Tip O'Day #446 - The Writing Comes First

Guest blogger Jennifer Allis Provost on being a writer.

So, you wanna be a writer.

Maybe you want to be a full time writer. Maybe it's just a hobby for you. Or maybe you just want to write your memoirs and preserve your family history for generations to come. No matter the type of writer you want to be -- full time, part time, fiction, nonfiction -- there is one thing you must do before all else.

You need to write.

Obvious, huh? But, not everyone realizes the obvious. In this day and age, everyone talks about building platforms, social media, queries and such. None of that matters if you don't have a finished product.

As for me, I've been pretty lucky. I've published a few fantasy books, been included in several anthologies, and my latest novel, Copper Girl, book one of the Copper Legacy series, was released two months ago. But there are quite a few other things I want to accomplish. Here's a list, in no particular order of importance:

Finish the rest of the Copper Legacy series
Re-release my fantasy series
Complete my historical fantasy and shop for agents

Okay, the above list encompasses twelve (!!!) books! Holy crap!

Now, it's not such a daunting task; four are complete, and five are in varying stages of completion. Still, that means I have to find the time to complete those five books, start (and finish) three more, shop for agents and publishers, and somehow promote my existing work. Add that to my day job, caring for my husband and children, and those pesky little tasks like eating and sleeping, and my little list takes on an aspect not unlike Mount Everest.

What's a writer to do?

Me, I made a schedule. I fired up Excel and laid everything out, from soup to nuts. I started with three columns -- one for each major project -- and listed completion timeframes for each. For instance, in 2013 I will have the first draft of book three of the Copper Legacy series, Copper Veins, completed by July, and the first draft for book four, Copper Princess, completed by December. With regard to my fantasy series, I have a rewrite due in December. The outline for my historical fantasy is due by June, and its first draft by December.

Okay, so that's three first drafts, one outline, and one rewrite between now and December. And you know what? I can do that. Now, are those the only things I need to complete to remain on track? Not by a long shot. Will I make all of my due dates? Hopefully, but I did schedule things a bit more tightly than necessary to account for little things like life getting in the way. For instance, I scheduled the first draft of Copper Princess for December 2013, but it won't be released until May 2016.

Still, unless I write the books (any by write I mean write, edit, revise, re-edit, re-revise, etc), I can't acquire an agent, or submit my work to publishers. Make no mistake, while all this is going on I'll still be promoting, building my platform, and generally being a nuisance across all aspects of social media. But you know what? The writing comes first.

Jennifer Allis Provost spends her days drinking vast amounts of coffee, arguing with her computer, and avoiding any and all domestic behavior. Her novel, The Chronicles of Parthalan, is available now, and Copper Girl was released in June from Spence City. You can learn more about Jennifer at her website.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part VI

This is Day Six (and Last) of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week, with Facebook writers and other book lovers sharing writing and publishing advice with a dash of panache and a pinch of brevity.

Jennie Gardner Spallone: Hire a developmental editor, not just a copy editor, to look over your manuscript before you submit it to a publisher.

Mark Terry: Think more, write less.

Troy Wilkinson: Write about something you dreamed of as a child, before you knew it wasn't possible.

Kristen Wood: Only in humility can we ever truly learn and only in learning can we ever truly write.

Finally, my favorite one-sentence tip from last year, by RomCom author Kathy Dunnehoff: Say ‘yes’ to caffeine.

Thanks to all the kind folks who participated this week. Hope you had fun.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part V

This is Day Five of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week, with Facebook writers and other book lovers showing they can be both profound and concise.

J.T. Sather: Writing a book is the easy part, selling it however...not so much.

Paul M. Schofield: Write, write, write...right?

Laura Schultz: Pay close attention to everything and everyone around you, as some of them could become great characters.

Literary agent Michael Snell: Eschew obfuscation and sesquipedalian anfractuosities.

Screenwriter Mike Snyder: Most writers are banned from TV or movie sets because they insist every last word is deathless prose; that's just not gonna happen, at least not in North America.

Unless your genial host gets flooded by last-minute submissions, these one-sentence tips will end on Saturday. Tomorrow’s scheduled tipsters: Jennie Gardner Spallone, Mark Terry, Troy Wilkinson and Kristen Wood.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part IV

This is Day Four of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week, with FB writers and other book lovers combining advice with brevity.

Jackie Pelham: It will never see daylight if you stick it in a drawer, so submit, submit, submit.

Jimmy Pudge: You need at least one asshole in your story for it to be good.

Freddie Remza: Read dialogue aloud to be sure it sounds natural.

Dixon Rice: Find ways to get extra eyes on your work before it’s submitted or published – but not anyone you sleep with.

Linda Robinson: How to cook a novel: stir together a house of lives, a lot of love, tons of troubles, wonderful words, and a rash of revisions, then 'beat' well and bake until done.

These one-sentence tips will continue Friday and Saturday. Tomorrow’s featured folks are J.T. Sather, Paul M. Schofield, awesome Laura Schultz, lit agent Michael Snell and screenwriter Mike Snyder.

One-Sentence Writing Tips, Part II

This is Day Two of One-Sentence Writing Tips Week - Facebook writers and other book lovers boiling down their writing or publishing suggestions into one simple sentence. Okay, sometimes a compound sentence.

Jonnie Comet: No good writers are purely Romantic since they believe in the hard work of critiquing, editing, and revising; all art is deliberate and that’s what makes it 'art.'

J.M. Cornwell: Read, listen, write, and read some more.

Valerie Douglas: Just write!

Jacquelynn Gagne: Books are judged by their covers and writers by our words.

Linda Lee Greene: Get your head out of your arus and use your thesaurus!

These one-sentence tips will continue all week. Tomorrow’s turn in the barrel: LC Hayden, Danny Johnson, Vickie Johnstone, Fifi Leigh and Lucinda Hawks Moebius.

Tip O'Day #431 - Look Out Below!

Guest blogger Gerald G. Griffin on two categories of writers within the third group of writers. Ouch, my head hurts.

"A lot of people think they have a book inside them, but for those who try to write it, they usually fail," a friend once commented to me. "Why is that?"

I shrugged, giving him an are-you-kidding look. "Hell if I know!"

If answering him now, I'd probably say this: Let's start by dividing novice or would-be writers into three groups. First, there are those novices who can write great stuff immediately, as though born to it, and have little trouble getting published. Second, there are those who haven't a chance in hell of ever writing a book because they lack the creative aptitude, imagination, passion, dedication and discipline to do so. Third, there are those who fall in between the first and second groups.

Let's divide this third group into two categories. The first involves those who might squeak through a book, but it won't be published, and they skip the Indie route. The problem with these writers is that they write as though they are part of some freakish high wire circus act as he or she leaps haphazardly from the swing, twisting spasmodically into thin air, then frantically grasping outward toward his or her catcher's hands just at the moment their partner is suddenly seized with severe dizzy spells killing any semblance of timing.

"Look out below!"

The second category is a crazy one. These novice writers manage to finish their books. Then, by hook or by crook -- including the Indie route -- they have their books published. Their work is usually mediocre but the writers are convinced it's fantastic and will sell big if only it has the correct marketing. So enter the marketing scene, with all its madness! These writers are likely to be totally unprepared to deal with it but leap into it helter-skelter, the marketing madness enhancing their delusions.

Subsequently, these writers are prey for promising marketing schemes invariably failing to deliver, including social networking and engines leaving them in a mire of their own delusional madness. These novices are forever seeking that elusive, flashy review of their book that will turn that formidable trick leading to literary glory, never realizing that glory is beyond their reach.

Finally, for most of these writers, after suffering through all of this, their books not selling, their book signings a bust, libraries and book stores not carrying their works, their exhaustive madness having worn them down to the bone, they are left glassy-eyed, their literary salvation gone, leaving them with the stifling prospect of a mind numbing, everyday job.

Oh, what could have been!

To learn more about Gerald G. Griffin and his novel, check out this link. Among other things, it discusses the making of Of Good And Evil into a movie, and where the book can be ordered. The book can also be ordered on Gerald’s blog at http://geraldggriffin.blogspot.com/ or from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Tip O'Day #430 - Fighting Past Rejection

Guest blogger Elizabeth Hoban writes on the turning points in a writing career.

One percent inspiration and 99% perspiration was originally scribed by a writer, had to be.

For many years, I perspired when it came to writing. After what seemed like forever, I submitted my clever thriller over and over, and was rejected enough times to compile a lengthy book with Sorry-not-for-us letters. I didn’t understand this disconnect. Mine was a perfectly polished manuscript from the moment I typed The End. Hadn’t I spent enough time on this? Every favorite word and riveting sentence that ever ran through my mind was in that tome. I had whole sections memorized verbatim. I didn’t need to revisit it until I received the galleys, right? I had completed the writing of a book and I deserved to see it published.

When a well-known agent at a prominent writers conference announced to her audience that the odds of winning the lottery were better than getting your first book published, the audience gasped. I may have cried. Before I requested a conference refund, the author/speaker went on to explain that surprisingly the odds in favor of publication grew dramatically with the second novel before a first novel saw publication, then the third before the first two, and so on. My novel, my opus, my first born had taken me ten years to finish, meaning I’d be taking the dirt nap before I could write another book. After condemning everything from my second grade teacher to the alphabet, I begrudgingly put my opus in a drawer and began a second novel. After all, I had raised two kids, owned a second home. In fact, I was a second born and writing may be my second career, so why not, why couldn’t I write a second book?

Two years later, I was amazed to realize how much smoother the entire process went with this child. Like an athlete or musician, I was becoming quite practiced at writing. My grunt work was getting done while I enjoyed the creative process. Dare I say I was becoming a seasoned writer? My therapist thought so, when amidst the conclusion of my second novel, I started a third. Say what?

All writers who persevere have had that moment, that career turning point when they want to sit and rest on their laurels and someone pulls the chair out from under them. Here I wanted to pitch my great book to agents and turns out they were only considering second book ideas at that conference. According to the pitch boss, publishers wanted writers with more than one idea. Needless to say, that conference was my wake-up call. Sometimes the advice that’s the hardest to take is the exact advice you should take.

Both my first book and second book are traditionally published. My second book was the first to receive a publishing contract. Coincidence, I think not. Write on!

Check out Liz Hoban's hardcover true WW2 tale, The Final Mission here and The Cheech Room, her fiction suspense-thriller here.

Tip O'Day #428 - Bite Your Lip...

Guest blogger Mike Snyder on “A Cautionary Tale.”

Someone once said, "Writing is the loneliest profession." Let's not kid ourselves, so are accounting and nuclear physics. We just like to feel more tortured because we're creative. Well, maybe...

As authors, writers, bloggers, screenwriters, doodlers, dreamers, what-have-you, we are the masters of our fates ... much like that Seinfeld episode (and often, amounting to the same thing). For any of us know who have come up against editors, publishers, producers, directors, our moms -- name your poison -- it suddenly becomes a lot more crowded up in here!

I'm primarily a TV & film writer, but a lot of my friends are novelists (or recovering screenwriters, as I like to think of them). Some of them have had, or are in the process of having, their novels turned into films. One has even reverse engineered the process: she wrote a script that no one wanted, turned it into a best-selling novel featuring a winning heroine, which became a three-novel deal, which became a further three-novel deal, which then brought Hollywood sniffing around her door wondering if she'd "ever considered turning her novel into a script."

Ah, karma is so sweet sometimes...

I've been fortunate enough, and curious enough, to develop a skill set in other capacities on movie sets, which offers me a more unique insight into the screenwriting process, so I'm rarely asked to stay away when it's my script that's being eviscerated.

In other words, though it's often painful, and occasionally I still get bruised and battered, I know how to play the game. Novelists may have editors, but screenwriters are fair game to everyone who comes down the pike, so you may as well just relax and enjoy the ride. Filmmaking is the most collaborative of professions because everyone feels entitled to a kick at the cat, as my Canadian friends say. The producer who buys your script, certainly, especially if he's putting up the money and has a particular direction in mind for the project; the director, who wants to put his creative stamp on it; the actors, who want to make it their own (which is a whole 'nuther blog); and various network, studio or assistant underlings who need their presence known to justify huge paychecks.

All this requires that you bite the bullet. Hard. You're not going to win every argument and a lot of your darlings are going to be gutted, so choose your battles wisely and have *really* good reasons when you dig your heels in. Most writers are banned from TV or movie sets because they insist every last word is deathless prose. That's just not gonna happen, at least not in North America.

So, you've gone through development - a euphemism for obliterating anything creative from your script - and your Precious is going into production. Now you have every other department, down to the guy in crafts services, whispering in the director's ear because 1) they have an idea to make the script better, which is usually because 2) they have a script at home that's ten times as good as yours and they're obviously much more creative.

At this point you've suddenly begun praying the director has a strong vision, even if it's not *yours* simply to keep the wolves at bay.

Lonely profession indeed...

So, your bottom lip raw from biting it so much, you've managed to remain on the set as, day after day, you see something begin to emerge and take shape that may or may not have anything to do with your original piece.

Huzzah, consider yourself a true survivor. Out of hundreds of thousands (really, seriously, hundreds of thousands) of scripts that get submitted each year to studios, networks, production companies, producers, directors, actors, et al, yours was chosen. It was strong enough to withstand the vagaries of development and is being filmed. Or taped. Or pixeled. Whatever, it's getting made!

So whenever that little voice in the back of your head begins whining about your lovely vision and integrity to self and other silly, non-filmmaking words, sit on it. Hard. Stomp it down somewhere deep in the recesses of your soul where it will remain until you begin to write your next script.

Because ... this time it'll be different.

Tip O'Day #420 - Don't Wimp Out

Guest blogger Jeff Mariotte on keeping in shape.

You write with your writing muscles.

Like any other muscles, you've got to use them, exercise them, keep them in shape. If you let them atrophy, they won't be there when you need them. If you take care of them and work them out regularly, they will.

So write.

A lot.

It doesn't necessarily make writing any easier, but it almost invariably makes your hard work turn into something better.

Jeff Mariotte has written over 45 novels and numerous comic books, mostly in the supernatural thriller, horror, western and suspense thriller genres, as well as nonfiction works about serial killers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the like. You can find the paperback of supernatural thriller Season of the Wolf here.

Tip O'Day #418 - Just Look in Her Eyes

Guest blogger Anjali Enjeti opines on the subject, “Ask Me About My Writing."

But first, a note about what Dixon has been up to. I had shoulder surgery two months ago (my rotator cuff wouldn't rotate) and the creativity elves stopped visiting me for awhile. Either I was in too much pain, or I was fuzzy-headed from the pain meds. No more drugs now, and I'm doing well in physical therapy. It's nice to be back. Did you miss me? - Dixon.

I’ve been writing for eleven years now. While I’ve had some success, it’s safe to say that 99% of what I’ve written hasn’t gotten published. Okay, maybe 99% is a little high. Let’s settle on 95%.

My fifth book and first novel will be going on submission with my agent in the near future. (My first book was a memoir, the second an anthology, the third and fourth were picture books.) Going on submission is a scary process, made only scarier by the fact that one of my books, which I would have bet my life on would sell -- didn’t sell.

It’s a lot of hard work — not getting published. When you’re buried in rejection letters, there’s the added stress of wondering whether you’ll ever succeed -- whether your blood, sweat and tears will ever amount to anything.

I know many published writers whose books take up an entire shelf at the local bookstore. At book signings and speaking engagements, they complain about upcoming deadlines from their editors, their worldly travels to promote their published books, their rapidly declining advances. They bemoan their lack of sleep, interrupted and shortened because of their busy writing careers.

Successfully published writers seem to forget that we unpublished writers are also exhausted and overworked with our writing. No, we don’t have the advance or marked-up editorial letter to show for it. Hell, we still can’t find an agent, but we also make enormous sacrifices in order to write. Because we unpublished writers are working just as hard to get published as published writers.

We, too, struggle with self-esteem, depression and anxiety. We also have to wait until the kids are asleep before we can get a significant amount of writing done. We come home cranky and spent (from our other jobs, which actually pay the bills), and somehow muster whatever creativity reserves we have left to write engaging prose and scintillating poetry.

Recently, I went out to lunch with a wildly successful, best-selling author. Over grilled cheese and lemonade, she peppered me with questions about my own writing, my agent search, and my publishing history. She nodded when I confessed that I didn’t know whether it was worth it anymore — this writing life.

Here she was, living the dream: a big-time author, traveling the country to speak to reading and writing groups, researching her next novel in Europe, and selling foreign rights to countries I’ve never even heard of — and she couldn’t have acted more interested in my own, humble, and fledgling publishing career.

I left the lunch feeling validated. Reborn, almost, for she had taken the time to listen not only to my (numerous) tales of woe, but also to reveal her own, very discouraging start in publishing. By doing so, she pulled me from the pit of rejection-despair, and restored the fire in my belly for writing and submitting that had nearly gone out.

So if you are a published author and you find me standing in line, waiting for you to sign my copy of your book, do me a favor: Remember what it was like to be on this side of the process. Take a moment to look me in my discouraged, weary eyes. And ask me about my writing.

Anjali recently completed her first novel, Secrets of the Sari Chest, and is working on her second novel, Finding Om. She is represented by Robert Guinsler of Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc., and blogs at anjalienjeti.com

Tip O'Day #389 – Kill Your Editor?

Guest blogger Feather Stone discusses finding a critical eyes for your manuscript.

Until I actually hired one, I believed it was an editor's job to make the corrections, make my novel perfect. I had researched the list of editors and selected five whose interest was in my novel's genre. After interviewing each one, I selected the editor who I believed best suited my needs. We seemed to be compatible and her price fit my budget. We signed a contract and met after she read my masterpiece. I was prepared for glowing comments.

"It's going to take a lot of work," she remarked without enthusiasm.

I slumped in my chair. Crestfallen, I listened to the list of issues with the characters and the plot. She pointed out important areas that I had glossed over leaving the reader confused. And, she hated the ending.

"But otherwise," she brightened, "it is well written. It's got intrigue and a lot of potential. I'll work with you if you're willing to put in the work."

Okay, my naivety just got a kick in the pants. I'd spent five years creating something that came from my soul. I wasn't about to give up. My editor and I met once a month. Each paragraph was dissected mercilessly. Everything from the time of the sunrise in Acapulco to details of each scene, action, and dialogue had to be in synch with the whole.

When the editor told me to reduce the manuscript by half, I sat speechless. "If an action, character, dialogue, or scene does not add to the plot or the climax, get rid of it," she insisted.

She was right. All of my instructors had been clear that publishers are reluctant to accept large manuscripts from unpublished authors. The toil of deleting paragraphs, sometimes entire chapters was painful. Not just because beautiful scenes were being cut, but that process was complicated and exacting. If a scene or action was deleted in one area, it likely affected scenes before or after. Another two years of rewrites went by.

Then came the assignments. The shocker was to write a detailed biography of each of the main characters. At this point, I checked the contract to find the "kill the editor" clause. However, it was probably the best advice she gave. Through this process, the characters became alive. Their birth, education, goals, drives, weaknesses, sins, strengths were spelled out. Some of these traits never actually appeared within the story. However, I was able to more instinctively know what and how each one would react, say, feel in all their circumstances. The result was the reader had a more intimate experience with each character. After another year of continuous rewrites, the manuscript was ready to send to a publisher.

The education I received from my editor was worth every penny, and more. My grammar still needs improvement. But I'm now more aware what words are typically over used. And, if something can be said in one sentence, it will have more impact than said in an entire paragraph.

There are hundreds of websites that provide support to writers. Other authors are often happy to offer guidance. Find a support group of writers who will critique your work. Be sure to check your ego at the door. They can be just as tough as a paid editor. But, in the end, that's exactly what you need. A critical eye will polish your work, making you the author of the next best seller.

In the end I'm glad I didn't kill the editor. Besides, it would have looked bad on my book's author bio.

Here’s the link to Feather’s novel The Guardian's Wildchild. Also, check out her website.

Tip O'Day #381 - Hone Your Craft

Guest blogger Warren Bull on persistence.

Dixon Rice, whose novel The Assassins Club can be downloaded from Kindle, was kind enough to ask if I would write a post for his blog. He noted that his goal is, “writing well enough to be published, whether it actually happens or not.”

It struck me that Dixon’s goal is similar to mine. I wrote my-all time favorite short story for author readings, “The Wrong Man,” in response to a call for submissions from a magazine. Sometimes writing is as painful as self-dentistry. Writing this story was fun. I borrowed a friend’s fictitious setting, with his permission of course, plopped my character in the middle of it and typed away. I even added a few details to the biography of my friend’s main character, again with his permission, although that character never appeared in the story.

Of course in the writing world having too much fun arouses the ire of the muse who must be wooed and gently persuaded into being helpful. She cannot be rushed. Thus it came as no great surprise that the magazine went out of business before I could send the story in.

For the next three or four years every time I submitted “The Wrong Man” to other venues I got absolutely great rejection letters. Trust me. I’ve had acceptances that were much less enthusiastic. Like Odysseus, “The Wrong Man” sailed across the writing world and ended up in a safe harbor on a webzine on the far side of the globe — in this case, Australia.

By now, “The Wrong Man” is available online, in print and for audio download. I plan to read it aloud at Killer Nashville later this month. I’ve read it to different audiences half a dozen times. Each time it evoked laughter and applause.

I could have given up on the story, of course, but I persisted. In part, I was curious about how many wonderful rejections it could rack up. In part, it served and still serves as a metaphor for what it’s like to be a writer. I cannot control when or if anything I write will ever be accepted for publication. It does not matter how much schlock gets published from other writers. It does not matter that my work is better than theirs. What matters is that I put in the time and effort to continue to hone my craft, that I remain open to feedback, especially negative feedback, and that I continue to write.

Warren Bull is a multiple award-winning author and a Derringer Award finalist. He has more than forty short stories published, as well as novels, Abraham Lincoln for the Defense, Heartland, and Murder in the Moonlight (all available here) and a short story collection, Murder Manhattan Style (available here). Also check out his blog.

Tip O'Day #380 - Start Now!

Guest blogger Jeff Mazza on “The Story of a Non-Writer.”

Often we start out on a path that we think is where our destiny lies. A long time ago when I was in college, I began a class in expository writing as part of my Mass Communication major. The professor ridiculed my first attempt at creative writing as he read my essay aloud to the class. I dropped it from my schedule after about three days. I knew that any chance for a career in the media was over. I never finished the course and moved on to other things, namely starting a family.

Many years later a church member passed away and I was inspired to write a brief eulogy for him. Although the circumstances were unfortunate, I received positive feedback although it was not in my mind to begin a writing career. Later, I had the sad opportunity to write two more eulogies. This was not encouraging me to become a writer at all. Friends told me how great I was. The fact that someone had to die to spark my creativity did not exactly bolster my enthusiasm.

Skip ahead to the recent past, about three years ago. It seems that I was always starting a story or essay of some sort. All I had to my name was a few barely started attempts. Then a friend suggested blogging. This did get me motivated but my efforts were intermittent at best.

Eventually I began another short story and became determined to see it through. I made fun of my own attempt to write, just like that professor back in college. I called the story “Diary of a Non-Writer” as a mockery of my hopes to be a successful author. I knew that no one would want to publish it, so I didn’t even try. With so many ways to self-publish, I placed it on Amazon and sold most of the dozen or so copies to myself and a few friends. Despite my lack of fame and fortune, it was phenomenally satisfying to see my name on a web site plus a copy of the book sitting on my shelf.

Not long ago my wife of 29 years passed away. This reignited my desire to write. It was both a way of mourning and healing for me. Now I write two or three times a week and have received almost eleven thousand views.

My advice to those of you thinking about writing is this: start now even if you have nothing to say. Eventually that small spark might just ignite into a flame.

Tip O'Day 368 - Something Was Lacking

Guest blogger Michael Keyth: “What made me write a book?"

I’m Polish, living in Poland. I’ve never been to the USA. I have visited the UK on three occasions, for just a few days each time. So why the heck am I writing in English? It’s not that I’m an English teacher and I have completed English studies, for sure. It must be something else. I have currently one novel completed, and am working on my second one. My family won’t read them; they don’t know the language. My friends, well, they know some basic English, but even those who took advanced English on their final tests, had some problems with vocabulary they didn’t understand. When people ask me why my books are in English, I usually answer, “Well this language is more suitable to write in.” It is. More words, better sounding and it’s the official language of our planet.

Still, what made me write? Me, a simple teacher with lots of hobbies and little time for anything. I remember in late 2007, when I was 23 and a horror fan, I was about to watch a long-awaited movie that just came out. I don’t remember the title, but it was something about ghosts. Well, I was never so disappointed. Another movie with ghosts killing everyone one by one, only for one or two people to survive in the end. Where are the movies where people oppose them, huh? The same story repeated with many other horrors. Every time, something was lacking. Something that could made the movie better, like different plot twists, different characters, different villains. Then I watched the Supernatural series for the first time. To be honest I expected something like a team with high-tech devices to deal with hordes of supernatural things…nothing what I expected. I’m not criticizing the series. I like it how it is, but I had expected something different.

Then it happened. I asked myself a very important question: Why not write about what I want to see in other movies or books? But how could I, with no writing experience (apart from some short texts for tests), and few books read at that time, actually create something as huge as a novel? Other people spent years working on their novels.

During my fourth year of studies, I was dying of boredom, gazing into my laptop. I decided to write something. It wasn’t perfect, so I had no choice but to learn the art of writing. I read around ten e-books about creative writing. Based on their tips, I did a lot of research, created characters, made an outline and wrote. After one year the book was written - over 120,000 words. Just to make matters weirder, I wrote it on my mobile phone during school breaks, train travels, holidays and waiting in long queues.

As I said, the first draft took me a year. Then I gave up the book for one year. When I finally woke up, I re-edited it within three months adding 50,000 words, and then re-edited it for the third time. Now I’m working on the sequel, and find myself liking what I do. Hundreds of ideas implemented into my stories make up for the mistakes which a non-native English speaker will make. Will I continue writing after finishing the sequel? The answer is a resounding yes, yes, yes. This art is addictive.

Check out the link to Michael’s book.

Tip O'Day #363 - The Secret Is...

Guest blogger Troy Lambert divulges the Writing Secret.

There is some belief that what a writer does is somehow mysterious. That there is some secret formula, some secret ingredient you get when you join the author club (secret handshake and decoder ring included) that somehow makes you a better writer than the rest. I am going to share with you the secret. No club dues needed. Free, today only, right here.

The secret is to sit down and write. Not tomorrow. Not the next day. Right now. I am sure you have read enough books about writing—we all did in the beginning and we still do from time to time. We need to refresh and to hone our craft. These books have value, and reading them should be a part of your writing life. It is like continuing education for a nurse or a doctor. Without it, progress passes you by. But the one thing you must do every day without fail, no matter where you are, is write.

I used to teach skiing and I had a saying: “There is no substitute for time on the snow.” We talked about skiing, we watched movies about it, and we studied it in books. Sounds like writing, huh? (Have you seen Misery or Bag of Bones?) Writers attend conferences and seminars (even the dreaded webinar from time to time). Like skiing though, there is no substitute for time at the keyboard. It doesn’t matter if you are writing a letter, a short story, making progress on your novel, or even writing a blog post. (Yes, this counts.)

Between technical writing and professional research (some for my day job, yes I am a lucky guy) and the fiction writing I do, I average about five hours of writing every day. That does not count marketing, education, or anything else writing related. Add those in, and being a writer is a full time job and then some. I work an average of 70 hours a week. I also made three times what the average writer does last year.

Am I getting rich? Nope, even though my novel Redemption is doing rather well (you really should check it out). My short story collection Broken Bones continues to sell also and I am being hounded by fans to finish the sequel to Redemption titled Temptation. I am working on another research contract and will be at the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association Conference in Seattle at the end of July (if you are coming you should drop me a line or stop in and say hi).

Meanwhile, you have spent enough time reading this post. Get back to writing. After all, that’s what writers should do most.

Troy released Broken Bones, a collection of short stories, in 2011 and a new thriller titled Redemption came out earlier this year. You can learn more about this writer at his Amazon page or his blog.

Tip O'Day #344 - Getting Past Rejection

Guest blogger Ann Harrison on being a ‘pantser’ and overcoming rejection.

Ever since I could remember I’ve loved books. I would read anything I could get my hands on and it’s only now that my taste has really settled on certain genres. I love a good romance. Who doesn’t love a happy ending and all the angst in between? I greedily absorb as much young adult (YA) as I can, and I can’t pass up a good suspense and murder mystery.

'I wish I had started writing years ago,' is a cry you probably hear from many a writer. I think I was always too busy reading to sort out the voices in my head. Four years ago, it all got too much and I had no choice. My first seven books spewed forth at a rate of speed that literally scared me half to death. I started with YA because that came to the surface first. You might gather from this that I am a pantser (writing by the ‘seat of my pants’ instead of planning every twist of the story). I can’t do it any other way and am in awe of those that do plot every part of their manuscript.

YA books one through three (and notes for the fourth) in a series were very quickly written. After having book one rejected, (six times), I thought I wasn’t cut out for YA and tried my hand at romance. Three books were written in as many months and sat while I entered competitions and took the judges’ comments to heart.

What scared me most was the almost impenetrable wall you hit when you start submitting your work. It is nearly impossible to get traditionally published in the current market. Many print publishers will only take on repeat authors they already have a connection with. This is the time that many good authors will give up and throw it all away. I almost did after another three rejections.

It wasn’t until I met freelance editor Annie Seaton, who pointed out the flaws in my stories (in a way that I understood) that I took heart. I polished them until I was happy to submit them. It was the turning point for me; within 48 hours I had three contracts on my desk. I feel I chose wisely and carried on writing. Three weeks later I signed my second contract with Breathless Press.

Taming the Outback will be out in August and Mistress for Magnus will be released in September. With my success I felt brave enough to resubmit Book One of my YA series. Witchling has now been signed with Lycaon Press and I know that all of the hard work has paid off.

Check out Ann at her website or on Facebook and Twitter.

Tip O'Day #343 - "Road Rules"

Guest blogger Laura Solomon on the writing life.

The writer treads a treacherous road.

The publishing industry is a fickle and capricious beast. Who knows when and why doors will mysteriously open or mysteriously close. The writer does his or her best - writes part-time and works full or part-time. They exhaust themselves for years, getting nowhere, and then suddenly, inexplicably, gets somewhere.

Katoshi, or death from overwork, could be a potential risk. Many writers suffer breakdowns and spend time in mental institutions or hospitals for one reason or another. As Maggie Gee would say, it’s feast or famine.

The dream can become a nightmare – the nightmare, a dream. There are dark sides to the industry, which is, as A.L.Kennedy would say, full of opportunities for the unscrupulous to exploit you. Not many writers that I know would fancy ending up as tabloid fodder, a literary Middleton. Sudden success can bring unexpected side effects. Many a young artist has found too much fame too quickly and wound up a drug and booze addled wreck.

Yes, there are pitfalls galore. The publishing industry is probably after young, beautiful men and women whom it can exploit, but what does the writer want? Writers are shot at, spat at, verbally abused, threatened with rape and death – especially, funnily enough, the female ones.

In reality, as you get older, you realize that, as with any industry, an apprenticeship is served, a ladder is climbed and it is the people above you in the hierarchy who make decisions about when to let you in or shut you out. To be fair to antipodeans, it is more difficult for them to understand the social rules of the British Upper Classes and to fit in within that society than somebody who was born into that class, just as it would be difficult for a British Upper Class person to fit in if placed in a Kiwi Freezing Works – unless of course they could successfully master the Kiwi twang and be willing to don the appropriate overalls.

A young writer plays on the jungle gym, minds the P’s and Q’s and hopes to one day be allowed into the big kids’ playground. Unless, of course, being a guppy, the writer is happy in the fish bowl and don’t want to go into the shark pit for fear of being eaten alive.

Personality, of course, must also be taken into consideration. Person X might love the limelight and relish media attention. Person Y might hate the spotlight and choose to live a quiet small town life, tinkering on their books and making few, if any, public appearances. Who wants what and from whom? Who is a giver, who a taker? At any given moment in time, friends could become enemies, or enemies, friends. Innocence lost turns to bitter cynicism.

A young writer might have a lot of talent, but be lacking in the diplomacy and social skills that come with a bit more life experience. Person A might have been exploited by Publisher A and therefore be reluctant to deal with Publisher B. There are the J.D. Salingers, who have one hit and then become recluses, there are the Atwoods, who don’t seem to mind the limelight, and the in-betweens, who do some but not a lot of publicity.

It’s a difficult but exciting road – full of risks and rewards, highs and lows. A journey that some of us feel compelled to undertake.

Dixon says: Thanks to Laura Solomon for her thought-provoking comments on the writing journey. As part of my journey, I've got a big birthday celebration this week, and my Kindle THE ASSASSINS CLUB will be free this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at http://tinyurl.com/7fav44l - come celebrate with me!

Tip O'Day #342 - One Hell of a Ride

Guest blogger Michael McCarty on a writer’s journey.

My advice for beginning writers looking at getting their first novel published: hang tough, it’s one hell of a ride.

An author’s first book is like a first kiss – something you’ll never forgot as long as you live. After having nearly twenty books published, my first book still has a special place in my heart. It was Giants of the Genre published in 2003 by Wildside Press.

The story doesn’t really start here; it starts about a decade before that, in 1993. That’s the year I had my first national sale, an interview with Frederik Pohl in Starlog Magazine. Around the same time, I had started to send out query letters for a vampire novel called Liquid Diet: A Vampire Satire. Nobody seemed that interested in the novel. The suits at the publishing companies were saying, “Nobody is interested in vampires anymore.” And I would say, “Vampire fiction has been popular for over 100 years.” A decade later True Blood, Twilight and The Vampire Diaries would prove the editors wrong.

I would continue to do interviews with such genre writers as Ray Bradbury, P.D. Cacek, J.N. Williamson, and Charlee Jacob for various national and international magazines including Writer’s Block in Canada, The Zone in England and Dead of Night (where I was a contributing editor) in the United States. Strangely, I felt I was on a world conquest, but it was a humbling one to see my words spread to the different corners of the world and I hadn’t even left the United States my entire life. I interviewed Dean Koontz for a men’s magazine and received a four-figure check – I am still amazed at making that kind of money from a single article.

Near the end of the decade, Brian Keene approached me as being a contributing editor for a new internet magazine called Jobs in Hell. At the time, I was writing for another internet magazine, called Hellnotes. I kept writing Liquid Diet and finished the book in 1999. I still hadn’t found a publisher. I was so busy doing interviews I hadn’t spent much time querying the book.

The twentieth century soon became the twenty-first century and I had my first big break. There was this website called Science Fiction Weekly, which was the official website of the Sci Fi Channel. It was edited by Scott Edelman. After interviewing Neil Gaiman, I became a staff writer. For the next couple of years I interviewed more giants of the genre. Between interviewing people for Science Fiction Weekly, I continued sending my vampire novel to different publishers. I was starting to get frustrated and depressed. My goal had been to get my first book published by the time I turned 30, and I was nearing 40.

I was talking to Bentley Little one day and he gave me some excellent advice. He said it was time to put my vampire novel in the trunk and begin another one -- a lot of writers never get their first books published, including himself. I started working on another horror novel, called Monster Behind The Wheel, but figured that might take a lot of time to get published. In the meantime, I needed a new game plan. I was talking with my friend Mark McLaughlin about this and he suggested I do a “best of your genre interviews” type book.

I sent a query to a small publisher who specializes in collectible books. The editor wanted to publish the book, but in the end, I decided my book wasn’t right for this house, so onward I went. Next, I sent it to a publisher in Spain. The editor also wanted to publish the book, but ultimately, it didn’t work out there either. During the World Horror Convention in Chicago, I talked to William F. Nolan about the book project; he was enthusiastic, saying if two publishers liked it, a third was probably around the corner very soon. And he was kind of correct about that.

About ten minutes after meeting with Nolan, I talked with Neil Gaiman about the book. He suggested that publisher John Betancourt at Wildside Press might like it. So I sent a query and three chapters about my new book idea called Giants of the Genre to Mr. Betancourt. He read the three chapters and outline and politely rejected it.

A couple of weeks later, on the fourth of July weekend, 2002, I was thinking about Betancourt’s rejection. He said a lot of nice things in the rejection. So that Monday, I wrote back to the publisher saying something like, “Hey John, you’ve been in the publishing business for awhile, who would you recommend I send my book to.”

John wrote “You know, funny thing is -- I've been bugged by Giants since I turned it down. This usually means I'm convinced on some level that I've made a mistake. If you are still interested in having me publish it, I'll do it next year.” And that is how I got my first book published. Mark McLaughlin wrote the introduction. The book featured 21 interviews: Dean Koontz, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury & Barry Hoffman, The Amazing Kreskin, Dan Simmons, Douglas Clegg, P.D. Cacek, Graham Masterton, Alan Dean Foster, Forrest J. Ackerman, J.N. Williamson, Charlee Jacob, Dan Curtis, Poppy Z. Brite, Frederik Pohl, William F. Nolan, Charles de Lint, Connie Willis and Bentley Little.

My first novel, the collaborative horror novel Monster Behind The Wheel, with Mark McLaughlin, ended up on the Bram Stoker Final Ballot for First Novel and eventually became an ebook from Medallion Press in 2011. And, in 2009 my vampire novel, Liquid Diet: A Vampire Satire was published as a trade paperback from Black Death Book (went out of print in late 2010) and is now an ebook from Whiskey Creek Press.

Since that time, I have written more interview books, which are still available in trade paperback or ebook including Modern Mythmakers, Masters of Imagination, and Esoteria-Land.

Tip O'Day #337 - Beating the Indie Drum

Guest blogger Chris Mawbey on small successes.

A friend recently asked me if I would ever become a successful writer. I thought about defending myself by reminding her of my previously published work. Instead, I took her question on the chin and asked her how she defined success.

Her definition basically involved being called J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, or (in my friend’s words) the person who wrote Twilight.

When I mentioned Amanda Hocking, Joe Konrath and Stephen Leather her face went blank. Encouraged, I went on a gentle offensive evangelizing about what success can really mean for the Indie Author. In my opinion, success happens when -

Someone (you don’t know) downloads your e-book;
Someone (you don’t know) takes the time and trouble to visit your blog and leave a comment saying how much they enjoy your writing;
Someone (you don’t know), who has more followers than people they are following, follows you on Twitter.

The common theme here is ‘someone (you don’t know)’ - the reaching out and connecting with potential readers. Though these are small successes, they are also the bricks of the foundation we can build on to reach for bigger and better things. Without this foundation we will always struggle to grow our readership.

Success, however small, should always be celebrated; after all it can be a long time in coming.

Keep writing – stay determined – and enjoy the journey.

Thanks to Dixon for inviting me to share my thoughts with you, and thanks to you, reader, for giving me your time.

Learn more about this writer at Chris’ blog.

Tip O'Day #325 - Don't Give Up!

Guest blogger Brian Lott on why he kept plugging away.

I first coined the phrase Shape Shifters during a rather boozy garden party with friends and fellow writers in western Hungary during the late 1990’s. At the time I was working on a book that had a good hook and grab, but lacked a defined title. My friends asked why I was laughing and I told them that the best lines I ever wrote just popped into my head. Curious, they asked me to tell them about it.

"You bastard, you would have me die as an animal, rather than a man." Jesus screamed and pulled against the stakes holding him to the cross. "All because we slept with the same whore."

They looked a bit shocked, curious, and very supportive. Encouraged, I went back to work the next day, and a year later my labor of love was delivered into the world. Then came the hard part…selling the damn thing. After a few months, I was given a contract by a middleweight agent, and was shocked after an additional few months when the contract was stopped due to changes in the industry. Many years passed, along with a couple of other contract disputes, and I was still plugging away with no real end in sight. More than one person questioned my insane dedication. Why didn’t I give up?

Because I wrote the book for myself, and simply because I had a story to tell. Nothing more, nothing less. More to the point, I believed in myself. The years rolled by in a stream of seemingly endless nights as I sent submissions to blurred names on a screen. Then finally I got the mail that that offered the coveted contract.

If you have the talent, you will know soon enough. Everything else is faith and dedication.

Here’s the Amazon link to Shape Shifters. You can also find Brian creeping around as Shape Shifters on Facebook, and at his website.