Books, Blogs, Authors and More discussion

In our group there are lots of readers who write and writers who read...

We thought it would be useful to share some of the experiences people have had with writing, so help us along with your best tips, the creative tricks you use to get your mind working, advice on things to avoid...whatever you like really from your own experience.

To get us started, why not tell us the thing you've found hardest, easiest or enjoyed the most about becoming an author?

OK - hardest...probably promotion and marketing... it can be really time consuming, to the point you may never write again! :)

Hardest part was actually going through with publishing my very first book.

Part of it is having the confidence to do it.

Proof-reading is an arse though.

Michael wrote: "Hardest part was actually going through with publishing my very first book.

Part of it is having the confidence to do it.

Proof-reading is an arse though."

Yep - also tough - I get to a point where I want to say screw it and just hand it in...probably why I didn't get a first at uni

Michael wrote: "Hardest part was actually going through with publishing my very first book.

Part of it is having the confidence to do it.

Proof-reading is an arse though."

I agree whole-heartedly. My book was essentially complete before I had the confidence to actually tell people I was writing a book. The first time I asked someone to read it I was shaking like a leaf. For me that was the hardest part. After that, promotion is hardest. It is an extension of point one. Its hard, embarrassing, to put you and your work forward for critique, and every read is a potential critique. Proof reading is an arse, for sure, but thats just time and patience.

edit: I decided to do a post on proofreading & editing tips. Check it out:
http://sadieforsythe.com/

Hardest thing...wondering if I'd ever write something this good again! Self promotion takes up a lot of time as well...I could be a stay-at-home writer just for all the time I spend promoting!

Easiest...how quickly it all seems to come together when I do start a book. How easy new ideas come out of what I'm writing as I do it.

Enjoyed the most...making myself laugh and cry while I write, making a character come alive with a little mannerism or turn of phrase.

Does anyone else get stuck in a rut - focusing so much on blogging/promotion type stuff that you don't get anywhere close to writing? I'm finding it especially hard as I'm at a new job and so alot of 'mental' space is taken over with that...feeling a bit frustrated at the moment with how little productive writing I've done in the last few months...

Yup, definitely. It's why I am not posting things to my blog anywhere near as much as I used to.

I have had the exact same problem lately. Adult ADD I think.

I get the same thing - but I tend to overcome it by doing at least the bulk of my first drafts in longhand, in the pub, without any t'internet devices. By the third pint I'm churning out words... whether they make much sense or not is a problem for the editing stage ;)

Melanie wrote: "In our group there are lots of readers who write and writers who read...

We thought it would be useful to share some of the experiences people have had with writing, so help us along with your be..."

The hardest thing about being a writer is accepting the fact that what you've written can always be better. Editors and publishers give suggestions about improvements, and as a writer, I know I need to listen to them. I have a personal connection with every story, with every chapter that I write, and it's hard to make those changes. But those changes are necessary.

The easiest thing is being excited when I get another book published. It's an awesome feeling. I can't describe how privileged I feel when I think, "Gee, something I wrote is in the Library of Congress, is in the local library, and is being read by complete strangers." It's great. Whenever I get a note on FB from a fan, I always take the time to write back because I love that connection.

I Love this thread.
One thing I would like to share is about one of the forms of Writers Block
When you write yourself into a corner. One Great Writer I know said that's the time to blow something up!
I like to use these moments when that happens to think my way out of it. Of course you can back up and see when you headed down the path to the dead end and re-write to go somewhere else or you can come up with some brilliant plot twist to get yourself moving again possibly in a completely new direction. Some of my best twists and turns through my books came from getting stuck. I actually look forward to those moments now!
Again Great thread Awesome Idea!!

Check out the Writer's Corner on my book review blog for some writing tips: http://cafereads.blogspot.com/

I struggle with two things.
1. The doubts that pop up.
2. Focusing on and completing one story. I have four or five I'm working on at the same time.

I think the biggest thing that I am struggling with is not being overwhelmed.

I am still in that uncomfortable place where I am trying to chose my path - to traditionally publish or to self publish. My inbox only seems to collect rejections from agents and editing is slapping me in the face.

I can't even convince my husband to read it, how can I convince the world to read my story? ( He hasn't been in 'the mood' to read, and now its become a matter of principle for him, to resist and not read it because I have been so insistent that I need him to)

But through this, I press on. I sit down each day, open my file and polish it a little more. Soon it will shine and I have to trust that I will find a way to get my story read.

Yeah, I find that when I write lots on my novel, my blog suffers which doesn't help with the self-promotion!

And I get beset by doubts, but I'm stubborn enough to ignore them and just plough ahead anyway.

Graham

I would like to report that since purchasing a Kindle, I have used it to find numerous errors in my work. This has been a great help in self-editing. I knew that changing the font and changing the font size often helped me find errors, but I had no idea how useful it would be to convert my rtf file to mobi using calibre and read it on the Kindle. I plan to purchase another cheap ereader that uses epub format for the same purpose.

Stan wrote: "I would like to report that since purchasing a Kindle, I have used it to find numerous errors in my work. This has been a great help in self-editing. I knew that changing the font and changing th..."

Me too Stan! Funny how they jump right out at you when you read them on a Kindle! Maybe it's the standardised font size and format or something...

Stan wrote: "I would like to report that since purchasing a Kindle, I have used it to find numerous errors in my work. This has been a great help in self-editing. I knew that changing the font and changing th..."

And text to speech! What a great tool.

Melanie wrote: "In our group there are lots of readers who write and writers who read...

We thought it would be useful to share some of the experiences people have had with writing, so help us along with your be..."

The hardest part is definitely the marketing. This was no surprise to me. When I was in law school I supplemented my income by selling my watercolor art, mostly sports figures and rock stars. I had no trouble painting. I had trouble marketing but other artists would routinely sell my work when I took a break and I did reasonably well. Writing, especially as an Indie writer, is more competitive. Only one author has actively helped me in promoting the first two books in my Marie Stuart series (the First Marie and the Queen of ScotsL the Last Knight and the Queen of Scots). But other than a few enthusiastic readers who are not shy in their recommendations, I am on my own. I hate it most of all because the effort to sell books interferes with writing.
The best part of being a writer is receiving unsolicited positive feedback from readers, however rare, and receiving enthusiastic words from editors like Steve McDonaugh and notable persons like Sir Ian Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, kinsman of the First Marie and her husband William Maitland, promenent characters in all three of my Marie Stuart books.

This is an idea I really like. I find that the Irishman John Jameson is my best defense against writer's block. Too bad we don't have much in the way of pubs in the southeastern Mohave.

As to the husband thing that Kelly mentions, I had that problem to some degree with my first book, but my second book, Last Knight and the Queen of Scots, caught his attention, perhaps because of the male protagonist, and he became my most thorough line editor. My big disappointment is that none among my three adult educated children has read all or even most of either. My oldest child is an educator, with MAs in humanities and history,and while she often reads a book a day, she says she lacks the concentration to read The First Marie --too much history, not enough romance. My second child, and this is really painful, is himself a writer. He teaches and coaches for Berlitz, has two novellas on Amazon, and while he liberally solicits my editing services, he has not read more than occasional smatterings of First Marie, although he sends great praise for those segments he had read. Ah, Come on, Michael! My third son has read the most because he did the graphics for First Marie and the cover and some interior illustrations in Last Knight, which of course compelled him to read the related segments. He is a studio artist and a tatoo artist, and I wish he had more time, but making a living is a nice achievement in a child (at the tat parlor, not the art studio, of course.) As for engaging a spouse who is not in the reading mood, perhaps drop a subtle comment that a character in the book is based on him. That should wake him up.

I'm cracking up over dropping that a character is based on him. Unfortunately he likely wouldn't believe me. He and I have discussed my characters at length and he is pretty familiar with them. He says he does want to read it, he just hasn't been in the mood to read anything. Supposedly it is first on his list when he does decide to read again.

And shame on your kids for not reading yours!

I have the spouse problem too. He's always been my sounding board for most of the things I decide to do, but he's not a great reader. Add that to the fact that I write PNR/UF and he thinks vampires and the like are stupid, it's a lost cause.

I think it helps to find beta readers you don't know. As long as they aren't rude, then an honest opinion will help you far more than someone who's trying to protect your feelings.

Right now I am looking for a reader for the third segment of my trilogy who has not read either of the first two. My need is to be sure that the third book can stand alone. I keep writing segments and then wondering, does the reader who has not read First Marie or LastKnight have a clue as to what is going on here? I sent a segment of my final draft of Last Knight and the Queen of Scots to the most critical Scot I know, and he was very positive, even says he misted up at the end.

Kelly wrote: "I can't even convince my husband to read it, how can I convince the world to read my story? ( He hasn't been in 'the mood' to read, and now its become a matter of principle for him, to resist and not read it because I have been so insistent that I need him to)"

Oh, that's got to be hard Kelly (and Sharon!); I'm very lucky my wife reads everything I write - even giving me a first round edit and ideas to bounce off - and if she wouldn't read what I wrote, that would probably be half my reason for writing gone. Her belief in my writing is very important to me.

Maybe you should tell your husband the same thing!

What works for us is that we share the same workspace, each with a lap top. It is impossible to resist looking over to see what the other is doing. And the line edits are something we always do together. This presents the manuscript in small doses. I love it when he says, "Did you really mean to say that?" because I know he is engaged.

I absolutely believe, after 24 years of hammering plastic, that concept or premise is the key that drags the agent or editor immediately into the story. And it all starts with the all-important query letter.

chris

My husband is my greatest critic and now I've got my elder daughter in on the act. I bounce ideas off them and I go with what they say.

You are fortunate. The difficulty I encounter in this regard is that I am traveling in a territory where spouse and daughter have never been and do not chose to go--the 16th century Scotland of Marie Stuart. That is even more of a problem in my present book because much of it takes place in a French convent and it has a strong feminist tone. My husband is a great editor, but not that interested in the plot and theme. My daughter who is an educator and has teenager daughters who read voraciously simply says I need to write about vampires and werewolves. I can see the next title emerging. Marie Stuart and the Vampires of Nor Loch. LOL.

Linda wrote: "You are fortunate. The difficulty I encounter in this regard is that I am traveling in a territory where spouse and daughter have never been and do not chose to go--the 16th century Scotland of Ma..."

I know, I can see your problem. I write historical fiction too but its an interest my husband shares- at least the Indian history part. My daughter puts on a long suffering face but does it for Mum- she's just 21, so still under my thumb! Not for long- I can see the signs of rebellion breaking out.LOL.

Actually my daughter never read my first book- I didn't let her as there were explicit scenes- it is about a courtesan- and I didn't want her to read it-it didn't feel right. She read out some other bit at my book launch as she is trained in theatre and offered.
She has entered the scene with my second book but I don't know whether it will continue. I think, our loved ones are worried that the relationship will change if they critique it- the emotion is fragile and not wanting to hurt your Mum is uppermost.

My daughter is 51, so at least I do not have that problem. But I understand exactly what you mean about the critiquing. My son writes, and he is also very thin-skinned. With the third book, he did better accepting my "suggestions" I had shared some comments on his second book which he disagreed and went forward, and hardly anyone understood the story. He now sees that a writer with a very high IQ cannot target that kind of audience if he wants success. He was way over most people's heads. This time around he seems to be listening. As long as I am writing in the Queen of SCots series, I am going to use members of the MarieStuartSocety discussion group as readers. They tend t o critique whether I ask for it or not. Cheers

i ran across a good book, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. Probably heard about it here.

Good idea, Linda !

Hard things for me involved identifying my blind spots, realizing how little I knew about grammar, and trimming redundancy and repetition.

Blind spots are the word choices and quirks that you unconsciously use and that harm your writing. For me, it's repetition. Sometimes I unconsciously use the same word in close succession. Like the words "unconsciously use" I left in on the previous sentence. So it was hard for me to catch this in the editing stages, and I think a few instances made it to the live book.

Grammar, ugh. You forget so much since high school. I had to read up on conjunctions, for example. FANBOYS, remember it. I had to do a panic edit over a certain grammatical rule with dialogue when I realized I had completely missed it. Believe me, editing every bit of dialogue in the book is not fun.

I think the easiest thing for me was writing the book and plotting it. Once you get into the flow state, the book almost writes itself, and I've found that walking or thinking over a troublesome passage gets results quickly. Writing is fun, and natural; it's the editing and promotion that isn't.

I suspect that in the near future, there will be classes in high school or college that focus on self-editing. These classes will be a direct result of the changing nature of publishing.

I do that- walk out a problem and grammar is a problem. I don't know whether this is still free but paperrater is a good site for editing. I used it for my first book.

Check out the latest from Guerrilla Warfare for Writers (special weapons and tactics). The latest:

GREAT OPENING? OR HAVE YOU SLAMMED THE DOOR?



http://guerrillawarfareforwriters.blo......

aside*from*writing wrote: "OK - hardest...probably promotion and marketing... it can be really time consuming, to the point you may never write again! :)"

New to this thread but had to reply to this ~ Yes, yes, yes! And I don't enjoy marketing and promotion but it's taken over my life.

Melanie wrote: "Does anyone else get stuck in a rut - focusing so much on blogging/promotion type stuff that you don't get anywhere close to writing? I'm finding it especially hard as I'm at a new job and so alot ..."

I admire anyone who can write, promote and hold down a job.

Some great posts here, thanks everyone. I've got a new blog for readers and writers, Pop over for a visit; http://nutsandcrisps.wordpress.com
I'm also keen for other writers to contribute so if you'd be interested please message me here at Goodreads.

Kelly wrote: "I think the biggest thing that I am struggling with is not being overwhelmed.

I am still in that uncomfortable place where I am trying to chose my path - to traditionally publish or to self publi..."
Keep writing Kelly, keep polishing and you certainly will sell!! :)

K.B. wrote: "aside*from*writing wrote: "OK - hardest...probably promotion and marketing... it can be really time consuming, to the point you may never write again! :)"

New to this thread but had to reply to th..."

I too find marketing a bind! All I want to do is write, but all the different on line platforms demand my valuable time. Trouble is, no one can buy your book if they don't know it's published and available. It's a catch two situation.

Writing was the easy part - it was promotion that was hard for me, but once I got into it, then I enjoyed it too.

Thank you for the helpful websites link (to all), which is most useful...getting scared; self doubt today mabie? x

Hello people
I am a copy/structural editor for a publisher (Firedance Books). On this thread - http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/7... - I offer free help to Goodreads members who experience difficulties in this harsh, confusing and turbulent industry. I'm in it and find it really hard to keep up - it must be a nightmare for anyone coming into it fresh.

Kelly wrote: "I think the biggest thing that I am struggling with is not being overwhelmed.

I am still in that uncomfortable place where I am trying to chose my path - to traditionally publish or to self publi..."

Kelly, I know what you mean about husbands. I've been blogging for 5 years prior to writing my novel. I think he clicked on the site once or twice. My husband tells me he is not a reader, which is true. Oh well. At least he is always willing to play with the baby for an hour or two so I can get some writing done.

D.M. wrote: "Hard things for me involved identifying my blind spots, realizing how little I knew about grammar, and trimming redundancy and repetition.

Blind spots are the word choices and quirks that you unco..."


I do the final edit backwards. This means I start at the last line on the last page. This usually helps catch most of the grammatical errors for me.

Some thoughts on different approaches to constructing character in novels http://t.co/IaPJhJ58