T.H. Simon's Blog

This subject, like many of the subjects explored on my blog, is quite subjective. For me, the answer to the question of when is the best time to write has to be morning. Unfortunately, this makes finding the time to do my best writing more difficult.

On a typical day, I do not have time to write before work. While at work, I am frequently energized by the prospect of getting home and writing, but at the end of the day, things rarely turn out that way. Despite my best intentions, by the time I get home I’m exhausted and simply want to eat dinner and plop down in front of the TV.

Which brings us to the morning option. If I’m not on vacation, and if it’s not a holiday, the only times I get to write in the morning are on weekends. This brings its own challenges as there are many things that you have to do on weekends that often take priority over the things you want to do. Also, the Sun can be so inviting, and if you do spend your weekend mornings writing, it’s not uncommon to find half the day gone by without having taken a shower.

Despite all these challenges, mornings are my ideal writing time because I still have a good deal of energy, and with a whole day stretched out in front of me, I don’t feel constrained by deadlines such as sleep. Consequently, it’s the drive that comes from the prospect of an entire day still ahead, an open-ended invitation to write, that fuels my ideal writing time.

But let’s be honest… with how busy I am, the best time to write most days is any time I can find the time.

Check out the Secret of Siam, now available for pre-order, here: http://tinyurl.com/mpkkeoz

The Untold Legend, my first novel, is also currently available in the Kindle Store: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

Recently, the concept of making a book available for pre-order has been on my mind. The reason is that I have just put my second book, The Secret of Siam, up for pre-order (http://tinyurl.com/mpkkeoz), something I had not done with the first book I released. I’d like to share my thought process to perhaps help you decide if making a book available for pre-order is right for you.

First, I figured, for an author that is not yet quite ‘established,’ what could it hurt? Making a book available in advance allows a prolonged period of marketing it. There are varying perceptions surrounding the amount of time best to make your book available in advance. Some say the full three months allowed by Amazon, others one month. I made a compromise by putting it up for the full three months, but only occasionally advertising it throughout the first two, leaving the strong push for the end. Making your book available in advance allows you to build anticipation and approach the marketing of your book more as a gradual process than an all-at-once blitz.

Second, for me, making The Secret of Siam available for pre-order was also a matter of convenience, seeing as how at my scheduled release date (July 1), I’m sure to have my hands full with the joy of a one-week-old. I wouldn’t be able to guarantee that those important last-minute book details got completed, as my family, and the exciting experience of being a new dad, come first.

Third, making a book available for pre-order “locks” you into a release date, providing accountability for the completion of your writing/editing, if you’re a person who needs deadlines.

There are some “risks” with doing a pre-order. First, while potential readers can read the summary of the book you provide, some individuals decide to purchase a book based off previews, which are not available through Amazon pre-orders. Second, if you market it too heavy too soon, and the person isn’t quite ready to buy your book yet due to the fact that it’s not available, they may forget all about your book in advance of when it’s actually available to purchase.

With the compromise (3-month advanced availability and marketing ramped up as time progresses), I am excited about doing a pre-order. I’m quite proud of my next book, The Secret of Siam, and am happy to begin the marketing process in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

Check out the Secret of Siam, now available for PRE-ORDER, here: http://tinyurl.com/mpkkeoz

The Untold Legend, my first novel, is also currently available in the Kindle Store: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

As a writer, I find the question of “what comes next” perhaps the most exciting.

There are two points in the writing process that, in my experience, are most electrifying, and they both require thinking ahead: Starting a new book, and releasing a new book. If you plan to be a writer who writes and releases more than one book, you’ll have to constantly be looking forward regarding both of these events to “what comes next.”

Starting a new book: I have the first ten books I want to write either written, planned, or decided. I have so many ideas I’m excited about that, when I complete a novel, it can be difficult to choose which one to write next. I wish I had the time to write them all simultaneously, as I’m curious to find out what happens with each idea when it’s put down on paper. The act of deciding which book to write next (and how to help make that decision) is something I’ll explore in a future Thursday blog post.

Releasing a new book: This can be exciting and scary, and also requires our constant attention toward the future. Many authors write to share their stories with the world. Consequently, the day a book gets released and is purchased by potential readers is the culmination of your hard work. To do it properly requires a significant amount of forethought and preparation (editing, publishing, marketing, etc.) and often requires you to look forward to prepare the next book just as soon as you released the last one.

As an author who plans to release a novel (and eventually some non-fiction books) every six months, I have to constantly be looking forward, not only regarding what books I’ll be writing next, but also planning for my releases. The constant eye toward what lies ahead is not a burden. It may sound stressful, but it’s part of the excitement of writing: The next great story you get to tell, the next great story you get to share.

Personally, I can’t wait to share the stories that I plan to write with interested readers. The good news? You have less than three months to wait to see what’s coming next…

Check out the Secret of Siam, now available for pre-order, here: http://tinyurl.com/mpkkeoz

The Untold Legend, my first novel, is also currently available in the Kindle Store: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

We’ve all been there: When you go down a road in writing, just to see where it goes, sometimes it fits perfectly within the bounds of your outline, but other times, it may upset your plans. If you haven’t experienced this, you may be too rigid in sticking to your story outline.

Occasionally letting the story go where it will, by the nature of writing off-the-cuff, may take your story/ characters into a difficult situation. You’ve written yourself into a corner. If you find yourself in this situation, make sure to avoid out-of-the-blue answers to the complicated scenario you’ve created.

So, what can you do about this? Take a few moments to step back from writing, and go back to the planning phase. First, check if your planned outline can be changed moderately in a way that it still links up with your original intended endgame. If not, make a value judgement: was your original plan for the book better, or do you prefer the new path that your writing tangent has led you down? When you’ve made your decision, do not be afraid to either scrap your new writing, or scrap your old ideas. However, if you want to keep both, you’ll have to find some “bridge” back that is both faithful to the text so far and to your plan. This bridge cannot seem out of place. To check this, run through a step by step logical progression of events before/during/after your bridge to make sure there are no moments where you “jump the shark.” If you rush it, your story will seem choppy.

Bottom line: Step back from the story, briefly return to your planning phase, make tough choices if necessary. Writing yourself into a corner is natural (and can be kind of fun), as long as you take the time to think through where your writing whims fit into the story you want to tell.

As a reminder: The Untold Legend, my first novel, is currently available in the Kindle Store: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

I love twists, and I do try to include them if they fit naturally into a story. I don’t necessarily make twists the central focus of my story like some authors are successful at, but I definitely try to include a few good ones to keep the reader on his or her toes. Having a well-executed reveal done to you, as a reader, can be enjoyable. It reinforces that the reader does not know the whole story (otherwise why would they read the book?) and that perhaps not everything is what it seems or was once thought.

However, if you do choose to include a twist in your writing, it must follow plausibly from what came before it, and the twist itself must be understandable. In upcoming books of mine that include twists, I have used the following technique: After I’ve decided to include a twist, I go back to the writing done before it to make sure I’ve left a sufficient number of subtle clues so that the reader is likely to go “Aha! That makes sense” more than “What the…” If you’re unsure of how it will play, I suggest using test readers. If they call you as soon as they reach the twist excited about what they just read, you’ll know you’ve done something right.

A twist should be a satisfying conclusion to a vague storyline in a book, and used to advance the story. The best are slightly haunting and linger with a reader after, making them eager to have a friend also read the book so they can discuss it with them. I should also mention that there are varying degrees of twists. It doesn’t have to be “Gone Girl” level. What’s most important is that it support the story and not undercut it. If you decide you want to add a twist, but are not sure what you want to do as a twist, look at your book’s outline and determine which aspects that you previously planned on just stating to the reader may better be used as an eventual reveal.

As a reminder: The Untold Legend, my first novel, is currently available in the Kindle Store: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

Following on my last post regarding motivation to write, I thought I’d give equal time to the issues of distractions and when you just don’t feel like writing. Distractions will happen. Occasional lack of excitement to write will happen. Events or mentalities that try to keep you from writing are, ironically, part of the writing process.

To be honest… I love occasional distractions (when on my own terms). And… I also hate them (especially when I have a self-imposed deadline or am on a roll).

Interestingly, I’m never more productive with everything that’s not a priority than when trying to put off the one thing I know I should be doing. Take, for example, working out. I’ll be productive doing everything else I can think of, except working out, to justify putting it off. It’s a struggle to get me to start, but when I do finally work out, I almost always feel great after, wondering why it was such an internal battle to begin doing something I enjoy. I find it to be a similar scenario with writing.

Other times, I just don’t feel like writing, despite promising myself that I’d do it. I’ve come to realize that during these times, I shouldn’t fight it. So, if I truly don’t feel like writing at the time, I don’t force myself to. I’m not going to do my best writing if I’m not in the mood.

Like with life generally, if I was as efficient with my time as I could be, I’d be SUPER productive in my writing. But alas, I’m human. Distractions will happen. Sometimes I just won’t feel like it. This is okay, as long as I can distinguish acceptable distractions from unhelpful ones, and know when my resistance to writing is run of the mill procrastination vs. not being in the mood.

As a reminder: The Untold Legend, my first novel, is currently available in the Kindle Store: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

While I’ve already made the announcement on Twitter, I believe it will be fitting to do so again here: I’ve started writing my fifth novel, due out either in 2018 or 2019. While I’m not yet ready to reveal the plot, I will say that it’s fiction and regarding a couple topics that have been on my mind a lot lately. In the spirit of starting another book, I thought that I’d discuss the issue of motivation in writing.

For me, at least, I can say that I have no delusions of making a significant amount of money. Nor do fame or adoration have anything to do with my motivation to write. The motivation to write is different than the motivation to read (wanting to know/experience what happens next) in that you already know what’s coming. So, it’s something else…

I believe that, in part, an author’s motivation to write correlates with how excited he or she is about the book, whether it be about the subject, or about sharing the book with others. That’s why I’d say motivation is at its highest at the beginning and the end of the writing process. However, I should mention that it’s also possible to be both very excited to write and just not feel like it at the same time (I’ll be discussing the topic of ‘distractions and just not feeling like it’ in my next blog post).

What drives me most is the idea of getting the story out into the world in the hope that it will be enjoyed by readers. I’m motivated by imagining my readers reading it. I guess I could best explain it as the feeling you get when you’re sharing a favorite movie with someone special who’s watching it for the first time. Their reaction to something so sacred to you is most of the fun.

However, I’m also motivated by my ‘to write’ queue. I have a long list of novels and stories I want to write and I’m eager to get to them all! The next one, The Secret of Siam, will be released in just about four months (July 1), and new books every six months after that for the foreseeable future.

Until then…

The Untold Legend, my first novel, is currently available in the Kindle Store: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

We’ll keep this one quick, for once.

Personally, I like to write my novels in locations that are without distractions. This rules out writing in public places like coffee shops. My ideal location is a place that allows me to retreat from the “real world” and slip into the world of the book. I just find the story better able to flow out of me when not interrupted. However, this doesn’t mean my ideal place is alone in a cabin in the woods either. While I think it’s useful when writing for me to be removed from interruptions, when I need a break, distractions, family, friends, and TV are welcome.

Interestingly, despite having a desk, and a separate room for it, most of my writing is not conducted there either. Instead, the first four books I’ve completed have largely been written on a couch, or, more often, sitting on the bed in our room. My absolute favorite place that I’ve written (and it showed in how productive I was while writing there) was while on vacation in a soothing hammock looking out over a lake.

One final note: Although the actual writing took place at these locations, I think much of ‘writing’ is done beforehand; it’s done while lying in bed, in the shower, daydreaming at work, taking a walk. It’s done slowly through random thoughts at random times, that become a hodgepodge of notes, and then a story. These locations are just where I am when the stories find their narrative and get put into the computer.

Now available in the Kindle Store, The Untold Legend: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

Less than 5 months till the next novel is released!

I’ll use this space to reflect on why one would want to be an author. Let’s not forget, there are downsides. Writing can be demanding of your time and effort. It opens you up to being judged. There’s plenty of rejection, and you’re highly unlikely to make it big. So why be an author? What are the advantages?

Well, there are many, and I’d categorize them in two major groups: self-interested and selfless reasons.

On some level, every author will have self-interested reasons for writing. Perhaps you like the idea of people’s reaction when they find out you wrote a book (how impressive!). Perhaps it’s for the money (but with few exceptions, you may be disappointed). Perhaps it’s vanity; an attempt at immortality. One healthy self-interested motivation is that it can be cathartic. Finally, there’s also the fundamental enjoyment of it (sometimes). By writing a story, you get to go on the adventure too. As you write your book, you get to make discoveries, fall in love, observe conversations as they unfold, just as your readers eventually will.

But the optimist in me, despite recognizing that some of my motivations rest in the self-interested category, would like to think that the core of my inspiration and enthusiasm for being an author comes from what my writing does, or could, mean to others. The way I see it, authors, in part, write stories because they have stories they want to share with the world, and on some level believe their writing will make a difference. Maybe not a huge, world-altering difference, but a measurable one to a reader. With their books, authors can provide a vehicle to dream, hope, evaluate, and maybe even plan and act. Should an author achieve a loyal following, authors can use the trust they’ve built up with their readers and social media followers to speak out against injustices, disseminate important information, and even help mobilize toward causes. Some may see their writing as part of a larger struggle to define our reality (the world as it is), or to open minds to the possibilities of all that’s to come (the world as it could be).

Authors have the power to shape minds and sway hearts. They can be a guide, a teacher, a motivator. Readers have chosen to use their precious private time to come dream, imagine, and on some level believe with you. It’s a big responsibility, but the rewards, as we can see from these lists, are great.

As always, the plug:

Now available in the Kindle Store, The Untold Legend: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56

I have to say, this topic is difficult for me. I can feel uncomfortable letting people know about my accomplishments, but I’m certain that a writer (especially an unknown first-time author) needs to get over that. Let’s face it, we need all the help we can get. No room for being shy.

This week I thought I’d write a few quick pointers I’ve come across, to share with other authors who may read this. Granted, I’ve just started on this journey, so I’d be happy to receive any advice too.

First, if you have a supportive network of family and friends, my guess is that they’ll be more than willing to both purchase your book and help spread the word. This won’t generate massive sales, but every little bit helps.

Second, if you’re not on Goodreads, get on it. Begin conversing with other authors and interested readers. The goal should not only be to get people to read your book, but to review it afterward on both Goodreads and Amazon. Other benefits include connecting with other authors going through the same process, and finding readers that may specifically be interested in the genre of your book.

Third, utilize other forms of social media. As an author, I use Goodreads and Twitter. Some people may feel comfortable using Facebook as well. If you’re lucky, some of the people that follow you on one of these platforms may forward the information to their followers, etc.

Other options, like making connections at local book stores, are not available to authors like me that have published exclusively through the Kindle Store, unless they happen to have a night highlighting local authors of all sorts (even books they don’t sell).

The opportunities for marketing are endless. Some may feel comfortable telling people they work with about their book (while others would not). Spread the word through other local authors at “Meet Up” activities. Write to your local newspaper and schools you’ve graduated from (they may feature you). And of course, you could always pay to advertise.

One last point: Don’t worry TOO much. Just have fun with it. Your book may not become a best seller (in fact, the odds are probably low), but you’ve accomplished something really cool by merely writing and publishing it. If someone reads and enjoys it, I’d say that’s a success. Writing may never make me a millionaire, but I’ll keep writing, and I’ll keep publishing because I love it. So keep your eyes out every six months for the next novel! (Hey… I’ve gotta do a little marketing myself)

Now available in the Kindle Store, The Untold Legend: http://tinyurl.com/hx48v56