So, some of you know I finished the Superstars Writing Seminar this weekend, which is why this will be a very short post. There’s a field trip today and I’m going. (And yep, this afternoon will find me typing away on Through Fire, because I was writing by hand at the Seminar.)
Anyway, it occurred to me that writing is such a strange avocation, pulling things out of non-existence and putting them in someone else’s head that writers – by which I mean true writers, not people who write so that they can get their next promotion in academia or what have you, but people who are compelled to tell stories – need these seminars and workshops, even if they learned nothing new at them. Why? Because we spend three or four days in the middle of a bunch of our peers and we start thinking we’re not the cursed outliers of the human race.
Now this is the third year I’ve attended Superstars. I’m not going to say there was no information. Among other things, we had the inimitable Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith as speakers, and even if you know the information, you always catch some nuance in what they say that lights up a lightbulb.
There was also a lot of info I’m not ready to use yet, and might never use – Hollywood, comics – but which is good to have in my quiver because one thing in this business your career is likely to do is take a sudden turn to the weird when you least expect it.
That’s all fine.
But the most important thing about it for me, this year, was feeling energized by knowing I wasn’t alone and even my peculiarities (writing a book while listening to talks) were shared by some of my peers.
After the seminar yesterday, a friend asked how she could finish her book really fast, and ramp up on her career (she writes romance) to where she’s making money.
I wished she’d taken the seminar (I tried!) but since she couldn’t this year, I am going to distill some stuff from the seminar for her.
- Don’t stop. You can’t sell books you haven’t written.
- Write through the distractions. There is never going to be a distraction free life while you’re alive and in the world.
- Keep writing. Particularly in the indie game, but really in all of it, you need productivity to make actual money. As in, living and buying groceries money.
- If at first you don’t succeed, pick yourself up and write again. This business is WEIRD and even the best get knocked down. The long-terms continue working through everything.
- There is money in them there hills, but it is work to get there. So – as Kevin Anderson says – the books ain’t gonna write themselves.
- Vary what you do. You never know what will hit. The more tickets you have the better the chance of winning the lottery.
And now, I’m going to go to my field trip and to write. I’ll be back on Tuesday with more reasoned commentary.
Meanwhile behave and ix-nay on the pink walls hey.
Red and white make pink? But, gee, I heard a Navy chief swear that red and white made grey. OK, so it didn’t work out so well in the movie, but maybe this time . . . No?
IIRC, because they didn’t have grey, and didn’t have enough of either white or red, they mixed them together, because the rule was to be grey, red, or white. And I think that was for the primer color. So if they ever actually got the top coat, it would no longer be pink.
Yes, but what are we gonna do about that girdle in the engine room?
If it works, don’t take it of— Um, let me try again. If it’s working, don’t remove— Er, leave it where it is until we get to port. Third time’s the charm.
Wrap it around a roast and start cooking.
What? You’ve never heard of girdling your loins?
So now the pig wears a girdle, as well as an apron?
Would that be an appropriate moment to put lipstick on the pig?
Right, but the second she says “Welcome home Honey” it’s time to make bacon.
Wait… that didn’t come out right….
There is no way that could have come out right.
I was thinking of something more like a paisley pattern. Stencils, or maybe wallpaper.
/Users/robertschofield/Desktop/Persian_Silk_Brocade_-_Paisley_-_Persian_Paisley_-_Seyyed_Hossein_Mozhgani_-_1963.jpg
opinions?
OK. that didn’t work. Sorry. I’m not a techie, I just married one.
You’ll find the pattern in question here.
That’s an excellent list for writers. You’re right, this is a crazy, tough business, definitely not for sissies.
I’ll be guest-blogging tomorrow at aliceosborn.com/blog/, where I’ll discuss ways to get your story going when you’re stuck.
Too Slim, of Riders In The Sky (http://www.ridersinthesky.com/), recommends something like “He burst in thru the door/window/wall, six-guns blazing!” That opens sooooooooo many possibilities.
You’re on the same wavelength! Check out Alice’s blog tomorrow.
“When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.” Raymond Chandler.
Oh, yes! And here are some ideas for putting “a man” and “a gun” in your story:
http://aliceosborn.com/how-to-get-your-novel-unstuck/
Where did he have the other four arms mounted?
Oh mannn, don’t you just hate it when your guns catch fire? Even if you have fancy grips they heat up and aiming (never too accurate with a six-gun even under favorable conditions) becomes impossible what with waving your hands in the air to try to keep from getting scorched.
Then there are the bullets exploding in the cylinders and the fire ruining the tempering of the metal? Shucks, best thing to do if your six-guns are blazing is to jam them into the rain barrel or the watering trough without delay.
Time to quit daddling and start writing again. I talked to several of my family members lately. My uncle and sister has been reading my books. My one sister requested more short books lol…
My uncle told me that he wanted to see more books up there with my name on them.. I had no clue that any of them were even picking up my books — let alone reading them.
❤
My family are not readers lol
Paint? Sarah, that wasn’t paint.
And now comes the part where you don’t ask questions you don’t want answered.
You mean the kind of rust colored weren’t rust either? I thought it looked kind of funny.
And no matter what happens, nobody goes into the sub-basement.
We’re definitely going to need a bigger boat.
Call Jiro. I’ve yet to meet a Great Old One he couldn’t render into sushi.
Call Hello Kitty. Cthulhu looks so cute with ribbons.
Problem with rising damp?
Well, some of it was rust.
Remember the wood chipper scene from Fargo?
I’ve thought of going to a writing seminar, but I’ve never heard of one close enough, and reasonably-priced enough to go to.
It’s like trying to form a writer’s group. I’ve tried for many years to do that, but I’ve never been able to find other writers in my area who wanted to do one, so I just gave up on it.
Superstar writing seminar… I think you can get the DVDs or audio CDs after the fact, but I think you probably lose something (a lot) by not being around the other attendees.
Chartreuse and Florescent Green?
There is money in them there hills, but it is work to get there. So – as Kevin Anderson says – the books ain’t gonna write themselves.
You know, during the gold rush the most sure-fire way to get rich wasn’t to randomly try to find a mine– it was to either do good, hard work, or to be providing services to the miners.
The Kevin talk seems to be instructing you on how to do the former– hanging out here, folks who can’t manage to finish a story might teach themselves how to do the latter, which will also have the lovely side-effect of making it so writing folks have more time to WRITE!
This applies to way more than writing.
Most people won’t succeed because real success usually looks like a lot of hard work. As you intimate, the hardest part is to just make time to sit down and write. Those who make excuses – kids, school, tired, etc – will never succeed.
Okay, no pink.
Salmon?
Ony if you paint in the scales…
Oh, that would be a sight to see. A salmon sub.
How’s the fishing?
The Spring Chinook are eagerly awaited.
Not even gonna go there.
With or without the peperoncinis and oil and vinegar?
Don’t they usually always have at least some oil, somewhere?
Lox of luck getting that approved.
OK, OK, I’ll get back to work.
I dislike being the one to tell you this, but you really do need to know: the advise wasn’t to “go fuchsia yourself.”
*paints one wall black
(true black(tm) that absorbs all light sent against it)
just don’t stare at it too long
It starts staring back.
When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back…then it yells TOGA PARTY! and trashed your apartment. Asshole.
Can I stare at the girls walking by in their summer clothes?
If you stare too long at them, they stare back also. (or slap you)
No, you should turn your head until your darkness goes.
But don’t look at the red door.
But I just want to paint it black!
That’s fine. Just don’t look at it.
And whatever you do, don’t go behind the green door.
Best cover of that song *ever*:
When you stare into the Abbess, the Abbess has you say a hundred Hail Marys.
Depends if the Abbess is hot, right?
Not for most guys, no. As long as she’s bathed recently and her teeth are more there than not…
If she’s an Abbessinian, she may be a Furry.
I– The– ….. uh. Where the heck did ya’ll put the carp trebuchet?
I think the dragon accidentally set it on fire.
well, she insists it was accidental…
I warned the aardvark that the dragon’s ticklish.
I . . . wow, I’d like to say that’s a new record in the ongoing pun-limbo contest that is the AtH comment sections, but I’m sure someone will lower the bar. But it will take effort.
Yes, a lot of effort, since once the bar is embedded in the floor, you have to dig a trench under it….
Would anybody be interested in a steampunk Civil War novel?
Steampunk that isn’t written by a treehugger is always interesting.
Did you ever see this then? http://fav.me/d5fxxce Steampunk and Mad Science.
Could be really cool.
Not my usual fare, but sounds interesting.
Sure, why not?
Does it feature The Torpedo Bureau? Gen. Forrest’s elite unit of negro commando, The Green Berets? Cannon-sized revolvers? Somewhere I have filed away an old Ordinance magazine of some of the ingenious weapons of the war, and another focusing on the Rains brothers (of the Carolina Rains). The Civil War already comes pretty much pre-Steampunked.
features coulda’bins, might’abins and WTF’s…
“And yep, this afternoon will find me typing away on Through Fire, because I was writing by hand at the Seminar.)”
And you sound like me, I have officially given up on Dragon, so I am listening to dictation I have recorded while driving and am typing it up.
Well I was until I finished typing one story, and decided to take a break and got sidetracked here. 🙂
Well, trees get crushed, burned and exploded, but not hugged…
Nominations for March book are open:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2203656-march-2015—-fs-f-with-music-as-a-major-theme
Michael Moorcock back in the day did a couple of novels with Micheal Butterworth, IIRC, based on the band Hawkwind.
IIRC one of the Witchworld novels is based on music . . . _Songsmith_? I heard the tape before I ever found the book.
There’s the “Crystal Singer” and “Dragon’s Hall” series by McCaffrey.
The “Spellsinger” series by A.D.Foster
The nominations are open at the linked location.
Great seeing you there, Sarah. It was a great seminar. Came in expecting to accomplish some things and didn’t, and some other opportunities arose. With networking, you never know what’s going to happen.
c4c
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