Lately I have been struggling with a book that I have been writing. Unfortunately, I didn't have access to a decent writing tool to begin with. Sure, you can use a word processor to write a story, but can you outline it? Can you storyboard it? Not in Word, or even Open Office Write. So what tools can you use?
Well, I started with Excel. I would start each chapter as a column, and then fill in sections as I saw they fit. If I needed to add something to the story in the middle of the outline, I would simply add another cell. Of course, I have to have a clear idea of how the story is going to fall into place before I start outlining it through Excel. Then I also have to wrap the text, which makes it difficult to read while trying to write in another program (Word).
I also tried doing it the old fashioned way, by writing in a notebook. Of course, being the very compartmentalized person that I am, I have to have a separate notebook for each subject and project that I have. Soon, I start running out of room, and out of notebooks.
So what is a guy to do? Well, I was reading one of my favorite online comics, and the writer/artist mentioned that he had downloaded the latest version of Scrivener, an application used specifically for creative writing. It provides for outlining, creating sections, storyboarding, and with each move of a section, the text moves with it.
So, the tools are flexible, it looks nice, and it's $39.95. Looking further, there was an earlier version, called Scrivener Gold, that is available for free. It's not as polished, but still really nice. The only drawback? It's for Mac only. Other than that, it's a decent program, and It's already helped me with my story. Perhaps I can finally finish the project. ^_^
A year ago in just my second blog post, I explained why I write a blog. My answer then (and now) is I keep a blog as an intellectual journal of sorts. Blogging is my way of pulling together into a coherent form all the stray thoughts rolling around in my mind. Writing helps me sift the good thoughts from all the bad and fit them all together in a logical pattern.
Keeping an intellectual journal is the main reason for writing my blog. My secondary reason is pure economics. Blogging is a loss-leader of sorts. Through this blog I market myself and my ideas to people who I hope to do business with eventually.
Along those lines I read a blog post today from The Economist website. The author was commenting on a recent podcast on the economics of bloggin by Tyler Cowen (of Marginal Revolution fame).
While the direct economic return to authoring a blog may not appear to justify the effort, the prospect of actively demonstrating one’s skillset for an interested public, many members of which work in talent-hungry organisations that pay real salaries, is an attractive one. Why waste time submitting CVs [I had to google this one, CV is resume in American-speak], when you could cultivate an audience of potential employers intimately familiar with your talents?
Interestingly, this effect could generate a filtering effect on the blogosphere quite opposed to the market for lemon model proposed by Dani Rodrik. If blog writers generally have employment in mind, we should expect those with strong resumés but lackluster ideas to abstain from extensive blogging, while those whose critical and analytical skills run ahead of the experience and education categories on their CVs should embrace blogging as a means to signal their exceptional fitness. We would expect those with most to gain from blogging to blog more.
I’ve always found school boring and homework a less then optimal use of my time. So my grades reflect that. “Good students” use grades as a signaling mechanism. A student with good grades is telling potential employers, “I’m reasonably intelligent and can tolerate boredom” — which is what’s really required at school and most jobs.
As my grades aren’t going to impress anyone, I compensate by blogging. I use this blog to “show off”, so to speak, my critical and analytic skills, my ideas, and my passion for social software, learning, and collaboration to potential employeers.
But for now this is all theory–whether this works or not is still a bit up in the air. . . but in the meantime it’s better then homework. . . and since I’m done writing, back now to accounting homework I guess :>
In my last post, I mentioned that I was working on a book, using Google Docs to write it from various locations. The book is coming along fairly well, and is about a third of the way through the first revision. But, because I'm the geek that I am, I wanted to know how I could get the darn thing published when I got it done.
Well, it seems that there are a number of steps that one needs to take to get published within the world of fiction and non-fiction. From what I've researched, it's a difficult process being handled by several people that remove the writer from the publisher. Here are the steps that are recommended by those in the publishing world:
Write the Book
The first step is to write the blasted thing first. Finish the manuscript, and revise it as much as you can. The idea here is to make it look as sellable as possible at first look. Also, be sure you format the book correctly. The most common font used is Courier, the font size is 12 pt. You also want to double space the pages, to make it easier for the agent and publisher to read and review.
Next, determine how long your book is going to be, by number of words. There are two schools of thought here as to how to count the number of words, but if you use the word processor word count, you should be fine. If you are writing a novel, you want to be between 60,000 to 120,000 words for a first book. This isn't a set rule, but a general rule of thumb. At 4,000 words per chapter, and 20 chapters, you would be doing well at just about the middle ground. If you find your book is too short, you could submit it as a novella, or a short story. Otherwise, you may want to look into the story again, add some sub-plots, develop the sub-plots a little more, etc. That can add more depth to your story, and more words to your word count. ^_^
The Query Letter
Now that you have written your book, have a good story, nice word count, and formatted the manuscript, it's time to look for reputation. This means finding an agent. Why an agent you ask? Because it's their job to pitch books to publishers, which can be a lengthy process for a writer to try themselves, and they are more likely to get the book published than a writer trying to get it out there.
The Query letter needs to be formatted a specific way, much like a business pitch to your boss. No one is going to read the full 80 pages of research done to support change, unless your boss literally has nothing else to do. The same with an agent. They get hundreds of submissions a day, and often judge the book by the query letter. Nathan Bransford has a really good description of how to write a query letter that he considers amazing. Check out his blog, and you will see why he will be the agent of choice once my manuscript is ready for review. ^_^
The Partial and the Manuscript
If your agent likes the query, they will often ask for a partial. THis is usually the first 30 pages or so of the book. If you have already provided the first couple pages on a website somewhere, you can mention that in the Query letter, and bypass the partial request. Once they read the partial, like what they see, then they move on and ask for the manuscript.
Once the manuscript is at the agents, they will read through it and do some preliminary editing. This is pretty much at the discretion of the agent, and at no time is the agent entitled to give you any feedback on your work. Please remember that before you threaten their lives, or the lives of their family when they just tell you that they can't or won't publish your work.
To the Publisher
If everything is ready, then they will send it on to a publisher, and try to get the interest there to publish the book. There are a number of months involved in this process, so don't be surprised if you have heard nothing for months on end. That generally means that the agent is busy trying to get it pitched correctly, and get the manuscript printed. Now would be a good time to start another writing project, if you have nothing else to do.
On the Shelves!
If the stars are in alignment, and the planets are favorable, then the book is then published. At that point, you can relax, right? Wrong! If you have a good agent, they will most likely be asking you about your next book, and what other projects you have planned for.
Anyway, I thought I would add these little gems of wisdom that I have gleaned since I started writing my book for publication. Hopefully they will be of help to any other new writer, particularly if you are looking to start for the first time. For my credits, I would like to thank Nathan Bransford for having such an informative blog, and the good writers at the Absolute Write Forums for providing a lot of this information. It really takes the mystique out of the writing and publishing business.
As of shortly after 7am (MDT), all scenes for Chapter 2 are finally committed to the manuscript. I tend to work on scenes piecemeal, having broken down the chapter into the events which need to occur to move the story forward, and then refining that into the appropriate narrative context and voicing for the characters and what have you. Usually a small text file for each, edited on the PDA or
I'm still having the occasional "less than stellar" day, but that has mostly to do with being out of shape and trying to do more than I once could. The results have been positive regardless, especially the lack of cumulative fatigue from exercise; every day the routine is getting a little easier. Apparently during the years of reduced activity I relied heavily on my lead foot (right) for
I’ve been thinking lately about stories. The stories we tell others, the stories we tell ourselves, and the stories we find in books and on TV. There is a great power in stories. Stories change how we think and view the world. Marketers know this — every advertisement is a story. A particularly famous example of this is Jared the Subway guy. His story of how he lost weight from eating subways powerfully sells the idea that Subway’s food is healthy.
Earlier I was looking at the website for the Python programming language. One might think a website devoted to a programming language, a technical and geeky subject, wouldn’t have any stories. But no, programming languages have stories too apparently, there are some 33 “success stories” written by users of Python.
Oftentimes, while reading or listening, we only remember the stories the speech or book. Jesus Christ was a master at teaching with stories, or parables (a story with a moral) as they are called in the Bible. In his seminal book, “Jesus the Christ“, James Talmage wrote:
[A] simple story will live, even in minds which for the time being are incapable of comprehending any meaning beyond that of the commonplace story itself. Many a peasant who heard the little incident of the sower and the four kinds of soil, of the tares sown by an enemy at night, of the seed that grew through the planter had temporarily forgotten it, would be reminded by the recurring circumstances of his daily work. . . and then, when time and experience, including suffering perhaps, had prepared them for deeper thought, they would find the living kernel of gospel truth within the husk of the simple tale.
As social animals, we love to tell stories. We turn every event in our life into a story. A friend meeting another friend, the first word of of their mouths is, “I’ve got to tell you what happened last night”. We have this strong impulse inside us to turn our lives into a story.
This blog post started to form when I was thinking about journal writing. I was trying to understand what compels me to write in my journal and why is the experience of writing so powerful. While thinking, I had the insight that it’s because of stories.
When I write in my journal I find my story and myself. I weave the threads of my life, past, present, and future, into a coherent story. I create a plot line, a protagonist (me hopefully), antagonists, and an destiny. I decide why what happened, happened, I decide what needs to happen and if my story is in need of a plot or character shift.
“Know yourself”, the Philosopher shouts. I write to know myself. I write as a historian, to know my past. I write as a journalist, to know my present. And I must write as a prophet, write my most powerful stories, to know my future.
What if my life doesn’t have a story? Then my life is meaningless, without root or branch. I am not stable but pushed about by every fad or fashion. So in short, writing a journal helps me discover my story. And knowing my story gives me purpose and direction.