Chris Bostic's Blog - Posts Tagged "series"
Happy New Year...better late than never
Happy New Year! Yes, I realize it’s already February, but I’m thinking I didn’t mention that when the calendar changed to 2016. Shortly before Christmas, I pretty much checked out of social media. The holidays came and went with joy and a grand adventure, and the afterglow carried me all through January in my own little bubble. So my break didn’t have any deep underlying purpose. I didn’t swear off Facebook to focus on writing. It just happened.
Truth be told, I’ve actually done a fair amount of writing and editing in recent weeks. I’ve worked quite a bit on a brand new series that’s more SciFi than anything I’ve done before. I’ve also gone through my back catalog of unpublished novels and edited one particular gem to a fine polish. Mostly, though, I wanted to take a short break (that sort of became a longer break) to think about my writing career.
I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I suppose I’ve finally settled on a path. After a few years of publishing experience in the indie world, I’ve decided that 2016 will be the year of the deal. That’s it. I’m putting it out there on the record. I’ve been blessed with two indie publisher who were more than happy to publish my work. Five books, in the span of little more than 2 years. That was no small accomplishment, but now it’s time to dream even bigger, because that’s what a person should do. Make big plan; live large; focus on the future. Keep writing too, and find a way to break out from the pack.
The publishing thing is all subject to change, of course. I say that a lot in my line of work, but it’s true. I have another standalone adventure book that’s ready to go to print. I could maybe turn that one out on a whim; maybe even try the self-publishing thing with it. Try to convince me, and maybe I’ll surprise you with a new release. But my sights are focused like a laser on a slightly more distant future. I think I have a couple of great prospective series in the works. Someone’s going to want to represent them. Someone will want to publish them. I believe that. I have to.
So I’ll repeat my little affirmation when the months drag by and I start to doubt. Hopefully you’re out there living your dreams. I’m going to try harder to make mine happen. Happy New Year…better late than never.
Truth be told, I’ve actually done a fair amount of writing and editing in recent weeks. I’ve worked quite a bit on a brand new series that’s more SciFi than anything I’ve done before. I’ve also gone through my back catalog of unpublished novels and edited one particular gem to a fine polish. Mostly, though, I wanted to take a short break (that sort of became a longer break) to think about my writing career.
I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I suppose I’ve finally settled on a path. After a few years of publishing experience in the indie world, I’ve decided that 2016 will be the year of the deal. That’s it. I’m putting it out there on the record. I’ve been blessed with two indie publisher who were more than happy to publish my work. Five books, in the span of little more than 2 years. That was no small accomplishment, but now it’s time to dream even bigger, because that’s what a person should do. Make big plan; live large; focus on the future. Keep writing too, and find a way to break out from the pack.
The publishing thing is all subject to change, of course. I say that a lot in my line of work, but it’s true. I have another standalone adventure book that’s ready to go to print. I could maybe turn that one out on a whim; maybe even try the self-publishing thing with it. Try to convince me, and maybe I’ll surprise you with a new release. But my sights are focused like a laser on a slightly more distant future. I think I have a couple of great prospective series in the works. Someone’s going to want to represent them. Someone will want to publish them. I believe that. I have to.
So I’ll repeat my little affirmation when the months drag by and I start to doubt. Hopefully you’re out there living your dreams. I’m going to try harder to make mine happen. Happy New Year…better late than never.
Lesson Learned
I'll admit it. I make mistakes sometimes. My latest was a truly, epically dumb one that wasted A LOT of time. But at least I learned a valuable lesson.
I have a number of difference series in the works, and typically skip between them. I'll draft a book or edit a book, then put it aside and work on something else. It helps keep things fresh, but apparently not fresh enough.
A short while back, having finished with another series, I started working on a sequel to my latest dystopian/adventure/thriller book. Somehow, and rather foolishly, I paid no attention to the fact that the first book was written in first person, past tense. So I wrote the ENTIRE first draft of the second book in third person. Thankfully past tense, but still a huge 75,000 word mistake.
Long story short (pun intended), it's taken days(seriously!) to fix all the pronouns and make it flow right. Zach = I, him = me, his = my, their = our... and so on a thousand times over. No simple 'Find and Replace' could be done.
The worst part? It was totally preventable. I like to write different series in different POV, and often different tenses. But all I had to do was take a quick look back at the first book. Maybe the problem could be that I know my characters a little too well, and didn't think I needed to look back for something so simple as POV.
But the edits are all finished...finally. Lesson learned--big time. And just in time to get my NCAA Tournament bracket filled out. Not a moment too soon. Sounds like it's time to take a little writing break and watch some basketball games.
I have a number of difference series in the works, and typically skip between them. I'll draft a book or edit a book, then put it aside and work on something else. It helps keep things fresh, but apparently not fresh enough.
A short while back, having finished with another series, I started working on a sequel to my latest dystopian/adventure/thriller book. Somehow, and rather foolishly, I paid no attention to the fact that the first book was written in first person, past tense. So I wrote the ENTIRE first draft of the second book in third person. Thankfully past tense, but still a huge 75,000 word mistake.
Long story short (pun intended), it's taken days(seriously!) to fix all the pronouns and make it flow right. Zach = I, him = me, his = my, their = our... and so on a thousand times over. No simple 'Find and Replace' could be done.
The worst part? It was totally preventable. I like to write different series in different POV, and often different tenses. But all I had to do was take a quick look back at the first book. Maybe the problem could be that I know my characters a little too well, and didn't think I needed to look back for something so simple as POV.
But the edits are all finished...finally. Lesson learned--big time. And just in time to get my NCAA Tournament bracket filled out. Not a moment too soon. Sounds like it's time to take a little writing break and watch some basketball games.
