writercises | Entries tagged with schedule

Original Posting 2021/12/16

Writer's Digest, July 1991, pages 38-39, has an article by Chet Cunningham with that title. It's broken into 14 little chunks, mostly with titles that summarize the points. So, let's walk through his ideas.

1. Want to write novels more than anything else in the world. Unstoppable! You gotta want to do it!
2. Create characters you can't stop writing about. Make them people you really know. He says he uses a big questionnaire to work through each of the main characters, including physical description, psychology, work, hobbies, dreams, etc. Make sure you know your characters!
3. Finish your first novel. Then keep on doing it.
4. Aim at a specific market. Probably not a "mainstream novel." Hit the genres. His idea -- pick the one you like, and read 20 contemporary novels in that genre. Take them apart. What's the story line, how does the writer make it work, what is the pitch. Check characterization, style, structure, viewpoint, suspense, twists...
5. Specialize. Don't jump around, at least to start. Stick to one genre, build a byline. This also lets you reuse your research!
6. Write what editors buy. (hum, this may not be as much of a problem with indy publishing?) Anyway, he suggests analyzing what's on the bookstore shelves to see what the editors bought a year ago. Check the magazines that survey the marketplace (Publishers Weekly, Writer's Digest). Then plan your book for a specific publisher and a specific line.
7. Write series books. Continuing series do great in genre. One great character, one slant or idea, and push out that series.
8. Sell your books with partials. After you have a track record, sell new ones with a partial. 4 chapters and an outline of the rest of the book.
9. Keep the pipeline full. While you are writing current books, send out queries for new books and new series.
10. Write more than you do now. If you do your daily quota, and there's time left... do some more! Write every day. Focus on writing, and keep that writing time first.
11. Have a work space where you write. Try to do your writing (and only your writing) in one place. Write, plan, plot, research. That's your work place.
12. Set a writing schedule. Lay out your calendar, including research and rests.
13. Join a novel writing workshop. Writing group interaction helps you and them.
14. Enjoy the hell out of your writing. "Writing is the most wonderful and thrilling and satisfying job in the world." So enjoy it!

Write!

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 29 December 2008

Lessons from an agent

Writer's Digest, February 2005, pages 38 to 40 have an article by Laurie Fox. She's a literary agent, and also a writer. In the article, she reflects on lessons that she's learned from working both sides of the field. Here's the six points:

Be a tough critic. You need to be able to identify and articulate what's not working in a story. "Overreliance on dialogue (or description or plotting), cliched or underdeveloped characters, monotonous syntax, dull language, or an absence of emotion or drama." You need to be able to pinpoint the weaknesses, spot them in your work, and correct them.
Announce your writing schedule to the world and enforce it. Whatever your quota or writing time is, be ruthless about doing it and getting back to it when you slip. Keep at it -- Laurie talks about four years to write her first draft.
Distance your writing from your day job. One way or another, you need to have emotional separation between your day job your writing. It doesn't have to be a writing asylum on the other side of the world, but you need enough distance to focus.
Embrace revision. "Fiction manuscripts require an average of two (sometimes radical) revisions, which can take months or even years, followed by a purely cosmetic rewrite."
Enlist the help of experts. You need experts in writing and editing, and in your subject, to really make the best story you can. You don't have to take it every suggestion, but think about what they're saying.
Remember why you write. Regularly, focus on what writing means to you. Publishing is an exercise in endurance, and you need to keep your goals in mind. "By sharing your work, you give it away to the world."

Kind of interesting. In a sense, these might be your New Year's resolutions? I'm going to set myself this quota, and work on it over here. I'm going to learn to identify problems in my writing, do the revision to make it better, and get expert advice on what needs to be done. Last but not least, I'm gonna remember that it's the process of building the story, of making the discoveries and enjoying working with the words, that are at the heart of writing for me. Not the money (hah!) or the fame (double-hah!).

Something like that at least.

And it's one for the money, two to get ready, and . . .

Current Mood: forget-me-not

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 9 September 2008

I was looking at my lists of things to work on, and got to wondering. I keep lots of lists, but the key ones are my "To Do's" and "Scheduled Tasks." But maybe I should add a "Round Tuit" list . . .

At one time, I was involved in discussions about whether people were developers, operators, or help desk. The difference was that help desk people, for example, really liked very short-term problems, dropped on them with little or no warning. They also didn't seem to mind repetitiveness -- having people ask the same questions repeatedly wasn't really irritating. Operators, on the other hand, preferred midterm problems. Things that took a day or a week to take care of. They also really seem to like procedures.

That leaves the crazy people -- the developers. No interruptions please -- and I'm going to wrestle with this issue for a week, a month, a year. And you know, I am really one of these.

I've also seen discussions of deadline or process -- milestone or river? Some people really seem to enjoy having deadlines set, and do their best work as the clock ticks down. Others set themselves quotas and work steadily at it, grinding away and covering everything in time.

I know I tend to be obsessive -- I'm going to do a little bit Monday morning or Friday evening, again and again. Deadlines -- I usually turn them into weekly or daily assignments and get things done early. I really dislike the last minute rush. And as for emergencies? I really subscribe to that notion that your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency for me. Even though I know too many people who believe that Mike is a great handler of crises, just because I often can come in and take care of their messes at the last minute. I think they don't understand that the quiet manner covers some real anger when they pull that, but . . . I get the job done first, then walk off in disgust.

Today's puzzlement, though, is the list of really low priority stuff that I would dearly love to get to sometime. I've noticed that they tend to sink to that list, and then just sit there until I get tired of seeing them and wipe them out, unfinished.

But I'm thinking that a round tuit might do the job better. Beside my "today's work" and "regular jobs," add another list that gets picked at once in a while (probably Friday afternoons -- pick a regular time, anyway). And whenever I pick it up, do a dab at the first job on the list, then slide it to the end of the list? So they rotate around, getting at least a little time every now and then?

I suppose the other part of this is the scrap sheets that I do my thinking on. Scribble down an idea, expand it into a plan, add outlines, worksheets, little bits and pieces -- and then turn it into PowerPoint, article, or whatever.

There's lots of different ways to slice work into manageable chunks and start chewing on them. But sometimes you need to stop and think about what's falling off the edges. A round tuit, now, maybe that's the way to keep those longterm jobs inching along. I think I'll put that on my todos list for tomorrow :-)

(taking a break from the stuff on the list for today -- don't tell anyone, okay?)

Current Mood: lazy

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The Place For My Writers Notes

Entries tagged with schedule

TECH: How to Write and Sell 200 Novels (By Somone Who Has) (moldy oldie!)

TECH: Resolved?

FILL: A Round Tuit?

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