(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr. Find out more at my newsletter.)
We’re all heading for the holidays, so let’s catch up! Also you may note this is appearing all over – I’m diversifying my posting base.
So what have I done the last week(s)?
- A Bridge To The Quiet Planet: Is selling in ebook format! So print is next. I’ve got the document print-formatted now – which thanks to some Open Office tools and formatting choices was easier than I thought. There’s some lessons here.
- Way With Worlds: I’ve got another book out! This one is on Organizations!
- Seventh Sanctum: Steady as she goes here, but the next generator or three are being outlined.
- Other: Lots of relaxing now that the holiday season is here.
What’s next?
- A Bridge To The Quiet Planet: Getting print format out and getting a draft. The text is done, the real worry I have is the cover. Covers are the hardest part of POD.
- Way With Worlds: I’m outlining the next book, but am also pacing myself.
- Seventh Sanctum: Want to try to update the Nexus and maybe get a new generator out.
- General Stuff: The holidays, of course! I am also working on some productivity techniques I may be sharing soon!
Steven Savage
(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr. Find out more at my newsletter.)
When you make a story of any kind, the beginning isn’t the beginning and the end isn’t the end. Any truly living story is just a slice of something much larger. I learned this lesson lately.
As I’ve begun the final edits of my novel, A Bridge To The Quiet Planet, I had decided to try writing short fiction on the side. I had many ideas, from using random stories to doing more in the setting of my novel. The idea seemed fun, interesting, different, and relaxing – and maybe profitable.
With my first attempt in draft form, I handed it off to some friends to edit, confident that if I could get such good reactions to my novel draft, this was sure to be of equal quality. However, one of my editors was extremely critical – he noted how it was constrained, limited, and it didn’t seem to be like my other work. How could I have gone so wrong?
At first annoyed, I sat down and analyzed his voluminous comments (this person is someone I’m trying to push towards pro writing and editing). Soon I realized that he had a point.
There wasn’t the sense of setting I usually created – I write on Worldbuilding but this world didn’t seem alive. There was little sense of extra details or of things going on around the characters. It was like a studio backlot.
I didn’t do much with character senses or feelings. The tale was limited and scriptlike, minimal on sensations. Even with the rather intellectual cast of my experiment, the focus was too literal.
Characters themselves seemed constrained – only when they really interacted were they characters. They also didn’t interact well with the setting. It was like actors wandering through a soundstage.
My story, in short, wasn’t alive. So I asked myself how did I get here – and the answer became very apparent.
I had taken a break from fiction for awhile, and returned to it with my novel. To do the novel I had used various plotting and outlining techniques, and I tried to do the same for the short story. I had produced a very detailed outlining system for short stories, ensuring I got to the point and didn’t overdo it.
I had built a skeleton for a story. However I’d put very little meat on the bones – the minimal at best. I had created a system, but not created much of a story, at least to my standards and that of my friend.
With this idea in mind, I examined some of my other short story ideas that had been incubating – and they felt much more alive. These were ideas that had been sitting around for some time, that were played with and thought over. Because of this imagining and re-imagining, they were more connected, more alive, more nuanced.
This story I had just attempted was the least thought-over and least nuanced. Too much of it was alienated from itself.
That’s when the lesson of all of this hit me like a thunderbolt – you don’t write a story, you write part of one.
A story should be a slice of your setting, a piece of the history of that setting, a small and interesting part of a much larger potential. It should have characters who are not sprung into being at the start, but are created and written so they feel like they have pasts and futures outside of your story. Everything should feel large, no matter how short the story is.
Now these things may not be immediately apparent – you may have a story idea and need to better realize the world and characters. You may only need so much detail. But you need enough for the story to be alive because it’s part of something larger, at least conceptually and imaginatively.
Based on this idea, I’m back at it. I can’t say what you may or may not see, but if you do see any short fiction from me, I think it’ll be much better.
– Steve
(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr. Find out more at my newsletter.)
As I edit A Bridge To The Quiet Planet to get it ready for my awesome professional editor, I reflected on what I went through to write the book. I see now this could have been faster if I hadn’t spent time editing as I went, chapter by chapter until the halfway point. In short, I actually aimed for quality too early.
At first this violated my expectations. Being into Agile, I figured that doing it piece by piece, making chapters available to prereaders, would result in better quality. It’s something I’ve read about authors doing before, and I’d read several articles on how instructional writing (which I’ve done for awhile) can be released in modules. Shouldn’t a story be something you can release chapter by chapter and get good feedback?
Not entirely.
Now I’m not saying it’s a bad idea to make fiction available to prereaders in parts, but I’ve come to the conclusion that’s of very limited value. Here’s why.
Instructional and nonfiction works are often something we can break down – and indeed, should break down – into pieces that almost anyone could edit. Yes, some may miss context or seem borderline useless on their own, but nonfiction is often very modular. We process instructions, history, documentation, etc. in discreet chunks – we think step-by-step.
Nonfiction works are a lot like modular software or dishes where you can sample individual ingredients and get an idea of their combined taste.
But fictional works? They’re different.
Fictional works are much more of a whole. They’re intellectual and emotional and literary, requiring many modes of thought and feeling to appreciate them. They often have mysteries and callbacks and references – indeed, deception is part of some some fiction writing. Fiction is hard to evaluate apart from the whole of the work – to truly “get” it you need the whole experience a complete work. Finally, as fiction involves imagination, you often discover your work as you write it.
Fictional works are like software that requires a lot of code to be done before it functions or a crude alpha before it can be evaluated. They’re like a dish that you can’t appreciate until it’s done, or ones requiring careful tweaking to get “just right.”
I now realize that I could be delivering A Bridge To The Quiet Planet to you quicker if I’d decided, as opposed to editing chapter by chapter, I’d just run on and pushed myself to finish the thing and accepted it wasn’t perfect – maybe put out one or two chapters to get my groove. Now that I have a complete work, all the edits are far more richer, far more revealing, far more coherent – and much of my best edits were made when it was done and I could see the whole thing.
When I write fiction in the future, I think I need to accept that my initial effort is basically going to be like a piece of alpha software. Good planning and thought can make it a very good alpha, but my focus should be to get it done so I have enough to work from. Many things in fiction writing only become apparent once you have the whole picture.
Again, I don’t think this means you can’t put unfinished fiction up for review. I just think people need to accept the limits of such things – and ask what delivers the most value for them and the audience.
I also find this very satisfying to think of. I can accept that fiction starts imperfect because of all its factors and charge ahead, admitting it won’t be perfect. It’s just that when the imperfect version is done, the perfect version follows more easily.
(By the way that title took me forever to come up with so I hope you appreciate the attention to alliteration.)
– Steve
(With NaNoWriMo coming up, let me give you a bit of a boost)
So you wrote a book. You self-published it or may self-publish it. It’s just that, down deep, you think it’s kind of crappy. Guess what, I don’t care if it’s crappy – it may indeed be crappy. I want you to know why this is great.
First, let me note that it’s probably not as bad as you think. The ability to see our work as awful is a blessing and a curse to writers, but I oft find writers suffer from low self-esteem over egomania. We just notice the egomaniacs who think their crap is brilliant as they stand out.
So, now that you have this manuscript you’re vaguely disappointed in, perhaps even published, let’s talk about what’s great about it.
What’s Generally Awesome:
- It’s done. You can move on to your next project.
- You managed to actually write a book – kudos. That alone shows a level of strength, talent, commitment, obsession, or lack of self-control that’s commendable. Many people couldn’t do this – you could.
- You learned you care enough to get a book done. If you have that passion that puts you ahead of people who never try.
- You can always publish under a pseudonym. In some cases this is the best idea depending on subject matter.
- At least the book is committed to history. You are a historical snapshot and people may learn from your experiences.
- You learned more about self-publishing in general, and perhaps the publishing industry from your research. You can use that later or in other projects.
Technical Skills:
- You learned how to better use writing tools like word processors to get this far. That can help you in your next book or other projects.
- You learned how to use formatting options and/or self-publishing tools to get the book ready for publishing. You can use that for other projects or in everyday life.
- You learned how to use publishing services like CreateSpace or Lulu. You can use it again or teach others.
- You learned how to make a cover for your book, or buy one. Sure the cover may be bad, but it’s something.
Writing Skills
- You learned a lot about writing. Yes, the book may not be good, but it is at least coherent enough for people to understand. You managed to figure out how to make that happen.
- You developed some kind of writing system and tested it – even if it was randomly flailing. You can build on that (or if your method was bad, discard it).
- You (hopefully) get some feedback. Be it from pre-readers or editors or readers, you’ve got feedback or have the chance to get some. It may not be good, but it’s a chance to grow.
- You learned just how publishing works, from issues of ISBNs to royalty-free photos. That’s knowledge you can use in future books and elsewhere.
- You learned about genres from writing within one, from comparing yourself to others, from researching. This can inform your next book, your sequel, your rewrite, or just provide helpful tips for others.
Personality And Habits
- You developed enough courage to finish and perhaps publish it. It might not be under your name, it may be flawed, but it takes a certain level of character to complete a work. You have it or developed it.
- You learned a lot about your hopes, fears, abilities, and personality doing this. It might not have been pleasant, but you learned it
- You learned how you write as you completed the book; do you write well alone, at a coffee shop, etc. You can use this for your next project.
People:
- You meet people along the way. It may be an editor, a cover artist, a fellow author, someone thank thinks your work is awful. Some of these folks are people you can grow with, who can help you grow – and whom you can help grow.
- You (hopefully) discovered writer communities along the way, or at least hard more about them. Those are people who can help you next time, be supportive, be friends, or point you at interesting work to read.
- It may not be good, but how many of us were inspired by not-good things that had some good stuff? Your work might be a stepping stone for others.
The Future:
- You can at some point rewrite the book and do it right. What if it’s really a glorified rough draft you can revisit when you’re more talented.
- At some point you can take your book off of your website or out of bookstores or whatever (if self-published). If you’re truly worried, there are options there (and you still enjoy many benefits)
- You can do a sequel to address the flaws of your work and improve as an author. I’m sure we all know series where the first (or second) book was not the best of all of them.
- You could always decide the book should be free and let others build on it.
- Maybe the book would be better as something else – a game, a comic, etc. Now that it’s done perhaps it can be reborn in a better form.
So your book sucks. But you have a book, and that’s awesome!
(Remember I do all sorts of books on creativity to help you out!)
– Steve
(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)
Let’s get to my weekly Scrum style standups – and this is a pretty big milestone!
So for a month I’ve been using a lot more Scrum/Agile techniques, and that includes these weekly reports. Now I can assess how it went!
The answer? Pretty damn good.
More done, less stress, better sense of what I’m doing, more adaptability. There’s a lot of blog posts about to come on this (which is also good as my blogging is erratic and I want to fix that). These posts should also help you get up to speed as well, and after I tweak my methods I’ll probably do a roundup.
Major goals of this month:
- Get Way With Worlds Minibook #1 back from editor.
- Write at least 30 more questions for Minibook #5 and/or #6.
- Start and write first chapter of my fiction piece “A Bridge To The Quiet Planet.”
- Attend Fanime and speak (probably one day as Professor Oobleck)
- Some general writing.
- Experiment with Amazon Ads.
But hey it’s the end of one Sprint and the start of a new, so let’s get to status!
So what have I done the last week?
- Way With Worlds Minibook #1: This is not late exactly as I had no deadline, but clearly have to check with my editor.
- Way With Worlds Marketing: The newly printed bookmarks come today. So yay!
- Publicity: I’ve wanted to reach out to comic shops to speak at. So far it’s kind of 50/50 on possible results – one not interested, one interested but noncommittal, two interested.
- Seventh Sanctum Spotlight: Got people responding so I will probably start that this week!
- General: A few social events here and there, nothing much out of the ordinary.
What am I going to do this week:
- Way With Worlds Minibook #5: Write at least five more questions. I may need to accelerate these.
- Seventh Sanctum Spotlight: Post my first entry.
- Professional: I have two professional events coming up,this week.
- Social: I also have a Bad Movie Event with some friends and my girlfriend. Thinking this week might not be the most productive.
- “A Bridge To The Silent Planet:” I’m going to plot this in one go or so over the weekend. It’ll actually involve an experiment in writing organization.
Challenges and blockers:
- Fanime may or may not have me do a third panel. If they do, then I have to spend time to polish it. I’ve budgeted time.
– Steve
(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)
After plenty of interruptions, Way With Worlds Book 2 is ready for pre-readers! So go on, get a preview, get a chance for feedback and contact me!
This one is a shift from the first book. The first book focused on a roughly linear set of advice on worldbuilding across various subjects. THis one is a series of collected deep dives on various issues, arranged a bit more freeform from the specific to the general. It covers conflicts, viewpoints, worldbuilding tools, and team effort – among other diverse subjects. It’s definitely a companion book to #1.
So give me a write, let me know if you want a PDF copy and let’s see what you think!
– Steve
Well it’s not generator related, but it is creativity related, and ties into Scott’s considerable work – my first pop-culture book, co-authored with my good friend Bonnie, is out!
It’s called Her Eternal Moonlight, and is a look at female Sailor Moon fandom in North America. It was pretty interesting to study this; interviewing people, finding common patterns, then communicating it as a book. It definitely gave me a lot of insights.
It’s also getting reviews here and there, and we’re also discussing it on podcasts:
Now with that done, maybe it’s time to get to some generators and creative writing – but there is going to be another study coming up starting next year . . .
– Steve
Way With Worlds Book 1 is out. Go get it in print or kindle. Or both if you want.
If you’re new to the book, it’s a giant guide to worldbuilding, from philosophy of setting creation, to sex, to ecology, and more. There’s advice, exercises, several lame jokes, and some insights that should give you a different view on creating your settings. It’s designed to be a manual for the important points of making a setting.
After some sixteen years, this is the next stage in my efforts to bring this old work to life! First rewrites, now books. It’s fantastic to see this journey turn into something physical people can hold in their hands!
Certainly it’s not done yet – there’s one more book to drop in November/December (probably December). There’s some smaller followup work. But this marks that transition to the new formats.
My mind still goes back to, when in the midst of the rewrites, someone told me how they’d printed my old columns out when they were younger. It had mattered to them that much, and they remembered it that well. That turned my efforts into more of a mission.
Mission isn’t over yet. Book two drops in November/December (probably December honestly). There’s some followup works I want to do.
But today I can note the next stage of Way With Worlds has started, and it has printed pages and the smell of paper, highlighted with fond memories.
So go on, take a look. There’s thoughts on sex and religion, characters and ecology, and of course plenty of philosophy. In this age, where anyone can put out book or a comic, good worldbuilding is needed more than ever – and is where you can stand out.
– Steve
(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)
(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)
Been awhile since a Way With Worlds Update! So let’s find out where we are on my essays-rewritten-and-now-a-book on worldbuilding.
First, there’s a web page for the first book that gives you some idea of what I’m up to. You can also see the sample cover art – and you’re going to love the final cover!
I also got the book back from my editor. My editor is a “word of God type editor” – when it’s edited it’s done. So I spent an entire day going through her edits for the first book. After about ten hours of work, I have a book that is mostly ready for publication. One more read through and it’s ready for publishing (which itself is going to take a few months).
This brings up a really good lessons – there are several kinds of editors and you have to know how to work with them. Some are like a friendly guide with advice. Others are the Word Of God. Yet others are instructional. Each is different and you have to figure which works for you, your works, and your goals.
For instance, these books, though being creative and chatty are instructional. I needed a Word Of God editor on them.
On the other hand, some of my more intimate career books need a lighter touch as an editor. They’re chatty and friendly.
My upcoming Sailor Moon book has yet a different editor, a fansourced editor with an academic background and a fandom background, which seems perfect.
Now there’s also been a few schedule changes, so let’s recap!
- The First Book is out end of July as planned.
- The Second Book is out the end of October. It was originally August, but between the editor’s needs, my schedule, and the fact it’s damn stupid to put a sequel out a month later.
- After that is still a special surprise. Stay tuned.
I think you folks are going to love the books. It’s really my near-final word on Worldbuilding, and there’s a wealth of worldbuilding advice.
– Steve
(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)
Well back to discussing how I write, and we’re to the end – the publishing part. Simple, right? Not really.
Publishing could almost be multiple posts but I don’t want to bore people in the wrong way. So before I cover the parts, lets cut to the point here – publishing your book after the writing, after the editing, is something not everyone can do on your own. You’re going to need help somewhere unless you’ve got the right experience.
Even after plenty of practice, I don’t have all the skillsets.
The Cover
About half my covers are done by other people. This is because, beyond my basic business books, the style I’m capable of (Genially Boring Professional) doesn’t work. In fact, I’m probably going to do enhanced editions of some books I have done covers for at some point. Because yeah, I could do better, and I’m sure you can think of which ones.
So first, I ask if I can do a cover on my own, in my style.
Let’s say the answer is yes. This is almost inevitably the case for my smaller business books and ebooks. In this case, I’ve got some basic approaches to covers I’ve used over the years that are pretty successful. In fact I grab the latest cover and mostly repurpose it for my next book.
In some cases I’ll want art. I try to avoid public domain and any art where the ownership is at all a problem, out of ethics and a desire not to have issues. For new art I got to www.canstockphoto.com which has great deals. I’ve seen other self-publishers use it, which both speaks to its stock, and warns you to make sure you search Amazon for any similar covers.
Once it’s done I take the cover and run it by some friends and writer’s groups and the like, see what people think, modify it, and done. Again this is often ebooks.
Now if the cover needs to be custom art . . .
In this case I tap the artists I know. Usually that means Richelle Rueda as of late, and she, like any, is a person I fan-sourced – meeting people via fandom connections. Meeting someone that way lets you see them in a more artistic, playful, personal element and you get a better feel for who they are and what they do. And yes, consider that a reference for Richelle.
I always pay artists. Exposure is bullshit payment in many cases, so hand them cash or trade in kind unless they offer. Art takes a long time.
I actually have the skills to format the cover, do the back, etc. You can probably develop those skills, but don’t be afraid to outsource that as well. Like, say, to the artist you just paid . . .
Formatting The Book
Formatting the book for publishing is something I do on my own – because it saves time, because it’s a good skill to have. I learned formatting the hard way – by doing it and having to waste money on failed prints and times on failed e-books. After a few tries I’m not only better, but it’s one more thing I can do myself
Formatting for me has two paths.
First is general formatting. I go through and make sure that the titles are properly done, that the bullet points are in place, and that the page breaks are right. This is stuff that’s relevant to doing the book right no matter what the format. Its surprising how many mistakes can get made – once I had inconsistent titling capitalization on a 300 page book – and I didn’t find that until the printed drafts. I often roll this formatting into read-throughts.
Now it gets interesting. When I’m very (very) sure the book is in good shape I split it into print and ebook (if there’s both)
First is a document formatted for print. This can be pretty challenging as I have to format it so pages break, pages face the proper sides, paragraphs split (or don’t split), and so on. It’s amazing how having to make a document physical affects how you perceive it. Also if you don’t get this right you spend a lot of time reprinting the damn book.
Secondly is a document formatted for e-publishing. I use Jutoh, which is good for all formats – but recently I’ve gone Kindle exclusive. Kindle kinda won the e-pub war and I surrendered, but I still use Jutoh because it’s a damn good tool.
Formatting an electronic document is way different because you face:
- Formatting that may change on device.
- Conversion issues (often bullet points) to e-book format.
- Flow issues.
- Getting your chosen tool to generate the damn Table of Contents.
I split the books, and then edit one at a time – but I keep them both available because, while formatting, I often find errors. I then correct it in both documents and often the original documents, because I’m anal retentive as hell.
It used to be worse when I did Kindle, ePub, and PDF as I’d have to keep one doc for physical, one doc that became Kindle and ePub, and one for PDF. It was bad enough I think I repressed it.
So the formatting phase becomes pretty extensive as I basically split the books, then format the physical (and add changes to the other doc), then format the electronic document – and sometimes feed changes back to the previous. It turns into a nasty little oroborous of problems at times.
Finally, I give the physical doc a good look through. Then it’s on to pre-publishing this stuff . . .
Prepublishing This Stuff
I go through CreateSpace for physical books now, and Create Space, much like Lulu, lets you set up a book and publish it – without making it available. You can send yourself a copy for approval. Which, I assure you, you’ll want.
While I wait on that to get delivered, I generate the electronic copy of the book. This is where it gets complex again. See people read ebooks on various devices, so I usually generate it then check it on:
- My computer.
- My tablet.
- My phone.
- Anyone randomly in the house.
You have to consider use cases for your ebook to make sure it works for your audience – and putting it on various devices often reveals problems. Bad formatting, poor flow, an extra space, all become apparent. It’s a good test to make the document readable (and you may find additional errors).
Then at some point the book arrives, and I go through that. With a pen. I mark every page with an error, folding the page down, and underlining what’s wrong. I usually go through the entire book – then fix it in the publishing document, and at ties the e-book document. Sometimes there’s even issues with the cover you have to fix.
Then it’s running both over again, ordering another copy of the print book, and regenerating the eBooks. I’ve had to do the print book over four times at some point (note, that is due to rushing formatting so half that was my own damn fault).
Once it’s good enough (meaning I can make a pass through both without seeing an error or at least one I care about by that time), it’s a go. I upload the eBooks and I give confirmation the physical book is OK.
I’m published.
By the way, by now the feeling isn’t so much triumph as relief.
Looking Back
Publishing is often my least favorite part of doing a book. OK it is my least favorite part. This is why I try to get good formatting done early (I use templates for my books), finish covers, and check carefully. Once you get into this publishing cycle of actually getting the book out it can feel like a hideous grind.
It is a hideous grind, who am I kidding.
At this point I’d take a break, but there’s usually marketing to be done. I’m not going to write on that for awhile as I kind of am not great at that. Perhaps when I get further i’ll talk about it
But there you go, how I write. I hope it helps.
. . . I kinda feel exhausted at this point.
- Steve
