8.15.11

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Hope y'all had a good weekend. I did - got the first pass revision of the May '12 book done. Now it's on to the second revision.

In case you're curious, this is how things usually shake out - I do several drafts, my beta readers read it and give their input and corrections, I do one more pass, then sent it to New York. My agent and editor read the book, and give me notes. For this particular book, my editor and I talked at length over lunch about some issues he though could be fixed, then followed up with his thoughts in the manuscript proper. We use the editing functions in Word for this. That method was a big change from my first editor, who sent me the manuscript hardcopy with her notes in red pencil scribbled all over it.

But I've gotten used to it. I read through the manuscipt start to finish just to get an idea of what he had to say, then I start at the beginning and go through each comment individually - adding, subtraction, refining. That's what I've been doing the past few days.

I saw something last week that I wanted to share. It's from the writings of Andre Dubus II:

"A first book is a treasure, and all these truths and quasi-truths I have written about publishing are finally ephemeral. An older writer knows what a younger one has not yet learned. What is demanding and fulfilling is writing a single word, trying to write le mot juste, as Flaubert said; writing several of them which becomes a sentence.

When a writer does that, day after day, working alone with little encouragement, often with discouragement flowing in the writer's own blood, and with the occasional rush of excitement that empties oneself, so that the self is for minutes or longer in harmony with eternal astonishments and visions of truth, right there on the page on the desk; and when a writer does this work steadily enough to complete a manuscript long enough to be a book, the treasure is on the desk.

If the manuscript itself, mailed out to the world where other truths prevail, is never published, the writer will suffer bitterness, sorrow, anger, and, more dangerously, despair, convinced that the work was not worthy, so not worth those days at the desk. But the writer who endures and keeps working will finally know that writing the book was something hard and glorious, for at the desk a writer must try to be free of prejudice, meanness of spirit, pettiness, and hatred; strive to be a better human being than the writer normally is, and to do this through concentration on a single word, and then another, and another.

This is splendid work, as worthy and demanding as any, and the will and resilience to do it are good for the writer's soul. If the work is not published, or is published for little money and less public attention, it remains a spiritual, mental, and physical achievement; and if, in public, it is the widow's mite, it is also, like the widow, more blessed."

Some seriosuly sage advice there.

Tomorrow I'll talk about series arcs. Played golf with my dad this afternoon - didn't do too badly, either. Sunflower seeds were consumed. A corrolation? I'm just sayin'.

8.12.11

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No real work today - played golf with my Dad's men's group. I played rather horribly, but our team did well enough to place 2nd, so I won $15. Which I am promptly pumping back into the economy by taking Mom and Daddy to see Harry Potter 7.2 tonight.

Inside baseball time: look away if you haven't seen the flick. 

I've seen the movie, and really loved it, aside from two or three little quibbles. Mainly, and this is simply my take, I was upset that they writers didn't let Harry be fully the hero. I felt like they continued to portray him as a boy when he truly had become a man. That moment happens in the books when he has to bury Dobby. This character alteration started in THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, when instead of smashing the prophecy like Harry does in the book, they have him hand it to Lucius Malfoy. This bothered me tremendously. Harry is fully in control in the book, very much the hero, making decisions that can only be seen as valiant, courageous, lion-hearted, but in the movies, it's almost as if they don't want to allow him to live up to his potential.

I was also upset that they cut the scene where he goes around to the families and friends to thank them for their "service." He is their leader, after all. Their prince. Their general. Their inspiration. They'd died for him, bled for him. In the books, it's one of the most heartbreaking and inspiring scenes, but they glossed over it in the movie.

I have all sorts of theories about why this happens, but you're not here for a sociology lesson, so let's just leave it as it bugs me.

But overall, it is a glorious bit of filmmaking. I thought the effects were the best yet, and all in all, I give it five stars, because it does such a superb job of finishing things off. I can't wait to see it for the second time. The second of many, I predict.

Now, Rachel asked about short story markets. I'm assuming since you're here you are writing in the crime fiction market? Check here - this is a pretty up to date list of magazines and ezines who are accepting submissions. Don't be afraid to ask around on Twitter - follow some of the crime fic short story gurus - Bryon Quertermous, Dave White, Duane Swierczynski, Gerald So, Steve Weddle, for starters, and see where they're sending their work. Also, start subscribing to the magazines that house the shorts market - Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, Crimespree, The Strand, Needle and the like. Good luck!

Will be diving back into the May book revision tomorrow - hopefully will be finished by Tuesday. Then it will be time for a full-on read through revision, making sure everything is as good as it can be before it goes to copyedit.

And now, a word from our sponsors:

I was so excited to see that my friend Declan Burke has a new book out - ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. You've got to get this book! Dec is a wildly original Irishman - that should be enough to entice you right there. But if it's not...

“A genuinely original take on noir, inventive and funny. Imagine, if you can, a cross between Flann O’Brien and Raymond Chandler.” – John Banville, author of THE SEA

“Close it down, blow it up – what’s the difference?”

Billy Karlsson needs to get real. Literally. A hospital porter with a sideline in euthanasia, Billy is a character trapped in the purgatory of an abandoned novel. Deranged by logic, driven beyond sanity, Billy makes his final stand: if killing old people won’t cut the mustard, the whole hospital will have to go up in flames.

Only his creator can stop him now, the author who abandoned Billy to his half-life limbo, in which Billy schemes to do whatever it takes to get himself published, or be damned... .

“ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL is unlike anything else you’ll read this year … Laugh-out-loud funny … This is writing at its dazzling, cleverest zenith. Think John Fowles, via Paul Auster and Rolling Stone … a feat of extraordinary alchemy.” – Ken Bruen, author of AMERICAN SKIN

Totally cool? No. Absolute Zero Cool.

I'll see y'all on Monday - have a super weekend!

8.11.11

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Lot's done today. With the inspiring view off the deck, coupled with a brief windy rainstorm, focus wasn't hard. I edited the first 177 pages of the book, added over 2300 words, and stopped for the day only because the power went out, and the battery died on my laptop. E così va.

Rachel asked:

When you set those writing goals and force yourself to get a set amount of pages/words done a day how do you keep yourself from feeling like you got a bunch of worthless words on the page with only a few that are actually good? That's the main issue I deal with when I force myself to sit at a computer and type, feeling like I wrote a lot but only a small portion of that is any good. Recently I went back and took a look at something I hated when I wrote it and now that some time had passed my inner critic actually thought it wasn't that bad. Is there any trick you know of to tamp that feeling down without letting too much time go by? I'm trying to get serious about my writing and cut down on the time it takes me to crank things out.

This is a fabulous question, and I'll tell you why. I think all writers have this very conversation with themselves. I know I did (do?) especially when I was just starting out. 9 years ago, halfway through my first manuscript, I was stuck. I had 50,000 words, and I didn't know what to do next. I was trying to make every word absolutely perfect, and spinning my wheels. I mentioned this to my dad, himself a big reader - and also an engineer. He gave me some of the best advice I ever received. He told me to get the story down, and worry about the rest later.

It was very powerful advice. You can polish that first 50,000 words so many times that you neglect to push forward and get the second 50,000. Whether you're laying pipe or building a novel, each piece builds on the piece before. It's more important to finish the book than worry about whether you're writing Pulitzer-quality prose. That's what revision is for. So I remind myself of that.

If you think in terms of getting to the end of the story, instead of how good the words are, you will be able to move forward and get the novel finished. Then you can make it all pretty.

In order to do that, I do set daily writing goals. I shoot for 1,000 a day. That's about 5 manuscript pages. It's not a lot in the grand scheme of a 100,000 word novel. But.... if you write 1,000 words a day for 90 days, you'll have a full-length novel in three months. THREE MONTHS. Don't think it's possible? Trust me, it is. But not if you belabor each word. You have to write the story. You can belabor the words when it's done. When it sit down to the computer, I spend the first part of the writing session re-reading what I wrote the day before, editing it as I go. Then I launch into my new 1,000 words. Some days, it feels like six steps backward for each step forward. But no matter what, there are steps forward. Each 1,000 words brings me closer to the end. Forward progress is essential.

Each writer has their own path up the mountain. You have to find the daily rhythm that works best for you. We have a saying, "Don't mess with your process." If it's working, and you're finishing books, stick with it.

And... and this is going to frustrate the hell out of you... you get better at it the more you do it. Writing is a mental exercise. If you exercise every day, you get stronger, tighter, and more focused. Simple as that.

Now, as it happens, I read something this morning so perfectly timed I had to wonder about how the universe really works. It's from Slate Magazine, by Michael Agger, called How To Write Faster. I kid you not. In it, he searches for the secrets of quickness in composition. It's a brilliant, fascinating article, and one of my favorite parts follows:

[Ronald] Kellogg, a psychologist at Saint Louis University, tours the research in the field, where many of the landmarks are his own. Some writers are "Beethovians" who disdain outlines and notes and instead "compose rough drafts immediately to discover what they have to say." Others are "Mozartians"—cough, cough—who have been known to "delay drafting for lengthy periods of time in order to allow for extensive reflection and planning." According to Kellogg, perfect-first-drafters and full-steam-aheaders report the same amount of productivity. Methinks someone is lying. And feel free to quote this line the next time an editor is nudging you for copy: "Although prewriting can be brief, experts approaching a serious writing assignment may spend hours, days, or weeks thinking about the task before initiating the draft."

"Although prewriting can be brief, experts approaching a serious writing assignment may spend hours, days, or weeks thinking about the task before initiating the draft."

That's the secret, really. If you do a bit of pre-thought before you sit down, you will find the end quicker and easier. My stories percolate for a very long time before they get onto the page. That helps me write faster and cleaner.

Heretofore, I am changing the oft-referred to terms "pantser" and "outliner" to the much more elegant and appropriate "Beethovian" or "Mozartian". I am a Beethovian writer. I like it.

More tomorrow. Playing golf with the men. Wish me luck. 

8.10.11

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I love airplanes. There is something so exciting about getting on a plane and traveling to a different place. There's such optimism, such opportunity. Bitchy people too - I've noticed that people who are miserable traveling are often making the misery for themselves. Me, I love it. 

I'm late posting today because I was on a plane, then being treated to lunch at one of my most favorite restaurants in all the world. If you care, I had a shredded chicken burrito smothered in green chile. The best green chile you will ever eat.

I love airplanes not just because of the way travel hurtles you into the unknown, but because it is the one place that I can truly escape. No Internet access, (and if they do have it and it's offered, I decline politely) which means I can, for the duration of a flight, do anything I want without guilt. Listening to music is always high on the totem pole. And I usually read, though on longer flights, I work.

Today, I worked. I finished the edits on my friend's wonderful manuscript, then managed 700 on the sandwiched book. I don't know what else to call it right now - by default, publicly it has taken on the sandwich moniker. Privately, it does have a title. I can't write a book without one.

Tomorrow I start edits on the May '12 book, (yes, it too has a title, and I'll share it after we get the September book birthed into the world.) I'm excited to revisit this story. I've looked through my editor's notes; all points are quite salient. I intend to add a real ending - sometimes I like to turn in books that aren't entirely finished, just to make sure everyone shares my vision, and then I finish things off the way I see fit. Hopefully with a flourish, one that satisfies everyone. This one will end with an epilogue. I'm looking forward to writing it, actually, because it's been floating around my head for three or four weeks now, and I like it.

Yes, sometimes, we actually do like what we write.

 This is a good spot to answer Sarah's question from yesterday. She asked:

Do you write your books from beginning to end or do you skip around to certain parts? This is something that bothers me immensely for some reason.

It is an excellent question. I know you can ask ten authors this and get ten answers. For me - I do write in a linear fashion, though I don't follow an outline, instead preferring to make it up as I go. One of the biggest joys of my job is ending the day in a place I never expected. It makes it fun.

Outlining used to give me hives. But the more I write, the more I like having some sort of blueprint to follow. So my usual method goes as follows:

First 25,000 words (100 pages) - Balls to the wall writing. Like my hair is on fire. Not worrying about the story, just telling the tale. By page 100, the story is starting to take shape, and I do a little more thinking about where I go next. I am still working linearly at this point.

When I hit 50,000 words (200 pages) the end sometimes begins to show itself. If it does, and that's a big if, I will skip ahead and write the end. If it doesn't, I continue plowing ahead.

Between 50-75,000 words (200-300 pages) things start coming together. Scenes that need to be dealt with start popping up, so I write them, or at the very least, throw down a couple of paragraphs to remind myself. So I'll have 200-300 pages of real manuscript, and probably 20-30 pages of "what happens next."

75-100,000 usually pours out, not like honey, which I've been dealing with. More like hot maple syrup. These are the 3, 4, 5K days. And then I tie it all together in a tidy little bow. (ha!)

After 9 novels, this method has become pretty typical for me. I also find that almost always, I've started in the wrong place, but that's probably a topic all unto itself.

More tomorrow. As always, ask away. I'm going to go watch the sun set behind the mountains now.

8.9.11

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A better day.

I don't know about you, but sometimes, I get so much work on my plate that I simply shut down. I find myself surfing the net instead of working - in other words - yesterday.

But today was much more focused. I edited the 10,000 from last Thursday, and was pleased to find that I didn't have to cut any of it. Just a few tweaks here and there, some thought continuations, tying one scene to the next, and the like. At the end of the writing day, I had 2,000 new words as well. I almost have 100 pages now, and though I haven't a clue where it's going, I'm having fun with it. This is my 90 day challenge book - the one I decided to write for fun. I know we're not supposed to do that, but I was waiting for edits on my May 2012 book, and hadn't decided what I wanted to write as the December 2012 book. But I didn't want to lose momentum. Losing momentum can kill you creatively.

So I set myself a 90 day challenge. 1,000 words a day for 90 days. I got really far behind, but I'm caught up now. According to the schedule, I should have 30K by next Monday, and I'm on track to beat that. Regardless, part of my agreement with myself is I have to all-stop on October 15 whether it's finished or not, and move on to my December '12 title.

Why in the world am I sandwiching in a book, you may ask?

Several reasons. Momentum being one of the biggest. We're writers, right? Which means we're supposed to be writing. I started looking at my creative output and decided I could do better.

I usually turn books in in September and February. This year, my schedule has changed a bit. That's the result of the move to trade paperback - those books release every 9 months instead of every 6. As such, I turned the May '12 book in June 15, but the schedule changed (the book moved from March to May), so I didn't get the edits until last week. I had some time to play. And my brain is still on that original schedule, so technically, I found three months.

That is a massive exaggeration. I usually get very little writing done in August and September. This is the time of year when I do a lot of personal travel. It is also the time of year that promotion gears up for the fall book. As we speak, next week, I'll be launching into the prep work that I need to do to get ready. Newsletters, blog entries, contests, website changes, bookplates - all that stuff. All time consuming, and creativity consuming. Then it's the launch, and tour. Though I've cut back drastically this year, I'll still be doing four signings and three festivals. That takes away from creative time. In my normal yearly schedule, I don't get started on the next book until the middle of October anyway. But all that time is generally lost. 

This year, I wanted to do something different. Instead of spinning my wheels, feeling like I should be writing, but instead fiddling with words, I decided to take advantage of this time and get a book done. Yes, it will be a draft, and most likely an unfinished one, to boot. But that's okay. It's a story that's been niggling at me, and I finally have a good sense of where it's going, so I might as well write it.

I'm also working on the edits for the May '12 book right now. Actually, that starts Thursday. For once, the changes are relatively minimal. The book was the tightest I've written, and my editor thankfully agreed, so outside of typical revising, it won't be a huge mess to reconstruct.

Top that off with outside work: I'm editing a great book for a friend, have two that need to be read for blurbs, and am dealing with the usual day to day work that must be done.

Yesterday, I got tired. Everything began to weigh on me, and I froze.  My brain wasn't going to work. It happens. But today, I feel better. Energized. And hopefully, tomorrow will be more of the same.

And yes, I did eat sunflower seeds. But I typed one-handed, just to ward off another lost day. I'm not sure where the sunflower seed addiction has come from, but at least it's a healthy one, right?