Think Again About Your Mindset When Writing

I noticed that as of late, I have sat down in front of my computer, sort of grumpily. It’s a well know, (I think) fact, that many writers hate to sit down and start doing the work of giving birth to new words and ideas. It’s not as easy as some, (Stephen King…etc…) make it look. 

I’ve been thinking about why this sort of hesitation creeps into my thoughts. I mean, I think I like to write. I do it enough that I should like writing, or else I just love to torture myself. During my thoughts, while sitting on the porch drinking ice tea, I have come to an early presumption that I’m still swishing around in my mouth to get the taste of. Here it is:

I’m thinking that we should change or mindset when coming to writing. I can give myself a million reasons not to sit down and start writing, but what if I was to get excited about my writing?

I haven’t read any posts by bloggers or author interviews where the author says, “I was so excited about this story that I couldn’t stop writing.” Usually I read something stating the opposite. But what if, just possibly, we change our thoughts to exactly this. I’ve been trying to psyche myself up for the days writing by thinking positively on what a cool and intriguing story that I have going on. I demand that I get the time, here and now, to start writing more on this project as there is nothing more that I want to do with my time than crank out this story.

Even in theory, it sounds a bit crazy.  I know. But this thought process works; at least for me. I can get caught up in the details of the story and put myself in the shoes of the characters until the characters start marching to their own drum. That’s when the fun really starts.

I also carry this over to my freelance writing. I might not be extremely excited about writing a book on weight loss, but if I can get into the right frame of mind, it becomes more of a fun writing exercise than a chore that I have to get done…even though I am getting paid to write this book, which is also a great thing to think about – getting paid to write.

So before you sit down to start your next session of writing, think about why you are writing and why you want to be here doing this. Get excited about it. Gear yourself up and remember that you are here, writing, because you love to write. Now go do it!

Another Day, Another Sentence

Still working on the freelance writing. I'm working on an essay for a Midwest living magazine. (Not the actual Midwest Living, however). I started my day with writing in my journal which always gets me warmed up. Then I moved on to the work at hand. Once I get this done I will be able to go back to revising my novel. I have the prologue exactly how I want it. Now it's time for the first chapter.

You know, there is something that I have always wondered about. I love to write longhand, but can't seem to do this for too long before I start doubting the idea. I mean, the writing eventually has to go into the computer, so why not do it right from the start. How do you write? Computer or Longhand, possibly both?

The Back Page Of My Friends Book

I thought that I would show off the back page summary of my friends book, "The Book of Mengel." It's pretty awesome fantasy story. If you like that sort of thing, you should check it out. It's available only on the Kindle as an E-Book right now. I think he is working on other formats though.

An Orc army, five thousand strong, is on the war path. Their target: the Moorland Wizards Castle. The army will arrive in seven days.

The headmaster of the Moorland Wizards, Beltharius, detects the marching army several days out from the castle. He knows it’s futile fighting such a large army on their own and suspects that he knows of the one person who might be able to prevent the total massacre of the wizards. Thus he sends Kendra Filligree, the lost love of Tavis Brantin, to lure him back to the castle.

Tavis is bitter over being forced to leave the castle nine years earlier and vows never to return. Only now, the woman he loved has re-entered his life and is asking him to return to the castle. Reluctantly, not wanting to lose Kendra again, he returns to the castle with her, unaware that he is being used to help the fate of the Wizards.

Tavis is unknowingly the descendant of the greatest Druid to ever walk the land. The headmaster knows that a druid’s power over nature is a massive power, the likes no wizard could ever hope to attain, and Tavis would be the sword edge the wizards need to clash with and destroy their enemy. He has only to decipher the Book of Mengel to channel the druidic powers he needs.

Tavis is able to read the Book of Mengel, thus learning how to control nature and its power, while slowly transforming into the New Druid. In his studies, Tavis also learns more about himself, and the imbalance of man and nature, yet struggles with helping the Moorland Wizards or turning his back and leaving them to fate for banning him years earlier.

Getting the Writing Done July 24th

I'm plugging away at some freelance writing this morning. Although, I'm thinking about my fictional book that I'm working on as well. I have the first draft done and now it's time to start looking at revising.
But for right now, I have to work on a project for a client, writing articles for their website. It's not the most ideal work I would do, but hey, I'm getting paid to write, so that's good.s
Recently, I have had a bit of luck writing for a local newspaper. I'm slowly getting some gigs from them, but what I'm really waiting for is a response to some of the query letters that I've sent out to magazine editors. I haven't heard back from any yet. Being new at this, I don't really know if it does take awhile, like many weeks, to hear back, or if my queries have gone in the trash.

Oh well, for now I've got my butt in the chair and I'm writing. I hope you all are getting your butt's in your chairs. 

Cheers.

The Time Seems Right for E-Publishing

I’ve been reading a lot of author sites that are starting to tout the e-publishing venue. Many of these authors have been, or are currently, being published through the big time publishers. I’m noticing a trend however. Many of these authors are saying the e-publishing is the new way to go. I’ve read some articles from these authors and some stuff I’ve learned after doing some research on my own and I have to say that e-publishing certainly does sound enticing. I’ve summed up a few of the reasons that these writers are leaning the way they are.

 You get to keep creative control of all the work that you do: So this means that not only do you not have to bow down to what your publisher thinks is a good idea, based off some chart with recent numbers on it, you can write in your own style and keep all the creative control.  

The big money issue: The big money issue is actually several. First, you don’t have to worry about making your advance versus sales. Granted you don’t get an advance when you are writing for yourself, without a contract, but that also means that you will garner almost all of the revenue generated. The large publishers pay royalties twice a year, that’s it. With e-publishing, most sites will pay you each month. Some of these authors have also stated that they sometimes don’t receive the royalties they are due, at all. Thinking about the book advance also brings up the thoughts of not selling enough books that the publisher makes a profit. That means you really only have the advance to show for all the time you took to write your book. Many times a publisher will drop you like a hot brick if you don’t meet the expectations in terms of sales. That will make it very difficult for you to get back in with any publisher, as you will likely be known as the author whose sales didn’t pay out the advance. By e-publishing you take charge of your income. You get to decide how much your book will sell for, and don’t have to worry about making up the advance that was given to you.  

Promotion: With e-publishing, you do have to promote your own work. This isn’t really much different from promoting your book that is put out by a publisher. Unless you are the next up and coming New York Times Bestseller, than the amount of promotion the publisher actually creates is minimal. In fact, most agents and publishers expect you to already have a promotional scheme in the works, or has been created already. They call this “A Platform.” I’m not sure if I’m going to be going on the e-publishing band wagon just yet. However, I can see that this option is looking better and better as our technology grows.

 What do you think?

Kindle Store: The Book of Mengel

My good friend, M.D. Jake, has just finished his novel, "The Book of Mengel." It's the first in a series of the "Druid Cycle." Good story, so go to Kindle, look it up, and buy it!

Freelance Writing for Self Esteem

I've been doing some freelance writing lately for some magazines. It's a nice change to have editors want to see my work. The agents don't seem to be too interested at the moment. Anyway, I just had a thought that if you feel like you need some validation for all the hard work that you are putting in - you should try doing some freelance writing when you can...if you have the time that is. It's been working for me. Give it a try; it might help.