Wednesday, January 6, 2016

2nd chapter, not so perfect.

So I wrote a second chapter in the new story and I was excited by it, but when I read it to Linda it was kind of a mess. Not the content, but the writing. But, well, the writing can be fixed. The story is progressing and that's the main thing.

I went for a muddy walk in the Badlands, constructing the scene in my head, sitting on my writing stump, getting back to my car as it was getting dark.

Getting involved in a new book is slightly inconvenient, but I never turn down a gift from the muses. This story obviously wants to be written, so I'll write it as long as I can.

On the 15th, I've really got to dig into the rewrite of The Darkness You Fear.

I've got some people lassoed into reviewing TMPDGM's. They're finding typos and some other problems, and it occurred to me that since I'm self publishing, I can always make changes right up to the last minute. (And beyond, actually.)

The whole writing thing has gotten kind of messy -- lots of loose ends and false starts and unfinished endings and half written stories and...just more complicated. But then, one of the things I learned in owning Pegasus is that things are never really finished, things are always in flux, so this is just more of that.

I'm slowly coming to the realization that it doesn't matter what I do as far as trying to sell the books. I could do everything right and the odds are still very much against anything significant happening. No one's fault. There are a lot of writers, and among them are very good writers and probably a plethora of writers who are competent (as well as legions of not so serious writers.)

I've come up with a syllogism:

Whether a book is good or bad is not based on sales.
I only care if the book is good.
Therefore, it doesn't matter how many copies it sells.

The last three times I've been in the store I've had someone come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed my books. Hey, that's enough. That plus the fact the reviews of my books have been mostly positive, sometimes very positive. So I don't think I'm wasting my time.

But how you can break through to the wider world? Well, I'm not willing to pay the price, so I can't expect to win the prize. 

I went through this whole cost/benefit analysis 30 years ago, and arrived at the conclusion that I'd better concentrate on making a living by other means. That hasn't changed -- in fact, the barriers are much more challenging because of the ease of ebooks. I'm not complaining. I love the ease of ebooks! Frankly, it's what drew me back in. I didn't even think I would go to the publishers, but it just sort of happened.

I've written so many books that I've simply overwhelmed the publishers I have. I have a proposal with one publisher, I'm writing a book for another publisher who said he might be interested, I've got a book already placed with another publisher, (with a another one to finish the series) and I've got a book almost finished that a publisher has said he'll do.

Meanwhile, I have another half dozen completed book, and even more manuscripts that just require I turn my attention to them and finish.

Ergo, I've got to start putting stuff out myself.

The first book is The Manic Pixie Dream Girl Murders.

These finished book are just as good as anything I've submitted to publishers, if perhaps a little more quirky. But then, everything I've written has been quirky...

I'm satisfied with my progression. I've learned a lot about writing and the process of writing and how my own creative side works and I enjoy the process and I've even had a bit of success.

So I'm going to just keep on writing and not worry about anything else.


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