Ah! There you are! I hope the journey wasn't too jolting? Well, take a pew and I’ll serve the drinks. Coffee’s all that we’ve got, I’m afraid?
Dear Reader, I tell you what I have found. That is, you get nothing for nothing. In other words, if you want people to read your stuff, you have to chase them, and catch them in the right places. If you want Blog readers, you have to research who and where your readers are and TARGET them. Even when I offer my Books for FREE, what I really want is readers. I want people to read my work, and love it. But I have to go find them, to persuade them it’s a good model, that I am offering something for something. I want you to read. That’s my part. And I want you to enjoy. That’s yours.
Simple, I know, but why shouldn't it be? You know it makes sense.
POLY THINGY
I’ve come up with a solution to a much mulled over dilemma about marketing, in general, and specifically to my own work. I think the best way forward is not to flood the market, per se, with my Books. No, what I will do is market the most recent, and my personal favourite of my Books, 1644. Don’t worry, I’m not going to browbeat you with it now. You can relax. It doesn't tie me down to one genre still, however. That’s something I think will be with me for a long time.
HINT: All this Blogging, Marketing, Research - it’s all well and good, but you’ve got to make sure you SCHEDULE your time well. All of these things may be part of your process of being that Independent Writer, but if you don’t make sure you allow time for actual writing, then, I think, you’re missing the point. These other things are extensions of writing. You first have to have a PRODUCT to SELL, before you can sell it, with any real conviction. BUT, and here’s the key thing, you really MUST schedule time to do the other things as well. It’s better to catch it now, than having to catch up to it later.
HINT: This is a short one, and it’s a doozy… AVOID as much as you can using ‘it’, or ‘thing’ (and the numerous other generalisation words) to describe something. Whatever it is, it has a presence, so you should really try to describe it.
BLOGGING ABOUT MY CURRENT PROJECT
See, my problem is I find it hard working on more than one thing at a time. Once I’m on a project, I go complete tunnel vision on it, and even simple things, like eating and drinking, picking up grocery, all that kind of stuff, it disappears. I really have to schedule my work, and sometimes I get so sidetracked, my work suffers. But today, I plan to work on my current project.
The working title is DOGS. I usually give a simple working title to my work, which will likely change later. In essence, it is, at its core, the story of one character old, past his prime and close to the end of his career, maybe his life, while the other character is young, ambitious, and at the very beginning of her career. He is tired, he’s seen it all and he’s surprised by nothing. She’s young, naive, and apprehensive of the whole escapade, having agreed to join up with the other because of her adventurous and curious spirit.
It’s a Science Fiction story, or at least that’s the setting for it. For the man, he’s spent so many years in space, he knows little else. She has spent her entire life on one Planet, a timid Archaeologist there, training at the University.
A lot of it has been written now, at least first draft standard. It’s an old story I had begun writing years ago, but at that time, I wasn't good enough at writing to continue or finish with it. This is a good lesson for other writers. KEEP everything you write. You don't know - somewhere down the line, you may find a place for that work, or are able to tackle it now you feel more confident about it. Or, my favourite thing to do with it - cannibalise the Hell out of it for your current, or a future project.
The point I am at now is I’ve edited the work I had already done, and now I’m writing new material for it. Keeping the same narrator voice throughout, that can be difficult. I mean, for the reader, the end product is all they care about. The process, the pain, the frustration, whether it was written in one sitting, or large breaks sometimes of weeks or months between writing - no one cares about that, not really. Just that it is enjoyable and makes sense. I suppose thats one of those things that simply comes with time and practice. And that’s the point really, isn't it? Just keep writing, even if it’s a sentence, a novel or a poem. Structure will come to those who write.
The one advantage with my current project is that when I had started writing it before, I had made notes on the ending, so I know where I am headed with what I do now. It still doesn't make it easy to write, but I care about my characters. I want the best for them, even though I know I also have to put them in conflict, and watch as they solve the problems, until they run out of solutions. It’s part of that old adage, I suppose, of killing your darlings. I know that kind of means something else, but it also works for this too. Knowing too much of what’s going to happen sometimes makes it difficult to write the next bit.
Look, I’ve rambled on long enough about DOGS, but if you would be interested in a longer and more detailed post about this and the process, I would be glad to do it. I might set up a Newsletter email kind of deal, if anyone would be interested? If you would, please indicate in the COMMENTS at the end of the post.
As we writers know, sometimes that difficult bit of writing is often all a bit like slowly crawling through a field of broken glass, smeared in excrement - but, hey, some of us like that! Yes, we are weird… But you wouldn't want us any other way…
TODAY’S PLANS
Much of the same really. How about you? Oh, I forgot… Anyway, I think it’s a daily chore (or pleasure, depending on how you look at it it, I suppose) of selling, marketing, social networking, research, and - if there’s time left over, some writing! Fingers crossed!
A REQUEST
What do you want to hear from me? Do you have any suggestions for improving the Blog, or do you have things you want to hear? I mean I could tell you about my personal life if you really wanted to know, but it is excruciatingly boring and tedious. Plus nothing happens, except for the writing, the marketing, the blogging…. But if there is something you want to know, simply ask here, in the comments, or send me an email, a tweet, a paper aeroplane, a telegram, a rock with words written in blood upon the rugged surface…
THE ADVERT
Yes, I’m afraid it had to come. Not too disappointed, I hope?
It's 1644. Rector Wilfred Poster, he might be a man more in love with himself than Narcissus, more deceitful than Judas, and more horny than a particularly horny creature, that has extra horns and a sign around it’s neck, saying, “I’m Horny”, but he was still the Rector of a Church in Upper Vaxham, nestled in the County of Moistershire, England, during the time of the little spat between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists, that some called the English Civil War. If only that was all. See, Posster got into a little money trouble, and they want it back. So poor old Posster has to scheme and plot his way into money, in order to do so. And he only has 20 days in which to succeed, or ….
Posster is not so much an anti-hero, more a cheating, conning coward with a hatred of Catholics.
Oh, and he has a Flit, too, but no one is interested in a Flit…
RIGHT. That’s it! Time to leave you to your work, Dear Reader. And time to return to mine. Speak to you soon, or sooner than that, I hope! Pleasant journeys!
P.S. Before I go, here are a few links to excellent Blogs and such that you might find helpful;
A good Blog site, pointing to other good Blogs on Writing:- http://positivewriter.com/top-25-writing-blogs/
An excellent Blog Site about Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, over at Worlds Without End:- http://blog.worldswithoutend.com
If you're interested in Photography, or you just like well constructed pictures, go to this site. Not quite in my remit, I know, but I like it. And he’s a pretty good writer too:- http://brianmichaelbarbeito.blogspot.ca
A Blog from someone who procrastinates more than me:- http://pbackwriter.blogspot.co.uk
WARNING:- Next Blog, I’ll post the link to my Christmas Horror Story…
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