Tag: Writing advice

How a Novel is Like Flooring

The other day my partner Mark and I put down the flooring in a spiffy new building project in our back yard: an ‘Accessory Dwelling Unit’, or ADU as the city likes to call it. It’s actually a mother-in-law apartment for my parents to use when they decide they can’t hack the Arizona heat and yearn for some fresh, cool, northwest air. This tends to be every year about the time the temps in Phoenix scream into the triple digits. Go figure.

How does that relate to writing, you ask? Continue reading “How a Novel is Like Flooring”

Crawdad Tenacity

OK, you’re probably looking at the title and wondering: what the heck do some stupid little crustaceans have to do with writing? Well, if they are living in your office, lots. Called by many names: crayfish, crawdads, and mud bugs; they are still a multi-legged creature that looks like a lobster that got tossed in a dryer and shrunk. Not much more than 3” long, they are tiny armed soldiers clambering around their rocky battle ground. And you’re still wondering what they have to do with writing? I’ll tell you.

The “mud bug” tank in my office.

Writers are like crawdads, we need to have a tough shell to handle the pressure, criticism, and general stigma of being an Indie author. No, most of us aren’t famous; but day after day we drone away on our keyboards creating masterpieces. It takes a tough shell to do what we do and keep our heads held high. From time to time crawdads molt their shells to grow; as writers this should signify growth in our profession. Taking the time to research and produce the best quality books we can. Growing by learning new skills such as marketing and branding (oh, that still sounds painful!) to help with our sales. Growth can be venturing into new genres or experimenting with non-fiction. Continue reading “Crawdad Tenacity”

Deadlines

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” — Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams’ quote regarding deadlines is one of my favorites—not because I love deadlines—oh, no certainly not—but because he was making fun of the idea that a writer is actually expected to adhere to one.

Now yeah, I’m an indie writer, so technically my deadlines for getting a book up are self-imposed and artificial. Yet, I still make them, still push myself to finish the book, the blurb, the cover, what have you. Deadlines can be both carrot and stick. Carrot, because once I’ve finished the book and cobbled together all the necessary components (book cover, editing, marketing, etc.)Yay! I’ll have another book out there for folks to read! Stick because if a book takes longer than I anticipated and I know I’m going to miss a deadline, my stress level rises and I tend to beat myself up. Continue reading “Deadlines”

Writing is Not an Entitlement Program

I demand a hefty advance!

I was having a nice chat the other day with a friend who’s a fellow author and the owner of an eBook publishing company. She was regaling me with stories from the trenches: namely, book submissions from diva authors.

“Then he sent me an email insisting he was expecting a six-figure advance for his fantasy tome, even after he’d read the contract and agreed to the percentage split,” she said, laughing and shaking her head.

My mouth dropped open in surprise. (Note to readers: this is an unattractive expression, and I don’t recommend it. The flies are annoying.) Continue reading “Writing is Not an Entitlement Program”