It's Hard to Be ADD - A Writer's Dilemma

It would be easier to be boring. It would be easier to have a single interest - like the snowy plover or Havana Brown domesticated cats or something equally narrow and limited.

Yes, that would be easy.

But no - instead I have an active, curious and hyper-creative mind. I'm not bragging - I'm annoyed.  I'm annoyed because these aspects that are useful and valued by culture generally are the very things that give me so much trouble. Dear reader, you may wonder how such things could plague a writer.

Yes it is true that I rarely get writer's block. I rarely get writer's block because I have the opposite problem. I have TOO MANY things to write. I have about twenty ideas for books going in my head right now, and I have about three I have to finish before I can even start these other ideas. It's annoying. I can't write fast enough. I can't get interested in the things I should be writing because my ideas floating around my skull are much more interesting. But of course, I can't really write those because I have to finish the things I've already started.

I have half of Lilith and Ammon written and half of a science-fiction project written. I know what is going to happen in Lilith and Ammon, but the science-fiction project is still fumbling around in my head. And then of course, I have my Apex saga Legion project which needs to be finished before both of those. Honestly, I only have a few pages left on that one, which means it will be relatively painless to complete (Yes Chris - it is literally a few days away!).

Happily, I just uploaded James: The Rollins Pack to Amazon. That has taken much longer than I would have liked, but at least it's up within six months of finishing the manuscript. Of course, I also have pipe dreams of writing the other Rollins brothers' stories - Jeremiah, Andrew, Frederick and Charles. They call to me, begging me to write about them. I've even had requests from my first draft readers to have a story written about Sybil, their mother.

It's a problem. Perhaps this is a good problem to have as a writer, but still - it's a problem. So, I struggle to remain focused. This is why the rest of my writing today will be devoted to Legion. Once finished with that, I will complete my personal science-fiction project (you're going to LOVE IT!). Then I'll get back to Lilith. Then we'll see about some of these other ideas. I'm hoping to get close to ten books up this year. 2012 is already half over, but the closer to ten I can get, the better it is for me as a writer. That's the magic self-published author number - ten.

I'll let you know how that works out when I get there.

In the mean time, wish me luck and help me stay focused!!

New Year, New Genre? - A Writer's Goals for 2012

I've been hemming and hawing about this post. Last year I made some grandiose goals that were impossible to reach, and I knew they were, but I made them anyway. Because of what I learned in 2011, I feel better equipped to tackle 2012. Of course, a lot of things have changed since last January.

Since January 2011,

1. We moved from Hayward to Bakersfield.
2. Christian and I were apart for 2 months during the summer.
3. We sold our house in Phoenix.
4. I published The Brothers in digital and paperback formats.
5. I finished writing Lovers and Rivals as well as an unrelated book, James: The Rollins Pack.
6. I also began Lilith and Ammon, book 3 in the Khloe Alwell Series, as well as novelized the majority of the first script of The Apex Saga, Legion.

 All in all, I feel pretty successful in what I was able to do considering some of the life changes that happened this past year. I feel this way despite not having reached my stated goals.  So I guess the question is, what's on the docket for 2012? Well, quite a lot is happening actually.

1. I will publish both James and Lovers and Rivals in the next couple months (both as ebooks and paperbacks).
2. I will co-write at least two scripts for The Apex Saga.
3. I will likely finish Lilith and Ammon, hopefully publish it, and get started on book 4 of Khloe.
4. I expect to work on, if not publish, book 2 and 3 of The Apex Saga.
5. I'm hoping (if I can find the time, and depending on how James is received) to write a sequel to James' story from the perspective of Jeremiah, his older brother.
6. I will play badminton more or less every Sunday afternoon.
7. I'm going to get totally awesome at Zumba 2 for Wii.

This might be a little ambitious, but I think I can do it.  The reason I'm being so intense about my writing is because I have read, time and again, having more books out is better. The reason for this is because you appear more serious as well as having more ways for potential readers to get hooked on your stories. It's a good thing I'm so prolific.

In any case, I hope you'll all follow along on my super intense writing journey during 2012.

From Novel to Script & Back Again - Changing Writing Styles

Many writers understand how different writing a novel can be from a short story. Intellectually, they know that scriptwriting is also different. The danger comes when they think it's easy. Easy isn't the correct word, because just like when you write a short story, you have to shift gears and think in different terms (like "cross" and "off screen"). I am in the process of doing just that.

I have written before about my science fiction project, The Apex. It is a seven part epic that hopefully will have at least parts 1-4 completely written in 2012. That's the goal anyway. In order to reach this goal, I'm working with the director (for lack of a better word) of the project on novelizing the scripts but I'm also co-writing with him on the scripts.

One of the things I have to concentrate on is getting away from descriptions. If you've read my blog regularly, my book THE BROTHERS or are one of the blessed few who has gotten a whiff of its sequel LOVERS AND RIVALS, you know how I feel about description. For a novel, there is nothing more important than elegant phrasing and sublime sentence structure. In order to transport the reader into the writer's world, the author MUST use adverbs and adjectives. There must be active verbs and words that activate the senses. These are required. But for a script, description is largely out the window. The importance in a script is in lively dialogue that honors the characters and moves the plot along. Scripts are concise, so every word and action by the characters must be chosen carefully in order to communicate something to the viewer while driving the story. Different goals require different writing skill sets.

Honestly, once I see someone do something like this, I have the blessed ability to imitate it. If I see something done once, usually I can reproduce the required tasks (I've learned how to beat several puzzle games this way). This is also how my writing has gotten progressively better from one manuscript to the next (thank the LORD!). That said, my first foray into scriptwriting will definitely reflect my learning curve. Luckily for me, I have someone writing with me who has experience making it a bit easier.

As many of you know, The Apex project is not the end of my screenwriting. My goal is to write scripts adapted from my other books as well (especially the Khloe Alwell series). It will be interesting to see how the process works differently in that situation. Instead of novelizing a script, I'll be moving a different direction, as well as using my own story. I like the idea of adapting my own story into a script, but I know also that I will miss out on some of the cross-pollination that happens when another creative force is present. No matter how any of this turns out, screenwriting is an exciting frontier in my creative process. I fully plan to conquer it, flag and all.

Summarizing - A Standalone Art Form

Okay. I'm trying really hard to put together a jacket summary for James: The Rollins Pack and I am failing miserably. Maybe it's the lingering sickness, or the cold medicine I took to combat it. Maybe it's the fact that I just switched over to sci-fi mode to bang out Legion. I'm not sure.

Whatever the case may be, I'm having a major brain fart. Usually it doesn't take me too long to summarize a work, but for whatever reason, my summarizing muse has flown the coop.

This has made me appreciate just how wonderful the art of summarizing can be, and this isn't because I just taught some of my students about it. Really. The ability to summarize is an art form in itself. It takes skill and practice. The ability to manipulate meaning with an economy of verbiage is something few possess. But those who summarize have no problems. They cut through the muck and dross of verbal diarrhea straight to the core, leaving it perfectly exposed for all to see. That is a true art of subtraction.

And I am without it, momentarily.

The thing you have to consider when summarizing a book is, what is most important? What does your potential reader need to know right now? What will drive them to purchase a copy of your work?

This of course, is one of the reasons why publishing houses have someone else other than the author write the summary. Authors aren't typically - uh, shall we say, objective? - about what will catch a reader's interest. Everything is important when you're talking about your creative baby. Everything is good! Except we all know this is complete and utter bullshit. So, publishing houses hire someone else to summarize the work - to package it, verbally, in two paragraphs or less in order to optimize interest and thereby maximize profits.

The funny thing is, as authors, we do write at least one summary of our work once. Anyone who has written an agent query has written a summary, and if that person is at all smart, quite a good one.

This is the problem of a self-published author. We haven't necessarily written an agent query letter. We are our own publishing houses. There is no money to hire a young college graduate to package our books for profit maximization. So what do we do?

Well, you read your book. Then you read other jacket summaries of books similar to your own. Then you sort of copy the form using your wonderful story's content. Viola! You have a summary - in theory. That is unless you're like me at the moment, when I can't figure out what would be best to say and therefore keep staring at a blank text document. But, I'm sure it will come to me. I'm going to try and follow my own advice right now. Wish me luck!

When Your Mind Runs Wild and Your Body Collapses

Status report:

1. I've taken a full time job. Okay, that's good right? Sure - I was poor (frankly still not rolling in it, but the finances are doing better).
2. I sold my house. Well, I'm in the process of it, but everything seems to be going along smoothly. So that's good, again, helping with the finances.
3. P90x has fallen by the wayside because I don't have enough time in the morning before work and after work to do basic things in the house, write, and workout. This is a problem. I already feel a difference in how I am, except if I try to workout before work, I feel more exhausted... sooo trying to figure out a way to mitigate this. Suggestions are welcome.
4.  Working on my sci-fi project, Legion, which is both fun and frustrating. Fun because it is something new and different, frustrating because I'm trying to figure out how I want to turn scenes into chapters that make sense and aren't wildly different lengths. This may end up being more of a second run through kind of thing.
5. Lovers and Rivals is in reading phase, though after having a review of The Brothers, and lots of free time at work, I've thought of a few changes I want to make in the Book 2 manuscript.
6. I have officially come up with a prequel plan for the Khloe Alwell trilogy. It is awesome, dark, and more sophisticated than I originally thought it would be. I'm excited about it in a way that might make me write it before I write the conclusion book to Khloe.

 So, that's kind of where I'm coming from at the moment. The result is I am physically exhausted while my mind is going a million miles a minute. That said, I'm hopeful. There are promising things in the wings and with that, comes optimism that had been sorely lacking.

Also, it helps that cool people are giving me love on Twitter. I love my Tweeps. It helps keep me going. By their power combined, I am sure I will succeed through this exhausting time. *sleepily sits up with wide smile*

Creative Teams Are Great - My First Steps into Sci-Fi

It's times like these, I think I should have been spending my time doing something else... anything else. I distinctly feel I am missing skills.

Don't get me wrong. I can do a lot of things, they just don't necessarily help me the way I need help. For example, it would be awesome if I could make a really sweet looking website. I can follow directions easy enough, but when it comes to technical jargon where special characters are required, I'm lost.

I'm a creative person, and I have interesting ideas when it comes to articulating something visually. When it comes to graphics however, I feel naked because I don't have a tablet and a stylus to use. Without a writing implement or a brush, my creativity is stymied.

I could give you other more trying examples at the moment, but I think you get the picture (even if I didn't draw it). I feel handicapped. When it comes to self-publishing, you are your army. Whatever you can do is your limit. It's a blessing and a curse. You are a single person and responsible for everything when it comes to your project. It is one of the reasons why I'm so excited about working on The Apex. I don't have to rely on my single set of talents. I get to work with a pool of talented creative people.

I've not written science fiction before, let alone anything involving space. Though I have read quite a few novels based in the final frontier, I have often felt like writers got caught up in the vastness of the thing, rather than focusing on the goals of the story - people, places, AND events.

Legion, book 1, is going to be a bit of a departure for me. It is an action adventure piece - the first in a series of 7 parts. The universe of The Apex is vast and complicated. I actually had to sit down with the creator of the project and pick his brain to make sure I understood where certain characters were coming from as well as what he expected would happen as the story progressed. The script for this is completed, but a script is a far cry from a novel, and more than a few details need to be filled in. Needless to say, it is a different way of writing than I have done before, which for some people might be scary.

Actually, I love it. It's like a giant rewriting project - which I thoroughly enjoy. Plus, I get to bounce ideas off of other people who are working on the same 7 part series. It's an ideal situation for a creative writer (well, for one who likes rewriting anyway). Plus I get to check out a genre quite different than my YA fantasy/romance, which is always good.

So, SCIENCE FICTION HERE I COME! BOOYAH!