HARLEQUIN AND AUTHOR SOLUTIONS JOINT VENTURE: HARLEQUIN HORIZONS

Well, taking a break from my NaNoRevisMo to discuss the joint venture between Harlequin and Author Solutions.

I have always been a firm believer that no person should apologize for trying to make a living. Making money should not be seen as a bad thing. We all need it to support our families, put roofs over our heads, put food in our mouths, send our kids to college, etc. In reality, making money is part of the American Dream.

When my husband and I first got together he was a car salesman. He was actually pretty good at it too, but it sometimes it drove him crazy how he had to go back and forth between his boss and the customer and how much was he willing to cut into his paycheck to make that deal. Today, I can't stand going to any store with him. He haggles all the time, which is a good thing. Negotiation is a part of life. If you don't ask for a discount, you'll never know if you could have saved a few bucks or not. A good consumer will shop around looking for the best deal. A good salesman will not take advantage, but work with the customer to get them what they want and need without giving up all their profit.

I have nothing against Self-Publishing. You want to take on that risk, sell your book on your own, go for it. My only advice is beware of self-publishing companies. Be a good consumer and business person by doing the research on them. Make sure you know exactly what you are getting into.

This leads me to what Harlequin is doing. For many, many years, Harlequin has been a leader in romance novels in the publishing world. They have rejected many writers and published many writers. Now, they are entering into self-publishing. Actually, I think by definition they are entering Vanity Publishing.

For years, and years, industry professionals have told aspiring writers to beware of companies where the author has to pay for services a traditional publisher would not. Do not go to fee charging agents. Do not go to presses where you have to purchase a certain number of books or are required to give the publisher money. These companies are not reputable publishers. They are not in the business of publishing the best possible book for the consumer but simply looking to make a buck.

I really don't know what to think of what Harlequin is doing. They are big business and they are in it to make money. I have no qualms about that. I just don't know what this is going to do to an industry that is struggling in a struggling market. I just don't know what it will do to aspiring writers who want to make a career out of writing. This is not their hobby, but their livelihood.

I am not passing judgment, I am simply questioning what this business decision with do to publishing over all as well as the impact it will have on RWA.

DAY 13 OF NANOREVISMO AND IT'S ALSO FRIDAY THE 13TH

Crazy Ralph: Doomed! You're all doomed!

A line from the movie FRIDAY THE 13TH. One scary ass movie.

So, today is day 13 of either NaNoWriMo or NaNoRevisMo depending on what you are doing. I'm revising and you see the picture to the left? This is what I am doing to my manuscript. Seriously. I'm taking an ax to it because it is Doomed if I don't fit the draft. I'm so clever, not. I'm just tired.

Anyway, I'm behind on my work and really need to kick it up a notch. I need to finish this by the end of the month so I can send it an agent.

Today I watched Stephen King on the View. I think Stephen King has one of the most fascinating minds in the world. The things he comes up with just amaze me, and scare me, and make me go huh? Anyway, while listening to him talk about his new book UNDER THE DOME something odd occurred to me. You've all heard me talk about me stumbling around trying to figure out things about myself as a writer in order to make my books better. Well, I had a light bulb moment.

Backstory: A year ago I went to Bob Mayer's writer's retreat. He told me, and has told me many times, I'm too dark. Ok, what exactly does that mean? He liked the twists and turns and thought my ideas were good--so what does he really mean by I'm too dark? Part of it steamed from me spending too much time with my antagonist, understanding them and not enough time with my protagonist. So, I went to bed with my protagonist and found out a lot about her. Mostly, I started to really like her, which is important because if I don't like her, well how the hell can I expect my readers to like her. This really helped. My book is better.

Fast forward to 11am today. Stephen King is talking. I've already pre-ordered his book. I'm thinking what a fascinating mind this man has. How his new book has a 100 characters in it (he describes it as a small town and he had to visit the people of that town often) and the entire really large book only takes place in the course of a single week. I thought, and pardon my french, this man is either fucking brilliant, or crazier than me. And It hit me as I sat here, watching him smile and laugh and talk that what Bob really meant, and probably actually really said was this: you're people are depressing. They start off depressed. Why do I want to ride along with a person for 400 pages when they are depressed to begin with?

And then lightening flashed angrily from the sky. My house shook violently. My body trembled. Badda Bing! Why can't she be relatively happy? All she wants is to put the past behind her, so she's kind of starting new. She's happy, but then in the inciting incident the past reaches out it's long arm and tugs her back a bit, but she's a determined, happy girl who knows what she wants, so she pushes it down, but nope, she has to deal with.

I stated off too big. I started too far in the action where most wait three chapters to get to the heart of the problem, I thrust you into without giving you a chance to know and understand my characters. Nope. That doesn't work. So, I have actually write the first part of the book. Which is what I'm doing. So, back to writing while I wait for the next lightening bolt to strike.

NANOREVISMO UPDATE DAY 8

Here is a picture of my clustered office. Normally have a room full of cluster makes me nuts. I like things to be picked up, neat, and clean.

The cork board you see usually hangs on the wall by the book case, but the way my desk is set up (a u-shape) I have to get up and move around the desk to go read the stuff on the cork board. That stuff is important to my daily writing goals. It has a picture of each character and what each of them wants, why they want it, and why they can't have it. It also has my narrative structure for both plot and my protags emotional journey. I also did the emotional journey for hero and secondary characters and how that fits into my plot. You can see empty space on the board. This is for me to add note cards as they come to me or as needed.

Above my computer screen are color coded note cards that have things I need to remember each time I write for Heroine, Hero, and Antagonist. Also taped above screen are two note cards that have each scene in form of character vs character and purpose for the first act. This is what I am currently writing that is completely new. Once I get to act 2 the majority of my writing will become rewrites. act 3 and 4 have a lot of major overhaul that requires the deletion of scenes and the writing of new scenes, but I have to write this beginning first.

Each time I sit down to write, I look over this cork board, the note cards above my screen, and two other white boards that contain my basic plot structure, my basic emotional structure, my original idea and my conflict box. Just by looking at these things, I am immediately taken into my story.

I also keep a notepad next to my screen where I jot down what I wrote or revised the day before and what I need to do the next day. I add to it before I start writing and when I stop.

This seems like a lot of stuff to do just to write a book. Well, no one said it was easy to write a book. You have to bleed out to get this stuff on the page. This is me bleeding out.

How am I doing? Well, my goal is to finish the revisions of this draft by the end of the month. I have written about 18,000 new words and revised at least 5 scenes. I have stopped revising and am now focusing on the new beginning.

This is a hard book for me to revise simply because I didn't follow my own advice by really front loading the work. I started writing too soon. Not a big deal, just makes revisions a bit difficult. However, I have a clear vision now mapped out on my desk and there it will stay until I officially write the end.

Write on world!

NaNoRevisMo DAY 4 UPDATE, GOALS, and TIPS FOR SUCCESS

I love the energy in writers created during the month of November. Everyone always starts out strong, pushing themselves to write sometimes twice to three times the normal amount of words. Inevitably, when writers do this, many will get burned out withing the first few weeks, or sometimes even days. I've also seen writers stress over quality and they find it difficult not to go back and read and possibly revise their work, especially if the process of puking out 50k isn't the normal process.

I actually found myself in a quandary yesterday when I realized I had, pardon my language, blew my wad, the day before. But I understand this about myself, so I did other things that make me feel productive. I printed out the second act, which is the next section I need to revise. Remember, I'm not officially participating in NaNoWrMo. I'm revising current manuscript with the ultimate goal of finishing by the end of the month. So, after I printed it, I put it in a folder on my desk. I then took out the notebook I keep that has random thoughts, notes, some plotting. For each book I write, I keep a notebook with me at all times. I write random dialogue that comes to me while I'm at hockey games. Or, because for some reason whenever I'm in the shower, I have a tone of scene ideas, as soon as I get out, I write them in this notebook. Then as I'm working, I just check off the things I've used and make notes for the things I haven't. This is all still writing. It's all about the book.

I find too many authors thing that preparing, organizing, plotting, outlining, or whatever, is busy work and not really writing. Well, it is work. Anything you do that gets in the right head space to continue working, especially when you don't want to, is part of the writing process. Hell, I have a friend that when she needs to clear her mind, she will play solitaire on her iPhone. Now, I'm not suggesting to anyone they go get themselves addicted to games on their iPhone or computer, what I'm saying is understand how you work.

I know that for me, if I end up writing something like 20+ pages in a day, or spend a full 8 hours at my desk working on current WIP in any form, I kind of spent for the next day. I need to recharge my batteries. So, because I don't want that to happen during NaNoRevisMo, I'm going to work on pacing myself better.

I'm lucky, writing has become my day job. For years I worked as a part-time dance teacher, which I retired from a year ago. While doing that, I worked part-time doing contract work, merchandising, product and sales training, and other jobs. I like to mix it up. But even when I'm doing the paying job now (teaching at Writers and Books) I'm doing something relating to writing. I've also started writing articles. So, when my children head off to school around 7am, and after I get my morning chores done, I sit down to write. I write on and off until 3pm when the kids get home from school. I will take a break and work-out. I will take a break to fold laundry. I find that if I take short breaks through the writing day, I don't get myself to the point where I'm fried for the next day.

Depending on the after school schedule with homework and hockey practice, will depend on what happens with writing for the rest of evening. Generally, I have another good 3 hours I can sit in my office and write, especially when HS hockey starts because that is everyday after school and they take bus to rink, so I have a few more hours.

So, yesterday I only did part of my goal, but I also am very organized for the next few days. Today, I'm going to start with reading what I worked on yesterday, and look at my notes, then I need to finish a new scene. The next scene need to be revised as I have to weave this new emotional thread and a new character that I had cut, but realized he has a bigger role than first expected. After I do that, I'm going to take a break. Do my workout. Then, I need to do a character arc sheet for this character, then I have to write the next scene, which is another new scene, so all new words. After that, break for food, or something. Then it's revise two scenes that I don't think needs a tone of work. Weaving in another layer of my main character and the hero. I'm all of a sudden loving my hero and his journey.

Funny, a month ago I was talking with a friend about how my hero didn't really change or have a stake in the heroine or the plot. He came back with that's a problem. Well, no problem anymore. Tweaked his backstory and bam! He's got a journey and I'm loving it. That is cool.

UPDATE AND GOALS: So, yesterday's production in writing was less, but I was productive. Today's goals are, write new scene, rewrite scene with new character, then do a character arc sheet, then write a new scene, and then revise two scenes adding in a layer.

TIPS:

Take a moment to understand how you work and how participating in NaNoWriMo will affect that process. Adjust as necessary.

Don't stress yourself out or forget to take care of yourself, brain and body. If you neglect things that are important to you when you're not writing, your mind will go to those places regardless. When you get stressed, your body tenses, so if your typing, your shoulders and neck get real bad, this will hinder your productivity. Really, take some time to relax and recharge.

If this is new to you, or a new writer, use it as a learning experience to help you understand what works and what doesn't.

Don't try to do it all in one sitting. Your ass will fall asleep. Really, it will. I can't be the only one. Find ways to take breaks. Do it differently if you have too. I started taking a voice recorder with me when I walk around the neighborhood. When something comes to me, I talk it out. I do this when I drive too (yes, I have a hands free one).

Set daily goals, weekly goals, and of course you have your monthly goal. Some people think I'm nuts, I think the word is annal retentive when it comes to being organized. I am not, but that's a different story. Anyway, I totally believe that if you have goals, and plan of action, and you adjust as you go, then you are more likely to succeed. Think about it, if you were going to sail across the Pacific Ocean, you would just get in a boat and go, would you? No, you'd check out a map and set a plan so that you are at a certain point by a certain date.

Give yourself a break. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. It will make you crazy.

Bottom line, if you write a little everyday, you will eventually get to the end.