Is it a Book or a Story?

A lot of my blog updates have been about what happens in regards to book related events I.E ‘I got another rejection from an agent’… or ‘I’m doing another edit’…

Yet I think the most important blog updates have been about the things I’ve learned while on this journey. Today’s update is about one of those learning experiences.

In the last few months I have learned how important the following statement is- ‘It is not necessarily what you say, but how you say it.’ This has happened for various reasons but most importantly I’ve been thinking about it because of the current changes that are taking place with the Book of Prophecy.

Since the last update things have been moving forward in a way that I had not expected. After working with the editor, and that not working out, I believed that the way forward was to take what I had learned and do my best to improve the Book of Prophecy. I thought this was going to be by myself and I was happy enough with that. My writer friend Starbuck had always said she would help me with another thorough edit but it was her friend that was the editor so I thought because that hadn’t worked out she would take a step back from helping me with my writing. Obviously I knew we would still be friends but I thought it was too much to ask for her help, especially as she has so much going on in her own life. However once again she has amazed me with her kindness, generosity and belief in my work.

After accepting her generous offer of help we went to work and she has been helping me with the Book of Prophecy. This is where, in the context of writing, I have seen how there’s a difference between what you say/write and how you say/write it. Thus I have discovered the difference between a book and a story… and wow does Starbuck know how to write a story. I’ll always remember a comment Starbuck made, which has almost become an on going joke. The comment was that I write like I’m writing a text book- this is true. I wish so badly that it wasn’t the case and I could write a story with all the skills she has. Yet I sometimes wonder if the way I write is linked to the way my brain works and processes things. If that’s the case I’m okay with the fact I write like a text book because the way my brain works ultimately is what created the plot so I shouldn’t complain. Now what I need to do is keep that way of processing things but learn how to add certain things to my text book to make it a story, which is happening, but for some reason it’s really difficult for me.  

In hindsight I see my biggest mistake in this whole adventure was to think it was enough to have the story written in a series of events, one after the other, and people would like it because of what it contained. I was so wrong and ignorant to think this. I couldn’t see what the story was missing, but I have been shown clearly that ‘how’ something is written is perhaps even more important than ‘what’ is written. This is a complete 180 turn around on my previous attitude and I’m grateful for the experiences that have opened my eyes. Having it as a book that contains a plot isn’t enough, it has to fun and immerse the reader in that world. It sounds obvious but I didn’t fully understand this fact.

I’m truly lucky to have Starbuck teaching me this. The difference she is making is incredible. It’s still the same story, and there really isn’t any plot change as such, but with adding little things here and there, and wording things differently, it’s turning into something that is remarkably better that what it was before. The way I look at it is the Book of Prophecy has been like a sponge cake and now Starbuck is helping with adding the icing, sprinkles and chocolate drops. In terms of time, energy, and contribution to the size of the cake, it really isn’t that much, but it’s actually what makes the cake taste awesome. I think that’s the best way to describe it.

As a closing comment I just want to say that every time I read the new chapters I get really excited because of how much better it is as a story. Yet there’s still a lot of work to do so the cake decorating continues…

A New Beginning

A new beginning has dawned!... but just like every day it follows a similar pattern... And yes that pattern is once again i'm doing a serious edit of the Book of Prophecy.
The question is WHY!!?? Like seriously... WHY!!??

The answer has it's roots in some events that have taken place over the last two weeks. These events are as follows.

-My friend and fellow writer Sammy knows someone who has some pretty awesome skills in the technical side of writing and story telling.

-Last wednesay I began working with him on the b.o.p because we believed it needed more work... Well a lot more work.

-Yesterday we stopped working together.

Here's the story in a bit more detail.

So work began last Wednesday and it was painful for many reasons. One being I was so desperate to make it work I spent hours upon hours staring at the screen editing. For those who don't know I can only do about two hours a day because of eye pain. When I do more it hurts a lot, and I did a lot more.

I pushed through the difficulties that were emerging and together we came up with what I believe is an epic first chapter (in a way I see it as a new beginning).

Over the weekend we started chapter two. However it was beginning to be clear the editor/ writer relationship was not an easy one. View points were not in harmony, and style of both learning an teacher were very different. There is no criticism in that statement- certain things were just different.

I went through chapter two and applied what I was taught and what was suggested, while keeping the book the way it needed to stay. I thought I had done a good job and that with a bit of his editing chapter two continued the new sharper style. Of course it was not perfect but much better. Long story short it wasn't what he was after and I realised that his suggestions for extensive world building were not exactly what I thought the purpose of us working together was. We both agreed working together was not going to work if we had different goals for my work. Therefore yesterday we stopped working together.

Im taking the last week as a really positive experience and as always I have learned so much.

The plan is to take what i've learned and make it sharper the way he showed me and it will be the best it can be, while still keeping the style I think is appropriate the integrity of the story. Again that is no criticism, I just have to stay true to the stories roots.

The next few months are going to involve a lot of work, but i'm used to that after 2 and a half years of writing, re-writing and editing.

When it's done I'm hoping I can get some peoples opinions on it because I think there will be a substantial difference. Whatever happens I will be very happy with it after this edit- aka rip it apart and put it back together without waffle and with a little more world building. Time to work hard... Again :D

The Beautiful and Painful Process of Progress

This is a quick update to say that there are exciting things happening.

On Wed the13th I began work with an incredible Editor and although ripping my work apart is painful, the process of putting it back together turning it into something beautiful (how this all came about will be made clear in the future). As for now there is a lot of work ahead, but words cannot express my gratitude for the help I am receiving from many source.

The Struggle Within

It is clear that my blog updates are becoming very  infrequent and I feel bad because I haven’t been as committed to it as I want to be. I would like to be able to say it is because I have been busy, or distracted still, but I cannot. The distraction mentioned in the last update was awesome, but it did not go as well as I thought it would, in fact it crashed and burned epically. All is good now though and there is nothing I regret from my choices, everything that has happened served to help me to grow the way I need to. I am just so enthralled by every experience life gives me because I feel like I learn more about myself, and life, every day as a result of these experiences (Sorry for the ambiguous statement but I try to keep this about writing and not about the dramas of my life but sometimes it just creeps in) .

That said the reason I have not updated the blog, or written anything in a while, is because I have lost a lot of the motivation for writing that I once had. The struggle to be the best I can, and be good enough for readers, is far greater than I ever imagined. I was so naïve at the start of this project to think that by just having a good story it would be enough. I have learned I was an idiot and so ignorant to the struggle that would occur, both within myself to keep going, and to accept that I am not going to just get success over night. 

This inexperienced perspective has nearly faded and I am glad it has because now I can focus a bit better on realistic goals and how to achieve them. I owe so much to so many for gradually helping me see this perspective and especially to my friend, and fellow writer, Sammy HK Smith (although she will always be known as Starbuck to me). I'm thankful to her for so many things but do not think that my thanks is given because she plays to my ego, or gives me false hope. It is because she sees the potential I know I have and because she can be amazingly honest, yet always objective, which is what I need. Another reason I’m grateful to her is because she is a much better at writing and therefore is teaching me so much, and again this is what I need. It feels like she is my master and I her Padawan J.

Ultimately I feel strongly that the reason I stopped writing this blog, and writing in general, was not really because I have not gained the success that I want, but because I feel like I have improved as much as I can with out having someone to take me by the hand and guide me in the specific ways I need to improve. That is why I am so grateful to Starbuck. Her willingness to help me and guide me is humbling, and is truly appreciated. The truth is she could be doing a thousand other things (seriously she has so much going on her life that I’m in awe daily of how she does it all). Obviously she is not a perfect writer, but she is far better than I am, yet she is still doing everything she can to improve and learn while helping others. This is one of the reasons writing is fantastic because those who do it will learn so much if they are willing to, just like in life. The key is that learning never stops if we understand that it never stops.

All of this said I now feel ready and able to take my writing to the next level and I know with Starbucks help this will happen, as long as I work hard. I’m also excited for a small project that she has asked me to write and I will update on this in the future, and on other writing projects, obviously.

The struggle for motivation, improvement etc, will still continue, but that’s the point, it has to be a struggle for us to improve, other wise we would stagnate and not reach our potential. At least that's what I believe and have seen in my own life and in the life of many of the people around me.

New Ideas/Distraction/Rejection... Again.

New Ideas

After vowing to take a break I got bored a few weeks ago and came up with an idea for a trilogy. Yet it will not get written for many years but I'm thankful for the continued inspiration for more stories.

Distraction

I spent a week or two constantly worry about how the latest book would do now it was sent away to an agent and it was very unhealthy. However a good distraction came a long and time has flown by.

Rejection... Again

So the agent Susan Armstrong said my ideas for the latest book were "fantastic" but my narrative and characterisation needed to be better. Therefore she felt she couldn't represent it.
I'm getting fed up of rejection. Mainly because I'm being told it's good, but not good enough. If I was told I was rubbish I'd give up. But if the ideas are "fantastic" then surely it's worth investing in. I know my writing isn't so bad that with a little bit of help it could be good enough.
Having said that I personally think it's good enough now, but only needs help with basic editing. I hate pointless narrative and feel the character information and development is adequate for the Young Adult audience. I'm not trying to write a technical master piece here. I just want to write a very interesting story with good characters and I feel this book does that, but what do I know?
I'm undecided what to do now.
Should I suck up my pride and try to give more narrative and character information and development?
Or should I stick to my guns and send this off to other agents and hope they don't feel the same as S.A?

I guess I'll decided at some point and update in the next post.

Another One Bites The Dust!

Another book finished. 98,600 words.

Time Line:

Ideas in October, but busy with another book.

Finished other book and 20,000 words of the new one done by January 28th 2012

March 10th 2012 (today) 98,600 words done and book finished. Needs a good edit though so a lot of work still ahead.

I just can't believe it's done already. It has been a labour of love and hate, but I needed to just get it finished as quickly as possible. Now I can causally edit when I want, but more importantly I can focus more on my friends and family again.
I hope they can forgive my lack of effort in the last 6 weeks.

Once it's edited we shall see what happens but for now it's going to be good to work at a slower pace than at my max. It was like sprinting a marathon, and I'm exhausted. But I did it and I'm so happy that I did!! :)

What Genre? It Took Two Years To Find Out

This is just a quick update with a few thoughts and events that have taken place over the last few weeks.

What am I?

When the first draft of The Book of Prophecy, (The Journal of Fire at the time), was finished I really struggled to put it in a genre. Fantasy was close, but it never felt right because it's not magic, elves, orcs etc. It does have a tiny aspect of that type of fantasy, but it does not dominate the story, so I never felt it was right. I left it as the genre Fantasy because that was the closest one to what the story was about. Two years flew by...

... and it was only recently a friend I have made in a writing community told me about Metaphysical Fantasy, and what it is. When I researched what 'Metaphysics' actually covers, (good old wiki), I saw that this was exactly what my stories dealt with. I am so happy to know the genre it fits into and it feels like my books have found their place in the world. I would encourage you to go look at Metaphysics on wiki because it is very interesting.

The problem I think I'm going to have now is that Metaphysics sounds too smart. The whole point in my books is to take the ideas and simplify them as much as possible. It is just a fun story with those ideas fuelling it, and I'm worried if I label it with Metaphysics people will be put off thinking it's going to be complex. Metaphysical Fantasy is what it is though so I guess I shouldn't steer away from this, and only time will tell if labelling it as Metaphysical Fantasy is the right thing to do.

Other News

I have joined Authonomy.com and I'm loving it. The people on there have been so nice and helpful, so thank you to everyone on there. The problem is it's too addictive and I find myself on there when I should be writing. I'm getting better at prioritising though.

I can't remember what the last update was but I have finished the first draft of book two (sorry if that news is a repeat). I have put that on the shelf for now and I'm 55,000 words into the stand alone book I'm writing and that's evolving well. I think the best was to describe it is a hybrid of the film equilibrium and the book 1984. It was never the intention to be so political in the story but I'm enjoying that this is the path it is going down. The first draft should be done in six weeks and I'm happy with how quickly it is coming along, 2,000 words a day will do that.

I think that is the majority of the updates that are relevant so watch this space for more.