Writing Motivations

[Ria Stone]

Oct 17, 2017 16:05:58 GMT -8 djmills said:

I wrote a fun blog post about what I learned at the Indie Author Fringe Conference.
Link is: djmills.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/indie-author-fringe-october-2017-conference/

DJ, well worth the read. I learned alot. Note, for social media, try Pinterest, I don´t use it but others like it.

I appreciated your math perspective on the various methods of advertising and selling etc. By the time, I got to the end of the article, I couldn´t hlep but wonder if there wasn´t a casino-based algorithm underlying all the various machinations of calculating %.

 

[ChrisLAdams]

Oct 18, 2017 14:09:39 GMT -8 Ria Stone said:

Note, for social media, try Pinterest, I don´t use it but others like it.

True enough.  I started a folder on Pinterest for my book covers.  That led to my doing the same on Imgur and Deviant Art as well.  Any way you can expose others to your works is viable in my opinion!

[Ted]

Oct 19, 2017 4:53:46 GMT -8 ChrisLAdams said:

.... Any way you can expose others to your works is viable in my opinion!

Can be taken in various ways what with the Harvey Weinstein revelations.

Or is it just me?
Save

[ChrisLAdams]

Oct 19, 2017 8:20:55 GMT -8 Ted said:

Oct 19, 2017 4:53:46 GMT -8 ChrisLAdams said:

.... Any way you can expose others to your works is viable in my opinion!

Can be taken in various ways what with the Harvey Weinstein revelations.

Or is it just me?
Save

Hehe, 'southern exposure' means two things here in good ole southern West Virginia

[Ria Stone]

Oct 19, 2017 8:20:55 GMT -8 Ted said:

Oct 19, 2017 4:53:46 GMT -8 ChrisLAdams said:

.... Any way you can expose others to your works is viable in my opinion!

Can be taken in various ways what with the Harvey Weinstein revelations.

Or is it just me?
Save

haha, I, too, have become "aware" of how certain words can be misinterpreted.
On Twitter, I use block alot, so I don´t even have to see some of the crude people post.
But, it does make one want to reexamine the first amendment.

[David Ellis]

Oct 19, 2017 4:53:46 GMT -8 ChrisLAdams said:

Oct 18, 2017 14:09:39 GMT -8 Ria Stone said:

Note, for social media, try Pinterest, I don´t use it but others like it.

True enough.  I started a folder on Pinterest for my book covers.  That led to my doing the same on Imgur and Deviant Art as well.  Any way you can expose others to your works is viable in my opinion!

I found your Pinterest and followed it.

I like Pinterest. I used to be on it all the time, but as with everything else, my free time is quite limited due to long work hours and a horrid commute. 

[Ted]

I'm not on Pinterest as much as before. Don't have time I can dedicate to properly utilize the media. My problem is I have too many pots, not enough fingers.

[Ria Stone]

Anyone doing National Novel Writing Month?
nanowrimo.org/

[chelsfield]

I've always been tempted to try, but the half the month goes by and my word count per day is pretty lackluster. You?

[Ria Stone]

Nov 16, 2017 0:10:22 GMT -8 chelsfield said:

I've always been tempted to try, but the half the month goes by and my word count per day is pretty lackluster. You?

I would need more time.

[djmills]

I have never done Nanowrimo, but I do try to write over 2K words Mon to Friday every week. Not that I succeed. Some days 0 words, other days 2K words over 4 hours with interruptions, other days 2K over 2 hours. The secret is persist, get into a routine of writing at the same time every day. Find 10 minute (or more) chunks of time and write a scene or a chapter. Do that every day, or every week day and your word count will grow without your noticing. :-)

Barely any words this week, because I am attending a Teachable Summit which includes a 1 hour video talk at 5:00 am my time that usually goes for 1.5 hours. Another video talk at 9:00 am. In between I get house and yard maintenance done, or write, or shop, etc. It took 2 hrs and 10 mins to get 2182 words yesterday, which is not bad when I stop to think about it. :-)

Today, the first talk started at 3:00 am. Lucky I woke up for it. :-) I listened for about 15 minutes then closed it. Been there, heard that before! :-) Obviously the speaker had a younger audience in mind. :-)

[Ria Stone]

Nov 16, 2017 13:08:19 GMT -8 djmills said:

I have never done Nanowrimo, but I do try to write over 2K words Mon to Friday every week. Not that I succeed. Some days 0 words, other days 2K words over 4 hours with interruptions, other days 2K over 2 hours. The secret is persist, get into a routine of writing at the same time every day. Find 10 minute (or more) chunks of time and write a scene or a chapter. Do that every day, or every week day and your word count will grow without your noticing. :-)

Barely any words this week, because I am attending a Teachable Summit which includes a 1 hour video talk at 5:00 am my time that usually goes for 1.5 hours. Another video talk at 9:00 am. In between I get house and yard maintenance done, or write, or shop, etc. It took 2 hrs and 10 mins to get 2182 words yesterday, which is not bad when I stop to think about it. :-)

Today, the first talk started at 3:00 am. Lucky I woke up for it. :-) I listened for about 15 minutes then closed it. Been there, heard that before! :-) Obviously the speaker had a younger audience in mind. :-)

DJ, interesting, getting up at 5am for an online video talk, wow.

I had attended an online writing workshop about 2 years back. It was interesting and helpful. If I recall, it was three days of online seminars. It is interesting how you can make time for something you deem important.

One of my novels in progress was mostly written while traveling on a train for six hours. It is one of my more almost complete novels in progress, so I am trying to find ways to capture chunks of time to write. I have a trip planned in January, so I hope to get a big chunk of writing done then.

I have found that one of my problems now, is motivation, not that I am not motivated to write, but aging has changed my perspectives so much that it is hard for me to return to my older embryonic stories and complete them. My sense of time, my sense of urgency have changed.

While I have one recurring character, none of my incomplete novels are part of a series. So, every story is a new start.

[djmills]

Ria Stone said "While I have one recurring character, none of my incomplete novels are part of a series. So, every story is a new start."

Yes, I sometimes pick a character in a setting (adventure, Scifi or fantasy) and write a short story on that. Then another with characters the first char knows in the first story, usually character backstory to the first short story. When I get five, and can see each character, I then give them a new problem and write a series of novels (over 50K words).

I learnt to write short stories from taking Holly Lisle's free course How to Write Flash Fiction that Doesn't Suck at hollyswritingclasses.com/shop/index.php

From memory I think it was three lessons.

Also, I understand the sense of time passing too quickly. You could always write a last scene killing off everyone except the main char who goes on to reach goal and end the story. Not to publish, just to complete each project. :-)

[jjmainor]

Nov 25, 2017 7:27:02 GMT -8 Ria Stone said:

Nov 16, 2017 13:08:19 GMT -8 djmills said:

I have never done Nanowrimo, but I do try to write over 2K words Mon to Friday every week. Not that I succeed. Some days 0 words, other days 2K words over 4 hours with interruptions, other days 2K over 2 hours. The secret is persist, get into a routine of writing at the same time every day. Find 10 minute (or more) chunks of time and write a scene or a chapter. Do that every day, or every week day and your word count will grow without your noticing. :-)

Barely any words this week, because I am attending a Teachable Summit which includes a 1 hour video talk at 5:00 am my time that usually goes for 1.5 hours. Another video talk at 9:00 am. In between I get house and yard maintenance done, or write, or shop, etc. It took 2 hrs and 10 mins to get 2182 words yesterday, which is not bad when I stop to think about it. :-)

Today, the first talk started at 3:00 am. Lucky I woke up for it. :-) I listened for about 15 minutes then closed it. Been there, heard that before! :-) Obviously the speaker had a younger audience in mind. :-)

DJ, interesting, getting up at 5am for an online video talk, wow.

I had attended an online writing workshop about 2 years back. It was interesting and helpful. If I recall, it was three days of online seminars. It is interesting how you can make time for something you deem important.

One of my novels in progress was mostly written while traveling on a train for six hours. It is one of my more almost complete novels in progress, so I am trying to find ways to capture chunks of time to write. I have a trip planned in January, so I hope to get a big chunk of writing done then.

I have found that one of my problems now, is motivation, not that I am not motivated to write, but aging has changed my perspectives so much that it is hard for me to return to my older embryonic stories and complete them. My sense of time, my sense of urgency have changed.

While I have one recurring character, none of my incomplete novels are part of a series. So, every story is a new start.

I tend to prefer standalone works myself though I think at this point I have more material in the series category.  Problem I always have is, writing sci fi, I create these universes with their own rules, then I get an idea I want to do that violates those rules - a lot of times within a single story the rules constrain what I want to do later in the piece!  Sometimes I feel like I'm writing like a soap opera where characters die and are buried onscreen, and the writers have to create convoluted excuses for how they survived when they want to bring the character back later.

[Ria Stone]

Nov 25, 2017 13:19:02 GMT -8 djmills said:

Ria Stone said "While I have one recurring character, none of my incomplete novels are part of a series. So, every story is a new start."

Yes, I sometimes pick a character in a setting (adventure, Scifi or fantasy) and write a short story on that. Then another with characters the first char knows in the first story, usually character backstory to the first short story. When I get five, and can see each character, I then give them a new problem and write a series of novels (over 50K words).

I learnt to write short stories from taking Holly Lisle's free course How to Write Flash Fiction that Doesn't Suck at hollyswritingclasses.com/shop/index.php

From memory I think it was three lessons.

Also, I understand the sense of time passing too quickly. You could always write a last scene killing off everyone except the main char who goes on to reach goal and end the story. Not to publish, just to complete each project. :-)

Very interesting, DJ, thanks for the tips especially the short tutorial on flash fiction. While I have four new writing projects in the works. I had wanted to attempt to try a short story. I am a profound but productive procrastinator. I think I am working on my new writing projects to avoid a few old ones :-)