Writing « Robin Writes

A lot of mention has been made of one’s writing method, and what it comes down to is that is simply doesn’t matter. Do what you think is right for you. Notice that I didn’t say “what you feel;” feelings are what you pour into your work. Thinking is what you do for your career.

Plotter

You can plot and plan, but most writers have a day job too, and as you all know, life gets in the way of many things we want to do. Even, sometimes, things we need to do.

You may work best with a set time to write, and you may be able to stick with that most of the time. But what about the times you don’t? Do you feel bad? Guilty? Constrained?

Do you spend a lot of time staring at a blank screen or piece of paper? See, plotters map out almost everything—during their writing time—and use all kinds of methods and gadgets and tools to get ready to write. Plotters need to do this, and it’s okay.

IMHO, plotters usually take quite a long time to produce a book, and that’s okay too. Often, there are reams of material that never make it into that book, but could of course spawn another or even an entire series. This is a risk you run, especially if you’re in a hurry for whatever reason.

Another risk is that you end up with a landmine field of plot holes, because you know all these details so well that you fail to adequately explain or show them to your readers. Pantsters run this risk too, for the opposite reason.

Pantster

“Strike while the iron is hot” could be the pantster’s motto. Write when you feel like it! For myself, if I don’t do it when I’m on fire, so to speak, it won’t get done. Now, that doesn’t mean, usually, that I stop whatever I’m doing and dive right in—often I’m in the middle of something and I’m disciplined enough to finish that first.

And, of course, there’s the “percolating” method by which I can accomplish a number of mindless tasks while my subconscious is working on a book. THAT’s when it all comes together and I can spend hours at my desk and churn out a ton of pages.

Of course, there are times when I have to stop and make a few notes, or line out a few characters, or double-check the timeline of my plot. The difference between a plotter and pantster is that the latter uses tools and notes for a few minutes and gets right back to the story; a pantster doesn’t spend a great deal of time on details.

Which, of course, is that risk mentioned above: plot holes. I maintain, however, that pantsters have the better deal—all professional writers certainly check their work, but I think that pantsters are more likely to notice the gaps because all the details that could be missing weren’t meticulously written down elsewhere.

I could be wrong, of course. I sometimes am . . .

Anyway, who cares? Does it matter? Most writers have one preference or another and that could even change, depending on the WIP. Endless discussion of the method (of which, apparently, I’m guilty, considering this blog post), can only lead to procrastination.

And we all love that.

Do it your way, it doesn’t matter in the long run. Don’t listen to anyone who says you MUST do it a certain way—nope, not even those who say you MUST write every day. Baloney. Just get it done, one way or another.

Writing a book is hard. Even writing a bad book is hard, so they say, but sometimes I wonder . . .

What comes after the writing is finished? It depends.

The logical progression is to check your work (just like school), send the ms off to beta readers, tweak whatever needs tweaking—maybe a lot, maybe just a little, and either start querying or begin the SP process.

Except.

If you’re an unknown writer, you need to do a lot more.

First, you have to start getting your name out there—you could blog about the process of writing that book. Or about the book/story itself. Or a character. You can start this before the book is finished, or you can start when it IS finished. But you have to start before it’s published. At minimum.

If you’re in the blogosphere, if you’re in online groups, if you belong to actual, physical groups in your area, you have a much better chance of being recognized and creating opportunities. Or, sometimes, having opportunities drop into your lap.

Oh, it’s not that easy—it takes time. And persistence. And continuity.

Take social media, for instance. It’s a here and now thing. If you post something about yourself or your book today, a certain number of people will see it in the next half-hour, tops. So you post again later that day, or even tomorrow. But if you wait a few days, or a week, no one will remember the last one and no one will pay attention in a cumulative manner.

What’s that saying about sales? A person has to see something at least three times before they’ll remember it. Some blogs/articles will tell you the number is seven, and one says that 20 is the magic number. The point is that a once-a-week “ad” will take forever to see results.

Now, at the same time, you can’t, as we’ve all heard, scream, “BUY MY BOOK!” You have to give value to your potential readers—and by “give,” I mean exactly that. For free.

It could be other blog posts of interest, relative to you or your topic; it could be a freebie to current fans and readers. It could be introductions to other books similar to yours. Anything that your readers would consider “valuable.”

Just don’t be a pest.

Here’s another way to look at it—like a job interview. If you apply for a job, you don’t stop there, right? You follow up in a few days. Maybe again in a couple weeks. If you’re doing online promotion, that translates into a follow-up after a few hours and/or a couple days. At the most.

Same thing for booking personal appearances. BE personable—that’s what it’s all about, after all. Call or email. Or write, via snailmail. Then follow up in a few days, maybe even with a phone call. Be persistent.

But not a pest.

You won’t sell books by doing one event a year; or even two or three. Put yourself out there. Look at spin-offs: lecturing, classes, speaking gigs. Create your own income lines and tie those into your book.

But here’s the rub: you might not sell books at these events. You might sell some, but not make much/any money because of the terms offered. You can’t look at this as a money project—the purpose of events is to get you and your book out there, to become recognized and recognizable.

Of course, you might sell a lot of books too—the point is that a no-sale event is not a failure, it’s just another step.

Start at the beginning and take it one step at a time. Even if your book has been out for a while, it’s never too late to get going. Sometimes, you have to start at the beginning more than once . . .