Ask ishy

[brandon1984]

Wow dreaming is one of the most amazing sources of inspiration you could have cited. It makes sense though. Certain psychological theories assert that dreams can represent ideas surfacing from one's subconscious. I for one have dreams that I do immoral things, and I really hate it! I've struggled with whether to feel guilty about it because it represents my deepest desires, or just brush it off as a purposeless firing of neurons.

Do you have any thoughts about dreams since they have been important to your writing?

[ishy]

No, generally my dreams either don't make much sense, or I don't remember them at all. This was one not only particularly vivid, but it stuck with me for months. I wrote the novel about a year after I had the dream.

I have been writing stories since I was old enough to hold a pen, and spent many years roleplaying both on forums and in person before I ever had that dream, so there is something of of a natural storytelling talent in there, I think. Plus, I kept trying to do other things, and God kept directing me back to writing. People have been telling me I should be a writer since I was little, but I thought it sounded lonely and boring. It's actually not, and I like it, but it took me a long time to give it a chance.

[Chozon1]

Peas?

[Sstavix]

I've heard that one of the biggest challenges to self-publishing is advertising - basically, getting the word out about your new novel and convincing other people that they need to buy it. How has your own experience been with this? Have any techniques worked better than others?

[ishy]

No doubt. Getting reviews on Amazon is the key thing for the first book, then, putting out more work. The more prolific you are on Amazon, the more the algorithms work in your favor. I keep a blog, and I'm active on Goodreads. Goodreads helps a lot, but I'm active in reading groups just as a reader, not just as an author. Spamming people doesn't make them want to buy your book, creating an awareness of your name and your stories do.

The thing most people don't realize that unless you are a million dollar bestseller, you do most of your own advertising even if you are trade published. They rarely do much for you unless you already rake in the bucks, and they expect you to do it. So, they really aren't so different.

[EchoDelta]

Editing is the worst part of the process to me. I started editing the day after instead of waiting to the end, and that really helped me, but everybody kinda has to try things and see if they work for them. It also helps me, after I do major structural changes, to get the draft printed triple-spaced and go through it line by line. I have to admit I don't know much about memoir, that may have some special tips that just searching for online guides might help.

I learned a lot just by reading articles about self publishing. A few places to start are Dean Wesley Smith and The Passive Voice.

Thanks for the links to the websites. I did join a writing forum about a month ago but haven't really delved into it yet. I've been just writing but admittedly, I've had writer's block lately.

[Chozon1]

How do you make yourself write?

I can never seem to finish anything.

[ishy]

Nanowrimo helped with that at first. I think it helped me get over the "There's no way I could finish a novel" fear. Then I discovered I really like the creation process, and it's not near as hard as I was making it out to be.

[Chozon1]

What is nanowrimo all about?

[ishy]

November is National Novel Writing Month, and there's now a Camp Nanowrimo for April and July. Nanowrimo is a huge movement for people to write 50,000 word novels, and local groups form all over the world to support it. At least where I live, we have meetups nearly every day called "write-ins", and you can go to a coffeeshop or somewhere and write with other people. It's a fun way to push through writing a novel for the first time. Surfer Girl is actually the product of Nanowrimo--I wrote the first draft in a month.

Camp Nano lets you pick your word count, for example, in April I'm writing a 20,000 word novella. There isn't quite the local support, but it's more flexible.

[Chozon1]

Hmm...fun times.

Is it hard to do? I've never even attempted something that lengthy.

[ishy]

It sounds like it's a lot worse than it is, but I wouldn't say it's easy either. It does help if you get involved in local events, but there are also online events and chat rooms.

I've written three novels through Nanowrimo.

[Chozon1]

Favorite cheese?

[mebmatt]

Least favorite cheese?

[ishy]

Least favorite cheese?

It's a toss-up between vegan cheese and bleu cheese.

My favorite is smoked Gouda, but, alas, I'm dairy intolerant.