Category: Writing

Writing–My First (Self) Published Book!

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

Considering anyone can self-publish a book these days, this isn’t exactly something to crow about. But considering the issues I have that I outlined a few Wednesdays ago, I think it’s quite the step forward for me.

I decided to go through Lulu, as several of my friends have used their services with great satisfaction. After getting over the hurdle of signing up (it was a day long battle as I couldn’t get the cookie settings right on my laptop to get the registration to work; it was all solved after a frustrated tempertantrum, switching computers, and feeling like an idiot), I read through all of the instructions, learning how to properly format my document and all of that. My paranoia of getting things right and knowing what I was doing led me to watch the how-to tutorial five or six times just to reassure me.

I downloaded the template I wanted to use (actually, I downloaded two different ones because I wasn’t sure which would work better) and did some copy pasta to put my short story book together. It was actually pretty easy.

Naturally, I couldn’t resist editing everything one more time. All of the stories have been edited several times before, but the last thing I want to do is put out a sloppy product. I imagine, in inviting people to critique my work as I did, I’m going to get slammed over any grammar or spelling mistakes that managed to slip through. But for the most part, I wanted it to look as clean and professional as possible.

I think I’ve achieved that.

Content is another story and one of the big reasons I published this book of short stories. I want feedback from readers on why they think these stories didn’t get published. I’m opening myself up to some harsh criticism and, I’m sure, some down right bashing. But they’ll have to buy the book (or download) to achieve that. And at least I’ll know that someone is reading it.

If you want to be one of the readers, you can purchase Rejected: Nine Stories I Couldn’t Get Published here or check out the Rejected page for more information.

Any kind words of feedback would be appreciated. Any mean words, too. I can take it.

Bring it on.

Writing–September Projects

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

I’ve only got two main things going on this month.

First, I need to get the book of short stories, hereby titled Rejected: Nine Stories I Couldn’t Get Published, published. I’ve already started with the formatting bit of the process and I hope to have it all said and done by the end of the week.

Next week, I’ll go into more detail about both the project and the process.

Second, (and you should know this by heart now) I’ve GOT to get The World (Saving) Series revised. I know I acknowledged a setback with the revisions last month (namely having to go back to the beginning because I missed a few key scenes), but haven’t made much progress since. I think I thought about opening it up and looking at it a couple of times, but that’s about as far as I made it. No excuses, but I do have plenty of explanations (full blame on me) if anyone is interested in hearing them.

Yeah, I thought not.

Writing–Getting Over My Self-Publishing Issues

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

I’ve decided that part of my plan with moving on from my current day job and creating my own day job is to self-publish a book of my short stories.

Now let’s be clear on a few points. I do not think I’m going to get rich doing this. I don’t even think I’ll be able to pay my bills doing this. This is by no means going to make me famous (and really, I don’t want to be; I wouldn’t mind my work being famous, but not me) and thereby leading me to money.

However, I do think that I’ll be able to sell enough books (physical and eBook form) to contribute to paying my bills. I think I’ll sell enough books to get my name circulating a little more as a writer. I think it will give me the boost I’ve been looking for.

I also think this will help me accomplish two things when it comes to writing and my writing career.

First of all, this will force me to be reasonably critical of my work. You know how they say that you are your own worst critic? I take that to an extreme. I take that to a paranoid level. Nothing is good enough and with a lot of my submissions, it either gets to a fit of frustration or a deadline that makes me say it’s good enough and send it off. Now that I’m being the editor, I have to look at my stories with a little bit of a kinder, yet no less objective eye.

Secondly, this will give me a chance to be more proactive at marketing myself. My checking account will depend on it and paying my bills has always been a good motivator for me. Promoting has really become a big part of a writers job now and I need to get over whatever hang-ups I have with it (and I have enough to make a seperate post on). Between the book and making and selling my own jewelry, I think I’ll have plenty of opportunity to get better at self-promotion.

And if I can stay focused and objective enough to make my product good enough for promoting, I think I’ll be in business.

Writing–August Projects

~ Kiki Writes ~ 1 Comment

You remember how I said that when revising long projects that I liked to go through the whole thing in one go and not go back until I was finished and how I was feeling the urge with The World (Saving) Series because it was taking me so long to finish?

Yeah, well, in starting Chapter 12 revisions, I realized there’s a couple of big scenes that are missing and if I’m going to get this chapter to work, I have to go back and work them into the previous chapters.

In short, Karma dropkicked me right in the butt.

So August will be spent doing revisions/rewrites on stuff I’ve already revised/rewritten in the hopes that I can move forward.

The likelihood of me being done with these revisions by the time NaNoWriMo rolls around just keeps getting slimmer and slimmer.

I’m not very good at this balancing act.

Writing–Conquering Chapter 11

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

It is with great relief that I can announce that I finally finished the revisions on chapter 11 of The World (Saving) Series. This would hardly be worth note if I hadn’t been stuck on it for two months (or longer).

It’s a small (very small) victory of sorts. It’s progress where there hasn’t been any for a while. It’s a small step back on the right track.

It makes me feel like a writer again, something I haven’t been feeling very much like lately. With the stress of the day job eating up my energy, and my committment to blogging both here and at Two Foulweather Fans, it feels I don’t have enough brain cells and minutes left to be creative. The writer’s doubt really settled in.

Finally getting through chapter 11 (as rough as it still is, the necessary story changes have been made and that was my main goal) relieved a little of that doubt and reminded me that I am a writer and that I can do this. It reminded me that I WANT to do this. That I want to put myself in the position to write full-time again and the only way I can do that is by writing part-time now and getting this book done.

I’m not saying that this book will make me a millionaire (wouldn’t that be nice), but I do know that I can’t even begin to sell it if it isn’t finished.

And I’m determined to get it finished.

Chapter 11 done. Bring on chapter 12.

Writing–The Other Projects

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

The World (Saving) Series isn’t my only novel project I’ve got in existence. Due to some successful go rounds at NaNoWriMo as well as a pretty productive period during a six month period one year, I’ve actually got a few in various stages.

When I wrote the first one, now titled Spirited in Spite, I didn’t realize that I was creating a universe. It wasn’t until I wrote (and then lost in the Great Crash) A Simple Matter of Mind Control that I was on to something. By the time I finished the first draft of A Tale of Two Lady Killers, the concept of this universe solidified itself. It wasn’t until The World (Saving) Series that I gave this universe a name, The ‘Skirts, and decided all of the pieces fit. All of the main characters are “on the outskirts of normal”, as one of the characters explains. They all have some sort of paranormal attribute. To me it makes sense and I hope I can make it work.

As I mentioned, they’re all in various stages. Spirited in Spite is waiting to be rewritten (I’ve already done a few chapters and made notes on the rest). A Simple Matter of Mind Control, first draft lost to the Great Crash, is outlined and waiting to be written again, the changes I was planning to make already incoporated into the new outline. A Tale of Two Lady Killers has already had one round of revisions/rewrites.

And we all know where The World (Saving) Series is.

I’m hoping…no, intending…to get back to all of these projects and make something readable out of them. I think they all hold the potential to be good stories and I want to see them through to the end.

Not only would I like to get these stories told, but they also provide me with the opportunity to get into the habit of finishing things.

But that’s another blog post for another day.

Writing–Revising the Long Ones

~ Kiki Writes ~ 2 Comments

Through the power of NaNoWriMo, I’ve written a few novels. First drafts are always the hardest for me and NaNo is a great way for me to get that big idea out of my head and onto paper. However, I’ve only made it through one round of revisions on a couple of them before something else took their place on the priority list.

I keep the first round of revisions simple. I read through the manuscript and make notes on story elements that I want to change. Then I go back and make the changes. Depending on how bad the first draft is (usually pretty bad), I may end up rewriting a big portion of the novel. At the very least, a few chapters are guaranteed to be rewritten. It’s all part of the process.

And it’s a long process, but in the past I’ve been really good at sitting down and getting it done. Sometimes ideas occur to me during the revision process, but unless it immediately pertains to continuity, I rarely go back and change anything. I just note it for the next round (which I’ve never gotten to, but I still intend to get ther at some point).

However, I’ve run into something interesting with revising The World (Saving) Series. Because it’s taking me so long to revise it, the temptation to go back to the beginning with my new ideas and start on the second round of revisions.

I’m resisting this because I think it will work better for me to go through the whole manuscript and make these changes first. I’m sticking with the method that has worked before, basically. I don’t want to start the trend of going back and revising what I’ve already revised before I’m done revising or I’ll never be done revising, you know?

I envy the people that can revise as they go or stick with one chapter until it’s perfect and then move on to the next. If I did that, I’d never be done. Or I’d always be going back. My best bet is to keep chugging through one round after another to ensure that I finish the round.

It’s the slower option, but I think that right now, it’s the one that suits me best.

In this one case, I’ve got to resist temptation.

Writing–July Projects

~ Kiki Writes ~ Leave a comment

That should be project as there is just one: revising The World (Saving) Series. I’ve been stalled on it for much too long, doing everything else first. This needs to be my focus.

It’s going to be a challenge even with no other writing projects going on. I’ve currently got a lot of stress going on at the day job and the last thing I want to do is come home and do more work. My goal, though, is to look at this as my way to de-stress after a long day. Come home, make progress on something I want to do and want to spend my life doing, and go to bed less stressed and feeling better.

I know these kinds of things don’t typically work out for me, but it’s worth a shot. What else am I going to do? It’s not going to revise itself.

Not doing Stories By The Numbers this week because nothing’s changed and I’m feeling lazy.

Writing–Writing with a Day Job 3: The Reckoning

~ Kiki Writes ~ 2 Comments

I don’t know if that’s accurate, but it’s a catchy title and I’m going to stick with it.

The duties at my day job have changed which means I no longer have the extra time at work to write. Downtime in between duties provided me with time to write blog posts or work on short stories. I couldn’t do a lot, but what I could do gave me time to do other things after the day job shift ended.

But this change means that my downtime is pretty much gone and i’m once again going to have to reconfigure how I do things. And since I’m having so much trouble doing things to begin with, this doesn’t bode well.

I am really struggling trying to achieve any kind of balance. This month I’ve managed to make a little progress on The World (Saving) Series, but I continue to fall further behind, which just depresses me and amplifies my struggling. I’ve put off posting any new story in the Outskirts Universe because I’d like to set-up an archive and use that instead, but I haven’t gotten around to doing that. My short stories sit, ready and waiting and unsent.

I feel like I’m losing hold of my dream in favor of a paycheck.

The emotional toll isn’t helping at all this sort of struggle is taking isn’t helping at all. It’s making me question my dedication to writing.

If I had my choice, I’d make money from writing. Unfortunately, I’m not to even close to that point. The way I’m going, I’m never going to get to that point. It’s very frustrating.

Logically, I’m going to have to change my schedule to meet my new needs (demands?). This may mean blogging less and shelving the Outskirts Universe Project until I can make some serious headway on The World (Saving) Series revisions. I need to get this round done.

If I can find some more hours in the day and some more energy, that could go a long way in helping me, too.

Stories By The Numbers

 -Submitted: 2
-Ready: 9
-Accepted/Rejected: 0

Writing–Rejection Persistence

~ Kiki Writes ~ 2 Comments

As of last week, “Such a Pretty Face” has been rejected seven times since it placed 10th in the genre category of the Writer’s Digest Story Competition. Of all of the rejections I’ve received, the rejections for this story have been the most frustrating.

The little bit of success I got with this story, really the first bit of success I had as a writer, was enough to make me think that I had the talent and the skill to be a writer in terms of making a career of it. It gave me the confidence to keep sending out stories, to keep writing and revising, to keep accepting the challenges and rejections with the ultimate goal of acceptance. This story really started the ball rolling for me in terms of my writing career.

So it really knots my panties that I can’t seem to get it published. It was good enough to beat out 90 other people for a spot in the top ten, but not good enough to be seen in print.

The rational side of me knows that’s not necessarily the case and that rejection is subjective. It might not be the story the editor is looking for and that’s okay. It’s a difference of opinion, not a slight on the story.

But the irrational, emotional side of me wants to know what I’m doing wrong. Why is this story suddenly not good enough? Why doesn’t anyone like it? Why can’t I get this thing published? And then I start questioning whether or not I should keep sending it out.

Persistence is a big part of success in the writing business. I know that. Every writer and writing magazine says so and I believe it. It’s logic. But there comes a point when I start questioning the persistence and start to think that maybe the story isn’t meant to published.

I hit that point with “Such a Pretty Face” at about rejection number four. I started questioning the wisdom in sending the story out. I had my bit of success with it and maybe that’s all I was meant to have with this story. It’s kind of an odd, illogical thought, but one that I have when I get back that rejection. I’m prone to those odd thoughts.

I keep sending it out, though, because I keep coming across anthologies that I think might be a good fit for it. And I’m always disappointed more with those rejections than any other story.

I once again received a rejection for “Such a Pretty Face” and I’m once again debating the wisdom of sending it back out again. But, it’s in the ready pile, waiting. Because I know I’ll come across someplace irresistable and I’ll send it out.

And I’ll dread the rejection that may come back.

Stories By The Numbers

 -Submitted: 2
-Ready: 9
-Accepted/Rejected: o