Taking my own Advice

 

If you're going to have a post based on giving advice, then you need to have some faith that what you are saying at least comes close to the truth.

And if you can be comfortable with that, then you can be confident that you are taking advice from someone who knows a thing or two.

I mentioned in my last post that I had two stories on the go, and that one was just about completed, but the other was rather difficult to get along with.

I did finish the first one, made some changes and was happy to put it in the bank.

Then I went back to the other one. I added some lines, changed a couple of angles, shaved off some words, but no matter what, it wasn't going anywhere. 

So I just put it on the shelf and wished it well.

Without all that fuss going on in my head, I was feeling open to new ideas. It didn't take long before something flashed in the back of my mind. I picked up my faithful sticky notes and wrote a few ideas. Right away I knew this was headed somewhere. Without the agro of trying to nurture my stunted story, I was able to move on to my new baby and give it all the attention it needed.

Not finished yet, but it's growing up big and strong. 

The point being, which I have mentioned a few times, is if you are sure something is not going anywhere, don't fret or fuss. Put it aside, don't abandon it, just let it be and move on.

When you are not struggling with a worn out, tired, idea, then your mind is clear to chart new territory. That's how good things happen.

The Pearl In The Oyster

 

Not often I return to the scene of the crime this quickly, but I had a writer's itch that needed to be scratched. You may or may not recall that my post from the previous week mentioned I had two stories on the go. The good news is that within the following two days, the first was completed, renovated, and edited. I was a man on a mission.

On the other hand the second is still very much in the construction stage. 

The thing is, it is a great idea which I like very much. I know it will end up being a favourite story. So what's the problem? I just happen to have run into a few speed humps. Now if I wasn't so excited about the concept I might have put it in the files and come back some rainy day. But this one is begging me to keep going and not put it on the back burner and the ideas I keep getting are needed to complete this rather twisted tale. So there's nothing for it than do forge onward. 

Now that I done that, how about a moving analogy? Suppose you need to be out of one place and into another in short order.

There's no time to sift through things, and organize them for your new digs. The moving truck is at the door, you've hired Hank, Vera and Oscar to help you. A case of beer and a bucket of chicken are already waiting in new kitchen.

From here the only choice is to take everything and pile it into the truck. Oh and did I mention the truck needs to be back to the rental in two hours? So upon arrival, there is nothing for it but to dump everything in the ample sized living room.

After the apres move party you will spend the next few days ferreting through all the debris and separating the wheat from the chaff.

Now if this isn't the longest, laboured metaphor this side of the Biblical Parables, I don't know what is. But I am confident you know what I am getting at. As I have preached throughout the blog. Just Write Already!!!

I have have taken every idea that might be a good segue, lead, or follow up to everything else I have written, and piled it onto my script. Note the word good, there are things I discarded before the thought was cold. But I know once I go in and start letting these ideas percolate their way into my story, and I have sent the others packing, I am going to have the plot all mapped out, ready for the usual makeover and maniacal editing. And I hope, nay, I know that my next post will have me celebrating the conclusion of this rather fractious manuscript

The message being, (bet you wondered if I would ever get there), if you know it's a winner, then don't sweat the details. Put everything down which you know will help make for a happy ending, for you anyway. 

In the words of an author I know. 

Just Write Already!!!

Just Write Already: Porter, Stephen F C: 9780995960343: Books - Amazon.ca

Just Writing Already

There's nothing like starting a long overdue post with a commercial. BTW I discounted it for Christmas and didn't change it back.

Just Write Already: Porter, Stephen F C: 9780995960343: Books - Amazon.ca

Since my new book is entirely based on my blog, that would seem to make sense. Yes?

So now we have that out of way, let's get on with it.

A lot of people ask me what I am writing at present. I really can't come up with a bombshell announcement in that regard. I have no new book currently in the works. No articles. Certainly no periodicals. But having said that, when I am not writing with an end in site, I am still writing. 

I think once you get into a writer's state of mind, the ideas don't stop. You may think you have gone dry, but if you stop thinking that you have to have a goal and just write whatever ideas come into your head, then it's all good. Everything doesn't have to have an endgame, and I think that's what many writer's misunderstand. You do not have to have the next Giller Prize novel in the works. On the other hand, I do believe you need to keep in the game and keep sharp all the time.

Since my last entry here, I've had two stories on the go. I just completed the second draft of the first two days ago. It clocks in at about 30 pages. The second one is about half done I reckon, and likely will be a similar length. So when someone asks me what I am writing, I won't say nothing (pardon the double negative ). I AM WRITING and that's enough.

As I had the storyline for both at around the same time, I switched back and forth as new notions came to me for each. There was no agenda, or schedule. I had some ideas, and the more I wrote the more they came together. And contrary to what one might think there was no confusion about story lines and characters. Each has it's own identity and genre. 

I'm pretty happy with the first one. The second needs some direction but it will come. In the meantime if I come up with another plot, I'll start that and see where it goes. And yes I do have many unfinished tales in my files. Maybe they never will be. But to use a corny metaphor, not every seed becomes a rose bush.

In addition to that, each story will likely be edited five or six times before I consider it ready for prime time. So I will be a busy boy.

Back to the first question. Yes, I am always writing. Where it leads is a mystery, but that's half the fun and reward of the trade. And if I really like what I have created, I will definitely pursue it.

More bulletins as events warrant. 

Try, Do, Whatever

For those of you who have not yet joined one of the many on line writer's groups, via sites like facebook, linkedin, or private groups, I recommend you do that now. And you do that before you dot another "I" Bob Crachit. The point is, many of these sites have members willing to engage in meaningful dialogue, and exchange questions and insight. And in case you haven't gathered by now, none of this is a bad thing.

This lengthy intro is really a segue into talking about the questions I have been asked recently regarding my own method for dealing with writer's block, or as I would rather call it, a speed hump in the writing process.

It seems this is a common complaint or concern. People get upset when the ideas don't flow freely. Well I have to admit staring at screen which has no more words on it than it did an hour ago, is a bit discouraging. But it is not the end of world, or even your writing career. It's just a sign that a mental reboot is in the offing. 

Now there are writer's who are able to faithfully put aside work  time and spend those hours each and every day engaged in productivity. To be clear, most of these have more of an incentive, like a publisher who is demanding a manuscript on their desktop yesterday.

For those of us who are a bit less fettered to our craft, our writing may be more random, and much more connected to our inspirations. When we finally sit down to write, we may be deflated to find out the well is dry. Even when we thought we had a great idea. So then we try. And we all know how well that doesn't work. It's like trying to go to sleep. As Yoda said, "Do or do not, there is no try."

While our Yoda was a very sage man, he was clearly not a writer. Because even if we forgo trying, it does not mean we can necessarily DO at that moment. 

What we can DO though, is give it a go, but if we come up drawing blanks, have the wisdom to pack it up for awhile and wait for the next epiphany, or at least the next idea which makes us think we are on to something, or at least doesn't suck. If we sit and fret and fuss, we will only get dug deeper into a rut. We have to know when to let it go, and when we are close to something we can build on, or dare I say it, turn into something great.

So to get back to the original question about how I handle a writing drought, or dry spell. It's simple. I either do or do not. And I've been at it long enough to know which is the best route to go.

That way I don't drag myself into the depths of despair because the words won't come. On the other hand, I don't throw in the towel because the words are not flooding on to the page. Yes, after all this time I have a pretty good idea which road I should take and then I follow it. And if it turns out to be a dead end, no matter, I just regroup and start again.

Does that help?

Is That All There Is?

 

First, I'll start with a bit of a disclaimer, or is it an apology. I have been MIA for quite some time, and for those who read my blog, then okay it's an apology, and for those that don't, it doesn't matter anyway.

If it's an apology then I suppose some lame excuses are in order. Well, the best I can think of is the fact I spend most of the summer travelling, England, Korea and local.

It was amazing, but now winter is coming and time to get back to business.

If you have just finished publishing a book, and a neat little stack of your works is sitting in a spot where people can see it when they come in, then congratulations, and I wish you great sales and recognition.

Here's the thing, neither are likely. Pretty brutal I know but also true. All those friends and relatives that said they would buy your book have either done so, or totally forgot their promise. So be it. It is what it is and all that.

You've done some promotion and you've made some connections on social media.

First point; if those connections are legit, please keep up the connection. The algorithm is simple. 

More connections=More recognition=Better sales.

Please don't just let it go once you've made a few posts.

You need to spread the work ad infinitum until people are sick of seeing you ad nauseum.

Believe me, you may not see instant results, but they will come in time.

Remember when people go to find something to read they are not looking for you. Likely they don't even know who you are.

The ball is totally in your court here.

Keep posting, join writer's groups with people in the same position.

Update your author's page on Amazon if that's where you are.

What ever you do, don't let the embers go out. If you keep fueling them they will make a flame in time.

So in answer to my initial question: Is That All There Is?

The answer is an unequivocal NO!

Keep posting, produce some videos (if you need a platform there are lots out there. It'll cost you a bit, but it won't break the bank.)

It's actually fun and if you aren't expecting sales to go through the roof tomorrow you will get better, and you will see results.

And, hey, as i have always said, you are a writer, so get back to what you do best, writing.

And here's the book plug.

Just Write Already: Porter, Stephen F C: 9780995960343: Books - Amazon.ca

Thanks for bearing with me all this time.

Practicing What I Preach

 

                    Practicing What I Preach

So now the book new book is published (time for the shameless push) and i'm into the promotions stage.

Just Write Already: Porter, Stephen F C: 9780995960343: Books - Amazon.ca

I finally have some time to get back to writing. I do have a storyline i thought up when i was in England. I began writing it a few weeks ago, but the plot had two distinct threads, and no matter how hard i tried i couldn't seem to get them to come together. As i do preach, this is nothing to panic about, the ideas will come when they are ready. You can't force it, blah blah.

So i put it on the shelf. Today though, i glanced at the cover of my book. There was my motivation cajoling me to get off my writer's butt, or onto it as it may be, and do something with what i believe could be a pretty good tale. 

And at that point i decided it was time to put my money where my mouth was. I just picked up where i left off and started writing. I had a goal in mind somewhere, but it wasn't really clear. However i did know that if i just started putting my ideas down on paper i would find direction. It might lead me to chucking out a lot of old ideas, and adding in new directions, but i do know i will start the fire burning again, and eventually i will have a story i look back on and smile.

I will let you know how it goes.

Finally the baby is delivered, the cat is out of the bag and other overused cliches.

 

It's taken months but finally my new book is up on Kindle. 

For those who haven't followed the blog before it's called "Just write already", and it's the result of a couple of years (Is it more?) of writing this blog designed to help encourage would be writers to take the leap of faith and step into the (usually)  rewarding world of writing. Throughout the course of the blog I have tried to dispel the usual objections and doubts people have about their ability, and creativity. Thus the title of the book, Just Write Already.

Yes I know it will not work out for everybody, but to use the old cliche (not a fan) if you don't try you will never know (there's another one.)

My hope is the those hiding in the shadows will come out and say "What the hell", and give it a go. Nothing ventured....well you know how it goes.

This isn't a commercial, but none the less i hope you will check it out. It's available at:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0D79QTCSY

Once you get to the chapters about promoting your book, you'll know what the next step for me is.

As always, thanks for reading my blog, and as before, there will be more to come.

 

Land Ho

                                                                     Land Ho

I believe I used the ship analogy to mark the progress of my new project, in the last post.

To refresh your memory that is where I take the posts from this blog and turn them into a book.

Why on Earth would i do that? Simple really. I had a lot of feedback from fellow writers and fellow not writers and they all stated that they thought these posts might provide help for people who are thinking of writing, but for myriad reasons have never put pen to paper, or fingertip to keyboard. 

People have their reasons, insecurity, fear of failure, even fear of success (more common than you think), no ideas, lack of time, no one to direct them, no knowledge of the process, lack of confidence. You get the idea. There are lots of reasons why people who seriously want to write, just end up never doing it.

The purpose of the blog and now the book is to help would be writers deal with these issues, and take the first step. And then to help the go through the next steps to completion. 

If they want to take it further, then I have walked them through my path to publication. 

All the way I keep making the disclaimer that i am not a writing professor or a best seller. However this will be my third book. I've had a lot of positive feedback and I have had a gas doing it all.

In this particular venture, I took all the posts, made each into a chapter, added a brief introduction and an illustration, just to make things more like the original blog.

I have taken several weeks to rework some of the posts, while leaving them as close to the original as possible. Also I have edited many times until I believe I am ready to send it off to my formatter. 

When that's done, she will send it back to me with suggestions. I will submit it again to her, and when we agree it is ready for prime time I will upload to Amazon-Kindle for the e-book, and then send it to another publisher to make hard copies.

Having done this before, the process is no longer daunting at all.

I also have had a lot of help with publicizing my last book from my writer's group, Indie Best Writer's out of L.A. and have learned a great deal about maximizing my brand on social media.

So as you can see, I have not docked yet, but i can see land straight ahead and I hope to set my feet on dry land shortly.

I thank you for your patience, and I do hope once this is available that it will do exactly what I hoped and that's to make the writing process a little big less scary, and in fact help would be writer's get out there and give it a go, and then find out how much fun the ride can be.

Still Here

                           Getting Things Ready For Prime Time

You have a perfect right to wonder where I have been. In fact I would be thrilled if a few people really did think about that. Thing is, I haven't been anywhere, Still at the same keyboard but busy, nay, inundated with other things. 

There are writer's meeting, promotions for Teaching in the Spirit, and The Quick and Quirky, and the new Nick Bannister Story, which is rapidly evolving into a Novella. 

Most time consuming is my decision to take this blog and turn it into a book. I mentioned it some time ago, but for those who didn't take notes, the idea is to use the posts from this blog and create a short book that can hopefully help would be writer's muster up the confidence to start putting their thoughts down on paper.

And then walking them through my own personal path to publication. I won't reawaken the ghosts of posts past, but over the course of my blog I described how I took ideas, turned them into stories, and then dressed up these stories until i was confident in sharing them.

I then described how they were reworked, re-edited and renovated for publication. Then there was the process of getting published, and the crucial steps of getting noticed, and publicizing my work.

Through it all I've reminded readers that this is only my take, and there are many other routes to the finish line. But they worked for me when I had no experience whatsoever. What I did have was access to some great people who were willing to share their own knowledge and wisdom. That is what I hope any would be readers will take from my posts and upcoming book.

The working title is "Writing and Other Short Stories" although it in not dyed in ink, yet. And just to mix it up, I will include a few of my newer as if yet, unpublished stories.

It's still very much in the works, but I hope it will be out there in the next couple of months, and I hope you will enjoy reading it.

Thanks for following along, it's great to have you aboard. I'll let you know when we are almost in the harbour. And yes, please enjoy the mixed metaphors and cliches.

Steve

In The End It All FIts

 

If you were paying attention, you would remember that I have mentioned I am going to turn this blog into a new book. If you weren't paying attention then this is all new, which is just fine as well.

There are dozens of books out there which give instructions and rules to help you become a better writer. They are largely written by language scholars who really do know what they are talking about. The problem with the ones I have read, is that by the end I'm really not sure what they are talking about and how it's going to help me. The fact that reading academia is not my strongest suit, doesn't help.

I'll be the first to admit, I am not one of those writing experts. I have one thing going for me though. I love to write. Well two things. I love to write and I've turned that passion into an avid pastime, if not a career. I've done this is by listening to and asking those who know, networking with other writers and writing groups, and of course that old favourite, trial and error.

So now I've convinced you that my project may have some merit, let me just go through the steps of this undertaking in the hope that it will help you with your goals.

A couple of years ago I started writing the blog you are currently reading. Simply put, I wrote the posts to both explain how I write and the procedures I used to finally get my books out there.

Then I had a brilliant idea. Why not make these posts into a kind of how to book? A guide for would be writers, to help encourage them to pursue their passion and then walk them through the processes I've used.

I will make not make promises or pretense. This is merely my way of doing things, with the help of some very helpful people. There are many roads you can take, this just happens to be the one I landed on. I am not a writing teacher, but then again many coaches have not gone to Uni for coaching courses. It's their experience and knowledge of the game that makes them competent in their career. 

This isn't a commercial, that will come later, but I do hope once this book is available, you will recommend it to those who aspire to be writers, but are unsure of themselves and have no idea in which direction to go. You see how i avoided using a preposition at the end of the sentence? That must be worth something.

The nice thing about making this blog into a book was that most of the content was already done. All the posts are in there. From there I needed to put them into a solid order, and give a brief intro for each. Following that, I needed to remove those cute little images I had put in. If you choose to put images in your work, you will need to do the same. Google images are not free domain. There are companies that specialize in that at minimal cost. One example is Deposit Photos. That way you have no worries about people claiming you are using their pictures without permission. 

Unless you are a publishing savant you are going to need a good formatter. This person will help take all the information you send, and turn it into something professional looking, something you will be proud to put your name on.

They will also take those photos you have selected and put them in the places you suggest.

One of the first suggestions was to let go of the cutesy colours and fonts, and size changes to make it look more professional. Something that looks a little less like "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid." This required a pretty massive refurbishing, although it wasn't overly difficult.

And that's where i am at now. As I have advised over and over, several edits are needed before you submit this masterpiece. That will include sending it to your formatter a few times and following their advice without question, until you are both satisfied this is what you had in mind.

Over the next few weeks I will do the last edits, submit it until it is right and then go through the publishing process, which is a piece of cake compared to the rest.

Hope this helps you get an idea of what getting your ready for prime time and published entails. It's not nearly as daunting as you think. Five words: one step at a time.

More bulletins as events warrant. 

Happy writing.

 

Following The Trail

 

I had a story idea very recently. Just an idea. One simple line. Unlike most of my story ideas, it did not come replete with supporting details.

Of course I wrote it down. Well, to be honest, it did come with one more notion. That was to compose another tale involving my favourite Integrated Investigator Nick Bannister, and of course his two cohorts.

Now when a decision is made like this, to revive old friends you have more than a story line. You have your characters already assembled and ready for whatever action you send them. This is huge, because good characters are hard to find, and voila, you have them.

Now I've mentioned before, that my characters are living breathing people to me. And I know them well enough to realize that soon enough they will start to tell me where they want to go.

No I am not looney. Most people have favourite heroes on screen or in literature and fantasize about their next adventure. Why, because you are so close to them, it's only a small step to putting them to work.

Surely enough, a time and place came to me. It was London in the time of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. It was going to include my boys merging their twentieth century know how and gadgets with the late 1800's. So perhaps I was looking at my first attempt at Steampunk, a brand of fiction which does exactly that. 

Then I needed a premise. Well that was easy. They were transported back there. Remember when you have an idea, it's not necessary to explain it right away, just take it for what it is. You'll figure it out later.

Then I needed a reason they were whisked so far away. Obviously they were there to present some manner of disaster. 

At that time there were two reprehensible characters kicking around, one real by the name of Jack the Ripper. The other fictional, none other than that most sinister of evil geniuses, Professor James Moriarty, foil to Detective Sherlock Holmes. Either of them would fit the bill of maker of mayhem.

I would never presume as some have. However, to compose a new Sherlock Holmes yarn. But what about if his partner Doctor John H. Watson became part of the fun? 

This all fit together nicely. And i will say no more, because that would be a monumental spoiler of a story I plan to include in my next book.

The point here is that this meal did not come with a side dish of suggestions. It came one course at a time and from there, blossomed a ripping good yarn which I have enjoyed written immensely. If you are lucky, and alert, this may happen to you.

More details to follow.