Simple truth about Writing, writers block and others

Not everyone is going to be the same while writing. Some will say they bled sweat and tears while writing. Others will say it felt the same as banging their head against the wall while some simply said they had no problem and those who accused them of not telling the truth. It all depends on if you want to believe any of this. Truth be told, each writer is different and what works for one might not work for another. Possibly if writing is such a struggle than maybe it’s not for you or possibly you haven't found what works for you yet.

Many focus on word count and others write as it comes to them. That's how I personally write but I do it from scene to scene. I play the story in my head as a movie while I write and sometimes my characters take a turn I wasn't expecting so I go with the flow and see where it takes me. Some writers need a very detailed structure for the story-line to stick with.

Writers block seems to affect so many especially when they see zero words added to their page. Some simply need to turn off the word count until they are finished with their story they want to tell. I don't personally have writers block and it doesn't mean this is a bad thing for others. It might be frustrating, but understanding why you are stuck will help.

When it comes to writers block you will find many answers. The only way of dealing with this is finding what works for you. If leaving the piece you’re working on and messing with something else works for you than do it. Take your time, it’s better to have great writing than something that sounds forced and not something that makes you happy. I do it all the time. I will have several stories going at once depending on the mood I’m in and if I don’t feel like writing I won’t force myself. You will hear from established authors and even ones who are not writers say you should force yourself to write for at least an hour or more a day. It might work for some but others that can be even more stressful. I don’t like to write when I’m stressed out and if I write when I am not in the mood my story tends to take turns I don’t really care for or would not have done. I've even been frustrated enough that I killed my main character and needed to fix it. It is very important to find your own writing style and what works for you.

Find where you feel comfortable writing even if it’s sitting in a beanbag chair, regular office chair or outdoors somewhere. There are many trays that can used to keep your laptop comfortable if you take it outside. Have a drink next to you. I love drinking water when I write, sometimes I’ll have coffee or hot cocoa or even tea at times. Make sure your area is comfortable and safe. A friend of mine loves writing while sitting in the corner of her room. She will have the corner against her back so she is looking into the room and she’s sitting down on a pillow with her laptop in her lap. Sometimes if she really feels like getting into it she will pull out her manual typewriter.

Some need help getting into the mood. that's generally my problem. I have what I want to write down but not in the mood to physically write it. Either by listening to music, television or movie in the background can help with moods. Just make sure it isn’t to interesting you spend more time watching it then writing. For my problem I use a voice writer so I can speak out loud and it records me. 
There are writing exercises that you can do. Look at an object and describe it in writing. If there are two objects near each other describe how they met each other or a situation if they were at war, in love or hated each other. It gets the mind thinking which is better than forcing yourself to write, especially if you are not in the mood and not liking what your doing will only increase frustration. Writing should be enjoyable, something you love to do, not hate.                                

Getting accepted by a publisher is exciting news but I can't begin to tell you how often I've found people who regretted the contract later because they did not read the fine print or were surprised by a section that superseded the contract in hand and they lost their rights to their writing. I cannot stress enough to everyone, please read the entire contract. Take time to think it over. Seek out the assistance of an attorney or lawyer to get their opinion of the contract. Don't sign something that you do not understand even if they have explained it to you. The contract that is in physical form must be understood and yes, each part can be broken down so you can understand it but don't simply take someone's word for it. Do your research! If you can research words and other minor things for your book why not your contract?

Also make sure you understand what type of publisher you have been accepted by, either vanity (you pay them), P.O.D (Print on demand, a lot of bookstores don’t accept these) Hybrid Publisher (you advertise yourself, some require you edit your own books, they do the rest), Traditional publisher (they do everything but still expect you to participate at times) These are only a few and limited descriptions but it is very important to know what they expect of you and what you expect from them. Keep in touch and work with your publisher. Update them on how you are doing especially if they are a larger publisher or you tend to get lost in the cracks.

I consider writing my first career. Second would be anything that happens to promote my writing. The reality is that many writers have two careers or jobs simply because writing doesn’t always pay the bills. I will always write because I love to, I obsess over it at times and I feel happy writing. The secondary job although has more likelihood of never being returned to, my writing always will. Currently I work in private healthcare. I’ve had many jobs over the years and learned from them. A few I picked up because I wanted to know what it was like and even based my characters in that field. At least this way I would get it accurately portrayed for the character. Below I have a link to twenty authors who kept day jobs while they wrote.

When an author has their book published there is so much work that goes into it before the book is made available to the public. There are the many hours an author spends dreaming or thinking about the story, getting it written down so it is no longer only a thought. There are a lot of changes that happen once the story is finished and a lot of editing. Getting your writing copywritten to protect your hard work. There is the cover art for the book, the back description so people know what the story is about. Getting a library of congress control number and an ISBN (ISBN is the acronym for International Standard Book Number. This 10 or 13-digit number identifies a specific book, an edition of a book, or a book-like product (such as an audiobook). Since 1970 each published book has a unique ISBN. In 2007, assigned ISBNs changed from 10 digits to 13.)

There is also coordinating various websites and other places the book may be made available to for a release date. Depending on the type of advertising that may be done with the books release will be arranged. It may be sent wide spread to various bookstores large and small to let them know it is available, to various library or reading groups. There are a lot of publishing companies. Self publishing, vanity press, Pod publishing, Hybrid publishing, Traditional publishing. If you’re an established author your royalties and how your book is advertised will be different. 
New authors who have not established themselves, they have a lot to prove simply because they are a higher financial risk. Even if you get picked up by a traditional publisher this does not mean your book will be in bookstores or it might be available as an e-book through large brick and mortar stores until you increase demand for your book. Publishers lose the most amount of money when they take the risk of taking on new authors. This is why many of them are fillers. The top four publishing companies are Simon & Schuster (a subsidiary of CBS Corporation), HarperCollins (a subsidiary of NewsCorp), Penguin Random House (a subsidiary of Bertelsmann and Pearson), Hachette Livre. With the countless submissions they receive, even if you are fortunate to get picked up by one that doesn’t mean you will have an advertising budget however their website does generate a lot of visitors so they might come across your book. Many times, it is better to be picked up by a smaller publisher for more personal care. However even these have to be careful because they invest so much into your book financially when they know if you begin to sell you will leave taking another offer. While this is usually in your best interest it leaves them building your reputation and promoting your book to having nothing in the end for all of that work. If you go with a smaller publisher work out a plan that if your book does become successful that you can adjust your royalties and other offers. Many are willing to adjust especially since they were the ones who helped you get to this point. 
I've seen this many times when a small publisher advertises their company, an author will get angry with them wondering why they are advertising themselves and not the authors book. Long after the author is gone, that company still needs to be known for authors to apply with them. They need to build their reputation up so that they get the foot traffic large publishers have. By advertising themselves they bring attention to everyone they have rather then a few who may or may not leave in a short period of time.

This isn’t to discourage anyone from writing, making sure you love what you’re doing and don’t expect to get rich when picked up by a publisher. It’s better to be realistic then expect the moon and be disappointed later because you didn’t get it. There is always that chance you could be the break out author, determination and stubbornness goes a long way.

This is a big thing and I cannot stress it enough. Work with your publisher. If they want to coordinate with you for events and you plan on doing something but don’t tell them until short notice. There isn’t much they can do. Your publisher has a budget, even large publishers have budgets. Let’s say you arrange a book signing. Instead of only announcing you’ll need books, give at least three months or more warning if you can. The longer you give the longer they have to assist you. A small advertisement in the paper, events listed on Facebook with a paid for ad. Book marks with your book and info to hand out for free to advertise for your readers, posters or many other things. Let them know what you are planning and if you know what you need, let them know. Many publishers want to be involved, if you have an agent do the same with them.

A cover can make or break your book. The publisher wants to make money or again they lose, so they will have done their research for what will be best for the cover of your book. Some will ask for input but ultimately majority of publishers pick for you. This is the same for editing, have faith in your publisher. Your friends and family may have their opinions however they are not your publisher and second guessing or wanting your way instead of listening to your publisher is insulting. Most of the time you will frustrate your publisher and they will wish they hadn’t picked your book up or wondered why you went with a publisher in the first place. Bottom line is that publishers risk money on books they need to sell. If they mess up they lose a lot. If you caused them to lose they still get stuck with the bill.

When the publisher advertises on billboards, television, radio spots, internet and other various venues. Depending on the price, this will determine where ads for your book go. They may be slated for certain areas but not until your book is a good seller. If your publisher puts out $5k advertising your book and it only sells $200 because your unknown. They’ve lost a lot of money. Now imagine if this happens with other authors who have amazing books but because they are not known or do not have a strong following the cost begins to get pretty high and have in the past put publishers out of business, many with debts left over they are still stuck paying.

When you get paid an advance, this will eventually come out of your royalties. An advance is not a sign on bonus. It is an "advancement" on your royalties. The higher end you get some publishers may offer special bonus's but not until you are like Stephen King, Anne Rice or Rick Riordan writing level.

 Experienced copy editors might be able to edit about 10 pages per hour, which would mean they make $0.014 per word if they charge an hourly rate of $35. That makes $1,120 for an 80,000-word manuscript. According to the EFA, basic copy-editing for an average-length manuscript would cost $960-2,560.

The main thing with writing is to enjoy and have fun.  I’ve included a few articles associated with the publishing field I found helpful.

Word count of famous authors. http://writerswrite.co.za/the-daily-word-counts-of-39-famous-authors-1

Why traditional vs. self publishing. https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/mar/21/for-me-traditional-publishing-means-poverty-but-self-publish-no-way

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-significant-costs-in-book-publishing-and-distribution

20 authors who worked other jobs while writing. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-anthony-jones/famous-author-day-jobs_b_5724482.html

Obsession over characters

I never thought I would be the type of writer who would have a muse. Certain people do inspire me for perseverance or personality but this one has really stuck with me and had inspired me to write a couple of books. I feel I know his personality so well to the point he truly is real to me and that makes the character I write about that much more relatable. It’s also one of the reasons I don’t like to get to know actors/ actresses outside of their role because many times it ruins it finding out what they are like. It’s the character they portrayed and not really the person playing the role I’m addicted to.

Whether the character is from a movie, book or one I’ve created myself. I have found myself getting not just addicted but obsessed with a character. I know I’m not alone when I see many forms of fan fiction or the simple fact that merchandise sold with that character on it finds its way into others homes.

There are many reasons personally why I get obsessed with characters and it isn’t only the ones I’ve created for my own stories. I loved the Harry Potter series simply because we were fortunate as an audience to see the same actors play them and grow along with the characters themselves, at least in the movies. As far as the books are concerned there is so much of their personal lives you feel as though you are along for the journey as a friendly observer and you see how everything affects them. What difficulty they’ve had to overcome not just physically but emotionally. J.K Rowling developed her characters quite well that they really reflect and come across as real people even though they are fictional.

Other characters I’ve been addicted to were either their personality, what the writer had the character endure during their written life or simply a look/expression the actor/ actress gives while acting. I always make it a point to read the book and see the movie. I might not like the changes they make in the movie from the authors original perspective but sometimes they can give it a different angle. Almost like fan fiction and see how the outcome would be if a few things were changed. Sadly, in some there are massive changes it’s no longer after the original content at all other than in name. Cassandra Claire is an example of this with her Mortal Instruments series. I enjoyed the book and the first movie but could not get myself to follow along with the television series.

I do want to note I am obsessed with the character and not the person portraying them and I don't at all encourage or endorse stalking of the actual person portraying the character.

One of the book series I loved is from Darren Chan, Cirque Du Freak. I loved the movie and the books. There are 12 books in the series and well worth the read. I loved the story he created however the writing style isn't one of my favorites. From his book series, I became addicted to the character Larten. I would imagine or dream him in other situations and events. This would also be considered fan fiction. Only difference is that I don't write fan fiction on paper or share my thoughts about story lines however I do enjoy reading what others have written when it comes to fan fiction.

A goal of mine is that I need some kind of connection or even to the point of being addicted to my own characters that I write. I know I won’t like all but there needs to be some quality to each. I have a few who I am addicted to simply because of the way they think, treat others, adventurous determination or stubbornness. If I don’t feel the connection with the I have a hard time believing my readers would either.

Writing and cheating

I've been asked a lot of basic questions about writing however this would be a first and it came from an eleven-year-old. She pointed out how many actors like to research for their roles they play. I've heard this also either going under cover as an officer, going to a strip club, spending time at bars or working certain jobs to gain perspective. Even writers are always mentioning research especially those in Mystery, homicide or geological location or time period for a setting.

The question asked is that if there is a romance in the story and you get into the characters’ heads, do you feel like your cheating because you’re creating an intimate relationship between characters. Is fantasizing about this considered cheating.

I thought it was a good question and one I'm sure depending on who you ask will give you a very different answer from a direct yes, explanation for or against or the opposite a direct no. I can only answer for myself on this one and not for anyone else. The way that I write about my characters I don't feel I'm cheating in any way. I know more personal detail but it is only because I happen to be writing it. I’m not physically going out trying to recreate these connections that I write about.

When I write about a character I know what pet peeves they have, personal likes and dislikes, their family background. How they interact with someone. When you have a friend or family member that you know incredibly well you would know these personal things about them. Even to the point if someone walked through the room without saying a word but was smiling you could know something was bothering them when anyone else would have thought they were fine. It's the small details. People normally share information about dating and their lives so we get to know them this way.

When it comes to research, I’ve experienced relationships myself, dealt with friends and observed from a distance others. I consider this research also. I like to sit in the mall some times to see how people interact with each other and majority of the time from human nature I know how they will react and from seeing it so many times. I write for all age groups so I do keep a lot of what my characters do behind closed doors. I might elude to something however detail I leave out. When they fall in love I think of relationships I’ve experienced or what I would want myself.

There are terms such as book boyfriend, fiancée or even husband. Personally, I’ve never gone that far. I might obsess over a personality or see this character as someone I would have made friends with but never on such a personal level as dating my own characters. I feel the same way towards those who portray characters. I might love the way they character is handled by some more so than others but I am not falling in love with the person playing the role. I’m not against anyone who feels this way or have crushes on characters. Having a crush is a way telling you what you would like to find in a perspective relationship. Hopefully it’s a healthy one but then most know the difference between fiction and reality. If you have a crush on a vampire it’s not that you disregard life and want to die but you may admire or respect a quality this character has. Many have a different perspective on life because of being a creature. This can be taken so many ways depending on what is involved, authors intent and what readers understand from it. If there is a subject involving a character you are unsure of and think it could be possibly abusive, research it and find out the facts. It doesn't mean you need to watch a sex video but there is text information. 

Example of this would be with grey series. I was given the book as a gift. I tried to read it and couldn't get past a few chapters. I felt I was reading something a child wrote about a very adult situation. It was trying to portray love however in an abusive manner without regard to the well being of the other character, The BDSM was not accurate and by ignoring her saying to stop or using safe word it is clearly rape. whether or not the author intended on this or not it is disturbing and sadly people have wanted the same relationship. If the man was poor and not rich people would not be looking at it the same. Some are simply looking for the right to watch it without feeling they are watching pornography. Of course you will find many various opinions on this as well however I do feel the authors need to be respectful towards their audience. That book is geared towards adults and the author would have to be asked herself what she was thinking and if she felt she was cheating by creating this. I couldn't speak for her.