Writing and publishing

June 14

Yesterday afternoon I did get some writing done, simply because I didn’t spend hours on Facebook. That will continue later today and as with Jan off out to her bible study group this evening, I shall get some more done. My characters however, just will not behave themselves as I write. It’s like yesterday, I wanted a ship’s captain to blow his top with his younger brother for getting kicked off his job. Instead he has taken his brother and three of his friends on board as he hurries to leave port. Now I’ll have to wait to see what they do next.

I do of course know what I want them to do, but as I write ideas come along and I usually follow up on them. That’s why I (and many other writes too), can say their characters won’t behave. This bit of silliness does point to the difference in how we go about our writing. Some writers make large plans that include a list of what each characters are going to do. That’s fine for them, but I feel frustrated by working to a plan. By now though, you will know that I change my mind far too often for a plan to work for me. So I just sit and write and see how things work out. So far, my method works for me.

What I really need to do is to get my current completed five novels ready for publication through the LULU publishing system. I could actually release two of them, The Mission and Finding Our Way, now. Sometime ago I was advised that a first novel shouldn’t be more than 100,000. The Mission is 96,000 words and Finding Our Way is 56,000 words, so that’s OK. But what about George Martin’s Game of Thrones and quite a number of other writers first books? Well, I’m not good at doing as I’m told so I may well go with House of Pain instead, which runs out at 118,000 words, and that one has a follow-up called Web of Hate at the same length.

Every November there’s a writing challenge run out of Yankyland, the National Novel Writing Month, or NANO for ease. The idea is that a writer writes 50,000 words during the 30 days of November. That works out at 1,666 words a day. And yes, I can do it too, indeed, I have finished it twice before. That’s where Finding Our Way and Shipshape come in. It does mean I have to put aside the other work I’m doing and concentrate on that one project. Actually, I quiet enjoyed it both times I first did it. The third attempt was a follow up to Shipshape and was entitled And Bristol Fashion but failed simply because I wasn’t ready for it and tried rushing; it didn’t work. However, I still have the file and go back to it at any time.

Those first four novels of mine were available on Amazon because I published them through their own system called, CreateSpace. I didn’t find it all that easy to work with and was limited to their own cover designs, which I didn’t really like. Anyway, Amazon decide I was due to pay tax on my 6 cents in royalties I have earned and demanded that I register for tax in the US. I didn’t and they removed my books from sale. That is why you can’t get them right now. Of course I need to market them, but I really have no idea as to how to do that; something else I need to do.

All this is makes me wonder just how so many writers are able to make a good living out of Amazon. You see, I like the writing part of the task, but I’m not so keen on the editing of the work, add in the marketing and it becomes quite hard work. So I’m not sure when all my books will be available, but I do hope they soon will be.

Today’s photo …

The water feature in Coventry Precinct.

Today’s funny …

Patient: If the doctor can't see me right away, I'm leaving.
Nurse: Calm yourself down. What's wrong with you?
Patient: I have a serious wait problem.