I would sell out and so would you

All writers want to write the next great novel. There is a part of each of us that wants to be the next Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald. What writer wouldn't want to be recognized for being a master of prose. The problem is most of us will work our whole lives trying to reach that level of rarefied air.

If I was given the choice of writing the next great American novel and making dump trucks full of money every week (see E.L. James) I would take the money. It may seem shallow. Before you judge me, ask yourself what you would do. The chance of becoming enormously wealth as a writer is extremely small, so why not leap at that chance. I would rather be rich than remembered for being a great writer who died poor. Feel free to judge me. They say money can't buy happiness...I would love to try.

This train of thought came to me as I was writing my first novel. I kept rewriting the first few chapters, trying to make them perfect. I realized that no matter how long I worked to perfect it, it would never be the book it was capable of being. My best hope is to write a simple book that appeals to a wide audience and try to strike it rich. Suddenly the words began to flow and I am on pace to finish a full length novel in one month. Not bad for a first time writer. Here's to hoping other people will want to read what I have written and I haven't gone too far into the darkness.

Too many distractions necessitate a change of scenery

I was feeling stuck with own writing this week. I decided to try writing somewhere else. Where else would a first time novelist write the next seminal American novel than Starbucks? It felt so cliche but I couldn't think of a place that had places to sit and plug a laptop in.

My discovery was that while there are many distractions (the people, the drinks) that I am a better writer. When at home, it becomes so easy to get up and do something. The distractions you feel when trying to write can come from anything and it won't really go away unless you stop and do something about it. When writing somewhere else like Starbucks, the distractions tend to disappear on their own.

It is however not always possible to go somewhere else other than your home to write. My suggestion, and what I plan to do, is to write things at home that take a little less focus or intensity on your part and save the more difficult parts of your writing until you can remove those personal distractions. I find it much easier to get in the zone as it were when not at home.  

Choose carefully who you work with

A bit of frustration this week for me and my publishing company. We have a book scheduled to come out soon and are in the final phases of editing right now. The problem is the author is worried that with our edits that he might be losing his voice from the work and he will come off as not knowing the subject well (its non fiction). This proved to be a sticky situation. We had to try and convince him that we would take care to make sure that his work was representative of him and not what the editors had decided. This was particularly hard as this is his first book, and we are really just doing what is in the best interest of both parties. It can be one of those things that if it can't be worked out to the satisfaction of both parties, it can ruin the relationship.

For me, this has reinforced the idea that you must always be cautious of who you do businesses with. This is true for both parties, the writer and the publisher, because if you don't have the same vision, things can get a bit rough. Always be sure you are getting what you want.

That being said, we are getting ready to release a book in a few weeks, and then two (and maybe three) novels within the next two months.
Check out Outfox Digital Publishing for more information about what I do, and upcoming books.

First person present?

I started work on my first novel this past week, and I ran into an issue with trying to decide on the point of view it should be in. I guess to make this a little more clear, it has to do with the nature of the book, and why I ended up choosing first person present.

I am writing about a guy, who at the core of his being, is delusional, has hallucinations and a bit of OCD thrown in. It is his firm belief that under the direction and insistence of a group of people who are changing the world for the better, he must burn homes and business that have to pay for the choices they have made. There is no religious connotation to this (and I don't plan on introducing it at any point, but you never know I guess).

For this type of character, I just felt that third person would be inadequate. Yes, third person would have made a possible parallel story of law enforcement chasing him a bit easier and fill some pages, but it just didn't feel right.

I have therefore come to the conclusion that the book needs to be in first person present. What does this mean for me? It means I have to scrap what I've written so far and start again. I was using "I" once every 15 words and it sounded horrible. I do however feel fortunate that it is early enough in the process that I can fix it, and make it exponentially more readable.