Commonly held wisdom asserts that the phrase “too many books” is indeed a condition impossible to achieve. Instead, “too few shelves” is the more routine state held by far too many of our world.
My mother-in-law reached that deplorable condition of “too few shelves,” so on vacation, my family sought to aid her in her plight. And aid we did.
And by we, I mostly mean my oldest son, but still, I helped.
A little.
Step one: Clear out space in a crammed former bedroom turned storeroom. I am thankful I was unavailable to provide assistance at this step, as a mandatory convention held my unflagging attention.
(Perhaps it flagged… I would much rather have been helping clear out the bedroom/storeroom.)
But by the time my convention activities drew to a conclusion, space had been cleared. Now, it was time to construct a library for my mother-in-law!
And construct we did. We sweated. Perhaps some blue language was used. But at long last, her shelves were constructed, and she began to move her precious books to their new lodgings.
I sighed as I gazed upon the shiny spines. I longed to bury myself in their paragraphs. Chapters called to me.
Alas. It was time to go home.
Until next time when more shelves are needed. Because while she has enough for now, we know that books are incredibly fertile creatures that seem to multiply beyond reason.
And we love them all the more for it.
I pray your books always outnumber your shelves, giving you cause to construct more. And may your domicile never burst from too many pages.
A thirty-day Kickstarter campaign is completed and funded.
Now, it’s time to relax. Now, it is complete. It is done.
Yeah, no.
The book is written and revised! But now it’s time for a real nitty gritty edit. And then my formatter wife will format with illustrations… something she’s never done before. She’s good, and I know it’ll look good, but it’ll be grueling.
And then we get to do another edit.
And probably one more after that.
And then we can get the cover formatted, because you can’t do that until you have the insides finalized (or really, really, really close to it).
And then we can send it off to the printer. And then wait. And then wait some more. And then get allthebooks! And then time to address all the packages and mail all the books to the amazing backers who made the book possible.
And then…
Um, by then we’ll probably be ramping up for the next Kickstarter campaign.
So, this is not complaining. Honestly, my work here is mostly done for Mr. Frankie, Substitute Dragon. Yes, I’ll be working on the revisions and editing, but that’s relatively simple for me at this point. I trust my wife/editor. She’s amazing, as I’ve said before.
What I am doing is noting the reality of an author: You’ll climb one mountain, appreciate the view, and then start prepping for the next mountain. I’ve already started the rough draft for the next book, and I’ve revised the two books between that one and Mr. Frankie. There ain’t no pausing. There’s the next book, and the next, and the next.
There are two extremes here:
You can choose to write one book at a time, and not touch the next book until the first is out in the world. I don’t suggest this extreme, as there’s a fair amount of downtime if you work in a team like I do. (Thank you, my bride!) I can use this downtime to get moving with the next project.
Or: Rush to get allthebooks done, without pausing to appreciate how far you’ve come. I tend to lean this way, which also isn’t great. It means I tend to not celebrate, just focusing on what has to get done. Don’t take my example.
Either way or wherever you land in the middle… finishing one book isn’t the end of your story as a writer. It’s the end of that story in the book, sure, but your story is so much bigger!
For almost a month, we’ve been pushing this Mr. Frankie, Substitute Dragon on social media, through ads, with friends… and the end is almost here. On May 30, the campaign ends. Right now we have enough backers to make the book a reality, but as of writing, we haven’t reached any of the stretch goals.
Yet.
I’m hoping we get there. I have some really fun ones I want to unlock. But, hey, I am not complaining. After all, another book will become reality. This one’s even illustrated with whimsical drawings! It’s all great stuff!
But a writer can’t stop. I’ve already outlined my next project. I already started writing it.
And then I had to tear it all down.
See, I have the plot all outlined, but the main character’s voice… seemed off. The book I’m tackling is book three in a trilogy, and each book has a different point-of-view character. And as I started drafting, book three’s protagonist felt an awful lot like book one’s.
There are certain similarities that did have to be there, but they are not the same character at all. Book one is all about loyalty to her girls. She’s an orphan, and she’s fiercely protective. Book three? She’s got a family and loves her sister and parents. Book one is all about doing what must be done to survive. Book three is all about dance.
But as I wrote, both came across as scrappy sassy badasses. They both had immediately likable attitudes and voice.
Now, I want them all to be likable! But they shouldn’t be the same.
So what did I do?
I stared at my blank screen for… way too long.
And then I talked to my wife.
I outlined my problem. I told her the issue.
And in less than five minutes she’d presented a solution. The characters aren’t the same anymore. The third preserves her likability, but now has a different personality.
That’s it. Just five minutes of talking it out.
If you’re a writer, can I suggest that you find someone that you can talk things out with? Someone you can just present the issue you’re facing? You may well find that they think of things you simply don’t see.
I’m often told that writing isn’t a solitary activity. It takes having other people around. And it does! And I received the benefit of that this week. Find someone who supports you. If you don’t have a friend or family member you can con into helping you, check out your local library. Many of them have writing groups.
And I continue to receive the benefit of you. Thank you for reading this blog, for stopping by so often, and thank you for those of you who’ve backed Mr. Frankie, Substitute Dragon. If you haven’t yet, and if you’re curious, please check it out! The end comes soon!
I was trying to sleep. I was comfy. The fan was generating white noise. All was well.
Brain says, “This would be a great title for a book.”
Yes. Yes it would be. I tuck the title away to develop later when I’m not attempting to enter the hallowed halls of rest.
“And think of how the cover would look!”
Indeed, that is a badass cover that would grab my attention. Again, I tuck the thought away.
“But what would it be about?”
Shut up, brain. I’m trying to sleep.
“Oh, you could start like this!” And then brain decides to ramble on and on about this story when I already have so many stories and it’s, you, know, past midnight by now.
Brain, shut up.
“Oh, and book two will have this title! And book three? Wouldn’t it make sense if…”
Brain. Why you do this to me?
And indeed, as I lay there attempting to get my sleep on, my brain outlines a four-book series.
Oh, but my brain wasn’t done hating me. The next morning, I tried to harvest the rich ideas. I wrote down the title of the first book—I still had that, as well as a vivid image of the cover—And then started outlining… um… mostly mush.
That’s right. My brain kept me up babbling, but then decided I didn’t need to remember any of it.
Brain. I have half a mind to take you out of my skull and shake my finger at you.
Of course, I really don’t need more ideas. I know what the next school year will look like for writing—or at least, what the plan is. I’m full up for writing.
And it’s not like I can take extra time to write now. I’m running this Kickstarter (which you should go visit), and then there will be polishing of that manuscript!
Brain, sleep when you should sleep. Work when you should work.
Many many years ago, when the world was young and I was younger, an acquaintance asked me to read a book he’d written. I did, and found it… not great. The aspects I enjoyed most were underplayed, and the parts I enjoyed least seemed to get the main focus in the story.
He asked me for an honest review, and when I gave it to him, he wasn’t pleased. He accused me of not understanding his story. He told me I clearly had no idea what he was writing about.
The reaction did not encourage me to read anything else he wrote.
As I’ve connected with more and more authors on social media, I’ve seen some horrific examples of authors not knowing how to interact with their readers.
For instance, about a week ago, an author I had not previously known complained about people reading his books at a library and not buying their own copies. Instead of encouraging people to read his books wherever they might be found, he berated them. And in process, he lost a bunch of potential readers.
Now, to be fair, I’m not an expert at interacting with readers. A few months back (a year? Five? Look, I’m old, apparently, and time is strange) – a while back, I visited an author signing of two authors I’d never met and knew nothing about. My wife wanted to pick up a book, and I’m always game for more books!
I entered the store, and one of the authors recognized me! She was excited to meet me!
I reacted by… running to the back of the store to browse at the sci fi/ fantasy section.
So, as I said, I’m not an expert at this by any means.
But the concept of it seems pretty basic, right? The readers are not your enemy. Don’t blame them.
A reader leaves a bad review? Your book wasn’t for them.
They didn’t like it? That’s fair. I don’t like everything I read!
A reader doesn’t understand what you wrote? I’m pretty sure that happens to everyone. You cannot be so clear in your writing that everyone will get it.
A reader writes terrible things about your mother?
Well, maybe then you can unleash the assassins donated to you by the Hidden Council of Published Ones. (Every author receives five free assassinations upon the release of your first book. After that you have to start paying your dues to the Council.) (If you have published a book and not been contacted by the Council, please talk to your nearest bewildered used bookstore employee.)
Now, it may be that a reader didn’t enjoy your book. It may be they misunderstood your intent. It may be they were complete jerks.
But blaming the reader won’t help you.
First off, it’ll surely lose you that person as a reader. True, perhaps they would never read your work again, but maybe they would have given it another try.
But if your response is public, it’ll sour other readers. And believe me, it’ll get around on social media one way or another. People who might have given you a chance now won’t.
They tell me you need thick skin to be a writer. And it’s true. But how do you handle readers that don’t like your stuff?
Remind yourself that they don’t have to like your stuff. Just like you’re not required to like every piece of media you consume, they don’t have to, either. Remind yourself that they may have fair points about your work. Perhaps it was opaque where you desired transparency. Every writer has places to grow. And remind yourself:
Your worth does not depend on their opinion of you.
And I think that’s why so many writers lash out at their readers. They stake their worth on their books, and so if you are perceived as attacking their books, they think you’re attacking them.
You are not your gift. Your book is a wonderful thing, and I’m glad you’ve written it. But you are not your book. You are so, so much more.
The reader is not your enemy.
Go and write some more. Write for your readers. Give them more things to enjoy.
***
And speaking of giving them more things to enjoy… Go check out my Kickstarter for Mr. Frankie, Substitute Dragon. It’s fully funded now, and we’re working our way to our first stretch goal. You can be part of its success! If it interests you, please back it!
If you like silly stories, or you like reading to your kids, this will be great for you. Go check it out!
Jonathon Mast: Author 