Perfection Is The Death Of Creativity

I can no longer use a word processor to write.

I sit and stare at my computer screen groping for a thought, any thought, to make an appearance but as soon as one does it turns tail and flees as though every movie monster ever conceived wants it as a nice light snack. I can only write if I draft the piece in my blog editor and copy the newly expressed thoughts into my word processing program.

At least, that's what happens when I try to write blog posts using a word processor. At first I thought blog posts, being non-fiction, might require a different process than my fiction. (It's possible, right?) But this problem doesn't only occur when I write non-fiction, it rears it's shaggy, misshapen, slightly mocking, mustard stained head when it comes to my fiction as well.

A few months ago I noticed I couldn't write the first draft of a story sitting at my desk, typing words into my word processor, but I can do it if I scribble them into my journal. Only then, once the words are safely on the page, can I type them into my computer and begin editing.

Odd, right?

I didn't understand why until now. (At least, I think I know.) When I write a blog I take a piece of writing, even a lengthy one, from nothing to completed in around 2 or 3 hours. As a result I have to accept that the piece I'm creating won't be perfect. The result? My thoughts tumble over one another in their eagerness to escape.

Similarly, my journal is, and has always been, a place of no rules where I can write whatever I feel like with no fear of criticism. What I write in my journal is for me, and me alone.

The common thread seems to be that if I'm freed from the idea my writing needs to be perfect that I can write. I feel free to let thoughts flow, unchecked, uncensored, until I come by on the second (third, fourth ...) drafts and make them tuck in their shirttails and shine their shoes.

Well, that's my thought for this Sunday, that creativity may be the price paid by the desire for perfection.

I guess what I've been talking about--my inability to use a word processor for my first draft--is a kind of writers block. Do you have writer's block? Have you ever? Did you, like me, find a workaround?

Edit (Oct 7, 12): I changed the first line from "I can no longer use a computer to write" to the infinitely more accurate "I can no longer use a word processor to write". :-)

Other articles you might like:
- NaNoWriMo: 5 Tips On How To Get Ready
- 7 Tips On How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted
- 12 Writing Tips: How To Be A Writer

Photo credit: Dawn Ashley

Jim Butcher On Writing

Jim Butcher's posts on the art and craft of writing are the best I've read and have been of enormous help to me. I often recommend these posts but haven't found any one place where all the URLs are listed. True, most of them can be found on Jim's Livejournal blog but they appear (as one would expect) in reverse order and there's no index.

I likely haven't gathered all the links to all Jim's articles on writing so if you know of one that isn't listed, please mention it in the comment section and provide the URL if you have it. Thanks!

Jim Butcher's Posts On Writing
These posts are all from Jim Butcher's Livejournal blog.
- Story Craft (Sept 21, 2004)
- Conflict, Logical Response, Point of View (Sept 23, 2004)
- Fundamentals--Story Skeletons (Sept 29, 2004)
- Characters (Feb 10, 2005)
- The Great Swampy Middle (July 11, 2006)
- Scenes (Dec 28, 2006)
- Sequels (Dec 29, 2006)
- Story Climax (November 19, 2007)
- Putting It All Together (April 23, 2008)
- The Most Important Thing an Aspiring Author Needs to Know (Nov 3, 2011)

From Magical Words:
- How to build a Villain, by Jim Butcher (August 1, 2011)
Jim Butcher made some great writing related remarks in the comment section; I provide a summary here: How To Build A Villain.

Other Jim Butcher Resources
Interviews
- Subterranean Press: Jim Butcher by John Joseph Adams (Winter, 2009)
- Interview with Jim Butcher, author of The Dresden Files (July 26, 2011)
My favorite quote: "[I]t’s easy to come across as witty in a book as long as you spend enough time in your head having conversations with imaginary people".
- Jim Butcher Interview - Ghost Story (YouTube Video) (August 1, 2011) 
- Sword & Laser ep. 16 - Author Guide to Jim Butcher

Podcasts
- The Butcher Block (2006 to 2009)
An irregular podcast about all things Jim Butcher as well as the things Jim's fans find cool.
- Geeks Guide To the Galaxy: GGG#45 (Sept 24, 2011)
Featured guests have been: George R. R. Martin, Richard Dawkins and Ursula K. Le Guin among others. Sept 24, 2011

Jim Butcher's Website & Forums
- Jim Butcher's Website & Forums
The following links will likely require you to register on Jim's site:
- Dresden Files Word of Jim (WoJ) Compilation.  
- Old School Email List. Contains material that predates the forums.
- Jim Butcher's posts on Amazon and elsewhere.
- Twitter tidbits.
- Transcriptions of various audio and visual sources.
Thanks go out to Serack and the other folks over at Jim Butcher's forums for compiling this information and making it available to the public.

Other
- Jim Butcher in the Speculative Fiction Database
- Jim Butcher on Goodreads

Other links you might like:
- Jim Butcher, Harry Dresden and the Dresden Files
- Jim Butcher: Cold Days, The Next Dresden Book, On Sale Nov 27th, 2012
- 3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters

Photo credit: Unknown

NaNoWriMo: 5 Tips On How To Get Ready

It's NaNoWriMo time! Well, almost. What's NaNoWriMo? It's an annual writing event in which participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel in the month of November.

Here are the rules:

[T]o be an official NaNoWriMo winner, you must…

1. Write a 50,000-word (or longer!) novel, between November 1 and November 30.
2. Start from scratch. None of your own previously written prose can be included in your NaNoWriMo draft (though outlines, character sketches, and research are all fine, as are citations from other people’s works).
3. Write a novel. We define a novel as a lengthy work of fiction. If you consider the book you’re writing a novel, we consider it a novel too!
4. Be the sole author of your novel. Apart from those citations mentioned two bullet-points up.
5. Write more than one word repeated 50,000 times.
6. Upload your novel for word-count validation to our site between November 25 and November 30.

50,000 words sounds like a lot. Here's how the word count breaks down:

Write every day: 1,667 words a day.
Write 6 days a week: 1,923 words a day.
Write 5 days a week: 2,273 words a day.

Most of the folks I've talked to say they shoot for 2,000 words a day so they can have a day off if they feel like it.

NaNoWriMo Links
If you want to participate in NaNoWriMo, head on over to National Novel Writing Month and sign up. It's free!

What you want to do first is read about how NaNoWriMo works. If you'd like to meet up with other folks doing NaNo click here to see if there's a group doing NaNo near you. Also, don't forget to check out the discussion forms because half the fun of NaNo is that you're going through this with other people.

Preparing For NaNoWriMo
As Kristen Lamb says, "There is no sense in knocking out 50,000 words, if, at the end, we have an un-fixable mess" (Structure Part 4–Testing Your Idea–Is it Strong Enough to Make an Interesting Novel?). Not, that is, if you're a writer and your goal isn't simply to write 50,000 words in a month. That's all it is for some folks, and that's fine. But if you're a writer your goal is to create a (publishable) story.

Here are my suggestions on how to prepare for NaNoWriMo:

1) Start writing 2,000 words a day now
I imagine your first thought after reading that was: "Is she crazy?" Well, I might be, but not because of that!

Notice I didn't say: start writing 2,000 words of a novel. Yesterday I wrote about 1,600 words for my blog and probably at least another 400 words of fiction, so I wrote 2000 words. I'm not trying to pat myself on the back, but it's one thing to just write 2,000 words and quite another to write 2,000 of the first draft of a novel. The latter is much harder.

So, if you're not already writing 2,000 words a day, start doing it now. Take the time between now and the beginning of November to gradually ramp up your word count. That way when you start on your novel on November 1st it won't be such a shock to your system.

What should you write? Anything! Short stories, blog posts, whatever strikes your fancy. If you don't have a blog, and you don't feel like beginning one, you can always write guest posts.

Just in case you think my suggestion to write 2,000 words a day is outrageous, think about this. In a recent blog post I wrote about Kris Rusch's announcement that she had written a million words last year. A million!

That means, on average, Kris wrote 3,000 words a day with no days off. Okay, if you want to be picky, she wrote 2,858 per day, but that is way over what is required for NaNo. Since Kris writes about 86,000 words per month each month for her is NaNo!

2) Work on the structure of your novel
The rules state that:

None of your own previously written prose can be included in your NaNoWriMo draft (though outlines, character sketches, and research are all fine, as are citations from other people’s works).

So it's perfectly appropriate to work on an outline of your novel before Nov 1st and I'd suggest that, if you're anything like me, it's a darn good idea.

3) Prepare your meals beforehand
Prepare as many meals as you can in advance and freeze them. Also, go shopping and fill your pantry with nutritious canned food (soup, etc); anything that's good for you and easy to heat up. Repeat after me: Pringles chips are (deliciously) evil.

4) Find a writing place
If you haven't already done so, find a place, or places, you can write. You'll want it to be quiet and comfortable.

5) Tell your friends and family you're participating in NaNoWriMo
You may have to step back from a couple of events in November and it helps if your friends and family know why. Also, if you tell everyone you'll have the first draft of a novel completed by the end of November that will help keep you on track. No one likes to admit they've failed, especially to their family. (Because, of course, you'd still be hearing about it 10 years from now!)

I'd love to hear from anyone who is doing NaNoWriMo or has done it in the past. How are you preparing? If you've gone through NaNoWriMo in the past, what did you think of it? Was it a good experience, one you would recommend to others?

Other articles you might like:
- Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?
- Libraries Look To Indie Authors As The Future
- 12 Writing Tips: How To Be A Writer

Photo credit: Anthony Anaxagorou

12 Writing Tips: How To Be A Writer

I discover the most marvelous links over at Jane Friedman's blog. Today she introduced a terrific article by Josh Swiller over at glimmertrain.com entitled Twelve Tips on Writing. Josh's advice resonated with me so here is my paraphrase of his 12 tips, filtered through my own experience.

1) Learn to sit alone in a room
Recently I was on vacation and found myself waiting for a friend while they went shopping. Having nothing to do (I'm not great at shopping) I pulled out the pad of paper I keep in my purse, found a pen that worked (no small feat), and began writing. My friend came back about 20 minutes later and wanted to leave and I had to say, "Sure, just give me a few minutes" because I'd caught an idea and wanted to put it down on paper.

Perhaps I should go shopping with friends more often ...

My point is ... I do have one, honest ... that I'm mildly disagreeing with Josh Swiller on this one. He writes:

Tobias Wolff once said, "writing is learning to sit alone in a room." I couldn't agree more. If you feel you have better things to do with your time than sitting alone in a room, I sincerely applaud you. Go and do these things!

Often when I'm alone in a quiet room I find it difficult to concentrate (I know Josh didn't say the room had to be quiet). Right now I have my window open and the sounds of construction are drifting through. I have a box fan on beside me (my apartment is like a greenhouse in the summer). For me this is quiet. Almost too quiet. Often I'll put on music or a TV show I've watched a bizillon times (so I don't feel the need to watch it). I like, and often need, background noise. Put me in a silent, bare, room all by myself and I doubt I'd be able to write a word, my thoughts would babble and become static.

Also, I do like writing surrounded by other people. In coffee shops for instance. Or surrounded by cats. (Preferably napping cats, otherwise they want to be held and petted and fussed over.)

Color me strange. :)

2) Remove all distractions from your writing area
Great advice! What will count as a distraction differs from person to person but, certainly, put your phone on vibrate and leave it in another room. You know what distracts you from writing; whatever it is remove it from your writing area.

3) Daydream before you write
Before you sit down to write put aside a few minutes for daydreaming. Use this time to scribble down your uncensored thoughts.

4) Set aside a space for writing
Have a designated spot that is your writing place. You can have more than one and it doesn't always have to be at the place you live. You could write at a library, a coffee shop, a park, or in your car. Just pull over somewhere scenic and write.

The important thing is "that there's a certain place that has creative power for you because something about it makes your brain more cooperative to the nefarious demands writing makes".

(Sometimes, though, I think it helps to write in the same spot each day. That way, if you do write in the same place at the same time each and every day you will feel odd not writing there. Rather than it being something you're tempted to avoid, it will be something your mind wants to do.)

5) Write at the same time every day
I find it easiest to write when I first wake and dream fragments still cling to me. Other people like to wake up, go through their email, check Twitter, and so on, and then shut themselves off from the world to write. Whatever works for you.

The important thing is that you write at the same time each day. After a few weeks it will become habitual and, when that happens, you will feel odd not writing during that time. Personally I've found these two points--(4) and (5)--to be of enormous help.

6) Set aside at least 2 hours to write

7) Yes, really, 2 hours

8) Respect the process
No matter how blocked you feel, and even if you think your writing is so bad you might as well just give up for the day--after all, why waste 2 whole hours if you're writing drek--resist the urge to do something else. Respect the process. Set aside 2 hours and, no matter what, write. No excuses.

This advice--which, again, is Josh Swiller's advice, I'm just paraphrasing it and running it through the filter of my experience--seems to mesh with Jerry Seinfeld's Chain Method (How To Write Every Day: Jerry Seinfeld And The Chain Method). Briefly: When you meet your writing goal for the day mark an "X" on your calendar. Try to get a 'chain' of as many unbroken "X's as you can. 

9) "Kitchen sink" your first draft
Include everything. If you're not sure whether something belongs, throw it in. This reminds me of Stephen King's advice to writers in his book On Writing. King writes:

Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it. (Stephen King, On Writing)

When I write my first draft I write it for me. It is completely personal. When I start my second draft I put on my editor's hat and let my inner critic loose.

It's interesting that Josh mentions it can help to handwrite the first draft; I find that too. For me, the key has been that handwriting my story into a journal prevents me from editing my first draft. I read what I wrote the day before, do slight corrections, and then begin that days writing.

10) Rewriting: Do a bit better each time
Years ago, when I worked in an office, I heard about a principle called "the 85% solution". It was the idea that a lot of folks spend 15% of their time to get a project 85% perfect and 85% of their time trying to get the other 15% right. The best way to do things, we were told, was to spend 15% of our time getting it 85% right and then take a break, come back, and take a second pass at it.

When I first started using this principle in my writing it was a revelation of the heavenly choir variety. As I mentioned, I (try to) completely lock out my inner critic on the first draft then I just concentrate on getting each draft better. Josh writes:

The goal with the next drafts is just to be a little better each time. Don't be chasing perfect sentences and metaphors as beautiful as rainbow moonbeams reflected in baby unicorn eyes. Settle for making each draft a little better. This takes patience because some of these drafts will make you aghast. But if there's a kernel in each that excites you, trust it will bloom in time.

Awesome advice! Now I just need to take it.

11) Don't take your writing too seriously
There are many breathtakingly beautiful things in the world. A baby's smile, tropical fish swimming in crystal clear water suspended over bone white sand. Fractals. Chances are, your writing isn't one of them, but that's fine because it's not supposed to be. Tell a story and tell it as well as you can. Publish it/submit it. Tell another story. And so on.

12) Active voice is best, except when it isn't
Josh writes:

Active voice please. Unless passive would really go better. Then go ahead and use passive.

Thanks for reading. If anyone has any tips they would like to share, please do!

Other articles you might like:
- Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?
- Norway Pays Authors $19,000 Per Year
- Libraries Look To Indie Authors As The Future

Photo credit: Diegosaurius Rex

How To Write Every Day: Jerry Seinfeld And The Chain Method

The Chain Method, as it's come to be known, is Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret--one of them at least!--but it is great for anyone who wants to engage in some sort of creative activity every day. What is it? I'll let Brad Isaac tell you.

When Brad Isaac was a young comic he asked Jerry Seinfeld if he had any tips.

[Jerry Seinfeld] said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. But his advice was better than that. He had a gem of a leverage technique he used on himself and you can use it to motivate yourself—even when you don't feel like it.

He revealed a unique calendar system he uses to pressure himself to write. Here's how it works.

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. "After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain."

"Don't break the chain," he said again for emphasis. (Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret)

I've been using the Chain Method for a few months and have had great success with it. I printed off a calendar using MS Word, one that has the whole year on a single page, and put it on my fridge. Each day that I meet my writing goal I put an "X" through that day.

My goal is to have an unbroken chain of "X"'s. If something comes up and I do break the chain, I try not to get too discouraged. After all, life happens. I try to get as many unbroken links in the chain as I can and it turns the work into a bit of a game, a private challenge to myself.

If you're having trouble writing every day, give it a try. It's inexpensive, easy, and you just might be surprised how well it works.

(I first read about Jerry Seinfeld's Chain Method from Michael Haynes blog. Thanks Michael!)

Other links you might like:
- 7 Tips On How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted
- Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?
- 3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters

Photo credit: t r e v y

7 Tips On How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted

Today Kristen Lamb blogged about how to get your guest post accepted. This got me thinking about what I look for in guest posts. (And, by the way, bloggers love guest posts!)

So, without further ado, here are 7 tips for how to get your guest post accepted.

1. Tell the blogger what you can do for their blog

You don't want to email someone who doesn't know you and ask them to do something for you. You wouldn't do this in the non-digital world (aka 'real life') so don't do it in the digital one either. If you do, your email will be classified as junk mail and promptly deleted. Instead, present the blogger with an offer, tell them what you can do for them.

2. Show you are familiar with the blog

If you're offering to write a post on spec don't ask the blogger to set you a topic, suggest something. Also, make sure what you suggest is within the subject matter of the blog. For instance, if the blog is about cooking, don't say you could write an article on how to get more pageviews a month. Yes, the blogger might be interested in receiving more pageviews, but a post about pageviews/SEO would be completely out of place for a food related blog.

3. Be patient, but not too patient

The more popular a blog, the more congested the blogger's mailbox. If you send off an email and you don't hear back within 24 hours, don't fret. They're busy, they'll get to it. If they don't, send a polite email about a week later mentioning your previous email. Chances are they meant to reply but something came up.

4. Be flexible

The blogger might not be interested in any of your suggested topics so make sure to mention that you're open to suggestions. (Don't expect the blogger to set you a topic, but be flexible.) Sometimes there is a topic the blogger wanted to write about but hasn't had the time and it's very close to something you've suggested.

Even after you and the blogger have agreed on a topic they may have their own ideas about what title they'd like to use and how long the piece should be. This can be irritating, but chances are the blogger knows what works best for their blog and getting the maximum amount of exposure for your piece will benefit you both.

5. Include a short biography and a link to your website 

Don't forget to include a short bio as well as a picture of yourself. If you've written a book, or are holding an event you'd like publicity for, ask the blogger if you can include that in your article.

6. Promote your blog post

The more exposure your guest post gets, the more people will visit your site, giving you more pageviews. So, after your piece is published, help the blogger promote it. Talk about your guest post on your blog. Mention it on your social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

If your post does well the blogger will want another one from you, giving you more traffic in return.

7. Be considerate

Google doesn't like it when the same content ends up on two different sites, so it's likely the blogger will ask you for exclusive rights to your piece. Because of this, it's important you disclose whether your guest post has been previously published.

Whoever you submit your work to, remember that every professional writer receives rejections. I know it's easier said than done, but try to look on them as a badge of honor. This is what a real writer does. Whatever happens, don't give up. You'll get there.

Good luck!

Other articles you might like:

Pixar: 22 Ways To Tell A Great Story
How to Write a Blog Post
How to Write a Horror Story

Libraries Look To Indie Authors As The Future

I love libraries. One of my favorite memories involves a library. I was as a kid, it was summer and very hot. I biked over to the library on my no-gear bike and sank into one of its absurdly comfortable, enthusiastically orange, chairs. I listened to the whir of the air conditioner and gazed in appreciation at all the books. As I drank in the stillness, for a moment it felt like a sanctuary.

I can't imagine living in a city without a library. I can't imagine there not being any more libraries! But that could happen.

Not only is library use down, but a few publishers--most notably the 'Big 6' (Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Hachette)--are making it more difficult for libraries to buy books. The following is from a librarian from a "mid-sized library system in South Carolina" who wishes to remain anonymous. He writes:

Random House tripled the cost of all their books so, for me to buy a copy of a $7.99 backlist title now costs me $23.97. To buy a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey would cost you $9.99 - that same copy costs a library $47.85. Hachette, beginning October 1, will be increasing the price of their titles by an even greater margin from early accounts. Oh, and Hachette won't sell frontlist titles to libraries at all - we can only buy backlist (and very old backlist at that). Which drew the reply from Sullivan: “Now we must ask, with friends like these...?” I couldn't have said it better myself. (E-books in Libraries: They Still Don't Get It)

What are librarians doing about this? If Librarian X is any indication, they're getting angry and finding ways of procuring affordable, quality, material: they're turning to indies. Librarian X writes:

If you don't sell us your frontlist authors, what will happen in time is that other authors will show up who will take their place ... and the odds are that these others will be self-published or publish through a smaller publisher who doesn't view libraries as enemies. Speaking personally, I don't buy e-book titles from any of the Big 6 any longer. Why bother? I can buy titles from smaller publishers and authors for less than $10 through OverDrive and, in my studies of my circulation figures on those titles, they circulate just as well as the more expensive ones. Why should I care? With my purchasing decisions, I'm buying more titles and showing a return on investment far sooner. My boss is happy and I'm more than pleased to be doing my part to twist the knife even if only a little. (E-books in Libraries: They Still Don't Get It)

This could be a marvelous opportunity for indie authors. Joe Konrath, one of the first and most well-known indie authors, has put together a proposal. He writes:

Blake and I are willing to sell our entire ebook catalog to the Harris County Public Library, and to any other libraries that are interested, under these terms:

1. Ebooks are $3.99

2. No DRM.

3. The library only needs to buy one ebook of a title, and then they can make as many copies as they need for all of their patrons and all of their branches.

4. The library owns the rights to use that ebook forever.

5. The library can use it an any format they need; mobi, epub, pdf, lit, etc. And when new formats arise, they're’re free to convert it to the new format.

In short, the library buys one copy, and never has to buy it again. (Ebooks For Libraries)

.  .  .  .

I've ... gotten lots of emails from authors who want to offer libraries the same terms.

The problem is organization. We need someone to act as a liaison between publishers and libraries to run something like this on a big scale. And I believe that person should be paid. How big a job this will be, and how much of a cut they deserve, can be discussed in the comments section. But indie authors need to come together to offer libraries their books, and dealing with 9000 different library systems would be a full time job. (E-books in Libraries: They Still Don't Get It)

If you're interested in either selling your books to libraries or in helping to organize this gargantuan undertaking, head on over to Joe's comment section.

Of course you don't need to organize to sell your books to libraries, or even to bookstores! Just approach the library and find out what their procedures are.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck! :)

Other articles you might like:
- 3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters
- Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?
- Save The Cat! The Importance Of Sympathetic Heroes

Photo credit: Paul Lowry

3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters

I love Joanna Penn's blog over at The Creative Penn. After writing one post today about the business of writing (Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?) I was happy to read something about the craft of writing. As I read, ideas popped into my head, points I needed to keep in mind as I begin a rewrite of my latest story. So, for better or worse, here are 3 ways to create incredible characters:

1. Create a detailed backstory for each of your main characters
Readers want to know that you know the details, the minutia, of the fictional world you've created. You don't have to tell readers the entire backstory--in fact it's best if you only reveal the minimum needed to carry the story along--but you need to know it.

Why? Well, for starters, it will keep you from contradicting yourself (hair blond in one scene, black in another, a name spelt differently in different places, and so on), and it will give you a deeper understanding of your characters.

Nowadays when I begin a story I create a file for character names and descriptions and another for general world history. Character biography sheets are great aids (here's another, and another). There are also character tests and quizzes you can use. Your characters backstories don't need to be extensive, you just need to give them enough verisimilitude to bring them to life on the page.

2. Be mean to your characters in order to create change
In Changes, Harry Dresden finds out--surprise!--he has a daughter and that she is in mortal danger. Harry turns his life inside out to save her life. He does things he swore he never would, things that would, if he did them to achieve another goal, mark him as a bad guy. Jim Butcher takes Harry through a character arc so extreme that, if it were written by someone less skilled, he could have made the character unbelievable. Broken him. As it is, Jim Butcher succeeded in rejuvenating the series and taking it, at least for a time, in a different direction.

How did Jim Butcher do this? He gave Harry something that meant a great deal to him (a child) and then took it away (the child was to be ritually sacrificed). Find out what your characters want, what they would die for, and take it away from them--or give it to them and arrange for them to lose it.

I know it's hard to create wonderful characters that are real to you and then make horrible things happen to them, but you have to. The struggle against odds, against the bad guy, against injustice, and so on, that's what makes us root for a character, it's what makes us want to see what happens in the end.

3. Show who your characters are through action
You've heard this before: Show, don't tell. I believe sometimes telling is just fine, especially if you want to move from point A to B quickly. That said, just as in real life, what your character does shows a reader what kind of a character they are. What would we think of Harry Dresden if he discovered he had a daughter in mortal danger and he shrugged his shoulders, told us how devastated he was, and then went to drink (warm) beer at McAnally's? On the other hand, what would we think of Harry if he did everything conceivable, no matter how ethically dubious, to save his child from being killed?

How characters react to the challenges you present them with, how they reach their goals, that tells a great deal about a character. But you all know this. If a person tells you one thing and does another, which are you going to believe?

4. Learn from what you like
I've used Harry Dresden as an example of a well-written character. Harry lives. (He even has a Twitter account!) Perhaps you love the Dresden Files as much as I do and perhaps you don't. It doesn't matter. Choose your favorite book, or books, put on your editor's hat, and study how the author made you care about her characters. Perhaps you love them, perhaps you hate them, study how they shaped their characters to be what they wanted.

Well, that's it! There is a lot more to say about character development, but I need to go and practise what I preach. :) Good writing everyone!

Other links you might like:
- Writing Resources
- 7 Common Self-Publishing Fears And How To Banish Them
- Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?

Photo credit: dorena-wm

Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?

Last week I discussed how Kris Rusch, in her weekly business column, urged writers to prioritize their writing and only check sales of their books once a month. She also called Amazon's KDP Select program bad for writers and laid out why. She writes:

The million words are under my control. The number of sales, once a book is released, is not under my control. Not when you look at the worldwide market, at all of the distribution channels. I can get the work out there, then I have to trust it to sell.

Write more. Fret less. Stop watching your sales numbers. Beat my million words this year.

As you can imagine, this created a terrific discussion in the comment section. Dean mentioned this on his blog but, since I was on vacation at the time, I didn't read it. I have now, and want to share a few of the comments with you. I don't feel right posting an entire comment without the author's permission, but I'll post enough of it that you can get the gist of what is being said. (Also, I've embedded a direct link to the comment in each subtitle, below.) If you'd like to go directly to the comments section and read them for yourself, click here: Watching The Numbers, Comments.

Two main, and interrelated, discussion threads developed, both centered around questions. First, should writers spend most of their time writing as opposed to, say, marketing? Second, is using Amazon's KDP Select program the best long term strategy? Kris says yes to the first and a resounding no to the second. Here's why:

1) Writing versus Marketing

Kris: Writers should write what they like, not write what they believe will sell.
This was what kicked off one, sometimes heated, conversation:

Writers should write what they want to write even if no one wants it. Because the latest break-out book is always a surprise. We readers never know what we want until we see it. (That was in response to William Ockham.)

Blanche: Writers need to eat

It’s easier not to worry about your sales numbers when you have a day job or when you’re established enough to have enough income saved up that you don’t depend on them for rent.

I went into this year with four months of income saved up, and I’m very good with money. I’ve done the best I could with what I had. I made budgets and I stuck with them, even when it looked like I had more money that I could spend. I saved it. But it doesn’t matter how much you save when your sales dry up and they don’t revive. When they keep getting worse. At some point, there’s just not going to be enough money.

This is just the beginning of Blanche's comment, it is truly excellent. If you are a writer trying to make ends meet, you need to read this. It won't provide any answers, but it'll show you you're not alone.

Kris: We've all been there

Unfortunately, Blanche, what you’re going through happens to all writers at various stages in their careers. Sales drop off for unknown reasons. Read Lawrence Block’s essays. He couldn’t sell a book into traditional publishing for (I believe) two years, after years and years of making a living at writing. I’ve gone through those downtimes. Other writers have too. Back when we taught the Master Class, we had writers participate in a role-playing game that showed them the ups and downs of a freelancer’s career. There are always periods of no money, periods of too much money, and almost no periods of steady money.

I wish I could be more encouraging than that. The key is to get a part time job to go through the lean times and to keep writing. You’re right to have only one career–writing–but sometimes you must support it with supplemental income. If you read back through my blogs, you’ll see that I considered doing the same thing as recently as six or seven years ago. It happens. It’s hard.

Again, this is just the start of Kris' answer and the rest is absolutely worth reading.

That was an interesting exchange but it soon transformed into an, at times, heated debate about the thorny question of whether Amazon KDP Select was worth the price of exclusivity.

2) Is Using Amazon's KDP Select The Best Business Strategy?

Here is what Amazon's KDP Select offers writers:

1. Your ebook is available exclusively on Amazon for 90 days.
2. You have the right to promote your ebook for free for 5 out of the 90 days.
3. Your book is automatically enrolled in the Kindle Owners Lending Library from which Prime members can borrow one book per month.
4. You are paid for each time your book is borrowed from the Kindle Owners Lending Library. The payment varies from month to month, depending upon how many books are borrowed, but typically is a little over $2 per borrow, so it’s pretty close to the royalty generated from selling an ebook for $2.99.
5. The most recent change is that KDP Select enrollment allows you to earn 70% on ebooks sold through Amazon’s new Indian store. (From: KDP Select – Worth the Exclusivity?)

Kris: Bargain hunters don't become loyal readers

[B]argain hunters are rarely long-term clients of anything except the bargain store. Wal-Mart has done hundreds of studies of this. It’s found that customers who shop at Wal-Mart want the lower prices, not the brand names. So if the brand doesn’t show up at Wal-Mart, the discount customer buys something similar.

Good point! Or so I thought ...

Lisa: Amazon KDP Select helps sell books. Period.

My novels priced at $2.99 and $5.99 after a free run have helped me to sell in the one thousand to four thousand dollar range in the months following the free run.

And yes, sales on the rest of the books in my series which have never gone free and are not in Select, pick up dramatically after a free run.

So a free run can positively affect the sales of all books in a series and enable a new self-publlished author a chance to make real money. There is nothing bargain priced about my books. I sell several hundred (and one month broke a thousand) of my titles.

Very impressive! What is the key to success? Lisa offers that it is discoverability. She writes:

Discoverability is key.

Select, if used correctly, can assure your book is in several of those short stacks on the front row. Hot new releases, also boughts, best sellers in your genre, popularity, Koll Lending Library, suggested for you, and emails of the top ten best sellers they send out to genre buyers.
The chances of making these lists goes up when releasing a book through the Select program. Making any of these lists increases sales because suddenly a reader has your book in front of them at full price after the free run.

If my emails are any indication, I’m building up a loyal fan base for both my series. Select does help bonafide buyers “discover” books after a free run because now they’re on the lists.

Kris: Amazon's KDP Select is a way for Amazon to promote its brand
Kris wasn't responding to Lisa when she wrote this, but I thought it was instructive:

Of course we’ve explored Select, and saw it for what it is: a way to promote Amazon’s brand. That a few writers are making money on it is good for them. But Select benefits Amazon more than it benefits anyone else. Not that that’s a problem: Amazon has the right like all of us do to improve their business. But it is something that writers should realize.

Breakaway: KDP Select Works
Breakaway knows a thing or two about marketing and he holds that Select works not because those who download the book for free reading it, love it, and search out your other books but because it gets your book in front of the eyes of people who do buy books. He writes:

Those who claim (in the few comments I did read, as well) that most people won’t read the freebies are 100% correct. Those who do search in the bargain bin will probably always search in the bargain bin, I agree as well. Those who use this as a mark against Select fail to understand the true power of Select. I recently gave away 26k books in 4 days. I don’t expect most who downloaded it for free to ever read it. That is not the goal. I use their bargain bin mindset, to utilize the promotional power of the Amazon algorithms and their calculation of free ebooks, to boost my books in the catalog/store shelves/bestseller lists/popularity lists on Amazon… TO GET MY BOOK IN FRONT OF THE EYES OF THE PEOPLE WHO DO BUY BOOKS, via the bestseller lists. THAT is how I use Select free promotions, to great effect. Not to Konrath or Grisham effect, but to enabling me to make 2x more monthly than I did at my highest-paying job ever, with less than 10 books published total, publishing my first book in March of 2012. That is success in my eyes, even if not compared to a Konrath, a DWS, or others.

 That is just a small part of Breakaway's comment and the rest is well worth reading.

Kris: The flaw in Select

[H]ere’s how it happens. The writer writes a very good book. He puts it up on Select, gets great word of mouth, and gets lots of other readers from Amazon/Select to find/read his book. Then they go to other books by the same author.

Here’s the problem. The book is what’s causing the growth in sales, not Select. If the writer used Select as a tool, and then dropped Select after 90 days and went to other markets, the writer is using Select correctly. But if the writer says the sales are because of Select, and then throwing everything into Select, the writer is making a mistake.

The writer isn’t crediting his good work, and isn’t believing in it, letting it grow over time. Sure, he jumpstarted it, and then he’s driving around the neighborhood and never seeing the world. If readers on Select are buying it in large quantities, then it stands to reason they’re discussing it with readers not on Select. Those readers will want the book and won’t be able to get it causing a loss of sales.

And that’s what I’m arguing against. Essentially writers are crediting Select when, in fact, it’s their own work that continues to bring in the readers–not the platform.

I'm stopping there. This is the best discussion of KDP Select I've seen and it just keeps going! Again, you can join the fun here:  Watching The Numbers, Comments.

If you don't read Kris' weekly business post on the business of writing, you're mission out. And don't forget to read the comments, often the blog post is just the beginning.

Cheers!

Update: PG has a great post about Amazon's KDP Select program over at The Passive Voice Blog: KDP Select – Worth the Exclusivity?. A lot of great comments, too.
PG also recommended: Risks and Rewards of Kindle Select Publishing

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- How To Start A Blog
- How To Build A Platform: Why Every Writer Needs A Website
- Writing Rules! Advice from The New York Times

Photo credit: Unknown

A Creative Shift Is As Good As A Vacation

Today I wanted to pass along the link to: Why You Need A Creative Shift Instead Of A Vacation, As Explained By Joss Whedon. It seemed appropriate, especially as this is (sigh) the last day of my (very fun!) vacation.

Perhaps that's true. Perhaps all one needs is a creative shift--write a humorous short story between 100,000+ word fantasy sagas, paint something. Learn to knit. Although I do think a creative shift can rejuvenate our muse, sometimes there really isn't anything like getting away from one's daily routine and traveling somewhere you've never been.

Like Portland! :)

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