The Writing Life

Writing and Researching, or Research as Procrastination

I have a confession to make – I would rather do research than write. I love doing research, have always loved it. But I HATE writing. Well, to be specific, I hate starting to write. Once I get going, I’m fine and some days I write all day. But I find a million ways to procrastinate and researching is one of my favorites.

Research also includes net surfing. We all do it – we go off on research trails to find answers and we discover many more topics of interest that we need to follow. Sometimes this is great and it can result in some wonderful discoveries. But when it eats into writing time, it’s not.

My second confession: I would rather write non-fiction than fiction. I’ve been writing non-fiction (how-to books for people starting businesses) for almost 30 years, so it comes easily to me. I’m new at fiction, so it doesn’t. It’s painful.

Michael Connelly says, “I’m always writing one project while I’m researching the next one.” That’s what I do, but I find it difficult to stop researching and start writing. (Read more about how Michael Connelly – bestselling author of the Harry Bosch/Mickey Haller novels – writes, in this article in The Daily Beast.)

Back in the late 1990s, when I was working on my PhD, I had to do a series of papers (about 100-150 pages each), with lots of research. I developed a good working process: I would do research, search for books, write notes for a while on the subject-at-hand, then I would sit down over my breaks (I was teaching at a college that had semester breaks) and write like crazy for days/weeks until the paper was done. I usually had the research for at least one, maybe two, future papers in progress, so I could get going on the next one right away.

I prefer to write in concentrated chunks of time, rather than a little every day, for my novels.But I still need to develop the habit of writing something fiction every day, even if it’s just junk.

What I have discovered is that the act of writing increases creativity. The “just do it” philosophy is true, because “doing it” makes your brain work better and you find yourself being creative. Write-to-Done says any kind of writing, including journaling or “data dump” kinds of writing can boost creativity.

If you want help with your addiction to research or your procrastination habit, check out the Procrastiwriter, Shanan writes “Motivation Monday” articles, like this one: “Stop Explaining Everything.” Nicely said.

Sure, research can give you ideas, but only writing takes those ideas and makes them concrete – and sellable.

New Ways Authors Will Publish in 2014 – and Beyond

by Jean Murray Leave a Comment

A recent article in FastCompany discusses a new model for buying books and offers some comments on the way we read books and how writers may present their material differently in the future.

The new buying model: The FastCompany article describes the genesis of this new model:

Smashwords, the largest distributor of self-published e-books, announced a new deal with Scribd, the document-sharing platform that has reinvented itself as an e-reading service, including an $8.99 all-you-can-read plan

Readers will be able to choose from over 200,000 titles*. The publishers get paid based on how much of the book is actually read. The first 10% of the book is available as a free sample; if 30% is read, the publisher gets credit as if the entire book has been read. If the reader reads less than 30% of the book, the publisher gets a “browse” credit (somewhat less than full credit). The typical credit, by the way, is 60% of sales price.

*I have reviewed the titles available, both on Smashwords and Scribd, and been disappointed. The kinds of books I’m looking for – history, biography, science – are just not available through these services. Nor are most of the bestsellers I would like to read. But as this concept grows, there may be more.

The comment was made that authors might be tempted to write shorter works or break up their novels into “collections,” to get more credit. Interesting comment.

I do think fiction books are getting shorter. People have less tolerance for longer, more difficult-to-read novels. Case in point: The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates. I reviewed this book in 2013 and thought it was brilliant. I was surprised at the many negative comments about the length (688 pages) and the style (old-fashioned).

Would I cut a book into sections to get more money? No, but I might consider serializing. Serializing was a common practice for many years. Dickens did it, and many TV shows (Downton Abbey) do it. And blogs are, in some cases, serializations. (Case in point: ReadyNutrition’s 50 Weeks to Preparedness)

How about subscriptions? Scribd is a subscription service; you pay a monthly fee and receive as many books as you want; it’s similar to the Netflix concept.

The FastCompany article discusses serialization by subscription. Like a health club, readers might be interested in subscribing to a book’s serialization. Entrepreneur says subscriptions are the hot ecommerce trend for 2014, everything from food to Adobe Photoshop (now called Adobe Creative Cloud).

One of the novels I’m working on, Bridget Larkin’s Journey, follows a woman on her adventure on the Oregon Trail. It would be easy to serialize this book. And my business book The Thriving Writer, will be a subscription service soon.

Do these ideas get you thinking differently?

Help Me Select a Book Cover

by Jean Murray Leave a Comment

Blue stone pile = cover 1 / Orange with stepping stones = cover 2 / blue & orange with light bulb splash = cover 3

I’ve been reading about the importance of having a professionally designed book. Since I am working on both a non-fiction book and a novel, I decided I needed to begin working on covers for both books. I have a designer I’ve worked with in the past, so I asked her to do some possibilities for the non-fiction book. The book, The Thriving Writer – Business Essentials for Professional Writers. It’s full of helpful information and tips for professional writers – of non-fiction and fiction. I wanted to portray success, but not in the traditional terms of $$ and green. Heather (the designer) says orange=success and blue=ease, relaxed approach.

Which cover do you like best? Please comment with the number of the cover you like best – Cover 1, Cover 2, or Cover 3. If you want to tell me why you like one best, that would be helpful.

Why it’s important to have a great cover: You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. Whether your book is an e-book or in print (online or in a bookstore), you are competing with thousands of other books. There must be something about your book cover to GRAB readers and make them want to pick up the book (or click on the link) to see what’s inside or to buy it.

A recent New York Times article comments on the “decline” of the book cover with e-books gaining in prominence, but notes, ““It’s a way of drawing people through the visual into reading.”

Colleen Gleason, writing in Jane Friedman’s blog, describes her experience with changing her book cover to interest a different audience – and increase sales.

And I especially enjoyed reading this New Yorker article about “The Decline of the Book Cover,” with its great old Sci-Fi covers (Heinlein, Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Phillip K. Dick). The covers make me want to read these books all over again.

Why I Need to Concentrate on My Novel – the 90/10 Principle

by Jean Murray Leave a Comment

Rachelle Gardner, agent at Books & Such Literary Management in Santa Rosa, California, has hit it on the head: When asked whether an unpublished novelist (like me) needs a platform she said, yes, but…

Don’t spend to much time trying to build platform yet. Get a head start, yes. Do some blogging and social networking for fun and leisure, so that you’ll know how it works. But I recommend a 90/10 ratio. Spend 90% writing, 10% on platform building.

Great advice, Rachelle!

Like everyone, I tend to spend my time doing what is easiest, and what I know best how to do. After being a blogger for over 5 years, I know how to blog, and use social media to promote. I have been blogging as an independent contractor for About.com since 2008, and as an independent blogger, with several different blogs, for almost that long.

Now, I’ve been spending my time blogging, starting on this blog and another that is promoting a non-fiction book. It’s fun, it’s easy, and I can use my blogging and Facebook/Twitter time to procrastinate. That’s the problem. I realize I have my priorities switched around.

I’ve finished my first very, very bad draft of my first novel, and now that I have a better sense of what I need to do to fix it (read my post on how Storyfix helped me), I need to get going on the second draft.

It’s easy to do. Switch priorities, I mean. It’s not just me. Even when we know what we need to focus on, we get distracted. I call them BSO’s: bright shiny objects. Those distractions that are fun and easy and very, very tempting. But to give in to them means to ignore our main purpose.

My favorite quote of all time, ever:

The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance of planning in life, and the tragic brevity of time. (W.J. Davison)

So…

I won’t be blogging as much. That’s a promise to myself. Just letting you know. I’ll get back to you in a month or so and let you know how this works out.

Just as a final note: In the time it took me to read Rachelle’s post, write this, find and include an image, I could have written about 500 words of my novel. Sobering thought.

I’m off on my 90% writing adventure!

Plotting My Novel – A Faint Glimmer of Light at the End of the Tunnel

by Jean Murray Leave a Comment

Plotting a novel is, I’m finding, a tremendously difficult task. Having help with this process is essential.

I finished the first draft of my novel at the end of August, put it aside for a couple of weeks, then read through it. I knew it wasn’t working; I wasn’t compelled to keep reading, so I knew my readers wouldn’t be.

Then, I found a great resource that has given me a little glimmer of the light at the end of the long dark tunnel of plotting: It’s Storyfix, by Larry Brooks.

I paid $150 and received an outline with questions from Larry about the specific elements of my plot and characters, the protagonist and antagonist, the premise and dramatic concept. I also submitted a step-by-step outline of the book. Larry replied with detailed comments about what was good about the elements of my plot (not much) and what wasn’t going to work. He did this in the context of what would get readers invested in my story and rooting for my hero. I agreed with his analysis; I knew there were major problems with my plot but I couldn’t see them.

Now I’m in the process of working on my second draft, making my book more intense, making my protagonist more heroic, making the reader not want to put the book down. Sure I have a lot more issues to work through, but I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the plot tunnel and I know that there will be more light as I move forward.

You will probably say that I could have received this advice free, from a writing group, but I don’t believe that. First, I am sure that you get what you pay for. Larry is a professional. He does this all the time, and I paid him, so I expect something good. He delivered.

Second, other writers have an agenda, hidden or obvious, and they have personal reactions, not professional ones. They also don’t have the experience with plotting (maybe it’s why they haven’t been published yet!). I would rather pay one professional for advice than get it from a bunch of amateurs who may or may not know what they’re doing. Would you get a bunch of your friends together and ask for their advice on your psychological or medical problems?

If this sounds like a recommendation for Storyfix, it is, but only in part. My larger purpose in writing this is to encourage new fiction writers to get some professional advice, particularly on plotting. If you are serious about getting published, you must get advice in the developmental stage of your book.

This isn’t an editor I’m talking about; an editor looks at your book as it is closer to being completed, to help you tweak it. At this stage, you are so invested in the plot that it will be difficult for you to start from scratch or to take criticism about major plot elements. (I may be misunderstanding the role of an editor; if so, I’m sure I’ll hear from some of them to set me straight.)

At the developmental stage, you could get feedback from a professional writing coach, or a writing class, or paying a professional to give you feedback, as I did. If you want help with plotting, I would suggest getting one-on-one time with a professional, not just a quick read at a conference. Conference reads are good for other things, but they are not in-depth enough to analyze plot.

I also received excellent information on story structure and other elements of the novel from reading Larry’s two books: Story Engineering and Story Physics. If you are the type of writer who needs to work on structure first before you write, you might find these books helpful. (If you are a “seat of the pants” organic writer, you might be frustrated by this type of advice.)

I would be interested to know your thoughts on the subject of professional advice: what helped you, what didn’t? Do you use a writer’s group? If so, how helpful are they?