Insecure Writers Support Group- Love Thy Editors!

The summer is finally with us!  Is everyone enjoying the sunshine?

I'd like to quickly start this entry by updating from the last time I posted- I'd like to thank those of you who left a kind word regarding my situation, and I did indeed take a little time off as needed (hence no June blog post).  I'm not out of the woods yet, but I am now taking medication and feeling a lot, lot better- and I will be doing some more posts over July, as we have some exciting developments just around the corner!

I'm doing this a teeeeny bit early, but I intend to catch up with Top Gear tomorrow morning, and then I have work in the evening, which makes it a bit tricky to get online to type out blogposts.  But anyhoo, onto this month's IWSG topic:

Love Thy Editors

I think the reason why some would-be writers out there shy away from submitting pieces is because they fear bad feedback from, or losing creative control to editors.  I won't lie, there was a time when I felt wary of submitting my own work.  I was worried that at best, I would be forced to change my work to suit the whims of a corporate suit, at worst, would have my confidence utterly shattered by someone behind a desk, completely blasting my ability and making me want to never pick up a pen again (I am dramatic :P)

I'm extremely happy to say (and I imagine many others will too) that all of my experiences with editors have been completely positive.  Even from my earliest days starting out with EGL Magazine, right up to my most recent experiences with Hic Dragones, every editor I have ever worked with has been an amazing person who I have been happy to work with.  Oh, I'm sure there are less than brilliant editors out there, but as someone who used to be so wary of negative experiences, and knowing there are others that feel that way, I thought that for this month's IWSG I would give the hard-working editors out there a little bit of love!  It's got to be a difficult job, and one I'm not sure I could do, so I think it's important to appreciate the vital work they do to make our stories super shiny for book-pages.

If you're a new writer who is nervous of editors, this is why you shouldn't be:

1) They already like your work
If you are passed over for a submission (which will undoubtedly happen at some point, and you mustn't feel too bad about it, because it happens to everyone), you won't receive a cruel email telling you to go back to school, so don't worry about something like that happening.  If you are successful, however, you mustn't be nervous of what comes next- you were picked because they liked your work!  The editors know what they're looking for in a good story, and they certainly wouldn't be wasting their precious time on editing your story if they didn't think it was worth the time and effort.

2) They are improving on what they already have
While all publishers are expecting clean manuscripts when they receive submissions, they aren't expecting refined, polished gold.  They know it will need work.  That's where the editors come in.  Think of your story as a rough diamond that needs to be sanded, buffed and polished before it can become the gem it's meant to be.  That's what the editors do.  Any suggestions or changes they make are there to improve the flow of your story, and make it the best it can possibly be, not to change your story and make it something else entirely.  They also won't make huge changes without putting them towards you first, and will always keep you involved in what they are doing.  Work together with your editor, and your story will shine.

3) You will learn from them!
I've learned a lot about my writing habits from things pointed out by editors.  I am already quite aware of my typos, but that's not a major issue :P (not in blogging anyway!).  One bad habit I used to have was the overuse of the ellipsis for dramatic tension...unfortunately, overuse led to disruption in the flow of the writing, and also lessened the dramatic affect I had been aiming for.  This was pointed out to me by an editor, and she certainly didn't make her point harshly.  Every single experience I have had with an editor has been positive and beneficial to me, and I've learned something every time.  Ultimately, this makes me a better writer, and improves the quality of the writing.

I often worry more about being a difficult writer for an editor to work with, rather than finding my editor to be difficult- I always have things set out and imagined in my head just so, and when I was younger I wasn't particularly receptive to criticism (in hindsight, this was mainly because most criticism I was received wasn't particularly constructive).  So far, I have found all feedback completely helpful and beneficial, have found editors happy to work with me, and ultimately do a great job with the finished manuscript.

So what else can I say?  Don't fear the editors.  They have a very hard job, but its them who gets our stories down onto paper and onto bookshelves.  To any new and anxious writers out there, don't be afraid to allow them to improve on your work- they are professionals and they know what they are doing!

And as for the editors, well, every single editor I have worked with has been a real delight to work with.  I thank you all for being awesome :D

*

Right, well, I'll be back soon with some more updates, please stay tuned and enjoy the weather!


http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html

ISWG- Scheduled for Meltdown in 5...4...3...

Almost missed this month's IWSG- thank goodness for Twitter, which reminded me! (Even if I spend way too much of my time on there harmlessly stalking celebrities I like!)  The reason for my absences in recent weeks and months actually ties in nicely into this post- I missed April's due to personal reasons, and May was just extremely busy for me all month.  Now we're into June, and I'm hoping that I can snatch some downtime to myself, because in all honesty, I'm about to burn out, mentally and emotionally.

As if I haven't mentioned it enough times on my blog, I've been under a lot of stress this year so far, but sadly, my hiatus and trip to the US wasn't quite enough for me to recover.  Without listing all the details, I'm facing home and family problems, and my day-job is rapidly becoming unbearable (in fact, only a couple of days ago, I was physically assaulted by a customer- this has been the final straw for me, and I am now searching for a new job outside of the customer-service industry, especially as management haven't been supportive).  I've been prone to depression, stress and anxiety, and finding it hard to cope with much besides a social life (which may sound really awful, that the only thing I can do right, right now, is have an active social life, but in all honesty, despite the energy I expend having it, its one of the few things keeping me sane right now).

This of course has left very little time for writing and drawing.  I'm passing up submissions that would be pretty good for me, because I either don't have the time or the energy.  While writing doesn't generally stress me out, it does require both time and energy, as said, and neither of those I have in abundance right now.  With my daily schedule still in tatters (you'd think a month would be enough to get back on track!), my downtime at home when I come home from work usually involves surfing the net, a wee bit of TV, a book if I'm lucky (not much time for reading even!), painting my nails ridiculously crazy colours or sleeping.  I'm doing a LOT more sleeping.

On one hand, its awfully frustrating, because I've tasted success (another anthology out recently, another next month), and I know I have to keep working at it if I want more of it.  While I have been known to knock out a short story in a night, it takes hours of furious typing and a flurry of vicious editing, and as you can imagine, this requires me to be very alert, energetic and wired.  Those periods of energy are not very prolonged for at the moment.

I have even struggled to maintain my usual exercise regime (although fortunately, a lot of going out means a lot of walking!), which has probably played its hand in affecting my mood.

Its also frustrating because I'm having IDEAS.  If only I could have the energy to scribble furiously for a bit, and I'll probably finish the first draft of my novel within the next month or so, I can really feel it.  I'm having lots of art ideas too.  Art is something I can do in a more relaxed state, luckily (as I love to recline while drawing, and it also doesn't stress me out) but once again, I need to be very focused, and alert enough to do so.  At the moment, if I'm relaxed, I'm going to sleep.

On the other hand though, I am aware that with everything the way it is, its very important for me to let writing and art take the back seat for now.  I'm confident the ideas will still be there (especially for the novel), but if I try to juggle everything right now, I am going to snap.  I am probably on the verge of a breakdown, and I'm seriously considering getting signed off work.  I already have a doctor's appointment booked.

Now, I say all this, without being negative (REALLY! :P).  I actually feel quite positive at the moment, because I have some ideas of how to avert this meltdown, and they are going to involve some major life changes.  Its definitely going to involve a career change (still hoping if the writing works out well, that can be a help too ;) ), and things are going to change at home also.  I'm also going to start introducing a strict routine for myself, written on a timetable like I had back at college :P I am pretty confident that if I act now, I can stop myself from going postal and losing my mind.

But it does mean that writing needs to go on the shelf for the moment.

But I'm totally ok with that, because it gives me something else to write about ;)


(PS- deleted to discover my acid-trip dreams are coming back!  I love my crazy dreams, but went through a long phase without any!  Lets hope I get time to record them again soon!)

Insecure Writer's Support Group Post- Writing and Illustration

Happy April everyone!  Sorry for my absence last month; I was having a lot of emotional issues and traumas so I decided to take a little break for a week or so- however, over the last week and a bit, I'm trying to get back in the swing of things, so here I am.

This month's IWSG topic is a little odd- not a strong insecurity on the surface of it, but a concern that I have, and I'm wondering what other writers might make of it.

You see, I am not just a writer- I am also an artist.  I don't put a lot of my artwork online for a couple of reasons; one out of fear of plagiarism or theft (one of the reasons why I don't put my writing up for everyone to see, even though I've had requests for it).  As I'm totally inept with technology, even putting a simple watermark would be beyond me.  Secondly; DA is a pain in the ass.  Some DeviantArt artists may gasp in shock at me for this, but the truth is, I do have a DA account.  I was freaking addicted to DA for ages, until my gallery got stuck with a malicious ad that in the space of two months attacked our computer twice.  DA's stance is that its basically not their problem.  Now,  I'm sure some of you are thinking I should just use this finagle or use this filangee to fix the issue, but as mentioned before, I am inept with technology.  I struggle to keep a blog and Twitter going!  That, and we have a PC so bad that I've taken to calling it a Box of Rocks just so it seems less crap.  The account is still there (Chibi-Black-Rabbit) but as this is technically not my computer (I live at home with my folks), and my Dad asked me not to use DA anymore, I'm kinda obligated to respect his wishes.

But I am an artist; I have provided artwork for local musicians, created tattoo designs, hell, even apprenticed briefly at a tattoo studio, and it was my portfolio that nabbed me that position (it was insurance, or lack thereof, that robbed me of it).  I'm not a very social artist, but DA was working to improve that.  Creatively, my art and my writing tends to go hand in hand.  For a lot of my stories, there are doodles, sketches and even fully-developed pieces to accompany it.  I imagine the vast majority of my novels, once completed, having my illustrations accompanying them.  I can't choose one expression over the other- while writing may seem to take precedence, art is just as important to me.

You see, I don't think illustrations are just for children, or just for graphic novels.  I think even adult novels can make room for the occasional, well-placed piece of artwork.  Heck, for Night Gods (the novel I am working on) I have even considered the possibility (if it is successful enough to warrant it) releasing a whole art book, a bestiary even, of artwork for all the strange creatures and characters that appear.  Now, I've read plenty of books without illustrations, and its not spoiled the reading for me, but I do love a "picture" book too.  As an artist.

But how often do you even come across books with the odd illustration here and there?  Not many, that's for sure.  I'm trying to tell myself that its quite likely publishers will probably talk me out of illustrations, at least at first (if perhaps I became successful, I can imagine later editions and companions with artwork).  But at least the cover work, that could be mine, right?

Right?  I have no idea.  I have not seen many books where it has said that the writer was also the artist responsible for the cover design.  This surprises me, as I'm sure there must be other writers out there, like me, who are also a dab hand with a pencil or a paintbrush.  Is it always down to an illustrator/designer to do this?  How much say does the writer get in that?

You see, I can't really imagine ANYONE else having artistic input in that area.  Oh wait.  I lie.

I can name ONE person.

You see, I do admire many other artists, from Salvador Dali to Brian Froud to Yoshitaka Amano, oh of course, you can't be an artist without having your influences.  But on a more personal level, I have always been...odd around other artists.  Its a bizarre personality trait that I can only put down to insecurity and jealousy, but I have never been particularly fond of other artists in the past, or if I have done, then I've been hugely jealous of their work, which has made me feel awkward.  Nowadays, however, I do have some artist friends who I don't feel this way around, and love their work.  And one such is a very good friend of mine.

As a fantastic animal portrait artist, she is also the first ever artist I have personally commissioned myself!  I have never asked anyone to do something for me before!  IF I had to concede the task to another artist, she's the only person I can imagine doing it.

I'm even open to collaboration- as I suck with technology, I wouldn't object to a photoshop artist perhaps cleaning up something I've produced, alter it slightly to make it more appropriate for a book cover.

But actually concede the work to someone else (apart from aforementioned talented friend)...unthinkable to me.

Is this a possibility?  Has anyone ever faced this issue?  Am I being overly concerned? (I'm certainly being premature, as I have even finished Night Gods yet :P) Like I said, at this point, not a major insecurity, but as for me, art is just as important as writing, it is something I don't want to just leave to someone else.  If writing a story is all part of the expression I'm sharing with the world, then so is that artwork.

Anyway, I shall leave it at that, as I am a very tired bunny.  My April blog post will be coming up soon, but this month will also be relatively quiet as I'm spending half of it in the US!  Just want to say thanks to everyone who left a kind message recently.

Take care for now x

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html

IWSG: December- Time for Giving and Time-Management Fail :P

I have lots of bundles of little concerns and worries to put in my stocking! :P

I have really neglected my blog recently.  I'm a pretty bad blogger.  Hell, I'm pretty bad at any form of social networking besides talking to friends.  My Twitter account (made specifically to go hand in hand with this blog and publicize myself) has also been somewhat neglected.  Truth is, I'm not very clever when it comes to gadgets and widgets- it took me the longest time to figure out even the most basic actions on this darn blog.  I'm just that rubbish!  I sometimes worry that my naff-ness in keeping up to date with blogging and Tweeting will negatively affect me, but a combination of my own technical incompetence, poor temper and ancient PC mean that I find these tasks seriously time-consuming and frustrating...and when I have so many other things to be doing, it ends up right smack down at the bottom of the list of priorities!

(I have completely given up on Tumblr).

Time management is that one that we talk about a lot in IWSG, and to be honest, I don't let it bother me too much...oh sure it bothers me at the time, when I'm trying very hard to multitask and fulfil tasks and failing, but I don't let it make me feel bad...its something that affects all of us.  If I were a full-time writer, the problem would probably be less severe (as I wouldn't be trying to juggle with my "real" job), but would also still happen. 

And less face it- we're now in December (how did THAT happen?!  Wasn't it five minutes ago that I was rushing through my last IWSG post before dashing out with Dad to watch the fireworks?! :P) and December can be a very unforgiving time for time management- between rushing around at work (especially if you work in retail), manic Christmas shopping, Christmas parties and get-toethers, and the odd winter bug thrown in for good measure, your schedule can take a bit of a pounding.

But I need to be fairer on myself.  I spent the last month working quite hard on two written peices...one has just been selected to appear in SCP's next eZine (its new title was the subject of the poll I ran yesterday, it is now called "Oiran" :D), and the other will be sent off shortly.  In fact, I was very proud of that one- that was the one that had been demanding more work and a longer word count.  I have decided I will be re-writing that story at full-novel length, but Kallin and Shaari's story will be submitted in "compact" form anyway.  I managed to cut back about 400-500 words, got it dead on the 7000 limit, and a friend who has read over it found it interesting enough that despite the limitations, she enjoyed it and wants to read the "full story".  The last couple of weeks, I have spent either drawing for short periods, or online shopping (extremely time consuming for me! :P) so the fact that I haven't done too much, I do realise, I shouldn't feel too badly about.

I do feel a bit naff that I'm still struggling to get things together and keep to a schedule, but I'm sure I'll get round to things.  In the meantime, have yourself a merry, stress-free Christmas!


http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/insecure-writers-support-group-ninja.html

Insecure Writers Support Group- Time Management and Stories that Want Bigger Word Counts

Hello everyone!  We're now in November!  I can't believe October has actually gone now...on one hand, it feels like a million years ago since my first IWSG post, but it also feels like the year is just slipping away bewilderingly rapidly!  I bought my first Christmas presents of the year yesterday- whats up with that?!

While I am still doing ok, confidence-wise, I am experiencing a couple of problems right now, that I'm sure some of you are familliar with.

The first one is...Time Management.

I don't know what's happened to me over the last few weeks- I certainly hope its just a weird phase, especially as I've had little spurts of energy and organised-ness, but I seem to be completely unable to get anything done properly at the moment.  This applies to everything, not just writing.  I was pleased with myself that I finally got round to hoovering my bedroom last week!  I honestly can't believe I've managed to find time to write this post! (I was supposed to do it this morning though... <.< )

I think its actually down to my work life, and how my shifts are very erratic and unstable right now.  It makes planning a schedule difficult...I'm often getting 3 days notice for the next week's rotas (3 days including the weekend, which I don't work).  Then I have to fit in everything else, as well as the writing.  Fitting in time to write is something I know every writer has problems with, so I'm not beating myself up over it; I'm aware it can't be helped and things will smooth over soon.  I'm just so glad I'm not doing Nano WriMo, though, I would be extremely frustrated by now otherwise.

(And thats not to say I'm not frustrated, its really put me in a funk that I haven't been able to shake for a while...I'm hoping the last couple of days are indicative of this trend coming to a welcome end!).

(An upside is that I have been being naughty and writing at work!  Working on a Returns desk with no customers is hugely boring, and I've started on a short story there XD)

The other, slightly more problematic dilemma is that my stories are wanting more words than I can give!

I'm writing a lot of short stories and sending them off for submissions for anthologies or eZines and the like, and been relatively successful so far *do a lil daaaance*.  In fact, there are two things I LOVE about short stories.  The first is that I tend to get so attached to my characters that if I'm writing a longer story, say novel length, it can be hard for me to get finished...finishing the writing finishes me exploring and having a "relationship" with these characters.  This is something that isn't so bad with short stories...I still have back stories and backgrounds and a connection, but my time with those characters is brief, yet still enjoyable.

The second is that short story writing is teaching me valuable lessons that I'm sure will be hugely useful when it comes to writing the re-drafts of my novels; word count culling.  I'm quickly getting the hang of the fact that I, a consumate waffler, need to get to the bloody point!  I need to pick top vocabulary, weed out redundant sentences, or just completely redo certain paragraphs to get the story told within the word count allocated.

This hasn't been too bad so far.  Some stories, I find I have a little room left over, so I expand just a bit.  Some of them are almost squeezed in with mere words to spare- but I make it work, even if I like to take up as much of the word count as possible.

On Halloween, I submitted a short story to a submission called the "No Monsters Allowed" Anthology- the theme being horror, but not of a supernatural kind; purely human.  I wrote a story that seemed quite simplistic, short enough to fit in the 5000 count- 2 school bullies are arsing around at home, trolling kids on the internet, and then find themselves being held at gunpoint.  The gunwoman, a former bully victim they tormented, proceeds to torture and murder them ^_^ It seemed quite collected and rounded...I was surprised to find that it was practically BULGING out of the 5000 word count.  Perhaps 7000 would have been a nicer fit, but I had to edit brutally, culling so much, to the point that I felt the writing was negatively affected.  I sent what I could anyway (I have 2 versions of the story, the one where I started out and realised I was "waffling" too much, and the second which was copy-and-pasted into a new document and hacked down to size mercilessly), even though I wasn't entirely happy with it, and felt the ending was a tad rushed.  I felt that perhaps the atmosphere I was aiming for wasn't built up enough either.  Maybe it was just me, but reading it, the editing left it feeling very stunted and blunt.  Overly simplistic.

I'm now facing the same problem with my current short story, for the "Impossible Spaces" Anthology.

I came up with the idea for this story back in August; when my initial idea for Impossible Spaces seemed inappropriate for it, this other idea seemed like the natural alternative.  Its a dark science fiction tale, and the more and more I thought about the background, the cultures, the characters, the more vast this world became, as did its main characters, Shaari and Kallin.  Shaari was the character I was writing about for Elisabeth Kauffmanover's "What Are You Waiting For?" blogfest back in September.  Since then even, Shaari has blossomed into a character I have become hugely attached to, as has her lover, Kallin. 

Last weekend, after much note-taking, day-dreaming and deliberation, I started to write Shaari's story.  Now, even as I started, I had already decided, that she was probably going to end up in a novel-length version of the same tale.  In fact, the world I have set these characters in has thrown up a lot of interesting hypothetical questions regarding gender, personal identity, race, culture, philosophy, religion; so many things, not all of which apply directly to Shaari and Kallin, but would definately affect people in the same world.  I decided Shaari's story might be almost a "sneak preview" into what would come later, a fully-detailed story about her and Kallin.  I wasn't too bothered about cutting back some of her tale for the short-story submission- it's written in first person (which is usually not my preference, but felt very right for this story) and because of this, its basically a recollection of her tale.  It can be condensed.

But.

I've probably got about, oh I don't know, 2000 words left to go?  I'm very worried this is not enough. 

I hope I don't have to cull too much to get there; I need the emotional element of this tale to remain intact, not just for the reader, or even for me now, but for my characters.  Does anyone else have this?  Demanding characters?  I get it a lot.  Its almost as if they direct me what to write, and won't shut up until I have satisifed them!

I did have another idea for Impossible Spaces...but I promptly forgot it (which is a massive shame, all I can remember thinking was "Wow, thats a good idea!" XD But I had a bit a traumatic day that day, and I think it was drowned out when I decided to get drunk later that evening! Oops!).

Not sure what I'm going to do about Shaari...I want to enter this anthology, even if it means with another idea, but I can't let Shaari down by editing her story to the point that it becomes dull and poorly written.  She has such a beautiful relationship with Kallin, I honestly do believe other people would really enjoy their story...but it has to be done right!

Well, everyone, I hope you all having a good month.  I have to finish up now, because I'm off to watch some fireworks!  Good evening, y'all!

http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html

(Edit: back from the fireworks, and goodness, how many typos I made! *Fixed* XD)