Book Shoutout: Entrepurpose, by Rusty Pang and Brian Laprath

I’ve always said I love it when other authors get published.  These particular authors and this particular book makes me that much happier because Rusty is a friend of mine.

Let’s start with the book blurb for Entrepurpose:

Begin blurb

You are here for a reason. So, the question is: Why?

Entrepurpose is a book inspired by 13 intense years of struggle to find the answer to the question,

“Why am I here?”

That journey took me through three depressions, alcoholism, and unhealthy weight gain as I tried to reconcile my life without purpose.

Now that I know my why, I have experienced an infusion of life and focus that I have never felt before.

This work has become my mission, and I can enjoy it more fully each day. But, it came at a price. That price was 13 years.

My story is our gift to you.

Inside these pages are the tools and principles that led me to understand what I was born to do.

If you apply these principles to your life, you will begin to see that every experience, no matter how painful, is part of your strength. If you feel different from others, a misfit perhaps, this book will show you why different is better than better. Maybe, for the first time, you will begin to accept who you are.

Whatever the reason that brought you here, know that you are here for a reason. That reason can be understood, and once you know it, you will have a responsibility to impact the world in the way only you can.

Welcome to your rebirth.

End blurb

This book is already doing well, and I couldn’t be happier for the creators.  It reached number 1 in three categories: Business and Money, Education and Education and Reference.

What’s most important about this book is, it’s designed to help people who truly feel low.  All the feedback I’ve seen and all the messages I’ve read continue to say, “This is what we need.”  Every writer wants his or her book to have an impact, and the early returns on Entrepurposve indicate this book does that.

Now let’s meet the creators.

I met Rusty somewhere around two years ago.  We both teach at the same school.  Over the last few months, we’ve been working more closely as he’s teaching the same segment of the course I teach.

There’s a bond between authors.  They don’t have to recognize it or accept it in any way.  It’s a bond of caring for your craft.  You see it when they’re a bit tired the next day because they rushed home to eat up whatever time they can with their family before they toil away at another job that takes not just a great deal of effort, but an insane amount of mental energy.  I’ve watched Rusty as he’s pushed himself to share this with you.  It’s not just his story, which alone is something compelling; it’s his passion.

Every day I see him talking to people about personality types and how they gather information.  Every thing he does as a teacher is driven to understand how the student thinks and learns, so that he can teach more effectively.  I haven’t had a chance to read the book just yet (it’s next on my TBR), but his story and his effort to find ways to reach people are already strong motivators for me.

I haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know Mr. Laprath.  He’s currently a reservist in the Air Force, and any time I can help out a fellow veteran, I’m going to.  You can find out more about him on the Entrepurpose website.  That site also has a blog and a ton of information worthy of checking out.

So I wanted to take a moment today and share this with you.  As most of my followers and those I follow know, I love giving shoutouts when dreams come true.  I relblog posts where authors announce they’ve finished a book.  I like it when people achieve their dreams, and I wanted to share this achievement with you.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Character Qualities: How to Analyze Characters and Use Their Qualities to Your Advantage

So I read a blog from Quintessential Editor a few days ago in which we discussed character or conflict.  He and I may (I’m actually not sure) disagree on what makes a book great.  I’ll vote character every time, and I have my reasons, but the blog inspired me to offer my view on what turns out to be how I evaluate characters.

I love Writing Excuses.  It’s a great podcast, and they did a podcast a few years ago (back when I had the luxury of listening every week) that helped me understand why I like books.  I’ve said it a few times.  I like sympathetic, proactive characters.  The podcast to which I’m referring is the one on character sliders.  In it, they discuss how to evaluate characters by Sympathy, Competency, and Proactivity.

I’ll let you listen to the podcast for the explanation because they’re awesome, hugely successful authors, and I’m an Indie guy trying to find my way in the world.  I will make one argument.

Sanderson explains that Sympathy is the “how likable a character is.”  He’s my Yoda in every regard, but I don’t know that’s true.  I think Sympathy (at least to me) is how strongly I feel about the character.  Whatever the emotion, if I feel it strongly, I’m drawn to the character.  The formula works regardless, but I see sympathy as “strength of emotional reaction” and not strictly “likable.”

What I thought I could add or build from this wonderful tool was how to use it when writing a book.  I don’t see this as a character development tool myself.  Rather, I try to anticipate how readers will see the character.  I’m editing Caught still, so I’d like to use Sal.  In the previous draft, he was proactive and sympathetic.

My editor and I disagreed on his arc.  What I wish I’d argued then is that he wasn’t actually very competent.  He tried several times and several ways to do something before he gained more power.  His argument, in the interest of being fair, was that Sal struggled and failed so many times, and never reacted to those failures.

I kept this in mind while revising.  I kept in in mind while writing for the other characters as well.  I want my readers to say two things when they read my books.  “I (feel strongly) about his characters” and “they’re always moving.”  I hope they hate the characters I want them to hate, and I hope they love the characters I mean for them to love, but as long as they feel strongly, I feel I’ve succeeded.

So how do you do this?  Well, I’m sure there’s a lot of ways, but this is my own spin.  At each major plot point (for me, this is when I check my outline), look at your character and see how the plot point might have effected each of these traits.  Every time a character fails, he or she seems less competent.  Some fans hate incompetent characters.  I’m actually not one of them.

Case study:  Naruto is a moron.  He’s a goof, who’s just winging it.  He can’t do a single normal jutsu and really only has the one major trick.  But look at how hard he works!  Look at how much he cares about his comrades?  Look at how he struggles to maintain his bonds.  In fact, each time he wins, it’s usually DESPITE his competence.  Still, if he NEVER learned anything, he’d eventually get boring.  So at certain points, he becomes ever so much less stupid.  This is how we see his progression as a character. Don’t mistake progression as moving forward.

 

Art by Seamas Gallagher.  Image used as a character study.

Case study:  Rand al’Thor is one of my favorite characters ever.  In fact, I’d like to compare him to Ichigo from Bleach.  I feel Rand works more because there’s more progression.  Ichigo gets more powerful.  He’s competent, proactive and sympathetic, and he never really changes.  Rand becomes all the more compelling because as he becomes more powerful (and we’ll have to discuss something soon), he becomes more isolated and less sympathetic.  So you see, he devolves in sympathy as he evolves in power.

Is power a slider?  For me it is.  Because competence, to me, is the character’s success rate.  But there are several characters who win a lot, but still don’t feel very powerful.  The first that comes to mind is Ender Wiggin.  He’s incredibly sympathetic, competent, and proactive.  But none of that matters because he’s supposed to fight an alien race that the human race has feared for generations.     Power is a factor in a lot of things, and conflict can be the gauge by which you measure it.  So why do I consider it a slider? Because it can be used as a source of conflict in itself, not just a resolution to conflict.

Now that I’ve done a few case studies, let’s turn that microscope on myself.  While writing Bob, I was very concerned about the first act because the conflict is subtle.  Most reviews regard the first act as the best, which makes me feel good I didn’t cut it from the book.  In the first act, Bob is sympathetic and proactive.  His proactivity is what causes the conflict.  Police notice him, and now he has to evade them.  He’s not very competent.  He doesn’t know anything about his job.  He doesn’t know how to avoid police.  He’s not even very good at covering his tracks.   This leads to the climax of part one.

When I got to Part 2, I checked up on Bob’s sliders.  Sympathy 100%  Proactivity 100%  Competence: 30% (I’m probably being nice).  Power 50%.  This might surprise people.  While Bob talks about how “useless” his powers are, he’s still comparatively more powerful than most of the characters in Part 1.  In Part 2, I introduce Grimm.  Now he’s very competent, very proactive.  How sympathetic is he?  I HOPE readers say they hate him, but I can’t pretend to know.   There’s hardly any feedback on him though, so that leads me to believe I miscalculated here.  So he’s not sympathetic at all.  (otherwise, readers would have said something about him by now).  I can learn from this.  But what he DOES do, is make Bob seem LESS powerful.  That also makes him seem LESS competent.  So the progress for Bob is actually devolving and not evolving.

In Part 3, I make Bob more competent.  I do this by showing him learn.  I had to bring in the “mentor” archetype.  I had to give Bob a few wins.  This made it so when he got to the final conflict, he looked like he stood a chance.

That’s how I use the sliders.  If I ever felt like my sympathy or proactivity values were slipping, I adjusted for it.  I encourage authors to do these checks. When you hand the book to beta readers, ask them to send a chapter by chapter evaluation using whatever sliders you use to evaluate the character, then compare those to your own assessment.  If they’re the same, I’d say you’re doing it right.  If they’re different, that’s when it’s time to find out what you’re missing.

I’ve never really cared much for competent characters.  They bore me.  Oh there are a lot of characters that I love that are ALSO competent, but for my money, if a character doesn’t make me feel and isn’t doing anything, I hate the story.  That doesn’t mean EVERYONE will.  Know your genre.

That leads me to my last point.  The Mary Sue character.  Corey would be awesome and tell you where that term came from, I just learned it an moved on.  (The difference between a gardner and an architect if I’ve ever seen one).    A Mary Sue is a character that is the most compelling, most powerful, most proactive, most competent character ever.  Dear God, do I hate those characters.  I argue that if a character is too powerful and too competent, the sympathy bar naturally slides down for me.  It’s a risk writers take.  But here’s my twist:

Mary Sues don’t happen when all the bars are maxed; they happen when all the bars are equal.

I get this from photography. I picked up that wonderful skill in the Navy, and I’ll love it for the rest of my life.  In terms of light, if you have equal values of red, blue, and green, you get gray.  You can have 20% of each, or 100% of each.  (Zero..well..then you don’t have any color, so that’s black, which, according to Batman is a very, very, very, dark gray).    I find characters feel like Mary Sues when all values are equal, no matter those values.

Image pulled from a Forbes article.  Oddly enough, it disputes that she is a Mary Sue.  Image and article used for case study with accompanying alternative opinion.

Character study:  Rey.  She’s not that sympathetic.  Really.  She’s just out there in the desert chilling.  You LEARN to care for her, but that’s not the first hour of the movie I saw.  She’s competent, but everyone but me remembers how she got captured (like a chump) and messed up the doors (like a fool) when they were first aboard the Falcon.  If I evaluate Rey right after meeting Han, I’d say she’d measure out at: Sympathy 10% Competence 10% Power 10% and Proactivity 10%.  Remember, Finn is the one who gets her to move.  She wanted to go home through the first half of the movie.

Her arc SEEMS Suish (trademark M.L.S. Weech) because she processes equally across all sliders throughout the movie.  She gains more power and competence.  This makes her more proactive and sympathetic.  I love the movie. I don’t mind Rey, but I don’t love her either, because she essentially sat around the desert until someone forced her to move, and even then she didn’t do much until she got captured.  Watch the movie, let me know if you think I’m wrong.

So that’s it.  Try it on your book.  Toss me a few character studies.  Let’s make a game of it.  Until then, thanks for reading.

Matt

Sympathetic Characters

Under my new book review format, I talk about how much I enjoy characters.  That got me thinking about character sympathy, why it’s important and how to manipulate the reader’s sympathy for a character.

One reference for how to adjust sympathy is Writing Excuses.  They’re more successful than I am, and they’re also better at this than I am.  The linked podcast addresses the how.  They reference another podcast that explains why you don’t have to have sympathetic characters.  That’s true.  There are reasons to have unsympathetic characters, but I’m not a fan of them.  They exist in The Journals of Bob Drifter, but that doesn’t mean I was overly happy about their existence, only aware of their necessity.

What is a sympathetic character.   There are a few differing opinions, but I’m going to selfishly hover in my realm of opinions.  While some feel sympathetic characters are those readers feel sad for, I don’t necessarily leave it at that.  When I talk about sympathetic characters, I’m speaking specifically on characters readers have a strong emotional response to.  A character my readers hate (if that’s what I wanted them to feel) is every bit as important as a character my readers love.  When I get feedback from beta readers, my worst fear is I’ll ask, “what did you think about Character X?” and the readers will respond with, “Who?”  That’s a  much bigger problem to me.

One of my betas for Journals hates Richard.  When she told me why, I smiled, and said, “Sorry, but that’s exactly what I wanted you to feel.”  The degree to which readers hate Richard is one thing, but if they hate him for the same reason my beta hated him, I did my job right.  Characters can’t be completely rage worthy any more than they can be completely sympathetic.  The masters (who in my opinion are George R.R. Martin and Peter V. Brett) can make you hate a character and then a book later, make you at least understand them.  This particular ability allows you to have an extra arch with your characters.

Image of Shawn Michaels is used in reference to WWE’s effectiveness in building character sympathy.  Photo Credit unidentifiable.

A great example for how to do this?  Believe it or not, the WWE.  I haven’t watched wrestling in years, but think about it.  Shawn Michaels went from hero to villain to hero to goof to hero and all the way around again.  Readers look for growth in character, and that’s another term that might be misleading.  Sometimes failure tests a character’s metal, and it’s okay for that character to regress.  Why?

Now we come to the main purpose of this particular blog.  We’re all human. Just on the drive to my brother’s house we talked about what it is to be human.  I don’t think people are good or bad.  I think they’re people.  Sometimes they do good things, sometimes they do horrible things.  I know I have.  So the most realistic characters react to their environment.  I have a few characters who don’t change.  I like those characters.  I like those who no matter the test, they alway pass.  I like the other characters too.  I think House, M.D. was a great example here.  What kept me watching that show was the thought that, “Maybe this episode, he’ll do the decent thing.”  Nope.  Never did.  It’s the same trick Charlie Brown kept falling for.  He’ll never kick the ball and House will never be a compassionate person.  (You can argue the end of that series with me in the comments if you want.)

Those characters are unique, but they can get boring quickly.  I’ve failed in my life, so I look for characters who have flaws, but are generally decent folk.  One of the more common compliments I get for Journals is Bob.  He’s a good, white-hat, guy.  He has his slumps, but he’s consistently kind and compassionate, and that makes him sympathetic when he’s faced with tragedy.  Others don’t like him because he’s too nice.  I think the world is just about done with antiheroes, then again, maybe not.  I think it’s an archetype like any other.  Use tools for a reason.

You don’t need a raging alcoholic day-care sitter any more than you need an incredibly pious prostitute.  That sort of extreme can seem forced and/or contrived.  Strive instead for people who feel real.  All my favorite books have at least one character I genuinely feel some connection too.  It’s the part of me I see in those characters that makes me want to see what happens to them.  I think this is something to strive for in writing.

That makes me want to close with a few (in no particular order) characters I found very sympathetic.  They area also some of my favorite characters in fiction.  They are:

Perrin Aybara from Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

Vin from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

John Cleaver from the John Wayne Cleaver series by Dan Wells.

The Warded Man/Arlen from The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett.

All of these characters have great emotional range.  Sometimes, they do things that make me proud, other times, I’m angry with them for how they handle a situation.  I could have gone on, but I just wanted to give you all a few characters I felt have the qualities I look for when I’m reading.  You can feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

In summary:  A sympathetic character is someone the reader feels something for.  They should be realistic by sometimes failing tests of character.  They can be “bad” or “good” as a whole, but no one is all of any one thing.  (except for a few carefully chosen characters, which I feel need to be offset by other members in the cast.)

I hope this gives you some insight into what I shoot for when I write.  If you think you’ve found something I missed, or you just have a good resource to share, let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

Discovery Writers and Outliners

I’d like to start this story out by telling you about my senior year in high school.  I promise, this is relevant.  I don’t know about you all, but my algebra class had a rubric which accounted for showing your math.  This infuriated me. I’d get the answer correct, but lose a point because I didn’t demonstrate how I got there.

I didn’t know it then, but this was an early indication of my writing style.  When you get down to it, there are generally two types.   There are discovery writers like me, who think, formulas be damned, here’s the book as I made it up.

Then there are outliners.  These are the people who toil and stress over each plot line and scene.

A few of those big names out there have different terms, but they all mean the same thing.

But wait!  Matt, you said you outline all the time!

Yeah, yeah I did, but that’s because I, like most authors, have found a little bit of both worlds can be helpful.

The first book I ever finished writing was discovery written.  I wrote a chapter a day for a few months and finished a book.  I made it up as I went.  I knew what my ending was, and I had a few general ideas, but I just sat down and typed.  I’ve mentioned before that book never worked, but while numerous drafts are a consequence of discovery writing, the technique isn’t a bad one.  I was just so inexperienced and raw, I didn’t know what to do.

The first act of The Journals of Bob Drifter was also discovery written.  I had to revise that part a few times, but I was also more experienced.  I’d been studying and reading. I was practicing my craft.  Then I sat down with my brother (primary alpha reader and main supporter).    We set out a few plot points, and I had an idea.

I decided to use my discovery writing tendencies to develop an outline.  This let me keep the freedom of letting the story take me where I wanted with the ability to make continuity and development adjustments.  I could switch things around without having to do a bunch of rewrites.  (Don’t let me mislead you, no matter what you do, you’re going to have rewrites.  I just mean I didn’t have to do dozens.)

This is what I tend to do now.  I develop my characters.  I plot their progress.  I do this by typing a summary of their through line of the story.  If I hit a scene I really like or just want to flesh some things out, I do.  If my pace starts to slow down, I just summarize what’s going on and move forward.  I’ve written whole chapters that way.  Once all my characters are done and their through lines prepped, I tie them together in an overall outline.  Again, as I copy and paste these plots together, I let the 17-year-old me come to all the conclusions he wants.

Remember that story I opened with?  I did that then too.  I’d write down a formula or do a step or two if I was stuck, but once I felt like I was moving, I just kept going.  All I cared about then was getting to the correct answer. All I care about now is getting the outline done.

When I finish, I have my outline.  BUT, the discovery writer in me isn’t done yet.  After my outline is finished, I start what I call my discovery draft.  The rules change a bit, but I still have some freedom.  The rule change is I have to complete a manuscript.  I do this the way any writer of integrity and skill does.

I cheat.

My fingers still fly across the keypad.  I don’t stop for anything.  Inevitably, I come to a new chapter, a new character, or pretty much anything that needs description.   Description is the molasses in my swimming pool.  I get better with every book, but inevitably, I get frustrated, or just flat out bored.  So what do I do?  I use parenthetical symbols.

The good guy kicked in the door, his 9mm Barretta (CHECK SPELLING) held just at eye level.  The room was like a nightmare. (BORING, WHAT MADE IT LOOK LIKE A NIGHTMARE).

Inside the parenthetical symbols, I use all caps and write a little message to myself.  I’ll do everything from say (DESCRIBE THE ROOM) to (FIND OUT WHAT SORT TACTIC A HACKER WOULD USE TO RESOLVE THIS SITUATION).  I’m not a hacker, but I know people who know people.  (NOT ACTUAL HACKERS).

So I just motor through my draft.  Sometimes I go back and clean things up.  But whatever I don’t fix this time around, I don’t worry about.  I just get everything on paper.  I use my first draft to address all those notes.  I find experts who are willing to help me with stuff and get rid of those. Then the dreaded editing starts.

I’ve found that really works for me.  It took just about three years to write my second book.  (That first book I mentioned, I wrote it 21 times through a 15-year period).  This new system allows me to write about one a year.  It still takes a hot minute to edit and make them ready to publish, but not nearly as long as Journals took me.

I decided to sit down today and explain this because it helped me.  But what if you’re an outliner.

That’s okay.  You’ll probably hate yourself less during editing, but if you find yourself stuck, I don’t want you to be afraid to just pound something out.  I have a few friends who can’t turn off their internal editors or cure themselves of world-builder’s disease.  If you find that you’re stuck, do something different.  I found that I hated how many rewrites I had to do, so I decided to outline in a way that still fits the way my mind works.

So what are you? Outliner or discovery writer?  Do you have a process you think works for you? Please share it in the comments below so everyone can try to add a new tool to their toolbox.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

I, Writer

There’s a magic trick to writing.  It’s a sacred technique passed on from master to apprentice since time began.  This carefully guarded secret seems to be the great barrier between those who want to write and those who don’t.

I reveal that trick to you now at great risk to my own life.  Should these be the last words you hear from me, guard this secret.  There are anti-writing ninjas in the world who seek to take this technique, not for their own misuse, but worse, to destroy it thus ensuring the end of the line of writers.

When I was but a young apprentice, I had no real master.  I had to survive watching the battles of history’s greatest.  I studied all their moves.  I watched their fights over and over again, trying to find out what made them great.

Whilst wandering the Earth in search of more skills, I came upon a scroll.  I don’t know how it came to be under a rock in a cave I didn’t realize I’d need to sleep in until the snow grew so thick I couldn’t see, nor do I understand why I bothered to glance at it before I burned said paper for much-desired warmth.  The important thing is I read it.

I unclasped the metal pin and stretched the parchment out before me, thinking to get more heat if I burned the paper in smaller bits.  I was shocked to read the title.

The Great Secret to Being a Writer.

This was it!  The secret to my greatest question in life had just fallen into my hands.  I unraveled the scroll, eager to read its many instructions.  I revealed a foot of the scroll…nothing.  What cruel joke was this?  Quickly, I unraveled more and more, equally desperate to punish whoever played this joke on me as I was hopeful to find some hint to how to be a writer.

I’d thought all was lost.  Then I came to the end of the scroll, and found a single word.

“Write”

I re-read the word over and over.  Was there more?  Nothing.  Who would waste so much paper for a single, five-letter word?  The excitement I felt when I saw the title was replaced by the need for self-preservation.  My body was shaking from the cold at this point and my fingers were likely to become individually wrapped popsicles.

I prepared to turn the scroll into a raging heat-giving inferno when I heard something clink at the core of the scroll.  Attached to the end of a thick piece of old bamboo was a metallic and ornate bulbous endcap.  I gripped it and pulled it away finding a single pen inside.  As I held it, I found another message.

“All you ever need to be a writer is something to write with, and something to write on.”

Indeed I was impressed at whatever master engraved such words onto this pen because I couldn’t for the life of me determine how so many words could be placed on such a small object.  Whatever the case, I understood.  I had received The Secret.  Not only did I receive the wisest word I could have ever behold, but I was given all the tools I would ever need.  So I obeyed.

I took the quill (It’s a quill now, cause that’s cooler.  Don’t ask how anyone could engrave on a feather…it’s a magic feather.  If they can make elephants fly, they can hold a single prolific message.) and wrote…

(Now that I have a magic quill, I can keep going…)

…at least I tried to write.  But where where my ideas?  Indeed my mind was emptier than a bottle of Vodka in Russian winter.

I froze.  Devastated, I told myself I could not write, because I could not think.

“You gonna hold me all day, or do you mean to do something?”

I leapt from my spot on the moist cave floor and scanned the area.  Nothing.

“Hey, down here.”

I looked at my hand and realized my magic quill had spoke to me.  (See…I knew that’d come in handy.)

“Why aren’t you writing?”

“I don’t have any ideas.”

“But why aren’t you writing?”

“Aren’t you supposed to give me inspiration or something?”

“How can I possibly do that?” the quill asked.  “I’m a quill.”

“You’re a talking quill,” I replied.

“You’re telling me you have the imagination required to hold a conversation with a quill, and you can’t write?” it asked.

It had a point.

“I still don’t have any ideas.”

“But why aren’t you writing?” it asked again.

“How can you write without ideas?”

“Well,” the pen said, as if talking to the dumbest ninja ever, “You should probably start by putting me on the paper.”

I shrugged, thinking, “Well, what could happen?”  I placed the metal tip of the quill onto the paper and waited.

“You do know how to write don’t you?” the pen asked.

“Of course I can write!” I replied.

“Then why aren’t I moving?” the pen asked.

“I don’t know what to write?”

“I can’t help you,” the magic quill with the ability to both write and display prophetic words of wisdom said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because I’m a quill,” it answered. “If you’re truly a writer, I’m all you need.”

Frustrated, I stabbed the pen onto the scroll and started writing a story about an argumentative quill destined to help an aspiring author create the greatest story ever told.

By the time I finished scribbling, I’d run out of scroll.

“You’ve done well,” the pen said.  The scroll glowed red.  It became so bright I had to step away, holding the pen in the air lest it melt in the heat. Just when I thought the scroll would explode, a poof a smoke gave birth to another blank scroll.

I stared at it.

“So, um…” the quill said.  “Do you…do you need me to tell you what to do with that, or is that a too subtle a hint?”

Well?  Is it?

I write 1,000 words  a day.  Now I define writing as drafting, editing or worldbuilding.  Whatever produces words, I call writing.  When I first committed to that goal, it was miserable.  I didn’t know what I was doing, how to work, or even what the word “predicate” meant, much less where it goes in a sentence.  (No, seriously, I was 17, and I’d lived my whole life wanting to be a writer, and I couldn’t talk about writing using the proper terms).  None of that mattered.

I’d decided to be a writer, and I realized all I needed to be so was to write.  I started out as a discovery writer.  I just made crap up and wrote until it made sense to me.   I kept going until I’d finished my first book.  It was awful.  The description was lacking.  The setting made no sense. The plot was trite.

It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever made with my own two hands.

Then I took the hint.  I wrote another.  I learned the language of the craft.  I visited blogs and read books about the subject.  I started reading more and more (which I’ll discuss later).

I joined the Navy and learned how to be a journalist.  I saw a bit of the world.  I got distracted, but I eventually recommitted to what I wanted to be.  I wanted to be a writer, so I wrote.  I tried to save that first book.  I literally tried 21 times to make that book something ready to be published.  It’s still not.  So I wrote a new book.  I joined a writer’s group.  Those words came more and more easily to me. The more I wrote, the more I wrote.  The more times I typed “the end,” the more times I started a new book.

I have a challenge for you.  I’m not a magic quill in a cave.  You’re not a dense ninja looking for warmth.  But my challenge is the same.  If you want to be a writer, where, exactly, are your words?

I challenge you to ask yourself two questions if you can’t seem to put pen to paper:

1. Do you really want to be a writer?  It’s okay if you don’t, just don’t complain that you’ve never finished that book if you don’t ever, you know, sit down to write it.
2.  Are you having trouble thinking of ideas, or are you just afraid someone won’t like what you’ve written?  I’ve already given my perspective on what you should do with fear.

Everyone with a dream has that moment of calling.  It’s almost never some obvious magical moment in a cave with a magical, talking quill.  It’s hardly ever some wise old traveler coming to change your life.  The real world isn’t that kind.  The real world lets you do, whatever it is you want to do.

You can choose to write, or you can choose to (in my case at the moment, play video games).   But I started asking myself, “What am I doing right now that’s more important than writing?  There are things.  Spending time with family always trumps everything.  Video games are less important, unless, of course I’m playing video games with family.  I’m still afraid the Journals of Bob Drifter sucks despite the 4.21 average rating on Goodreads.  It’s natural to be afraid.  But if you want to do something, inevitably, good or bad, you do it.

I don’t care what you write.  Just write.  I don’t care if it’s good; that’s what editing is for.  I don’t care if no one likes it;  write what you like.  Just write.  It doesn’t have to be a thousand words.  It can be a block of time or a smaller number of words.  But every day you write, you’ll find it easier to write.  I promise!  Every day you write, you’ll find you’ve written more and more.  I promise!

I’m not a writer because I’m published.  I’m not a writer because I’ve sold my book at conventions.  I’m a writer for one very simple reason.  I write.  Therefore, I, Writer.

So consider me your magic talking pen.  I’m here, and there’s a scroll open before you.  Is this hint too subtle?

The Wrath of Cons: An Indie Author’s Guide to Conventions

So a while back, I posted my blog about finding new readers.  Quintessential Editor brought up a great idea in which I post some of my successes and mistakes.    Being the dutiful Brown Piper than I am, I sat down and wrote it my next “blog writing” day.

How to Find Them:  Well, in some cases, they found me.  They found my website or my book and shot me an email.  What this should tell you all is it’s a business.  They have table to sell to vendors, and you’re vendors.  If you go to one convention, they’ll have flyers for pretty much every other convention you could dream of.  Snag the flyers.  They usually have tables themselves, so you can ask them for an “artist alley” form and sign up.  (More on that later).  I’m based in Maryland, so I just google “Maryland Comic/Supernatural/(INSERT RELEVANT THING) Conventions,” and start shopping.  Just shop for the right ones.

Which Ones Should You Go To:  The closer they are to your genera or plot, the better.  It’ll be tempting to just got to every one you can, but trust me, it SUCKS to sit at a table for 8-hours a day for three days for no reason.  Don’t go to who will have you, go to the ones your readers are going to.  For me, comic conventions, science fiction conventions, Supernatural (the TV show) conventions are all great opportunities because that’s where people who love my book will go.

Big or Small:  My second convention was Awesome Con.  Another author told me it was a bad choice.  You see, that convention is huge, and the table price was higher because of it.  My table selection wasn’t smart (I PROMISE I’ll get there), but I wouldn’t trade that convention for anything.  I sold about 10% of the books I’ve sold so far at that first event.  Maybe that’s not good for most, but there’s a few reasons for that.

(TANGENT):  That author was right in one way.  I was at a table with one book.  That meant the most books I was going to sell per customer was, well, one.  Any author there with more than one book could literally sell twice as many books per customer as I could.  This is why I advise self-publishers not to go indie until they have at least two books ready to go.  It opens doors for marketing and repeat business.  I may be alone in this, but it made sense to me, and I saw it work in practice.

Artist Alley:  There are usually a  few types of booths.  You want an artist alley table, not a vendor table.  What’s the difference?  About $300.

How Many Books to Bring:  I get a lot of varying opinions here.  I made the mistake of buying a BUNCH of books, thinking I’d sell out at my first event.  It didn’t work out for me.  I sell about thirty books an event.  That’s on the low side.  I mentioned one reason above, the other reason is the price per book.  I made a lot of mistakes in publishing Bob, that cover price is one I’m literally still paying for.  I didn’t pick it.  I sell it on my website and at conventions at the biggest discount I can.  The next convention I go to, I’ll have Caught available.  I’ll bring sixty (thirty of each) to the event.

Matt’s Guide:  Don’t buy a table for more that $200.  Bring enough to profit $200.  This means you’d have to sell enough to earn that money plus what you paid to get that table.  Don’t forget to factor in gas and/or lodging.  If you sell out, celebrate, and adjust your inventory for next time.  (Any of my other indie authors out there, PLEASE don’t hesitate to comment on how many you bring to an event).  The more inventory you have, the more you should bring.

Marketing or No Marketing:  I always bring something, but I honestly don’t think I’ve sold a single book from any of the cards or bookmarks I’ve given out.    What they DO is open the door.  If you offer them something free right off the bat, they’ll probably be ready to hear your pitch.

Have a Pitch:  You better be ready to talk to people.  I have what I call an elevator pitch and then a small series of tidbits that helps.  One thing I do is something I learned when I heard an author speak a while back.  I forget what she calls it, but I call it the blending technique.  I take two things that are similar to my book.  I tell people the book is “Supernatural meets Dead Like Me.”

Those who say I shamelessly rip off Odd Thomas are also correct.  I don’t just say that to say it.  I genuinely feel that my book takes the tone of Supernatural and the situation of Dead Like Me and combines them into something new.  Give them the plot hook.  Have reviews ready. Have a  sell display.  That’s just a small stand-up display that you put on the table that has some reviews on it.  Me personally, I just print out multiple copies of a few and hand them out.
Tables Are Barriers:  If you have a  corner table, life is great.   I try to stand in front of my table four an hour or so, then I sit down for a while.  I wouldn’t do this if I were in the middle of a row.  You’re in the way of customers and other people trying to sell their hopes and dreams.  I’ve seen people spend the whole convention on their feet, in front of their table, and it worked.  They were in a corner table.

The Gretzky Approach:  A person not spoken to is a sale not made.  I’m confident I have a  pretty good feel for people.  So if a guy walks in with an F-U tattoo on his forehead just for me, I leave him (or her) alone.   I’m not there to jump in people’s face, and they’re not there to be accosted.  But I do say hello to EVERY person who walks by my booth.  I do offer them whatever I have to give, and I do ask them, “Can I tell you about my book?”  Boy do I love it when that beautiful cover of mine draws someone over.  That thing does half my work for me.  But at the end of the day, you have to be approachable.  Saying hello and BEING personable helps.

J.R. Handley offered some advice in the comments section of the blog mentioned above.  It all lined up with what I’ve seen.  He mentioned Dead Robots Society Podcast and Kristen Martin.    I’d be a fool not to mention them, and I think anyone about to start marketing at conventions should check them out as well.  J.R. If you have the direct links to either of those specific podcasts or Vlogs, please thrown them in the comments section and I’ll switch up the links.

I mentioned bookmarks.  Every convention I went to had some sort of cover.  I’m frankly too broke to buy much more than the table I sit at, and the promotional stuff I bring.  I’m not saying its a bad idea, I’m just saying I can’t do it.

Take Credit:  Not for your work, I’m pretty sure your name is on the book cover.  I mean have a  way to take credit.   I have a  pretty good split between cash and credit customers, but having that option means a lot.

Steal Ideas:  I saw one author create a display.  She offered to autograph that for people who bought the ebook from her QR Code reader.  I did it, and it does work.  That also did a LOT to help me reduce the pain of that cover price.  The e-version of my book is every bit as entertaining, and I make about the same profit.  This gives them the book, gives you a reader, and let’s them have something you can sign.  I think everyone wins.  That’s an idea I stole from someone I saw selling well at an earlier convention.

Bring Help:  Usually tables come with at least one other badge.  Take it, invite a friend.  Let him or her have fun, and have that person sit in for you when you have a panel or need a break (or you want a picture with that awesome person you’re a huge fan of.  No Corey, I’m not going to post that picture, I’m too afraid it’ll appear as appropriation.  I do make every effort to meet people I’d like to meet. I DO NOT try to sell THEM my book.  In fact, I try not to sell vendors my book.  They’re at the convention to sell products, work, and earn a living just like me.  If we just buy each other’s stuff, we’re not making any money.  Anyway, having someone there to help is great.

Sign Up For Panels:  Every convention has a request form for a panel.  Get a group together and have one.  I’ve done about three panels.  They’re fun, and they’re a great way to meet those ever elusive new readers.

Get Pictures:  Oh do I suck at this, but I mean to get better.  Getting pictures and posting them on social media really does a lot to legitimize your presence.  The help I mentioned above would be awesome for that.  Whatever you do though, get pictures and post them.  (NOTE:  all kidding with Corey aside, make sure you inform the customer what you’re taking it for and what you intend to do with it.  They have some rights.  You do too, but save yourself a lot of pain and just talk to people, especially if they’ve already bought your book.)

These events are DRAINING!  I love them, but they’re a ton of work.  If you have the time to take a vacation day, do it.  You should be exhausted, but you should also have fun.

Anyone else have a  few tips I haven’t mentioned?   I’d love to see them in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

SIBA Update

Tomorrow is Sept. 1, and the Summer Indie Book Awards are scheduled to open voting.  If you sign up here for the newsletter, they’ll send you a genre link.  You can also vote through Facebook at this link.  You can get a bit more information on the host’s page.  The folks at Metamorph Publishing are committed to making this event a success.

As you all know, I was nominated for the award’s fantasy category.  If you’ve been following me on Facebook, you already know, but I’d like to make it official.  I’ve also been nominated in the paranormal category.

I can’t begin to describe how happy I am to receive one nomination, much less two.  Every artist appreciates being recognized, and receiving this nomination is a form of recognition in itself.  I still encourage everyone to vote only for the books you’ve read and enjoy, but I’d like to summarize the rules.

The poll is being run through pollmaker, and you’ll be allowed to vote one time a day from the first until Sept. 11.  You can vote for just one category, multiple, or all of them.  Also of note is the fact that you can vote for multiple books in a single category.  I appreciate that this allows for people to vote, but I’ve always been a sort of one or none guy myself.

You’ll see each choice with a box next to it.  You’ll be able to check each option you wish and then click vote.  Be sure you’ve clicked all the options you want to support before you hit the vote button, and make sure hit vote.  You can vote only once a day, but you can vote multiple days.

I wanted to take a few moments update you all and remind you to stop by tomorrow and vote.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Book Review: Magic-Price by C.L. Schneider (REBLOG)

I posted this review last year when I finished reading Magic-Price.  As I’m nearly done reading Magic-Scars, I wanted to remind everyone what convinced me to read the rest of the trilogy.

I bought this book because I saw its amazing cover while trolling on Twitter.  I’m very glad I purchased it.  What makes this book stand out is its blending of original ideas.  I’ve read books where magic is addictive.  I’ve read books where magic has a price.  Here, C.L. Schneider blends the two to create an interesting source of conflict that also helps make her main character more compelling.  There are other forms of blending that I like in this.  The originality of this book is in the juxtaposition of ideas to create something new.  As an author, that in itself was impressive.  The fact that some of these themes I recognize (whether by intent of happenstance I do not know) are from other stories that I love only amplify my appreciation for this book.

Most books that get four-star reviews from me (on Goodreads or Amazon) tend to have compelling, proactive characters, Troy has both.  His supporting cast is equally compelling.  It’s not common for me to like books with a scope like this told from the first-person narrative.  This is because I tend to want to get in the head of multiple characters when they interest me.  Even the antagonist has a point of view I would like to investigate in the future.  Still, the use of first-person narrative was skillful enough that I could look past my desire to know what other characters were thinking.

I’ve mentioned a few times how I have what I call “drop what you’re reading” authors.  Honestly, Sanderson and Wells top the list in print form.  Butcher and Brett top that list in audio form.  I mention this because I also have authors who I love being able to go back to.  Let’s call them “What can I count on if I want a good book” authors.

Schneider has placed herself in this category for me.  It’s important to have a solid stable of writers to turn to, writers that you know will provide books with solid, interesting plots; compelling characters; and just solid writing.  I’ll probably wait for a few books in the series to come out (or for it to finish).  This isn’t because the books aren’t good.  It’s actually the opposite.  One of the best things that happened to me as a reader was getting handed Book One of the Wheel of Time.  One of the worst things to happen was receiving Book One before Book 12 was finished (much less 13 and 14).  As a result, I tend to be very picky about what series I start and when.  So don’t take my waiting as an indication of quality.  Instead, see it as the truth that I can only handle anxiously waiting for so many different books at a time.

Anyone looking for an original magic system, intelligent blending of ideas into something original, compelling characters and seat-of-your pants action should give this book a chance.  I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Thanks for Reading
M.L.S. Weech

Idle Voyages: Writing with Friends

 

One of the best things about being a writer is having the opportunity to work and collaborate with other authors.  It’s especially fun when those authors are your friends.

Idle Voyages is the working title of an anthology of short stories (20,000 words or less)  in which I’ve been invited to contribute.  It’s a collection of stories from members of what we affectionately refer to as the HMS Slush Brain.  Angela B. Chrysler  is not only the captain of the crew, she’s also spearheading the project.

We’re in the rough stages of development for now, but here is a list of people who are contributing.

Angela B. Chrysler:  Her project is a steampunk fantasy set in a dystopian-desert planet.

Bio:  Angela B. Chrysler is a writer, logician, philosopher, and die-hard nerd who studies theology, historical linguistics, music composition, and medieval European history in New York with a dry sense of humor and an unusual sense of sarcasm. She lives in a garden with her family and cats.
While writing, Ms. Chrysler fuzzies her cats and survives on coffee, Guinness, and the writings of Edgar Allan Poe who strongly influences her style to this day. When she is not writing, she enables her addictions to all things nerdy, and reads everything she can get her hands on no matter the genre. Occasionally, she finds time to garden, mother her three children, and debate with her life-long friend who she eventually married

C.L. Schneider:  The author of the Crown of Stones trilogy is bringing Ian back for a brief side story.  Ian is a great character, and I’ll be glad to see him again even if it’s only for a short time (No spoilers…I haven’t finished reading the other two books in Crown of Stones yet).

Bio:  C. L. Schneider was born in a small Kansas town on the Missouri River.  Growing up in a family of readers, all with diverse interests, she developed an early and avid love for the written word. Her fascination with science fiction stories and anything supernatural, as well as a keen interest in the Middle Ages, drew her to fantasy. At the age of sixteen, she wrote her first, full-length novel on a typewriter in her parent’s living room.

 Her first published work, The Crown of Stones: Magic-Price, is an epic fantasy. The first in a trilogy, Magic-Price is a gripping account of one man’s struggle to accept who and what he is. It’s the journey of a flawed hero, a fallen race, and a land at war. A page-turning tale of prejudice, betrayal, secrets and lies.

“The Crown of Stones evolved from the creation of my protagonist, Ian Troy. I wanted to construct not just a character, but a person that I, as a reader, would want to get lost in. One that would embody the characters I’d come to love from the stories I read in my childhood home, so many years ago. My goal was to develop a character that was capable of being both a cowboy and an outlaw, a detective when he needs to be, a monster when he can’t help it, and a hero even when he tries not to be.”

C. L. Schneider lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband and two sons.  With the Crown of Stones Trilogy complete, her current work in progress is an urban fantasy due out winter 2016/2017.

M.L.S. Weech (that’s me) I’ll be working on a story called Sojourn in Despair.  Sojourn features a character from my seventh book, Images of Truth from my Perception of War series.  The fighter to the left is actually the design for one of the fighters in Images of Truth.  Concept art for Elele is still underway, but I’m easily distracted and haven’t gotten back to my amazing friend and concept artist.

Elele is a character that I fell in love with while writing Images.  She comes from an alien race loosely based on Jewish cultures in a space opera setting which combines WWII with the War on Terror.  Elele will eventually have her own book in the series, but when Angela asked who was interested in participating in this project, Elele essentially threatened to scream in my imaginary ear until I agreed to participate.

Things are still coming together for the project, but we’ve all promised to try and get our work to Angela by December.  From there, the captain will work on finalizing everything.  It’s simply an honor to have the chance to take part in such a project.  I’m excited to write something new and have my name beside these other fantastic authors.  I’ll work to keep you posted until then.

Thanks for reading,
Matt