because it is really hurtful if someone turns you down.” 

(for friendly advice on writing your book, get a copy of Your Writing Coach, published by Nicholas Brealey and available from your favorite bookseller.)

See this real-world example of how being specific makes a story more powerful

I'm sure you've come across the advice that making your characters specific makes your story more powerful, but here's a real-world example of how being specific changes how people behave. It's a preview clip from a new TV series coming to the National Geographic channel. It's called "Crowd Control" and this clip may inspire you:

 

The great escape (it's what writing is all about)

"Two hours of writing fiction leaves this writer completely drained. For those two hours he has been in a different place with completely different people." - Roald Dahl

Being in a different place with completely different people is what made me love reading, and makes me love writing.

With a few exceptions, I've avoided writing (or reading, or seeing films) about serial killers, child molesters, and murderers, mostly because these are not people I want to spend time with.

If you do enjoy vicariously confronting horrible people, perhaps making sure they get their comeuppance more often than is the case with their real-life counterparts, that's great, too.

Either way, I hope you're taking advantage of our unique ability as writers to create worlds and people to live within and to share with thousands or even millions of our fellow escapees.

Location as story: Kids, welcome to the Pocket Money Loan Shop!

There are lots of ways to tell a story. In this case, it's a location, a loan shop where kids can get loans when, for instance, their parents have cut off their allowances. The annual interest rate is only 5000%. Don't believe me? Here's a photo of the shop at 77 Stroud Green Road, London:

Yes, it's a joke, but one with a message. The artist behind it, Darren Cullen, wants to call attention to the fact that kids are targeted all the time by marketers, so this may be the logical conclusion. 

Huffington Post quoted Cullen: “Marketers are putting kids in MRI scanners and showing them adverts to see which areas of the brain light up to certain words, colours or shapes. There is a giant industry of incredibly smart psychologists and advertisers who are using every advance of modern science to make your child feel like they need and love certain products and brands.”

At the same time, actual loan shops (for adults) have cartoon mascots, jingles, and bright colors to make the whole thing seem fun (and distract people from the exorbitant interest rates they're paying). 

I like this because it demonstrates another way to tell a story. The Shop will be open until November 8, 2014. 

You can find out more at Cullen's website: http://spellingmistakescostlives.com/

 

Selling your self-published book: 7 tips

Here are a few bits of useful information I picked up from a webinar about self-publishing e-books. It featured an interview with Brad Costanzo, founder of Costanzo Marketing group:

• The "give a book away free in hopes they'll want to buy your other books" strategy doesn't work too well anymore. So many people are doing it that a freebie will get lost.
  
  
• Getting reviews is important; Amazon doesn't allow you to reward people for leaving just a favorable review, but you can and should encourage them to leave an honest review.
  
  
• When you publish another book, go back and promote it within the books you've already published--being able to do things like that is one of the advantages of digital publishing.
  
  
• If you have another product that you think will appeal to potential readers, you can tell them you'll give it to them if they send you a copy of the receipt they get when they buy the book.
  
  
• There have been cases where an author has given away the pdf version of a book and invited people to buy the paperback version...and many people did.
  
  
• You have to start building relationships a year before you launch your book. Get to know the influencers in your market. Think about how your book can help these people serve or entertain their followers not just how they can help you sell your book. Ask every contact for their suggestions regarding who else might be interested.
  
  
• If you can afford to put some money into promoting the book, consider buying an ad in a newsletter. 

 

The most important person you'll meet through your writing

"I read and I walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me." -- Anna Quindlen

That one hits home for me; I used to wander around the Stanford campus late at night when I was a student there, sometimes feeling like I was in a movie but not knowing whether it was a comedy or a tragedy.

Those are the years when it's easy to imagine yourself as some kind of doomed hero because you don't yet have a job or mortgage to think about and you doubt you'll ever make it to old age (40) anyway.

If you're writing, are you meeting yourself? If not, might there be a different type of writing you could be doing?

If you've put off starting to write or making it a regular part of your life, might this be a good time to do so?

(You'll find friendly guidance for your writing in my book, Your Writing Coach. It's published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing and available from your favorite bookseller.)

Do you lose motivation in the winter?

We're coming off Daylight Savings Time, it's getting dark earlier, and there are more grey days ahead. Do you find your motivation flagging as winter sets in? I do--I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (a bright SAD light helps).

Even without that, a lot of people have a bit more trouble staying motivated during this time of year.

One thing that can help is to make sure we're you're not focusing on the wrong things:

* What you haven't achieved yet

* What went wrong recently

* What mistakes you've made 

* What people owe you (favors, gratitude, etc.)

* What's worse than it used to be

* The things you can't do as well as you used to

* What people could be doing for you

If you want to feel good and stay motivated, shift your focus to:

* What you have achieved

* What went well recently

* What you got right 

* What others have given you 

* What's better than it used to be

* The things you can do better than you used to (keep your temper, appreciate life, etc.)

* What you could be doing for other people

I'm not suggesting you ignore the negatives, but putting your attention on the positives will make you happier (and more popular). If you're having a dark day, try seeing the day's events through the filter of the second list. It can be useful to print out this list and keep it where you can see it, to remind you to maintain a positive mindset.

Alcohol, creativity, and memory (cheers!)

A while back I wrote a post about research that found that creativity is enhanced by having a couple of drinks (but not more). A new study shows that light consumption of alcohol can also help memory--at least for older people. 

Science Daily summarized the study this way:

"Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, University of Kentucky, and University of Maryland found that for people 60 and older who do not have dementia, light alcohol consumption during late life is associated with higher episodic memory -- the ability to recall memories of events."

They add the warning that abusing alcohol is harmful to the brain. Two drinks good, five or more in one session, not good!

If you really want to delve into this, see my post about Michael Gelb's book on wine and creativity.

 

Related articles

The Surprising Health Benefit Of Alcohol For Older Adults

Why is Sherlock Holmes on the cover of my book?

A couple of new translations of my writing books. The figure with the pipe reminds me of Bertrand Russell or Sherlock Holmes...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Your Writing Coach and Your Creative Writing Masterclass are available in English too, from your bookseller. See YourWritingCoach.com and YourCreativeWritingMasterclass.com)

Tortoise Scandal Exosed!

You may think you know the story of the tortoise and the hare, but you don't know the FULL story! It's all here...

PS: This is also a little promotion for the online MASSIVE ACTION DAY taking place today (Saturday, 18 October 2014). Find out more at www.MassiveActionDay.com. If you miss this one, you can sign up for the next one. It will take place on Saturday, November 22.

A word to leave out of your fiction (most of the time)

What's the word to leave out of your fiction most of the time?

Suddenly.

Almost everything happens suddenly. 

A shot rings out.

She realizes there's a man behind her.

The waiter arrives to take your order. OK, I guess he could amble over to your table...

You don't have to ban the word totally, but it is over-used, especially by newer writers.

Ryan DeJonghe did an analysis and found that in his early fiction, Stephen King used one "suddenly" every ten pages; in his later fiction, only half as often.

A good way to convey the impact of something is to use short sentences, each a new paragraph:

They were laughing and re-telling the story of how Jason got so drunk one night that he passed out on his front lawn. Even twenty years later that one made Jason blush. The sound of the passing car didn't catch their attention. They did hear what sounded like the car backfiring.

A blossom of red appeared on Jason's forehead. 

He blinked and fell over backward.

That's a case where "suddenly" wouldn't have helped; if anything, it would have detracted from the power of the sentence.

Suddenly the blog post ended.

Where famous authors wrote their books

If you think you need a nice office space with a great view to be inspired, take a look at the writing spaces of some famous authors, as featured at http://www.TheWriteLife.com...

How did Jane Austen write such big books at such a tiny desk?

 

Which one comes closest to your ideal?

A brilliant kids' book with no pictures

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Case in point, a kids' book with no pictures...one that makes kids scream with laughter...and sells LOTS of copies, if the 600,000+ views at YouTube are any indication. I won't spoil it, see it for yourself:

 

Some hard data on ebook sales

There is a lot of speculation about the impact of e-books, but often without any hard data. In the October 2014 Frankfurt Book Fair edition of Publishers Weekly, Jo Henry passes along some interesting figures regarding the sales of e-books:

* In the U.S., e-books accounted for 23% of unit sales in the first six months of 2014

* Adult fiction and young adult fiction e-books each account for 30% of sales in their categories

* In adult non-fiction, e-books account for 22% of unit sales

* In children's books (not including YA), the figure is 13%

* In the UK e-books sales are growing but not as fast as the sale of print books are declining.

* The amount UK book buyers are paying for e-books is rising. The average was £3.39 in 2013; in the first half of 2014 it was £4.14; this may also have added to the decline in impulse buying of e-books.

* The use of dedicated e-readers (like the Kindle) is declining, but the use of tablets is rising. The use of smart phone for book reading is still small--6% of e-books bought to read primarily on a mobile phone.

 

 

Related articles

Marketing Your Book: Prime the pump (7th of 10 things you must do)

Self-publish or go with an ebook publisher? (And an uncomfortable truth)

David Fincher thinks you're a pervert (but he's a director worth studying)

It's important for writers to understand what directors do (and vice-versa). One of the current top directors is David Fincher and this video analyzing what he does and how he does it is well worth 8 minutes of your time:

http://vimeo.com/107779620

It's also interesting to think about how you can do some similar things when you write a scene in a novel or screenplay. For instance, how the reader pictures the scene is influenced by which actions you describe for each character, how you move the characters around, even the order in which they speak (including who has the last word). 

Related articles

A short video on how writers and others can stay creative

How to "show, not tell" an emotion when writing a novel or script