Every Good Thing Has Its Cost

This morning I read a note in Facebook from an author who spoke of the time-consuming process of promoting her book. She spoke of the responsibilities of social media, the realities of watching her ranking on Amazon.com, the need for self-promotion.

Reading it, I realized that getting published will have its price. Starting with the process to publication — galley proofs, advanced review copies, building one’s social media platform (which I have been doing as evidenced by this blog post). Then, when the book is published, some or most of the responsibility of promotion falls to the reader through social media, book tours, and sales at conferences.

Am I ready for that? I think so. I have known that being published, especially if I get published by a house with some presence, will be life-changing, and that some of that life change will be work. I’m willing to make that sacrifice.

So You Want to Write a Blog Part 2 (Personal Development)

So, I have a blog now. Do I just write?
Not exactly. You have to think about what you write. It needs to fit your theme and audience — if you’re writing to writers about writing, writing about politics will probably feel “off”. You can be an essayist in your blog and write about whatever crosses your mind, but it may be harder to convey a theme in your blog. On the other hand, John Scalzi, a science fiction writer with a multi-book contract, writes about everything from writing to politics. His blog, fittingly, is called Whatever. If you’re as big as John Scalzi, you can write whatever.

How do I know what to write?
If you have a theme and an audience, you’re doing them no favor by just free-writing. This is your personal/professional presence on the Internet. If you’re a writer, it’s a chance to market yourself. You can compose directly on the screen, but compose. cut and paste to make the document flow. Proofread. Read it aloud to yourself like any other document you want to write to impress people.

The blog should not be too long, in order to cater to today’s readers. I’m divided on how excerpts of novels and short stories should be presented in blogs, but I think that short excerpts are the best.

The 29th Annual Edition Guide to Literary Agents 2020 (Brewer, 2019) suggests that one should have a list of topics for six months or a year. This works great if one writes weekly; I write daily (which is insane, but so be it). I do have a list of weekly topics, but intersperse those with more personal observations about being a writer.

Other suggested tricks
The 29th Annual Edition Guide to Literary Agents 2020 (Brewer, 2019) has a chapter that presents several other reader- and SEO-friendly suggestions for blogs:

Short paragraphs and headings, as you see here. This works well for informational blogs; not so much for narrative.
An SEO tag in the title. I have a few that I use for my blogs, although I sometimes forget these because they’re new to me.

There are probably more tricks, but I haven’t learned them yet. I am still working on getting readership for this blog, but it may increase after I get published (I hope).

Reference:

Brewer, R.L., 2019. The 29th Annual Edition Guide to Literary Agents 2020. Writers’ Digest Books.

So You Want to Write a Blog Part 1 (Personal Development)

Writing a blog is an admirable pursuit. It’s also a lot of fun. But randomly throwing blog posts into the ether is not rewarding, and the thrill will be gone soon.

Over the next couple days, I want to explore the things you need to do to start a rewarding blog.

First, find a reason/theme/audience. These options have similar aims: to focus your writing. This gives your writing a particular “brand” for people to follow. For this blog, my theme is writing, and my audience is writers and potential readers. (This latter purpose will step up when I get published). Despite this theme and audience, however, I estimate 50% of my readers right now are not writers, but may be potential readers.

Commit to writing. Continuity is one reason that people come back to a blog. Many writers commit to weekly blogging; that’s a reasonable amount. For some reason, I write daily. I’m not sure this is a good thing, but one of my reasons for writing this blog (other than what’s given above) is to warm up and sharpen my writing skills.

Find a platform. Commonly used platforms are Blogger (where this blog is), WordPress, Tumblr, and Wix. Each has advantages and disadvantages; some have access to more options in the paid version. I have used Blogger and Wix; I use Blogger because of its simplicity and because, when I tried to migrate to Wix, my readers didn’t migrate with me even though Wix has a superior visual interface. But which one you choose is up to personal preference.

I will explore further blog-writing ideas and tips in the next installment and would welcome your ideas and tips in the comments or by email: lleachie@gmail.com

The Luck Factor

I need more luck. Of the good variety.

It occurs to me that my writing may not be enough to get published. There are people who get published because they know someone, or because of some random set of events that get them to the right place at the right time with the right person.

I don’t know anyone in the industry, so I’m praying for just that sort of luck.

I know every good thing is a two-edged sword — the lottery bestows money, and with it, tension. A publishing contract would invite paperwork and other life changes into my life. But the status quo isn’t necessarily the best place to live either.

So I am wishing and praying for the kind of luck, the serendipity that changes my life in a positive way.

Free-Writing

I’m staring at the screen, wondering what to write today.

I have a blog to write. I feel totally uninspired despite two cups of coffee and a LED light block shining at my face. (I just made the mistake of looking at it, and a phalanx of dots is fouling my vision.

I have a short story to write. I promised myself five stories this year, and I’ve only written one so far. I have the idea fleshed out in my head. I just have to write.

So I’m writing about not writing. The irony is not lost on me. It’s something I learned over the years — if you can’t write about something important, write about something trivial and see what happens. It’s called free-writing, and I use it a lot.

Sometimes, to snap an idea out of my head, I write differently than I normally do. I use notebook paper instead of the computer. I write with a fountain pen (mine is pink with pink ink) instead of a ballpoint. Sometimes I write on black paper with bright metallic gel pens.

Free-writing opens my mind to the rhythm of words. Almost like the trance writing of mediums, it opens my mind to ideas. And, worse comes to worst, it’s a great way to practice my handwriting.

So I’m here to recommend a different type of writing for writer’s block — nonproductive writing that’s secretly productive.

I guess I can brag

I don’t have any novels published yet (my big dream). But here’s a list of my writing accomplishments to date (over a time period of about 9 months):

Honorable Mention in 48th New Millennium Writing Awards, Runner up in Cook Publishing 2019 Short Story Contest
Published in A3 Journal, by Riza Press (online) and Submittable Stories (online).
Second place in 12 Stories 2019 Contest.

I’m a little bummed that I don’t land first place in contests, but even in the completely unsuccessful contests, I’ve gotten emails that have said I’m oh so close.

I think I’ll be optimistic about this.

Vision Board (Personal Development)

On January 2nd, I made a vision board — or rather, a vision book, as I didn’t have any place in my room to post poster board.

What is a vision board?
A vision board is a motivational tool using pictures and sometimes text to render what’s most important to a person into visual form. This can be done in poster or book form or online, and could utilize photos, clip art, or other visual symbols.

How does it work?
Many proponents of a vision board believe in the Law of Attraction — that we can attract good fortune. I do not, largely because it seems selfish to me. I tend to believe that it helps me to focus on my goals and, thus, helps me to motivate toward what I think is most important.

What does my vision book look like?
It takes up six pages of a larger book that I should be documenting my success in. The pages are: Writing, getting published, marriage, teaching, research, and time management.

Does it motivate me?
When I first made it, it greatly motivated me. It felt like a ritual, and I’m a great fan of rituals. Now, a month out, I feel I need to look at them again, maybe on a daily basis.

Do I need to make a ritual to look at it daily?
Most certainly yes. Or make an actual board to hang on the back of the door.

Writing about Pacifism (Personal)

What is Pacifism?
One of the topics I write about is pacifism. Pacifism is the belief that violence is wrong. By violence, we don’t only mean war, but knife and gun fights; not only fights, but belittling and demeaning words. Individual stances reason through situations where violence, carefully tailored, is the lesser of two evils.

Why write about pacifism?
I write about it because I think contemporary fantasy has a responsibility to write about those people not normally written about. In an increasingly militaristic United States, pacifists are seldom heard from and are relegated to the fringes.

Who’s a Pacifist?
It’s a minority belief in the US, held widely by Friends/Quakers (I am one), other peace churches like the Mennonites and Amish, and some Buddhists.

What would you do if … ?
Having a stance like that alarms other people, who counter with what they feel would be “aha” questions. Pacifists have generally reckoned very well about what they’re willing to commit to under which circumstances, so they answer “aha” questions easily.

For example:
“What about World War II?”
I point out the historical conclusion that we didn’t get into WWII to save the Jews; in fact, the US turned Jewish refugees away from their borders. We could possibly have liberated the Jews without all-out war. Wars are fought for political reasons, and people die en masse for political reasons.

“What if a school shooter invades your classroom?”
I’ve thought about this carefully, and realize that the protection of my students outweighs my pacifism. So I plan to grab a chair and wield it against the attacker, throwing it if necessary (and hoping adrenaline will be on my side).

“What if someone attacks you?”
I’ve taken a dirty streetfighting defense class. The idea is debilitate and run. Again, this is an imminent situation and fighting may be the lesser of two evils.

“What about a gun for protection?”
This is the slippery slope. When one has a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When one has a gun for protection, everything looks like an assailant. Child deaths and suicide are more likely in a household with a gun. A gun is symbolic of what we want to avoid in pacifism.

“Why are martial arts different?”
I would distinguish here between martial arts with a philosophy that one avoid conflict if at all possible and more aggressive martial arts. Asian martial arts, in particular, emphasize the former. If I were to learn a martial art, it would be aikido, one which uses the force and impetus of the assailant against him.

In the End
I sometimes wonder if setting Apocalypse in a pacifistic setting (the ecocollective Barn Swallows’ Dance) is a bad idea for publication. As much as writers are exhorted toward originality, the noncombatants trying to save the world might be too much for mainstream audiences. But I have to remain true to myself, and writing what I know is part of that.

Winter Blues (Personal)

Does anyone out there suffer from the winter blues? I’m suffering from the winter blues right now. My mood tracking app (Daylio, which I think is available for both Android and iOS) has been registering me as “Meh” the past few days.

I manage to stave off the winter blues through the holiday season because, well, holiday cheer. I love Christmas, with its carols and greenery. But once January comes, there’s two whole months with nothing to look forward to but the end of winter.

What am I doing to deal with the blahs? Not nearly enough. Usually at this time, I’m very involved with seedlings for the gardens at this point in the year, and this helps me keep on an even keel. But we’re working on getting the weed infestation out of the raised beds, so no seed starting.

I’m drinking lots of coffee and eating spicy food. I’m eating too much and need to lose weight. I’m writing, and that always helps, but I don’t feel like writing much.

So what strategies can I use? I happen to teach a positive psychology class, so I have some ideas here:

A gratitude journal — three things I’m grateful about and why
Doing good for other people
Using my signature strengths (link to find out here)
Meditation

Be sure that I’ll put at least one of those into my repertoire.

Optimism and the Aspiring Author

I wish I had more patience.

I’m playing the long game, wanting to be traditionally published. And it’s a long game, because the market is glutted with people like me who want to be published. The market is fickle, as it wants to pick books without risk. And the market is shrinking, because there are fewer readers.

I have invested a lot in my books. Developmental edits, beta reading, and sometimes massive rewritings. I’m now at a point where I don’t think I can improve them any more. (I could, of course, be wrong). I have gone through cycles of rejection, and I don’t know if I can go through it again.

But I do, because I have optimism. Every morning I wake up believing that my life could change in one day. I’ve heard enough stories where someone’s life changes tragically in one moment; I believe it’s just as likely that my life can change for the better. So as long as I have my works in the hands of agents and publishers, I can hope.