Trippin

There is a Jeep slogan that rings true in so many ways:

Life is Good.

I am fortunate.  For twenty-two years, my family has taken an annual vacation.  Our destinations have included such places as the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain National Park, The Great Smoky Mountains, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and so on and so on.

In my mind, these vacations were one of the most important gifts my wife and I were able to give our children.  There is nothing quite like seeing your childs eyes light up at some of things we were able to share with them.  The cost of every trip was worth it, and we never had a bad vacation.  Rain or shine, we never had a bad one.

Vacation number twenty-three will be just the two of us.  I will miss the kids, but they have grown and have obligations.  So for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Teri and I will celebrate together, but not alone.  And what a trip we have planned!

It is still several weeks away, but our planning has reached an almost unbearable level of excitement.  This year we are straddling the motorcycle and going on a 3000 mile adventure.  A few days spent hugging the Gulf, another day in Ocala National Forest, a week at Disney World (anniversary dinner at Disney World), and a few more days of adventure all the way home.

Fortunate.  Fortunate to have the means for this adventure.  Fortunate that I have someone very special to go on an adventure with.  Fortunate that for 22 years, we were able to share similar adventures with our children.

Life is Good.

Let's go trippin!

Fear of Technology

It seems that most of my discussions lately have revolved around writing.  Go figure.  That's what I have been spending most of my time doing; writing.

Computers are all around us.  If you are reading this, you are doing so via some incarnation of a computer.  Chances are, your car operates because of a computer.  Modern flat screen televisions utilize computers.  Your cell phone is a computer.  When you withdraw money from your bank account, you most likely do so through the use of a computer (ATM).  Cash registers have evolved into computers that make that nostalgic cha-ching noise.

So why so scared?

I work around a bunch of scared little people.  They have to interact with computers on a daily basis in order to complete their jobs, yet they want nothing to do with them.

Myself?  I embrace technology and wonder how I can make it work for me.  I constantly write programs to make my life, and others, easier.  That is just one of the many things I get paid to do.  So it only makes sense that I would seek help from a computer to improve my writing.  Right?

Wow, don't bring that up in the writing workshop forum that I was formerly a member of.

The computer is only as intelligent as the programmer.  As a programmer, I teach the computer to do what I need done so the task can be performed reliably and efficiently.

In the writing world, what needs to be done reliably and efficiently? 

Editing.

I just felt several people from that workshop cringe.  Get over it.

Editing software does what I do (and will continue to do) reliably and efficiently.  I promise you, it will catch "now", when I meant "know" more often than I will.  Or how about "through" and "threw"?  I can edit a piece of work, much like my editing of Diplomat Elanya this last weekend, and still miss things.  When I dump it off to my editors, they will catch things and make notes, but they too will still miss things.  It is the way humans work; we are glorious imperfect beings.  We can scan a document and look specifically for "teh" and miss it a hundred times, a computer will catch it every time.

Editing software is just another editor.  I had three editors, now I have four.  Guess what?  I can ignore number four just as easily as I ignore numbers one, two, and three.

I don't want everyone's prose to be the same...

Seriously?  This is an actual line from a concerned writer.  Really?  This isn't the Jetsons where Elroy feeds an essay into a computer and the computer spits out an edited sterile dissertation.  Editing software offers suggestions (like a human editor) based upon data and algorithms created by a human.  You can accept the suggestions and make corrections, like you would with a human editor, or you can ignore the suggestions, like you would with a human editor.  The choice still remains with the writer.

By no means am I saying that every writer needs to use editing software.  I am saying that it is another tool available that has the potential to help you grow.  Just as Frank from Edits R Us can be another editor to use in your process, so can the computer.  It doesn't replace the human factor, it can't.

But, don't let your fear of technology hold you back.

And don't name your editing software Frank.  I already named mine that.

Shameless plug:
My short story The Leaf Pendant is available for free at most e-book sellers (except Amazon).  My book Blood of Two is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Smashwords, and a multitude of other e-book retailers.  You can also pick up the paperback (though it is a bit pricey) at Amazon.  Read it, rate it, review it, and most of all, enjoy it.

Finding Time

It has been more than a few days since I posted, and much of the reason can be blamed on the clock.

The rest is my own fault (but don't tell anybody).

I have been hard at it with the follow-up to Blood of Two and it is going slow, but it is going.  I'll save some of that for another post.

One of the things about writing a book and working a full time job is finding that short span of time to dedicate to writing.  It can be quite the challenge.  Some writer's get up early and spew out a few words before work.  Some will utilized technology and hammer out a bit during breaks.  Since I crawl out of bed at 3am to get to work by 4, I wait till after work.

I am a creature of habit.  Such a creature of habit it is almost silly.  Oh, heck.  There's no almost about it.  I get home from work, check the mail, check a few websites I frequent, pay a bill or two, take a shower and pour myself something to drink.  Most nights it's just a Mountain Dew, other nights it calls for something with a kick.

I then ease into my office, which is my writing domain.  I will check in with some of my social networking that I joined up with specifically for my writing.  This here blog would be one, the facebook page for my writings is another.  I haven't quite found the magic touch with Twitter yet, though I do occasionally tweet, and Google+ is still a mystery for me.  Regardless, I hit em all and contribute if I can.

Then it is time to write.  I fire up the music, light up the incense, and away I go.  For how long?  Until the characters in my head grow mute.

So, you see, I have found time to write, however there is another issue:  I have forgotten about the time to vegetate.

Some people call this vegetation time 'Re-charging', and there is a lot of truth to that.  Don't get hung up with word counts and progress if your writing has turned into work.  Take a few moments and hang back with your family and friends.

Just this last weekend I had just completed a chapter that was a chore.  It was like every word I typed had to be squeezed out of me like a clove of garlic in a press.  I had spent most of the last week with that single chapter (which will likely get shredded on the first edit).  Saturday and Sunday, I didn't write a thing.  I hung out with my wife.  We looked at new motorcycles, bought some stuff for our May bike trip, ate a couple of meals, and caught up on some television.

When I returned to my writing domain last night, I spewed out a thousand words before the first stick of incense expired.

You will often discover that finding time to do nothing at all will re-invigorate your writing.  Take a day off and when you come back to the keyboard you just might get lost in your story.

Of course, you can take this thought too far...

Know What to Expect

When I jumped into the world of becoming and Indie author, I pretty much knew what to expect.  Or, I suppose, more of what NOT to expect.

I was not going to become an overnight success.
I was not going to make millions on my one title.
I was not going to grab the attention of a major publisher.
I was not going to let any of this slow me down.

It is really quite amazing to see how many of my peers expect the opposite.  I know of one author (and have read of many more like her) who published her book and expected it to sell in blockbuster numbers.  One of the problems was that the extent of her energy ended when she published the book.

Several weeks passed and her sales were non-existent.  She vented on her personal Facebook account about how people she thought were friends had obviously not supported her by purchasing her book.  That vent was the first time many of her friends even knew she had written a book.

Never mind the quality of work.  If you do not expend energy on marketing, you lose.  Unfortunately, there are a million ways to lose on marketing.

Research, research, research, research.  Before you publish and after you publish, research.  One marketing path may work for one author and fail for another.  A lot of it is a gamble, so you have to decide which avenue is worth the gamble for you.

I recently ran an advertisement on Goodreads.com because of the success stories I had seen about it.  It is relatively inexpensive, and it reaches my target audience.  I have sold books because of this campaign.  Not a lot.  I still have my day job, but through that campaign, I was able to reach more people.  My audience has grown, and I only spent the money I felt I could afford to lose.

The Leaf Pendant was released as a freebie.  Yes, it is another story, but it is also another marketing tool.  And this one cost me nothing.  That short story has garnered sales and increased the size of my audience.  I have broadened my exposure.

I didn't expect the world to know C. Hollis Gunter when I published Blood of Two, I did expect to have to tell the world who I was.  Nobody will open up their web browser and google your name if they don't know your name.  So, tell me, why do you expect instant sales of millions and an invite to Oprah?

I hesitate to call marketing work, because I have seen work (from a distance) and that ain't it.  Marketing takes time.  Time that could be spent writing your next masterpiece.  Your next masterpiece won't matter any more than your first if you don't spend some of that time to spread the word.

If you write, and that is all you want to expend your energy on, then know what to expect.

Office Space

For the last year I have been doing my writing at a pub table in the den.  Not the most productive area.  The den is full of distractions, including my beautiful wife who wanders through, sometimes in nothing but a t-shirt.

I am the type of writer that needs an environment conducive to, well, writing.  Although the den is definitely not that environment, I have surprised myself and finished up quite a bit of work.  Come on, I published a book while working in that environment.  Well, that is officially over.  I have returned to my office; my writing environment.

The room has been painted and the old twin bed moved away.  I bought a nice desk that will hold my computer, printer, and the various books I use when I am in full writing mode.  This new office is for one thing, and one thing only; writing.  If I want to take a break and surf the net a bit, I leave my office and go to the other computer.  This way my mind remains in writing mode while I am in my office.

It's really amazing how well this works.  I had some of my most productive days in that office, before it was occupied by another for a year.  Tonight, I dive back into some very serious writing, and I can't wait.  I have been productive as of late, but this change of environment is what I have been wanting for quite some time.  No more barstool.  I can sit at a desk and unload the voices in my head.

Now, where is my red stapler?

A Question of Money

A common misconception I have heard/read on several occasions is that epic storylines (longer than the traditional trilogy) are all about the money.  You know, I could be a bit naive about this, but I will have to strongly disagree.

23 years and 14 books long, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series was wrapped up last week.  For those who have read the books, we know the length of the story was in large part due to Jordan's penchant for foreshadowing.  Chapters of non-consequential scenes littered the series, but those scenes were used to set up things that often didn't happen until two or three books later.

Millions of people enjoyed his writing style.  Millions of people, not two or three friends at work, but millions of people around the world.  I enjoyed his style, my wife doesn't care for it.  His writing style and the breadth of the story contributed to the length of the series.  Did I mention that millions of people liked it?

Money was not the bottom line.

Jordan had a story to tell, and if he was anything like myself, he wasn't going to cut it short just to meet some arbitrary number of acceptable books.  Sure, there were ways to crop the story; cut down on the characters (which he had aplenty), don't tell the readers about the sub-plots that contribute to the final page, knock it off with the foreshadowing, etc.  Jordan stuck to his guns and told the story HE wanted to tell and the story the READERS wanted to read.

My Drums of Rallinwar story is being told in the same manner.  I am telling you the story that I want to tell, and I hope the you want to read.  Granted, my story isn't fourteen volumes.  My story may only last three books, or it may go four books, but there is no number that I am tied to.  The story will end when it chooses to end.  Money has absolutely no bearing on the length of the tale.  I have other stories to tell.

While I'm rambling on, keep in mind that some author's tire of their stories and want to wrap them up.  Some have wrapped them up despite the cries for more from their readers.  Aren't they losing money by not continuing the story?

Just because your world revolves around the money that other people make, does not mean that their world revolves around your desires.

Here you go, shameless plug:  BUY MY BOOK!  Blood of Two: Book One in the Drums of Rallinwar series.  Available where you buy your ebooks and you can even find it in paperback on Amazon (do a search for C. Hollis Gunter).  Buy it, rate it, review it, and if nothing else, I hope you enjoy it.  However long the series is.

Characters v. Outline

One topic that makes its rounds a couple of times a year on workshop forums is the outline.  Some writer's will create an outline for their story, a hiking trail if you will, while other's preach the evil's of such organization.  Reader's would likely be surprised about the arguments that ensue among authors about this singular tool.  I have even listened to lectures where the speaker claims that a novel sans outline is destined for failure.

To both arguments, I say whatever.

After my novels have been written in my head, an outline is created.  By no stretch of the imagination is the outline a concrete entity.  It can't be, at least for my writing style.  It's begins as a basic outline; a beginning, the outhouse orcs, and an end.  As developement progresses, the outline maps out each chapter in a general sense.  But, like any map, there are places along the road that just aren't shown and you discover them along the way.  And don't forget the occasional flat tire and blown fuel pump that can cause a delay in your journey.

Then there are those lousy, good-for-nothing, disobeying, free-will, hateful, outline trashing characters.

With my writing style, no outline is impervious to character intervention.  Aeldon, a character from the Drums of Rallinwar series, begins as a not-so-bad prince.  His qualities bring you to hate him and love him.  You want this guy to grow out of his hatred and become the good man that he is quite capable of becoming.  The outline for the follow-up to Blood of Two has Aeldon growing closer to the man we all want him to be.  The dirtbag just doesn't want to do it.

As much as I prod and pull him toward his good side, he resists.  He'll launch an inkpot across the room, punch someone in the face, and preach the virtues of keeping the elves and dwarves in their place.  There are times when I look up from the keyboard, I expect to see an inkstain on the wall, or on my outlline.

With almost every scene a character will bring cause to alter the outline.  An encounter in a city is scrubbed because somebody decides it's too dangerous to venture into it.  Another chapter has to be added because a character decides that someone needs to be thrown into the dungeon.

My outlines are organic.  They change as the manuscript is written and all of the changes are due to character's decisions.  In the war between characters and outlines, it is a stalemate.  Neither wins, they both adjust.

Shameless plug:  Blood of Two: Book One in the Drums of Rallinwar series by C. Hollis Gunter is available at most e-book outlets such as: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, smashwords, Sony ebook store, Kobo books, and Diesel ebooks.  You can find the book by searching on their sites for Blood of Two, or C. Hollis Gunter.  Buy it, read it, rate it, review it.