Tag Archives: Goals

The insanity of the “I just wanna write fiction AND get published” mindset

Posted on September 26, 2010 | Comments Off

I have no problem with someone saying, “I just wanna write.”   Creating art for art’s sake is a wonderful thing to do.

What drives me nuts is when someone says “I just wanna write fiction AND get published.”  That’s just crazy.  Because publishing is a business, and if someone wants to play the publishing business game, they’d better learn the rules of the business.  Otherwise, just slap a “I’LL BE IN TROUBLE” label on their back and be done with it.  Because one of the following WILL happen (let’s alternate between genders):

1) The writer will fall prey financially to a scam agent, a scam editor, scam contests, or scam publisher because she couldn’t be bothered to learn the business.  Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars will disappear into the black hole of scams.

2) The writer will be gouged in pricing by a subsidy or vanity press because he couldn’t be bothered to research actual publishing costs and methods.  Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars will be lost.

3) The writer will run into legal problems because she couldn’t be bothered to learn about publishing contracts so she could understand what she was signing.   If she’s really unlucky, she could find herself stuck in court for years.

3) The writer will be taken by surprise when his publisher goes out of business, sticking his books with that publisher in bankruptcy limbo.  He couldn’t be bothered to keep track of the financial health of his publisher.

4) The writer will be in financial trouble when she discovers her agent or publisher has been cooking the books.  She couldn’t be bothered to learn how to read a royalty statement, add important clauses to her publishing contracts to protect her interests, or how to track her own money.

5) The writer will run into serious career trouble when his agent dies, gets sick, dumps him, or leaves agenting as a career.  He couldn’t be bothered to learn the business of how to sell manuscripts to editors.

6) The writer will be surprised when her publisher drops her, because she couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to the print run numbers.

7) The writer will run into cash flow problems, because he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to the out-of-print, e-book royalty rates, subsidiary rights, and reversion rights clauses in his contracts.

One thing I’ve noticed again and again at conferences is that the fiction writers I’ve met who’ve survived in the publishing business for 15+ years pay attention to the business side of publishing.  A writer can get away with ignoring the business side (if she or he is lucky) for maybe 7-12 years.  But statistically speaking, sooner or later a rough patch will happen, and the writers who survive to publish again are those who pay attention to the business side.

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Posted in Business of writing, Contracts, Markets, Psychology of writing, Scams

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The Benefits of Keeping a Work Log of Writing Hours

Posted on August 23, 2010 | Comments Off

In July I started keeping a daily work log of how many hours I spent either writing or editing a particular piece.  And I ended up proving to myself what many of us have long surmised–the perception of how long it takes to do a piece of work is different from the actual reality.

I’ve now got over a month’s worth of work records, and the insights provided as I flip back through the log are invaluable to me.

–I can now make a good estimate on how many hours a short story or novelette is going to take me from start to finish.

–I can make correlations between productivity and when to schedule my writing time.  Certain times of the day and situations are much MUCH more productive than others for me, and I have begun to take that into account when planning the coming week’s schedule.

–It’s much harder to stay in denial if there’s a problem in productivity, because the work log shows the trend by either lack of hours, or too many hours being spent on a particular project.

–It’s motivating to look back and see the work hours that have already been logged in.

–I can quickly tell if I’m spending too much time on “niggling little stuff” and not enough on the novel or short fiction.

–If one is saying, “writing comes first,” but it’s clear from the log hours that it doesn’t (i.e that it’s coming in last behind everything else), the data is a goad to change that.

A writing log can be anything from a notepad to a daily planner.  To choose mine I went to an office supply store to the planner section, and pulled down planners and calendars until I found something I liked. In my case, I loved the Action Day Planner because it combined a calendar with a project planner organized by week.

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Posted in Craft of writing, Learning the craft of writing

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More Interesting Links on the Writing Business

Posted on July 25, 2010 | Comments Off

Here’s more interesting links I’ve found or been told about…

1) Fascinating article by the LA Times on the legal slugfest going on about THE SHACK.  Get a load of this mess:

It wasn’t until Hachette came around that Windblown Media and Young even put their publishing agreement in writing….

The dueling lawsuits have left Hachette in an awkward position. If they pay Young additional royalties, Windblown might file suit to reverse that decision. But if they continue to pay Windblown according to the terms of the original contract, Young might also press on with additional litigation.

In the first quarter of 2010 alone, “The Shack” earned nearly $1 million in royalties, with more money accruing daily. So on May 11, Hachette filed its own lawsuit in federal court, stating in its filing that “as a result of disputes that have arisen … [Hachette has] a real and reasonable fear that distributing the funds would expose Hachette to multiple claims and liabilities.”

It’s well worth it to take the time to read the entire article.

Moral of the story–learn the business basics of publishing, and make sure you have a written contract with your business partners, or this could be YOU.

2) Maureen Johnson has written a Manifesto on her blog that is worth reading since it raises the question of how far to go in marketing oneself as a writer.  Here’s a small snippet (go read the whole thing):

I hear this almost everywhere I go where there are people talking about social media, and I feel that it is time that I rise up against it. In fact, I did, right there and then. I grabbed the microphone from her grasp and said, “I am not a brand.”

3) Toni McGee Causey’s “How Do You Know When to Quit?” deals with the question  most writers ask themselves at least once during their journey.

4) And there’s a handy tip on contract negotiations with publishers in this article by Marjorie Kehe, “How Greg Morteson Outsmarted His Publishers.”

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Posted in Business of writing, Contracts, Editors, Psychology of writing, Publishers

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Making a Game of Writing Productivity

Posted on July 18, 2010 | Comments Off

What I’m about to discuss is a writing productivity technique I’ve heard about.  It involves turning writing into a game with points.  I’ve found the point system has the handy side-effect of making it easy to see if writer’s block or submissions block is creeping up on me.

There are two goals to choose from in this game (or one can choose to track both goals):  Writing Productivity (WP), or Submissions Productivity (SP).   Dean Wesley Smith has tackled a version of the query game in his post on Goal Motivation under Trick #2, so I’m just going to concentrate on the Writing Productivity game.

First off, decide how many points each of the following is worth.  I’ve listed my own point system, but feel free to change it.  Points are ONLY awarded for a FINISHED piece of work.   Incomplete work gets zero points.  No exceptions.

Finished Short Story (<7500 words):  1 pt.

Novelette (7500 – 15k):  2 pt.

Novella (15k to 50k):  5 pt.

Novel (50k to 125k): 10 pt.  (I deliberately give a novel twice the points of a novella because on average mine tend to be in the 100k range.)

Second, decide on the total points goal for the year.  Make it realistic, but enough of a stretch that you’ll be a sweating to get there.  If desired, you can break the points down into smaller goals by seasons, semesters, months, whatever.

Then find a white board, and each month, tally the total points for the year so far.  Seriously consider giving yourself a prize (such as a longed-for book or album) if you meet certain sub-goals during the year.

My complaint about only giving a prize for meeting the total goal points for the year is that it’s too a long a wait for getting a reward for productive behavior.  Significant increases in productivity ought to be celebrated and rewarded as they’re happening.

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Posted in Business of writing, Craft of writing, Learning the craft of writing, Psychology of writing, Submissions block, Writer's block

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GREAT WRITERS ON THE ART OF FICTION, edited by James Daley

Posted on May 2, 2010 | 1 Comment

The title says it all.  GREAT WRITERS ON THE ART OF FICTION:  FROM MARK TWAIN TO JOYCE CAROL OATES  is a book I’ve wished existed for several years now.  Imagine my joy when I discovered that James Daley had edited together a collection of essays by famous 19th & 20th century writers from North America and Great Britain.  I consider the book a major bargain at a cover price of only $8.95 from Dover Publications.

The list of writers in the book reads like a who’s who:  Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Kate Chopin, Jack London, Robert Louis Stevenson, Willa Cather, Sinclair Lewis, Mark Twain, Raymond Chandler, Eudora Welty, Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver, Wallace Stegner, John Irving, Joyce Carol Oates, and Margaret Atwood.

This is not a “how to” book on writing.  It’s more a broad survey about what famous writers in North America and Great Britain have thought about the art of writing over the last two hundred years.  The essays vary from simple advice to new writers, to complex analyses of style.   So each reader will find that a different set of essays appeal most to him or her.  There is something here for everyone–no matter where they are in their journey as a writer.

For me on my first reading of the book, Sinclair Lewis’ “How I Wrote A Novel On The Train And Beside The Kitchen Sink” was the one that spoke strongest to me this time.   I am glad I purchased this book so that I can reread this essay at my leisure.    I’ll share a sample, but I encourage reading the entire essay to savor Lewis’ acerbic commentary.

…”I think my present life is intolerably dull, and I do want to write.”

“Very well then, I’ll tell you the trick.  You have to do only one thing: Make black marks on white paper.  That little detail of writing is one that is neglected by almost all the aspirants I meet.”

He–and especially she–is horribly disappointed by my cynicism.  He–and often she–finds nothing interesting in making marks on paper.  What he, she, it, they, and sometimes W and Y, want to do is to sit dreaming purple visions, and have them automatically appear: (1) on a manuscript; (2) on a check from the editor.  So he, and the rest of the pronouns, usually finds the same clever excuse:

“But I simply can’t seem to find the time…”

Mr. Lewis then goes on, in a blunt manner, to demonstrate the inherent weakness of this excuse.  As far as he’s concerned, one needs only 1 hour day of writing, six days a week, to get started as a writer.   And if one can’t get an hour, then seize whatever is available, even if it’s only 15 minutes a day.    For the writer who writes 15 minutes a day, gets far ahead of the wanna-be writer who does zero.

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Posted in Business of writing, Craft of writing, History of writing, Learning the craft of writing, Psychology of writing, Submissions block, Voice, Writer's block, Writers on Writing Links

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In Memory of Lucy Hampson

Posted on April 26, 2010 | Comments Off

I just found out Lucy Hampson passed away on April 15th.    She was the Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI-NM from 2007-2009.   She organized and ran a wonderful regional conference, Handsprings, for children’s writers here in NM.

She was a witty caring person, and fine writer.  After retirement from teaching, she pursued writing for publication.  Not long ago she sold an article to Highlights for Children.  She was on her way as a writer.

Cancer killed her before she achieved her dream of selling a picture book manuscript to a NYC publisher.  But I know she was close, because she told me she’d been getting personalized rejection letters from editors.

She just ran out of time.

If anyone out there has a dream to pursue writing for publication, DON’T wait until retirement.  Start right now.  It can take 5-10 years to gather up speed and begin selling on a regular basis.

I wish life were fair.  Lucy just needed another year or two to reach her goal.

UPDATE:  Lucy’s memorial service will be at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Albuquerque on Sunday, May 30 at 1:30PM.

UPDATE2:  Lucy is an amazing person who made a tremendous impact on the lives of many, especially children and writers.  I heard so many wonderful stories about her at the memorial service.

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Malcolm Gladwell on “The 10,000-Hour Rule” in OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS

Posted on April 25, 2010 | 1 Comment

I just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS after buying it few days ago.  I’d intended to just read a chapter a week, but instead I raced through it, unwilling to stop.  There were so many “Aha!” moments that I had to keep on going until I finished the entire thing.

For this post, I’m just going to focus on a chapter critical to new writers, Chapter 2, “The 10,000-Hour Rule.”   This chapter clarified something that I’ve been noticing subconsciously in the successful fiction writers I’ve been met over the past few years.  And by successful I mean fiction writers with over 15+ years of being published, who make a living at their fiction writing.   It also ties in with Bradbury’s advice in ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING about writing 1,000-2,000 words/day.

Here’s what I consider a critical quote to consider:

The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that he and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals,” musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did.  Nor could they find any “grinds,” people who worked harder than everyone else, yet just didn’t have what it takes to break the top ranks.  Their research suggests that once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works.”

When I read this paragraph, I got excited.   It means that even if I never sell what I’m currently working on (or the past works I wrote), the experience counts.    It’s not wasted effort–as long as I set a goal with each piece to practice a writing skill like setting, characterization, POV, plot, etc.

Another key point:

…researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise:  ten thousand hours.

This ties in with Bradbury (and other writers’ ) urging to practice 1,000-2,000 words/day, six-seven days a week.   Like any other art form, there are hours of practice to be put in to get adept at fiction writing.

So to rack up those hours, if one worked 20 hour/week for 50 weeks a year, one would hit 10,000 hours in 10 years.

Feeling restless?  Then go up to 30 hour/week for 50 weeks a year, and one hits 10,000 hours in about 6.7 years.

And so 40 hour/week for 50 weeks a year will get one to 10,000 hours in 5 years.

Crunching these numbers explained to me why I’ve felt driven (to the point of obsession) lately to free up more writing time.  I didn’t know about the 10,000-hour rule, but I knew I wanted to devote more time to writing each day.   Now I know what’s fueling this driven itchy feeling I get when I don’t get my daily writing time in.

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Posted in Craft of writing, Learning the craft of writing, Psychology of writing, Voice

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Too Much Internet Usage Can Wreck Your Writing Productivity

Posted on April 16, 2010 | Comments Off

I just read James Sturm’s “My (Probably Crazy) Plan to Give Up the Internet” at Slate Magazine, and it got me thinking about the stories I’ve heard from writers over the years who’ve also had to go cold turkey from the internet due to an addiction to online RPGs, or web surfing, or chat rooms, or compulsively checking their amazon sales rankings every few hours.  There’s just sooooo much that can be done now online to waste the precious hours of each day.

I’ve had problems myself with wasting too much time on the internet, especially web surfing and reading news sites.

The best advice tends to share a common theme–separate the work and play areas as much as possible.  Have a “writing” computer AND a “play” computer.  Make sure the writing computer has no internet access or games on it.

I haven’t gone so far as to have two computers–yet–but I have learned to limit my internet usage to only music while I’m writing.  No email or chat are allowed while writing by making sure I’m logged out of all my accounts.  And when I catch myself breaking the “only music while writing” rule, I turn the network connection on my computer off.

However, I suspect I’ll have to go to keeping the network connection always off while writing, and listen to music through an iPod.  The temptation to go surfing over to Wikipedia for just-in-time research is so strong at times.

High-intensity thinking activities, like writing or debugging, do require chunks of uninterrupted time to do.   That needed chunk may be as short as 10-15 minutes, but if one’s getting email pings and surfing during that time period, one can find that the ability to focus has significantly deteriorated.   I found that this was true for me when I took a hard look at my work habits, and I’ve noticed my ability to focus (and therefore my productivity) has improved since shutting off internet access while writing.

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Posted in Blogging, Craft of writing, Psychology of writing

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How to get back into writing after a long hiatus

Posted on April 14, 2010 | Comments Off

Sometimes illness or tragedy or severe writer’s block can result in a work-in-progress grinding to a halt.  It’s happened to me, it’s happened to other writers I know.  The best piece of advice I ever got for coming back after a long hiatus was:

Set the daily word count goal absurdly low.  25 to 50 words/day max if the situation is particularly severe.  Do that writing goal for 5 days the first week.  Slowly ramp up the word count each week (unless you’re chomping at the bit to do more).  If you grind to a halt, cut the goal for the number of words per day in half and start over from there.

I’ve tried out this advice in the past, and found it did the trick to get me back into the swing of things.   So I wanted to share it in case someone else out there is dealing with this writing issue.

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Posted in Craft of writing, Psychology of writing, Writer's block

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Make Goals and Take Action in 2010

Posted on December 6, 2009 | Comments Off

Before we know it, 2010 is going to be upon us.   So I want to devote this post to encouraging people to take time over the next three weeks of December to dream about what they want, and then come up with a detailed action plan of how to get there.

I’ve noticed it’s the action part that often trips us up in pursuit of our goals.  Action plans tend to get left out when New Year’s resolutions get made.  Which is a shame, since we’re capable of more than we realize once we know what we should be doing.

I’m going to provide an example of the 5-year goal & action exercise.  Both BOOKLIFE by Jeff VanderMeer and HOW TO GET OUT OF DEBT by Jerrold Mundis have this particular exercise in their books.  Mundis’ book also has many other planning exercises readers can try 0ut as well.

Step 1: Spend quiet time thinking about what you’d like to be doing and how you’d like to be 5 years from now.  Write everything down on a piece of paper.  Then go back to your list, and try to be specific if you can (for example, “be an author” is a bit vague, while “publish 2 novels and 10 short stories” is more specific).  Goals are like a seesaw in trying to keep away from vagueness (i.e. “be happy”) versus unrealistic specifics (i.e. “marry Alan Rickman by 2012″).

A real Step 1 goal I had a few years ago:  Completely pay off all the credit cards in five years.

Step 2: Choose the three to five goals dearest to your heart.   Now come up for each of them a subgoal that is doable in one year.

Step 2 example:  1) Learn how to deal with debt, 2) track my finances, and 3) stop the credit card balances from increasing.

Step 3: Now ask for each 1-year goal, “What actions can I take this year that will bring me closer to my goal?

Step 3 example:  1) Find and read best books on debt and how to get out of it, 2) lock credit cards away, 3) learn how to do budgets, 4) do budgets each month, 5) brainstorm ways to save money and earn more money.

Step 4: Now ask, “What can I do this month towards my 1-year goals?”

Step 4 example:  1) Find and read best books on debt, 2) lock credit cards away.

Step 5: Now ask, “What can I do this week towards my 1-year goals?”

Step 5 example:  1) Research books on debt at the library, and 2) lock credit cards away.

Actions are cumulative, like pebbles rolling down a stone-strewn mountain to trigger a landslide.  Each small action I took to get the credit cards paid off had cumulative effects over time.  I learned how to control my credit card usage.  Created spending plans and spreadsheets that tracked how I spent money in about 25 different categories.  And had to make many other small changes in my behavior.

It never ceases to amaze me how tiny actions taken on a daily basis can lead to big changes in a few years.  I encourage readers to give this method a try and let me know in December 2010 how it went.  Good luck!

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Posted in Business of writing, Craft of writing, Psychology of writing

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