The Necessity of The Little Things

Happy May! Hard to believe it’s already a week into the month. Time does seem to fly faster as I get older. Often it feels as though I barely begin a project when the deadline jumps in my lap. Does this happen to you?

Every year, some of the same events push forward on the calendar – award nominations, author book conferences, marketing/publicity renewals – and often interfere with what I want to be doing and that’s working on my writing. But these annual calendar events are important to your work and require the same attention as that fight scene your working on in the novel. However, sometimes it can feel overwhelming and chaotic unless you are organized.

I confess I’m not always organized at home. Cleaning can be delayed, supper can run late, laundry gets pushed a day, grocery shopping forced early….daily stuff can push my buttons. But I plan for those things so why shouldn’t I plan for my other work, the Writer Job?

My Brain, the Calendar

I’m a child of the desktop Daily Calendar (remember those huge things that covered your desk and became your blotter and your doodle pad?) as well as ye good ol’ Pocket Calendar. Both were used to some degree but neither worked as well as intended. Then along came that hand held monstrosity called the PDA or some other kind of electronic organizers. Or if you pre-date those, you will remember the thick leather binders with calendars, daily to do lists, task lists, contacts, notepapers, and various other organizers in one THICK binder called a Life Planner or Organizer. Big with the old “Yuppie” crowds and young up-and-coming executives. Steal that and you could break a person because it held their entire professional life. It’s why we needed the cloud!

Today, after much trial and error, I keep a 5×7 size daily calendar with a monthly overview and I use it. That’s point number one. I like a physical one that I can refer to any time and that does not depend on my being on the computer. There is room for daily notes as well as a monthly overview for a quick glance of scheduled events. I am religious about this thing! I write personal appointments (nails, hair, visits) but mostly I use it for

     1. Writer events (writer group meetings, meetings with PAA, library visits, phone calls I need to make)
     2. Appearances (conferences, interviews [radio, newspaper, blogs])
     3. Deadlines for marketing and promotion by month plus when announcements/results are announced (applying for book awards, starting an ad campaign, working for cover designs, preparing for oral reviews or scheduling book edits) to be sure paperwork is done on time/money is paid, etc.
     4. Family appointments that may overlap on scheduled dates.

Keeping organized is the key to maintaining control of your life and sanity. My calendar helps me to do this.

Organization – The File Folder

I’m a paper copy person. I have digital files of everything (cloud, flash drive, DVD, CD) but I also have paper copies of every story, poem, published and unpublished novel, notebooks of ideas (quotes, pictures, stories concepts, character sheets). And I maintain folders.

     1. Clips of my published works (articles published in newspaers, magazines and blogs)
     2. Copies of articles about me by others (newspapers, magazines, blogs)
     3. Public appearances to include my speeches, copies of programs, financial stipends, etc
     4.  Press Releases (yes you need to do one every time you publish or win an award)
     5. Expenditures for marketing, promotions, subscriptions, book orders, anything that I spent money on – and I have subset folders to help me if I spend a great deal.
     6. Award applications AND expenditures
     7. Earnings by month and a yearly overview (include stipends, honorariums, royalties)

Don’t forget your folders for different books in progress, stories, research (I have tons of folders with stuff I’ve looked up).

And correspondence files. Hard copies of important contact letters, contracts, etc that might need quick reference/proof.

It is a digital world with a paper underbelly. It’s proved invaluable over the years.

Miscellaneous Important Things

Business Cards – If you go to any event where you meet other authors or any industry professionals (models, designers, photographers, publishers, editors) I hope you are picking up business cards besides all that free swag. When you get home, be sure to put those business cards into your digital rolodex if you keep such a thing. Or if you are like me, I have a card folder. One for authors and one for local businesses I like and out of town ones I want to revisit. Contact cards can be useful when you need help or plan an event.

Last suggestion. At the end of every work week (you decide how you monitor your work). I use Saturdays to evaluate the past week, organize the leftovers, make notes for the next week, make the requisite lists that seriously resemble “to do.” Post-Its are my friend.

The little things matter and losing touch with them can cause you to feel frayed and disjointed. Managing those little things – or as an old mentor said, “juggling feathers in a hurricane” – will make you feel (and be) more in charge and in control of the bigger things. After all, we are the bigger things and we are our personal, best managers.

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Hope you notice the recent updates to the web pages, including the books. More changes to come.

Thanks for stopping by!
I remain, Yours Between the Lines,

Sherry

Fear.

Everyone at one point or another has tasted fear. Authors know fear and speak of it. Most authors fear the fear but even more have learned one vital lesson – fear is good.

Fear is a motivator, an instigater, a castigator, an illuminator, a paralyzer and an energizer. Fear is what makes us feel alive and makes us worry that we’re going to die. Fear is under so much of who we are as people, as writers, as stories. Fear is important. And you should be afraid! Fear comes from what we know and it comes from what we don’t know. It’s insidious and sneaky and delicious. Fear is important. We learn from our fears and we adapt because of them. When you can accept fear into your heart, then you may benefit from it. Yes, I’m saying it is important give in and be afraid.

First, let’s look at why I believe all those adjectives. When we are small, we develop fear of the unknown. This is where we put the things we don’t understand, into the shadow beyond the darkness. Such fear can motivate us to run or to fight. Fight or Flight syndrome comes from this basic fear. The fear of the unknown is challenging and can be paralyzing if we don’t learn to fight through it. Simply turning a corner on a dark road meets this fear. Keep turning the wheel, despite your fear. Delicious things come from pressing forward (safely please, unless you are a character).

Second, there is the kind of fear that instigates reactions. We fear getting surprised so we set up booby-traps. We fear being “taken” by a criminal so we trap them instead. We fear getting into a fight so we avoid that person. We fear what is around the bend, the corner, or off the road.This fear is more about what will happen to us and isn’t always good. But it is a wonderful tool for your traitors, your villains, your contagonists. Channel it.

Next there is the fear that illuminates. Studying for a test out of fear of failure can illuminate us to knowledge and behaviors (ours and our fellow students and teachers!). This kind of fear shines a light on our weaknesses and our needs. This fear can be used to aid others, provide that ah-ha moment, lead to discovery of clues or the ultimate takedown of the antagonist.

Castigation often follows fear. When we have been frightened and we don’t wish to be frightened again, we often castigate the perpetrators. Most often we find it riding on relief. It causes a plethora of negative emotions including vitriol, anger, hatred, childish jealousy, envy and back talk. This is when our mouths often overtake good sense. This fear is damaging. It is what parents often do their children. It is what heroes often do in frustration or a lover to a beloved. Use it wisely because it hurts.

Finally, there is the fear that energizes. I could write on and on about fear but let’s concentrate on this positive aspect. This fear makes us feel alive. The fear of not meeting a deadline (work, school, curfew). This fear motives, illuminates, castigates, paralyzes, frustrates, and – the best part – separates the determined from the unsure. THIS is the fear which often guides an author to guide the conflict in the stories. This energizing fear is the substance of good stories. It combines all the elements of fear into one positive stroke, using all the elements to culminate into a great ending (doesn’t have to be a happy one!).

Sure, authors are afraid of failure. We all fear not being accepted. We all fear bad reviews. But when the fear energizes, it can be channeled into producing action. And that action makes us feel excited and alive. Latch onto that feeling and ride it. Let it become you. Never give up or let fear of failure win. You can benefit if you try, and keep trying.

Fear can be good for you. A little stress gets the blood pumping, colors your cheeks, makes you feel giddy and goofy and tingly all over. Fear about the first time you had sex. Fear about going to that first scary movie. Fear about Halloween and the haunted house. Fear about that last manuscript, the one you had nightmares over and the one the beta readers ripped you apart over. (You know the one that turned out good in the end but kept you up for a month in frightful worry!).

As long as you use your fear productively, as long as you don’t let fear overtake your good sense or your ability to produce/function, fear is your friend. That’s why I say, let fear in. Let fear enliven you. Let fear spark your characters, bring reality to your stories, breathe tension to your novels and excitement to your publishing. Fear, used well, is good!

So go ahead. Be afraid. I’ll meet you in the shadows.

Thanks for coming by.
I remain, Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

One of the best parts of writing, for me, is creating a world for my characters. No matter your genre, you must have a working knowledge of the environment in which the action happens. That knowledge can only come from doing your homework, or as novel writers everywhere whisper with fear and delight, “Research!”

Whether you write contemporary fiction or urban fantasy set in current and familiar cities, historical fiction with a need to re-create the past, or a dystopian fiction with yet-to-be-realized worlds, there is research required. Ask most writers and a gleam of excitement fills their heart and fear settles in their minds as they anticipate the thrill of discovery and the dread of the dark unknown forest.

Weeks pass and you’re still doing research. Every thread of knowledge leads you to more. You check out books and print….and print….and copy….and print. A month more and you are excited to learn about new countries, customs, histories, legends, famous people, unheard stories, relics, and archeological digs. Wait. What?

STOP!  At some point the writer in you says maybe I have enough research. You realize you have almost forgotten what you wanted to discover and have lost yourself in the finding of everything. Your departure from your novel has nearly cost you the thread of your intent. You, writer, are drowning in research and it’s killing your novel.

I speak from Experience

I’m in the middle of a novella, a prequel to an upcoming series. I know my characters but I’m writing about a time period which is unknown to me, creating events into an older world, bending histories to suit my needs. I needed to do research to bolster my fiction because good fiction is rooted in truth. That’s what sells the story. When I’m doing research I feel empowered as if I am learning magic.

But the truth is research can bog you down and sometimes I have ended up looking like this:

Your work suffers with an overabundance of unnecessary knowledge.

So what do you do?

TIPS FOR MAKING RESEARCH WORK FOR YOU

1. I recommend an outline. Know what you intend to research and leave yourself an outline with specific questions. You know what you want to know. Get those basics out of the way. Do it early before the major writing begins.

2. Once you have the basic info down, stop and begin the writing. When you hit a place in the story where you know you need more information, make a note about it and keep writing. I highly recommend a writer’s notebook for every novel or work in progress. I use it for notes, background information and all my research. I also use it for notations where I need more work. Refuse to let yourself be diverted by “holes.” This notebook will be the “dirt” you need for filler, later.

3. When you reach the end of your project (completion of the zero draft), now you can begin he work of filling the holes and doing the research you need to fill in the gaps.

• The first rewrite is for fleshing out the world, building the framework for your story
• The second rewrite is for rebuilding based on your notations and research
• The third rewrite is for continuity and holes, making the research and the fantasy mesh together (beta readers are needed here).

This is how you keep research from killing your novel and instead you save yourself and your readers from overdosing on information.

How Do You Know When You Have Too Much Research?

When you spend all your time talking about the research and not about your story. When your research is what you crave doing instead of writing. When you’re busy collecting paper on this and that instead of chapter and scenes. If you are honest, you know when you cross the line into the “no man’s land” of too much knowledge. Only you can pull that plug. Just do it. Stick to your outline and your characters’ needs and you’ll do fine.

A Word About Quality Research

Googiing isn’t research. There, I said it. Google is great for telling you what you need to know, then the library is your friend.  HOWEVER…..

DONT LET THIS BE YOUR DESK!

Again, know when you have too much and force yourself to select only what you need. This is what I have for my main research:

My novella takes place in both the past and the present. I need information dealing with Europe from 850 ACE all the way through the Middle Ages. It is easy to get lost in the research.  

One pleasure and one danger is learning a new language for the main character. This is one way to lose yourself and forget what you were supposed to be researching. Tip: Mark the words you want and come back for them. 

Just like a novel with too much narrative or exposition, your novel suffers if you spend too much time doing research. I’ve seen writers abandon projects after months because they have forgotten what the novel was supposed to be about! I’ve seen writers get discouraged, believing they can’t possibly impart everything they have learned. Remember JK Rowling when you begin to feel like this — she kept notebooks of knowledge about characters and histories in the world of Harry Potter that she never used. Writers are supposed to know more than the reader or their characters. Don’t imagine that everything you’ve researched will always make it into your story. Be content to use only what you need and save the rest.

You never know, you might do a sequel, Or a trilogy. Or a series of short stories. Knowledge is never wasted unless it becomes the thing you do instead of the thing you learn.

Is research killing or saving your novel? I hope this will give you food for thought and that you will take time to access your work. Let research work for you instead of you working for it.

I welcome your ideas and suggestions on research. How do you manage yours?

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Did you catch the live Facebook chat I did on Feb 18? If you missed it, you can catch it on my author page here. Sign up for my newsletter (see the sign up in the right hand column) and you’ll be among the first to know about the next live chat.

Speaking of the Newsletter — yes, I’ve been very bad about it. That’s about to change. You’ll get sneak peeks, freebies, free books and all sorts of newletter only information when you sign up.

The newsletter goes out early March!

Thanks for stopping by!
Yours Between the Lines,
Sherry

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****The following items will always appear to keep you posted on activities.*****

WIP (Works in Progress):

– Writer’s Workbook – Learning to Write Everyday – Beginners Volume  (expected April 2017)
– first novel in the Evening Bower series, about vampires and other supernatural creatures (Nov 2017)
– prequel novella to the Bower series (May 2017)
– four-part fairy story (part one complete) (Christmas 2017)

On the Desk: (next reading): A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab

Off the Desk (book just finished): Stephen Blackmoore’s Hungry Ghosts

Coming Soon: More tips while writing that novel/Interviews/Odd Thoughts