Tuesday Tumbling Term ~Motivation

The term for today is Motivation. What motivates an indie writer to continue writing?

mo·ti·va·tion
noun
1. the act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a certain way. Synonyms: motive, inspiration, inducement, cause, impetus.
2. the state or condition of being motivated.
3. something that motivates; inducement; incentive.

What is the set of circumstances which causes a writer to write? I can

only speak for myself on this but here goes...

• Right a wrong
• Disperse information
• As Paul Harvey used to say, tell "the rest of the story"
• A story which won't die in your head
• Characters who would play a role in your story won't shut up
• Demons need exorcising
• The more you write; the more appears to be written-self generating story line.
• I want to be rich like (insert the author's name here)

I've used all of these except the last one.

The first, second, and third are the motivating factors behind 99% of all nonfiction I have written in the past and will in the future. I'm an advocate at heart. If I feel an audience in general have the wrong impression about something, I go out of my way to set the record straight, disperse the correct information, and tell the rest of the story.

My first nonfiction was a case in point. Mommie, I Wish I'd Never Heard of Arfritis, was a parent's journal of day to day life of a child with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. For the next twelve years (that's how long I was with the Arthritis Foundation) in the promotion and dispersion of this nonfiction, I heard two comments repeatedly... 1) "I didn't know this disease affected children," and 2) "Thank you."

If I had a dollar for every time I heard it, it would fund a small research wing devoted to care and treatment of children with JRA. The first comment was from people who now know, and the second was from parents of the children afflicted with JRA.

Need another example? Are You a Survivalist or a Prepper?
 I watched the show on the National Geographic channel about preppers. It was so full of hype and "crazy" people it gave preparedness a bad rap. These folks aren't crazy. Possibly a little misguided but their basic reasoning is sound in how they go about preparedness. The same thing goes for Dual Survival and a host of other reality shows on television.

I wanted to set the record straight with some seat of your pants common sense on how I prepare on a dime. This was the first book of a series of at least five I had outlined.

I don't know about you, but I haven't got a sugar daddy stashed away or thousands of dollars to spend like the people depicted on the show. We all prepare for a hurricane or tornado, don't we? It's the same thing except you do it on a larger scale. You learn how to be self sufficient. It's something our grandparents or great-grandparents knew but we've lost in the modern, technological lifestyles we live in now.

For fiction the next four are the premise behind all my fiction works. Some kernels for stories just don't pan out but others take on a life of their own. The last ones are the ones that get finished and published. But more on this tomorrow.

I wanted to touch base on the last one. For me personally, this is probably the worst reason to be a writer. The odds are 95% against you being either rich or famous for writing a book. Sure there are success stories, blogs and books galore on the topic, but the fact is even if you copy everything they say...you won't be rich or famous unless you change your name to Rich N. Famous or have it tattooed on your butt. It's a nice pipe dream though. Eeking out a living wage by being a writer takes time, productivity, and building an audience. But don't let me deter you from trying. I encourage you to prove me wrong.

Keep writing and loving the Lord.

Wednesday Writerly Way~ The Indie Author's Life

As you can see from the logo, I've joined another blog hop. This one in particular is different than any other I've joined. It's something I usually do anyhow on Wednesdays write about writing and being an indie author. Unlike the others, it runs indefinitely, but it is one blog the second Wednesday of each month. I use quite a lot of pictures in my blog because some people are visual learners. So y'all stopping by because of the hop...welcome.

Now on to my blog... this week I've been talking about editing. I often mention the many hats an indie author wears. This is a biggie. If you want to write books to publish, you have to do what the Big 6 do except you don't have the resources traditional publishers have, or do you?

1 section is how-tos on writing

Not many of us have the contacts or employees that the Big 6 publishers do nor the money to back us up. That's a fact. So we are at a disadvantage coming out of the gate. We research the various subjects, help feed other indie authors or traditionally published authors who publish books in the areas we lack in self-publishing like marketing, copyright clauses and other laws, formatting, and editing. We read blogs, articles, and books by the hundreds just to make it in the indie field.

Not all of us are like me with a degree in marketing, teach creative writing courses, and has been a published author for decades. I have a higher learning and knowledge curve than most. But even I, research new avenues for writing, editing, formatting, and marketing still. Learning is an never-ending process. I'll be the first one to admit that I don't know everything even though I sound like it at times. Compound this with a stroke I had last year, and it's a whole new ballgame. But, I'm not telling my readers anything new about the editing process or about editing your book.

Nothing is absolutely free

Yesterday, I mentioned you did not have to wear all the hats to be an indie author and it's true. But there are free options available to you. This is not the only one, but it is the one I use.

I've been a member of Compuserve's Books and Writers for a couple decades now. If the linky link does not open try http://www.compuserve.com. You will have to sign up to log on. After you get a user name and set the password, scroll down the left side to "Communities." It should be one of the first ones listed. I invite you to lurk the categories and there are a lot of them. Don't be surprised at some of the well known authors who frequent the site. They are all friendly and won't bite until they get to know you better. So don't be intimidated! When you feel comfortable, go into the "lobby" and say "hi." Expect a lot of responses. That's just the way we are.

There is a Writer's Workshop but it's under wraps to protect the copyrights of the authors. There are some rules so familiarize yourself with them. Ask Margaret Campbell for permission to join the group in a private message. She will give you the keys. But be aware critiques are given on a chapter by chapter basis and this process can take a while. We've got authors globally, so there is not a set time table. But hey, it's free. We've got some rather good grammar Nazis, content and continuity critiquers in the group, and many have been around for years. I tend to critique more than I upload because I love to read. At one time, the three crits for every one chapter upload, I had enough to upload thirty chapters of one book twice! There are both published and wanna-be published authors as critiquers, and both traditionally published and indie authors.

After your chapter goes through the wringer, make your corrections based on the critiques and reupload your corrected chapters. You may have the same critiquers or a group of new ones. As with everything, this is a matter of choice. Take the advice, change the text, or leave it. You are always in control of your own book.

I know there are probably hundreds of online groups that do the same thing and if you find one you like that is active, by all means stick with it. Editing is a mountain of a task by yourself and you may be limited by your knowledge. For me, I've forgotten much of what I knew about editing and over the past nine months, I'm finally remembering bits and pieces.

Robert Mankoff- The New Yorker

When you reach a point in editing that you want to give up because to look at your manuscript one more time will make you want to throw it in the trash...it's time to stash it away on your hard drive and work on something else. I used to do this quite often. It is exactly how I managed to write and publish five of the six books I published last year. It seemed that every time I read through my manuscript, I found even more things to change or tweak. Let me tell you, I can tweak a manuscript to death! I'd never publish anything if I didn't stop myself. Finally, I stop and send it to someone else's eyes.

Is twelve sets of eyes too many? Sometimes, it still isn't enough. I'll catch mistakes in my own work after it has gone to press. I recite to myself the "Serenity Prayer" and let it go. I may update a newly edited edition in years to come, but it won't be this year.

Keep writing and loving the Lord.