New Ideas are the Enemy

There is joy in the journey. When you’re on a road trip, and you see something off the interstate worth investigating, you can discover something magical. However, if you spot something from there, and then something from there, you end up going nowhere. There’s a balance between mindless dedication to the destination and going wherever your heart leads you.

Well, right now there are so many shiny things I want to pursue it’s getting in the way of my writing.

I’m currently tackling book four in the next six-book series. It involves a Dickensian city filled with fantasy races, a human adopted by a skitter family, and a girl with the ability to become anything she can draw. It’s a novel in a full world. The entire project together will come in at about a quarter million words. That takes dedication!

But… I just came up with an idea for a new Oz novel. I love the originals written by Baum and Plumly. I’d love to try my hand at writing one.

Wait. Gotta finish his first.

But… I wrote a real quick story not long ago about a substitute dragon. I could write another book in that series! It wouldn’t take long!

Nope. Not gonna do it. Gotta wrap up this series before I start another.

Hey, remember that YA trilogy that you started? Go back and finish it.

Yes! That’s next on my list of things to tackle!

New ideas, leave me alone!

But not forever, please. Come back. Just… give me some breathing space, eh?

There’s a Platypus Controlling Me

And I just can’t stop. I would if I were able.

So, some of you reading this might be giggling, and others confused.

There’s no platypus controlling me, but there is something I do that now I’ve found I can’t stop.

As I read books for pleasure… I’m editing. I’ll pass a sentence and think to myself, “Oh, this could be so much stronger.” I’ll catch the typos. I’ll analyze story structure.

It’s driving me mad!

I just finished reading a book written by a friend. The characters and story were solid! I enjoyed it quite a bit. But even as I went, I caught things that I would change if I were revising it.

And it’s dumb. I mean, this isn’t my book! Yes, I want to learn from the example of others, both positive and negative. And you know what? Creating a novel is work. Revising and catching errors is so much easier! And this is a friend who wrote it, too. Do I think I’m a better writer than him? Definitely not!

Alas. I just can’t stop. I would if I were able.

So, there are positives to this, and I already mentioned one: I can learn. By figuring out what works and what doesn’t in other stories, I can apply those lessons to my own writing. There’s a reason why the best writers are also voracious readers! They’re learning!

But the negatives… Oh, I don’t like tearing apart the hard work of others! No, I won’t share that with them. At least, I’m not planning to! But I just want to sit back and enjoy a book! Does it have to be so hard?

So mamas, don’t let your kids grow up to be writers. It means that they can’t read just for fun anymore.

Also, there’s no platypus controlling me, but I don’t think I’ll ever be kinda cool like Dr. Doof.

Writing without Writing

I need to get writing! I try to keep on top of my various deadlines, but sometimes it’s difficult. Life gets in the way. I’m sure you understand!

But the most frustrating thing for me? Sometimes the best way to get the next book done… is to watch the kids.

See, my fabulous wife edits my books. She’s a professional editor. She knows her stuff. She can yell at me for plot holes or word choices, and I know she’s doing it because she really wants a good story and a solid book. I trust her.

But because we still have a few kids that are younger, we generally can’t both be working at the same time. Someone’s got to make sure the kids don’t burn down the house!

(Sometimes I can’t believe I’m an adult. I’m the one who’s supposed to keep the kids from mischief?!)

Anyway—if she’s going to get editing done so I can do another revision, I have to make sure that she has time to get editing done. I have to watch the kids. And no, while watching the kids I can’t also write. Not unless you want something that looks like flan attempting to write a romcom.

…Yeah, I’m sure Hallmark probably has attempted that at some point.

Which means the fastest way for me to get writing done, at least half the time, is to distract the kids. I can let story ideas process in the back of my head. I can get various busywork things done in their presence. But by simply keeping them out of my wife’s hair, the story progresses so much faster.

Which is a long way of saying:

I did very little writing this week.

But the books are getting better and better because I’m not writing!

…I’m not sure that’s a good thing…

Nah. It’s great. I’ve got a great editor. I just need to let her do her thing!

Best. Christmas. Gift. Ever.

I was the gift this time.

A dad contacted me. “My girls have read Madelyn two or three times each. Could we do a video call, as a Christmas gift to them?”

I agreed, delighted. We arranged the call for the Saturday before Christmas.

The girls came prepared. They had scads of questions for me.

“It says in the book that Peter’s eyes are a muddy brown, but on the cover they’re blue!”

“How did you come up with the fae?”

“Why does iron hurt the fae?”

“What are the Houses?”

They thought they were getting a gift… but I think I got the better end of the deal. I got so much encouragement in that little conversation.

First, I got to share a love of stories. I told them that I didn’t come up with the concept of fae. I first encountered them in Disney’s Gargoyles series. Iron hurting fae is an old part of the myths. I simply took that old idea and used it in my stories.

Second, I got to meet people that knew my stories better than I did. What was Grandma’s real name? I have no idea. I actually didn’t really think about it! But they thought deeply about the world I’d made, and what an encouragement!

Third, I got to meet people excited for the stories. They’d made fan art!

And all that together? They got to meet an author. I got to meet fans. I don’t think it gets any better than that.

You want to give a gift to an author? Find them on social media and send them a note telling them that you like their stuff. Trust me. You’ll make them smile.

***

In my last post, I mentioned I’d be stepping back for a month. And I did! I’m planning to be here regularly through 2024. Weekly? Meh. Probably about that. I’m going to be focusing on talking about writing and storytelling.

If you want more of my stories, check me out on Ream. It’s a site like Patreon, except it’s set up specifically for writers and readers. There are paid subscription levels (and I’d love it if you’d support me that way!), but there’s also a “Follower” level for free. I’ll also be putting out free stories there. Clicking “follow” still encourages me!

This is the End.

…Or the beginning?

Last time I wrote about the need to continue learning. And I’ve been concentrating a lot on learning the last month especially. And one of the things that keeps coming up: You need to manage your time.

This isn’t some big secret. I manage my time every day. I set aside time to spend with kids. I make sure there’s enough room to get my “day job” tasks completed. And, yes, I set aside time to write.

If you don’t manage your time, your time will be managed for you. The apps on my phone eat away at it. Trying to keep up with various Youtube channels destroys my time. And not every “time sink” is useless. I want to spend time with friends!

But if you don’t prioritize your time use, you will never spend time on your priorities.

This wasn’t some huge revelation, but I’ve started applying it a little differently.

As my wife and I have started spending more time on the marketing portion of being an author, other things get the squeeze. We’re not just writing, editing, and publishing books. We’re active on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok. We’re looking into starting a subscription service on Ream. Maybe you’ve seen our ads on Amazon by now. Oh, and don’t forget our annual Kickstarter!

It’s… a lot.

So, what are we doing? Among other things, we’re taking a break from most social media posting in December. Yeah, that’s a big month for book sales, but we need to just take a breather and refocus a bit. Stuff will still get posted; just not as often.

When we get back to social media, we’ll be cross-posting a lot more than we currently do. On TikTok, I post a story a week. Well, that weekly story will be used all over. (Maybe even on Twitter? Or X? Whatever? Maybe.)

I’m also going to be writing here far less often. I’ll still be posting, of course, but the best bet on how to keep on top of what’s going on is to sign up for our newsletter.

At the very least, I’ll be stepping off the blog here until after Christmas.

Like I said, we need to refocus our efforts to go where they can do the most good. Right now, that’s not here.

I’d encourage you to learn from our example. Don’t get burned out trying to do everything. We can’t do everything. Instead, ask what you must do to reach your writing goal. Is it to write? Then set aside the time to write. Is it to make sales? Better set aside time for marketing. Take a look at the time you’ve got and be honest with yourself. What can you actually accomplish in that amount of time?

And then… act accordingly.

Thanks for being with on the journey! We’re not done writing and publishing, and as I said, I’ll still keep you informed! It just won’t be as often as it’s been!

(And I’ll say it again — best way to keep in touch? Sign up for the newsletter!)