Writers Pursuit of Immortality

OUT! All of you! I’m trying to write here. Not only do our families and work obligations require writers to budget time, there are other influences that invade a writer’s space and influence career goals. What do writers want? Why do writers write? Those are typical questions writers have to address, and writers are sometimes asked. As an erotic romance writer, I’m often asked an additional one: Are all your book autobiographical? My answer to that one is usually snarky or professional depending on the situation or my mood.

I think most authors write because they have a passion for it. They’re the born-to-be-writers. They have stories inside their heads that have to come out on paper/computer. They carry around a notebook and stories pop into their heads all the time. Anything at any time can inspire them. Many have started writing at a young age or were voracious readers all their life.

A few decided-to-be-writers to publish, make money, become famous, impress family and friends, create documents or books for their business, or because they like it, etc. And they may or may not work hard at their craft. There is no right or wrong way, but it’s important for a writer to know what they WHAT and WHY. It’s best to make these decisions with all the influences (publishers, editors, agents, well-meaning friends, family, fans, the market, etc.) OUT of the room.

What writers want and what they think publishing professionals and or the market wants can completely mess up their career plans.

For many years, publishers and agents wanted clones of what was hot and selling now! If a writer submitted a book to an agent or editor that was outside that realm, or worse was a mashup (a combination of a few subgenres), they would reject it. Self-publishing aka Indie publishing is allowing authors the freedom to publish those books, but I’m still seeing the Return of the Clones among Self-published authors. How many 50 Shades of Grey clones are out there? How many Bear Shifter books are out there? Don’t get me wrong I like some of those clones. I love reading some BDSM romance with innocent submissives, and I love paranormal books with shapeshifters. I’ve written some myself. http://www.kathykulig.com/books.html

Kristine Kathryn Rusch in her book, The Write Attitude, which I highly recommend, said, “The books that make a difference, the books that have long lasting impact—hell, the books that often hit the top bestseller lists for the first time for their authors—aren’t clones of some other books.”

I admire Ms. Rusch on many levels, especially with her choice to write in a variety of genres. She’s also a talented author, blogger, editor and teacher. And she’s highly successful in all of these areas! For a while she worked at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Years ago, I got that magazine. I voraciously read all the stories. I loved them and was inspired. I’m a huge SciFi fan. I also tried writing my own stories and never had the nerve to submit them. I never thought they were good enough—they weren’t. Then I took classes in creative writing and online courses and the teachers encouraged me to write books, but I still didn’t think I had the talent. Instead, I wrote articles for magazines and newspapers for several more years. Finally, I joined a writers group and started writing fiction. And SOLD!

The sexy mash-up queen. I love a variety of books: erotica, erotic romance, hardcore SciFi, fantasy, thrillers, mystery, ghost stories, and paranormal. So I write in many of these genres and have combined some of these subgenres. I had one reviewer comment about my book Red Tape for example: “Red Tape can fit in many genre categories and still live up to each expectation.”

What I WANT is for readers to connect with my books, no matter what subgenre, because they (hopefully) recognize an identifiable voice in all the books. Not all readers will fall in love with every book, of course. Not everyone likes BDSM or paranormal or sexy romance. I love reading a variety of books and many readers do too.

What is your WHY? Truly understanding your why will help to direct your career path. Do you want to be a wealthy writer (Most authors would like that. We work hard. We deserve to be paid at lease the price of a cup of coffee for a book. Come on readers, please understand we can’t make all our books $.99 or free.) Then you have to focus on what you have to do to accomplish that. Stick to a rigorous writing schedule, put out good books regularly, study the market, become business savvy, a good promoter, constantly develop craft (even the bestselling authors continue to strive to be better writers), set goals and stick to them. No time? Not an excuse. Then your WHY isn’t strong enough. I’m working a full time day job and a part time evening job and I find (make) time to write. I don’t sleep much or watch much TV. I know people who have children to take care or aging parents, etc. and still make the time. It may only be an hour or two every day, but that time must be scheduled. How bad do you want it?

Chasing trends is a waste of time. My goal is to find a happy balance between writing what I love, trying to please my fans, but also being aware of the market. I greatly appreciate the fans who tell me what they like and don’t like. The feedback is helpful and always welcome.

I don’t know where I heard this, so please forgive me for not quoting the right person. “Sex is the best thing two people can do together, and writing is the best thing you can do alone.” And I write about sex, mostly two people falling in love while going through struggles and having lots of hot sex. It may be in a futuristic world, another planet, with shapeshifting immortals, vampires, or in a BDSM club, or a secret society with assassins. If you visit my worlds, I don’t think you’ll find any clones. 

The Mystical Magical Muse

One thing I hear all the time from readers is: Where do I get my ideas from?

First of all, I don’t believe there’s some elemental creature or beautiful Greek goddess floating around the ether or an alternative dimension plucking ideas out of the universe, and then deciding that I’m worthy enough for that idea to have it dropped into my brain.

I think all writers are wired from birth to be writers. Just like some people are wired to learn languages easily, others can almost instinctually learn to play a musical instrument or three, some people can calculate math problems in their head and some have a sixth sense for directions. It’s internal wiring in my opinion. We have that particular ability, or gift, because the potential wiring is there.

Even if a person doesn’t begin to write until his adult years, that brain potential is there. Some writers claim they’d written their first book when they were six, or wrote stories when they were children, or TOLD imaginative stories, or loved to read, or had an over active imagination, or daydreamed, etc., etc. But that doesn’t mean you’re not a true writer if you never had any of these ‘tells’ at a young age. Maybe a potential writer didn’t have the environment to allow the expression of one or more of these ‘tells’ that proved he was always meant to be a writer. This is the analytical side of me.

Besides having the ‘hardware’ to being a writer, and that doesn’t mean you have to have an IQ of 180, there is another component that all writers have that can’t be described. An elusive spark or drive or desire. It’s like a candle that burns brightly within the soul of a writer that can’t be extinguished.

No matter how many rejections, bad reviews, disasters in their personal life, failed attempts or criticisms from readers, friends and family members, the spark remains. And the writer keeps writing and continues to learn. Someone who is intelligent and has the ability to write, might say, “I’m going to write a book one day”, but they’ll never finish a book because they don’t have that spark.

So, where do I get my ideas from? EVERYWHERE. When I’m not even trying to come up with a story idea, they just come to me. Most of my ideas come when I’m doing something other than writing or when I’m not trying to come up with an idea: sitting at my microscope at work, working in my garden, working out in the gym, working on home improvements in my house, traveling. I’ve gotten sparks for story ideas from listening to people at restaurants/bars, hiking, standing in line for a ride at Disney, watching a movie. An interesting title popped into my head for a story I hadn’t even written yet and the story developed from just the title. That’s happened a few times.

I can’t explain where the ideas come from any more than I can explain how I can remember some simple thing that happened when I was five but can’t remember what I had for lunch last Tuesday.

So I can't tell you where the idea came from for my new book Spring Break which will be coming out at Ellora's Cave on Friday. Unless I was ready for a vacation and my mind warped it into something sexy and hot. Hope you'll check it out. I think it's a fun read.

HOW TO SURVIVE REJECTIONS

Rejections sting no matter where you are in your publishing career. From the multi-published, NY Times bestseller to the yet to be published author, most everyone gets rejections at one time or another.

Writers should not take rejections personal, but they do. It’s unavoidable when they put so much of themselves into their books. Rejections are easier to survive if you think of them as stepping stones along your writing career, or opportunities to help you become a better writer.

HOW DO REJECTIONS MAKE YOU A BETTER WRITER?

• Pat yourself on the back. If you have a rejection, you’ve taken the brave first step to becoming a published writer.


• Rejections make you strive to put out your best work all the time and not get lazy.


• Teach you to slow down in your submission process. We all get excited when we come to THE END of a book. We want to begin sending out all those queries and partials immediately. But rejections will quickly follow with this method. Let the manuscript sit for at least a few days, even better, a few weeks, then revise, revise, revise. Let it sit and revise again.
• Help you to identify your strengths and areas for improvement. If you’re fortunate to get feedback.
• Motivate you to develop your craft.


• Help you to grow a thick skin so future rejections are easier.


• Help you to understand that rejections are part of the business of writing and publishing.


• They make you humble.
  
  FOUR TYPES OF REJECTIONS:

• Form letters – Forms letters could mean a few things. Most new writers get them while they’re still developing their craft. Don’t be discouraged. If you’ve finished a novel, you’re way ahead of the curve. Developing your craft takes time. And with each book you write, you will get better. You can also get a form letter if your writing is good but you targeted the wrong publisher, editor, line or agent. Another reason could be if that particular editor or agent simply doesn’t have the time to comment so they use form letters.


• Letter with comments – I celebrate every time I get these kinds of rejection letters, especially if the comments give specific advice as to what worked and didn’t work for them in the story. I’ve even had an editor or agent recommend that a manuscript could be sent to particular publisher or agent. These are gifts from the professionals. Study these comments carefully and with an open mind to see if they ring true. Whether or not they do, please send a Thank You to that editor or agent. They are extremely busy and for them to take the time to give any feedback means they saw some element of promise. You may be sending a future project to them.
  NOTE: If you don’t agree with the comments or if you feel the comments were rude, don’t argue or send nasty emails back. I’m hearing on the social networks that writers are doing this. Why would you? Vent to your friends, not to professionals you hope to work with in the future. That’s professional suicide. Even if you don’t expect to work with that agent or editor, word gets around.


• Letter with request to revise and resubmit. This editor or agent definitely sees potential with your project. They may want to see if you can revise and also if you’re receptive to revisions. Many writers mistakenly feel their work is perfect as it is. An editor or agent knows the market and knows what their house wants and what’s selling in today’s market. If you’re not an easy person to work with, there are plenty of talented writers out there who are. Some argue that if an editor requests revisions, they should make an offer. For an established author, that may be true. But for a newbie author, I can understand why they don’t offer a contract. I was asked to revise and resubmit without a contract and the revised manuscript was rejected. Sure I was disappointed, but I found it to be an excellent learning experience and well worth my time. I believe my writing improved, and I developed a contact with a publisher.
  NOTE: Writers who are too rigid about their work and feel their projects are perfect as is, will remain stagnant, continue to make the same mistakes and limit their potential.
• No response rejections – These are the toughest ones. Some agents are so swamped with queries and submissions that they’ve adopted the ‘no response rejection’. If you don’t hear from them within a certain amount of time, then they aren’t interested. Then there are the no response rejections from editors and agents who have requested your manuscript at conferences or through queries. After a follow up email or snail mail letter, you still don’t get a response from these submissions. Are these rejections? Or are they submissions that have gotten lost? I’d like to think they were set aside as a possible maybe, then forgotten. These are very frustrating, but also part of the business. Usually after a year, I mark REJECTED on my Excel spreadsheet.
  
  WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET A REJECTION:

• Read it over carefully for suggestions and comments. They could help you improve your work. Ask writing friends to get their take on the comments. Maybe they see something you don’t. Sometimes we’re too close to our writing and can’t see the same mistakes we continue to make.


• Send a thank you. That editor or agent took the time to review your work. It might not be right for them, but they took the time to evaluate your material.


• File it away. You may need it for Tax purposes, but it’s also good to compare comments from other editors and agents. Are they giving you’re the same comments and suggestions? Are you making the same mistakes???


• Revise the manuscript if necessary and resubmit to new agents or editors. But don’t get stuck revising and revising one manuscript.


• Begin a new project. Keep writing. New projects will help you hone your skills.


• Don’t let rejections get you down. Email/call/text a friend, then get back to writing. Persistence will turn those rejections into a SALE.

How to Increase Productivity

"Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort." -Paul J. Meyer

"Great minds have purposes, others have wishes." -- Washington Irving

"Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up." - IBD November 30, 2001.

~

I’ve been working on increasing my productivity and have seen a big improvement by making a few changes in my writing routine.

Stephen King (Productivity King)

"Keep track of what you do and write everyday in a day timer or on a calendar. I record page counts and word counts which shows my progress. I record the total pages at the end of each week and at the end of each month. This is good to know for when you’re contracted and an editor asks, “How long will it take for you to complete the next book?” You’ll also see which months are more productive than others.

I also record days I write up blogs, edit and revise WIP or sold projects. How long does it take for you to edit a completed manuscript?

Blogging is a valuable tool, but also is time consuming. Make note of the time and days you spend on blogging. If you’re blogging too much, maybe you can cut back to once or twice a week. Record any major time chunks like a guest blog event. Keeping track of your time is like keeping track of what you eat during a diet. Sometimes you waste valuable time when you could be writing. For dieting, sometimes you don’t realize how much you eat until you write it all down.

Can you work on small projects like writing a blog during your lunch break? Or bring a chapter to edit? I write most of my blogs during my breaks at work. I check resources and find photos when I get home.

Use a digital timer to limit your time on Twitter, Facebook, email other social networks. If I don’t finish my email by 7:30 pm, I turn it off and begin writing and don’t look at it again until 10:30 pm or later.

Don’t check the Internet for “one little reference question”. I do this a lot and then find myself in a domino effect of searching other topics that don’t even relate to the original question. The things I discover might be interesting, but they’re not helping with my WIP. Instead I add a # sign and type in red and in capitals #LOOK UP SUCH AND SUCH. And later do a search for the # signs.

Buy a digital timer. They’re in the kitchen department at Walmart or Kmart. Set it to count backward from 3 or 2 hours, or whatever you can fit in for uninterrupted writing time. DO NOT get up to answer the phone, check email, make a snack, do laundry, (fill in blank for whatever you do to procrastinate), etc. If you have to get up, pause the timer and continue it when you come back to your writing.

This one may not be a favorite, but it helps. At least one weekend or one day a month, set your alarm for 4 am. YES, 4 am. Try it once. Preset the coffee pot the night before, quietly slip out of bed and go straight to your computer. DO NOT turn on your email. Start writing, even if you feel like you’re not awake, you’re mind is uncluttered, the house it quiet and you have it all to yourself. You’d be surprised how much you can get done. It’s like a mini writing retreat.

Add a Stop Doing List to your To Do List. Have the discipline to unclutter your schedule and stop doing unnecessary projects, volunteering for everything, taking on things you don't have time for, etc. Learn to say "No" and mean it.

Try these tips and see if your productivity improves. Please leave a comment and send me your tip or let me know if any of these tips have helped.