Writing on the Fly

by

Scott D. Parker

Last week, I mentioned that I was starting a new job this week. Well I have and it caused some disruption here at the homestead. Nothing bad, but me and the family have had to adjust to the new normal. The new normal for me is that I have a lot less free time now. Again, not a huge deal--I get to ride my bike to work! And come home for lunch!--but I am in the process of figuring out where and when to write.

Well, the first couple of days, I started writing at 10am. When I start my day at 6am (that's normal) and start my workday at 7am (that's new), starting to write at 10pm posed some challenges. Throw in a old dog who needs help getting outside to pee and you can imagine the weariness is a factor. Okay, so lunch would seem like an obvious time to write but I come home to be with the family during that hour. Family 1, Writing 0. Throw in the family time during and after dinner and you can see why 10pm is, for now, the only good time to write.

Here's the thing about that: I did it before, the 10pm thing, back in 2005/2006 when I wrote my first book. But I've been a morning writer pretty much ever since. Time to do it again. But the thing I've already figured out is that with weariness knocking on the door, it's not time to *start* thinking about what to write, it's only time to write. Thus, I need to know, going in to a writing session, what I'm gonna write.

Thus, outlining, or, in my case, scene creation. Even if I don't know all the scenes, I tend to keep just a few scenes ahead of my present location. Often times, throughout the day, I have a spark of an idea for an upcoming scene. How to capture that now that I'm in an office nine hours a day? That's where my iPod Touch comes in. I have started keeping my notes in Google Drive and when I'm on a break, I just open up the file, type in the note, and then get to it later that night. Granted, it's not perfect, but, so far, it's worked for five days. We'll see how it goes. Another thing I started doing is copying my current chapter from Scrivener into another Google file so, if I have a five-minute break and I want to work on an actual chapter, I can just start writing and copy back into Scrivener when I get home.

For you writers with a full-time job that isn't writing, how do you work in your fiction writing time? What tools do you use?

Everybody loves some novel, sometimes...*

By Russel D McLean

I have a nightmare.

Not the one involving snakes.

Not the one involving Jay Stringer and Dave White's disturbing burlesque routine.

But rather the one where I finally get found out. The one where people realise I was faking being a writer all along. Where they call me out on years of bullshit.

Its a fear common among us all. When someone doesn't like our work, we wince and get this feeling like someone kicked us in the heart. Even when that criticism is wrapped up with good stuff there's a feeling like, you know, we failed somehow with just this one person.

And you know, what I've realise over the years is you either get used to that feeling or you night as well pack up your keyboard and go home. Because part and parcel of being a writer is dealing with criticism. I watched recently as a would-be writer kicked back against someone who gave them a professional report on their work.I won't go into details but it got me thinking about how we react to criticism, particularly early on in our careers.

Now I get the emotional reaction to criticism, but here's the thing: if one reader thinks there are issues, you can guarantee others will.  And you can either feel strongly enough that other readers will understand your work, or you can listen to the critism and learn from it.

Early in my career I signed with an agent who worked with in house editors. The first editor - who persuaded the agent that I had something - loved my work and gave me a lot of constructive advice that finally made its way into what would become The Good Son. The second editor had a hand in booting me out of that agency because they didn't like what I was doing and wanted me to write a very different kind of novel. Now that novel would have probably got me a huge six figure deal but it wasn't the kind of novel I wanted to write. I stuck to my guns. And got booted off that agent's list. Quite unceremoniously.

But I didn't call for the editor's head. I didn't gnash and wail and grind my teeth (in public). I looked at the reasons I got booted and weighed them up. I wondered whether there were things I could learn. In the end I took a few of those things and made the novel stronger, but I learned that sometimes people just aren't going to react to your manuscript. And that different folks have different tastes.

I took my keyboard and walked away from that one.

In another case, I sent a manuscript off to someone whose opinions I trusted. They came back and told me the book wasn't worked. I was gutted. It was a good book. I was sure of it. But I couldn't be sure. So I went through the manuscript looking at the points they suggested. And sure enough there were issues there. And in this case the person was right to tell me I maybe needed to restructure and restart. Sure, I could have sold the novel, according to this person, but it would have been for a pittance and it wouldn't have gotten the kudos that was clearly deserving of the story. I needed to re-examine it. I needed to really really re-examine it.

This time, I followed the advice.

And the book that emerged was, I think, better.

What I'm saying is this: at every stage of your career you will get criticism. Some of it will be as meaningless as a ranty one star review on Amazon saying that you're "not like Rebus" but some of it might just be worth listening to. Some of it might be well intentioned or even good advice that just might not gel with your plans, but is still worth listening to without losing the plot. Some of it might even save your book.

But anyone who simply praises your work should not be listened to at all. I never send WIPs to friends or family. I did it once and actually got measured responses, but I need to know that the person reading my book has the impartiality of a distant reader or someone who won't take into account who I am or what they know about me. Sometimes that means I get things that do not tally with my expectations. But I learned long ago that kicking up a fuss doesn't help. Listening the criticisms and asking yourself whether you think they might help your novel does.

In short, you and your novel are not special flowers. You do not get a pass just because you wrote something. You have to expect criticism. You have to expect to be imperfect. And you have to expect that sometimes you will learn from that.

*with huge apologies to Dean Martin...

Strangeways, Here We Come

By Alex Segura

My day job - and some of my writing life - occurs in the land of comic books. Like I noted last time, I do publicity for a living. In the world of comics, that means conventions. We’re in the midst of prepping for the mother of all comic cons: Comic-Con International: San Diego. It’s a week-long marathon of meetings, panels, social gatherings and two-minute conversations. It’s a blur. By the end of it, I usually start to wonder if my life at the con - waking up early, standing around a convention center for 10 hours, going to panels, going to dinners, seeing people I only interact with via email in person, living out of a suitcase in a hotel - is now my “real” life. You’re there that long. It’s fun to see old friends and so forth, but the trip is exhausting and there’s little room for rest or quiet contemplation.

But this is a crime fiction blog.

Working toward San Diego got me to thinking about events and conventions for authors in general. Whether it’s a big one like BEA or genre-specific ones like Bouchercon - or if you’re doing a reading at your local bodega: events matter. They connect you to your readership in a very personal and direct way.

I’ve had the pleasure of doing a lot of events while promoting my first novel, Silent City. I imagine I’ll do as many or more to push the second book when it’s ready. I like them. I’m a people person and enjoy making new friends, connections and networking with other authors and publishing folk. That being said, events are really exhausting. Your brain has to be turned up a notch and you have to be doubly mindful of everything you say, do and so on. But the fun and potential upside outweighs any of those concerns.

So, with “con season” in full swing and with books launching weekly from author friends - new and vets - I thought it’d be a good time to share my experience and tips about events, from readings to panels to just walking the floor.

Be concise. This applies to a lot of appearances, but mostly panels and book readings. Leave people wanting more. For panels, you don’t want to be seen as the guy hogging the limelight. When reading from your book, you want people to be intrigued but not looking at their watch. For readings, I usually stick to 3-4 pages. Maybe a few more if I have more time. You want to give readers a taste of your work - ideally a good one! - and leave them curious enough to buy the book. You don’t want them wondering where they should go for dinner after or if all the readers are going to take this long. Panels are trickier because you’re not in complete control - you have to play off a moderator (some are great, some not-so-great), fellow panelists and the audience. You will get questions from left field. You may not get to share that great joke you thought about on your way to the event. Roll with it. Be yourself, make sure you’re not taking up more time than you should and, most importantly, have fun. The audience can tell.

Don’t be a promo bot. Fans go to events, cons, etc. to interact with their favorite authors, meet new authors and make new friends. They don’t want to hear a pre-packaged blurb about your book, nor do they want everything you say to tie back into your book. Be yourself. Mention your book when relevant but also allow yourself to riff on things that show you’re more than the writer of Book X - music, TV, hobbies, sports. Fans want to feel like they know you, and if they do, they’re more inclined to become supporters of your work - especially if the work is good.

Mix and mingle. Not every event is going to center around you. As noted above, you will probably have to share the stage with other authors, critics or editors. These are not bad opportunities. It’s good to show yourself and your work in a greater context. I relish these opportunities because they allow me to show that I’m part of a much bigger writing community and fit in with various groups. Not long ago, a few writers and I did a really fun Latino Crime Writers panel in Astoria, NY. Low key, very thoughtful and engaging - one of the best panels I’ve ever been on. I think it was a good example of how to pool your audiences with fellow authors and showcase a larger literary picture. We all sold some books, had some laughs and enjoyed each other’s company for a bit. So, play nice. It helps.

Let people know what you’re doing. I know I yapped about social media a while back, but seriously: you cannot complain about no one showing up to your event/panel/signing/rodeo if you didn’t promote it. Talk to the venue and see how you can help. Plug it - reasonably and regularly - via your channels. A lot of times, venues depend on the authors to do the heavy lifting in terms of promotional support. It’s a hard balance to strike, because I for one hate to seem like I’m begging people to come see me blather on about my book. But if not me, then who? Get past the ego part of it and push the event. At the end of the day, it’s better to feel like you sold your soul a bit to the publicity gods than bummed because no one came to your signing.

Be nice. Conventions and most events are supremely tiring. You’re on little sleep. Your feet hurt. You’re nervous. You see that annoying person from college in the audience and are feeling weird. It’s stressful. There’s a lot going on. But never forget: you’re there for the readers. Be kind. Be thoughtful. Spend that extra second with the person talking to you about their cat's health issues. Give advice to the guy asking what he should do with his manuscript. Be present. Fans will remember that and you’ll feel more successful about your interactions with them. Readers are what help us keep writing. They buy our books and support us and often befriend us. Don’t make them feel like an annoyance because you just want to get through the whole thing. If it’s that annoying, don’t do it. But if you’re there - make it count.

My writer friend Chuck Wendig also had an excellent post at his blog about conventions and panels you should all check out.

What about you, fellow readers? Share some of your event experiences - either as an author or attendee.