Some of this isn’t new information, just affirmation of what I already knew. This got long — going behind a cut.
Schedule/Unschedule balance
I can’t write at a scheduled time. Or rather, I can for a while, then I’ll miss my time and I won’t write. It just isn’t a long-term solution for me. It’s much better for me to commit to writing during a day, and then find the time to write.
So that’s the unscheduled part. The scheduled part is that once it’s time to write, it’s TIME TO WRITE. I find that setting a timer works for me. All I’ll do for that set amount of time is write. Then I get a break. But it’s better for me to 100% commit to writing when it’s time to write.
I like knowing where I’m going
I can start a story without having a solid grip on the ending. But IMO, those stories don’t work as well as the stories where I do know the ending. I might have no idea how to get there, but knowing that ending is important.
Long hand is preferable
I can write short stories directly on the computer. I find that they’re much sloppier, and much more difficult. If I’m writing by hand it’s much easier for me to get into a flow. Also, my tendency is to truncate stories if I’m writing directly on the computer. I figure it’s my tech-writing brain taking over.
No other rush like it
There is nothing, nothing like writing when it’s going well. Better than sex. I find finishing these short stories very satisfying as well. I don’t get this same sense of accomplishment with novels and finishing chapters.
Today while driving I kept bouncing in my seat because I had so many ideas and thoughts and schemes and plans and I kept seeing what was happening next in the story and I can’t even begin to explain my excitement.
Yes, it was like that run-on sentence up there. That exciting. That rush.
Publishing takes time
Publishing takes more time than I thought it would. I am not the best at finding pictures for covers. One thing I learned this week: Always go through the entire preview. I was only looking at the first few pages, and didn’t realize the end was screwed up. I’ve fixed that. But it was something I needed to look at.
The percentage of what shows up in the preview is fixed. I have started adding an excerpt to another short story at the end of the shorter pieces, just so more of the text shows in the preview. I’m considering adding an author photo: cheap way of putting more pages into preview.
This is my checklist for once I finish a story:
—Find the art for the cover. (This often involves downloading a few thumbnails and playing them before choosing the artwork for the cover.)
—Make the cover (make sure it’s 75:1 ratio, and that there’s at least 750 px long.)
—Make a thumbnail for the cover (75×100)
—Write the infosheet — that is, the blurb, the author info, keywords, etc.
—Format for Smashwords
—Format for Kindle
—Format for B&N
—Upload to all of the above
Because this is a challenge, I’m also loading the new short story onto the web site. And then write a post about it.
So yeah, publishing takes more time than I expected. But I am enjoying it.
I have 13 pieces up, 14 once “Slipping the Leash” goes live on Amazon.
“Paper Mage” is actually all formatted — I just need cover art for it. Will have to ping some other artists next week.
I have a short story collection ready to send to CreateSpace — I need to finish the back cover for that. Both of these things need to be done next week — before November 1st. Plus writing (and publishing) two short stories next week. Did I mention busy? Yeah.
And yes I’m rambling. Time for bed. Getting up early tomorrow to write.