Big Picture vs. Little Details

Sechin Tower

@SechinTower

First, you should know that I’m extremely easy going in almost every way. I’m not a picky eater, I’m happy with whatever temperature you like on the thermostat, and I enjoy movies for what they are. (If it’s a smart movie, I enjoy its smartness. If it’s Sharknado, I switch off my cerebrum and just enjoy the airborne sharks).

But in my current stage of writing, I obsess over every little detail. I fuss over miniscule plot points and little character traits. I’ve even been known to spend 20 minutes deliberating about the perfect punctuation to deliver a joke or accelerate the action. Sometimes, I’ll sketch a diagram of a gizmo that my characters have invented, just so I can understand what it looks like or how someone would interface with the control panel. Go ahead: call me crazy. I’m used to it.

Thing is, this is only one phase of writing. I’m not always like this, only when I shift the mental gears into “nitty gritty.” Right now, I’m in the final stages of revising The Non-Zombie Apocalypse (the long-awaited sequel to Mad Science Institute), and hence my attention is directed to the microscopic. My editor, the very talented and patient Jane Kenealy, courageously returned after editing my first book to help me trim almost 5,000 unnecessary words from the new manuscript—words I can now save for later books and short stories (combating the “info dump” is a topic for another post). I obsess about her edits, too, as I wonder how little changes might shift the balance of character, suspense, humor, and pacing.

If I had the opportunity, I might be pleased to work strictly on big picture stuff—plot, character, and world. But that’s a different phase. Right now, if I have a big idea, I need to jot it down in a notebook and get back to the main project or else I’ll never finish anything. On the other hand, when I’m in the “big picture” phase, spending time spell-checking and grammar-policing scares off my ideas before they can get safely to the keyboard.

Stephen Wallenfel’s prescriptions for writer’s block got me thinking about why I don’t seem to suffer from blocks. I have certainly experienced writer’s block in the past, but it’s been a decade since it’s afflicted me. Why? I don’t know. Maybe I’m just lucky. Maybe I don’t have enough time to write so the ideas build up inside of me until I get the chance to blast them out onto a page. Or maybe it’s because what some people consider writer’s block is what I consider to be a distinct and important phase of writing. To the outside world I might look like I’m staring off into space, but really my brain is on fire with plans and possibilities.

I have a question for all you other writers, amateur and pros alike: do you find your writing has distinct phases? Do you have the luxury of working on a project one phase at a time, or do you need/prefer to mix up detail work with big-picture work?

Be good, and dream crazy dreams,

Sechin Tower is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of Mad Science Institute. You can read more about him and his books on SechinTower.com, Facebook, or Twitter.

Getting the Word Out: The Taylor Swift Equation

A couple months ago, James Franco wrote a fantastic piece for The New York Times on selfies, those self-generated glam shots you can post of, yes, yourself doing whatever and in which you think someone might be interested.  It's only a dyslexic step away from Twitter, come to think of it, only completely visual.  Read Franco's article all the way through; this is one smart guy.  Above all, he's an entertainer and understands the draw of--and our fascination with--celebrity.  If you remember nothing else of what he says (and granted, we're talking about a celebrity who understands image and how to generate the illusion of intimacy), this is your take-home: 

"In this age of too much information at a click of a button, the power to attract viewers amid the sea of things to read and watch is power indeed. It’s what the movie studios want for their products, it’s what professional writers want for their work, it’s what newspapers want — hell, it’s what everyone wants: attention. Attention is power. And if you are someone people are interested in, then the selfie provides something very powerful, from the most privileged perspective possible."  (emphasis mine)

Successful entertainers understand the value of attention and how to grab it.  You want an example of someone who's a master?  Taylor Swift.  I kid you not.  Maybe four months before Franco's piece came out--or it might have been longer--I recall listening to an NPR piece on social media and Twitter, and the reporter singled out Swift as someone who really understood how to use social media effectively.  She specifically mentioned that Swift was excellent at mixing in the private moment to further a public agenda.  The example she gave was Swift tweeting something like, oh, making sugar cookies because I'm so happy my latest single was just released.  (I'm paraphrasing here.)  And Swift is very good at this; take a look at this photo montage of her and Kelly Osborne making chocolate peppermint cookies.  

Now the reporter suggested that Swift is comfortable with this because she grew up with it.  Maybe . . . but in this publicity arms race--and it is an arms race; all of us are constantly upgrading and scrambling after the next best thing, which writers have doing since Dickens single-handedly started the celebrity-author tour and authors before him gave lectures to drum up publicity for their other works--I'd suggest that Swift, like Madonna and other consummate entertainers, understand the value of the attention-grab.  Do these people blog?  Not only your life.  Swift tweets; she knows the people she wants to reach only want/need that much.  What she and other entertainers like her do is trade on image, understanding that their image is what fans want because it furthers the sense of pseudo-intimacy: a carefully scripted, ostensibly "private" moment.

For a while now, I've been talking about marketing, the value of certain venues, etc.  Boil it down to its essentials, and what I've been talking about is grabbing attention for you and your work.  (An important distinction: grabbing attention for you is not necessarily the same as snatching this for your work just as different platforms draw the attention of different audiences.)

In her business blog this past Thursday, Kris Rusch talks about the usefulness of social media; as always, she's spot on.  Although I'd suggest that everything on the Internet is potentially a social media site, and that includes your blog.  The folks who might stroll by are not necessarily the same people who will admire a Sunday cake or pictures of your cats.  So, again, we're talking developing your idea of a target audience and which venue best gets whatever you want your message to be across.  (I also disagree, just a tad, with Rusch's points about teens and Facebook.  Yes, it's true that the majority of American teens don't find you on Facebook, and there's some data to suggest that teens are ditching Facebook for other social media sites, specifically Instagram, Snapchat, and--in my experience--Tumblr.  But that doesn't apply to all teens.  Specifically, all those kids I met overseas a couple years back found and have stuck with me through Facebook, on which we routinely interact.)    

Yet what Rusch describes in terms of publisher expectations has been my experience, too.  Now, neither publisher has ever told me how many times I must blog or tweet or Facebook or whatever, but I was told I had to mount a website, get on Twitter and Facebook, and "join the conversation."  For the longest time, I had zero idea of what that meant.  I thought it meant figuring out key websites--you know, the ones that might have bearing on what I was doing--and then jumping in with comments.  (Remember I mentioned in an earlier post how bloggers look at blogrolls to see who you're following, and (for some of them) if you're following the right people?  So that's what I was doing: trying to follow the "right" people the same way a new kid tries to figure out who's with the popular crowd.  It's actually all rather sophomoric.  Anyway, I did that for a while, but I couldn't see the utility, plus it took a lot of time and, frankly, a ton of those sites catered to books in the wrong age and demographic.  I certainly didn't see that I was adding anything to the conversation, and we all remember high school, right?  The more you wanted to hang with the popular girls, the harder they made it for you.  

Then I wised up and realized: the idea was that I should be the one getting the conversation going, not some random voice chiming in about whom no one else gave a damn.  (People may still not give a damn, but I can live with that.)  I would have to become an entertainer of sorts, someone who could walk into a crowded room, get the ball rolling, and start to turn eyes my way.

Oh . . . is that all?

Look, not everyone can do this.  Most of us don't have the gazillion assistants standing by to take that perfect Taylor Swift glam shot (or Franco's compositional sense).  Some of us are shy.  I, for one, have zero ability to vamp for the camera.

So what this means is that, regardless of which media you choose, you have to understand what's required to get the most out of it.  If you want to do selfies, then you might follow Franco's lead, carefully titrating the personal and non-personal, for example.  (It also helps if you don't hate the way you take pictures; I have a supremely goofy smile.)  In other words, you have to give some serious thought about how to make the media work for you instead of you struggling to figure out what the media's for--or worse, working against it.

Take Twitter.  I forget who said that it's a place where writers can connect with other writers . . . and I've certainly never thought of it that way for myself, but I have noticed that the most popular folks do what Rusch also points out: the best tweets are funny.  Author Maureen Johnson knows how to do this; she also does things I wouldn't dream of because they're just not in my nature.  For example, I remember a tweet a couple years back of her newly painted toenails.  Me, I have ugly feet.  (Frankly, I think that anyone who looks at her own feet and doesn't laugh . . .  I'd never dream of posting a picture of my toenails.  Opossums, sure.  Cats and cakes and orchids?  No sweat.  But my toes?)  It works for Johnson, though, because she knows how to work it--and she's having fun.  Or she's appearing to, which is all that matters.  Appearances are all that matter when it comes to the truly ephemeral nature of most social media.  

Rusch makes this point, too; if you're going to do social media, for God's sake, have some fun while you're at it.  Yes, yes, it's marketing; it's work . . . but it is also your chance to let your hair down a little.  My co-blogger Jordan Dane tweets bon mots as she watches Sleepy Hollow.  Me, I'd miss half the show while trying to keep my tweets pithy and sweet--although, lately, I'm not above getting all snarkazoid about House of Games.  Of course, that show is something I can watch when I've got time, so I don't have to multi-task.   I have a publisher-friend who gathers up all her Facebook buddies to watch American Idol together.  I once had the experience of FBing during a Packer playoff game; it was totally random and thoroughly fun.

Random is the key there, too.  Think about this: a post to Snapchat disappears within ten seconds--and teens love this site.  So you're talking about grabbing teens with the attention span of gnats.  Which means humor works.  The outrageous works, and the shocking.  It also means that snagging anyone's attention is thoroughly random . . . at least in that venue and maybe in them all.

Paying attention to audience is also important.  The teens who adore Snapchat--and given my experience of them, I'd say that would be most--are not going to come to your blog to read what you have to say.  They're just not; they don't care.  For them, your blog/website is the gateway; they will come to find you so they can get a conversation they care about started.

Read that again: teens and most fans will come to your blog in order to talk to you about what they care about.  They are not coming to your blog to talk about what you care about--at least, not initially.  (That can happen.  It certainly has for me.  I've had some wonderful interactions with kids over environmental issues, for example, and after posts on Facebook, I would add.)  But I know these same kids are not spending the time to really read anything I say (especially when they ask questions that I've written whole long blogs about) . . . but that's okay.  I've come to accept that, for teens and most young adult fans, my website is a place for them to find out how to talk to me.  

And that's just fine.  I can live with that.  What I have to decide is something we all must: how many platforms; what content for which; and how much time we really want to give this.  Marketing/grabbing attention/vying for power is time-consuming.  You can trick yourself into thinking that it is work, and as valuable as, say, a finished short story or novel.

But blogging is not work.  Flitting around various social media platforms is not work.  Writing is work.  Producing that book is your work.  Without your books, you're just another person who's always wanted to be a writer.  You could be anybody and everyone.  You have to make people care about your books, and in order for that to happen, you have to write them.  Call it the Taylor Swift equation, if you want, but bear in mind that the only reason a gazillion eyes care about Taylor Swift's cookies is because she's Taylor Swift.  Without her songs, Taylor Swift is nobody but another lady in an apron.

Getting the Word Out: Your Blog and You

After my blog last week about paid reviews in which I looked at Clarion Reviews and San Francisco Book Review, I'd intended to go on to other venues in which you might be able to get your book reviewed.  It's worth looking at the blog from last week, however, because the CEO from San Francisco Book Review weighed in on my post. Take a couple moments to read her comments and my response--and pay attention to what I focused on, i.e., that a consumer wants and needs certain information in order to make a decision about whether to go with a particular service or not.

Her comments got me to thinking, too.  No, not about my job as an investigative journalist: I don't even pretend to that.  But what I am and continue to be, first and foremost, is a customer, and in that case, a potential consumer for the services the SFBR would like to offer.

Readers are consumers/customers, too.  So it stands to reason that when a reader comes to your blog, she's looking for information.  She's coming there as a consumer/customer.  The question is, what kind of information is that reader looking for? 

I'll be honest: I think that books direct readers to blogs, not that blogs direct readers to your books (unless there's a specific post about you as part of a blog tour).  Blogs can help readers find your other books, but the reason that any reader bothers to Google your name is because she's read your book and is interested in knowing more about you. 

Not convinced?  Want to test this out?  Easy.  Look at the number of entries I've had for the MONSTERS audiobook giveaway, one that has relied solely upon Facebook, Twitter, and traffic to my blog; and then go look at the Goodreads giveaway for WHITE SPACE.  There's no comparison.  I've had a very small number of entries for the MONSTERS Rafflecopter giveaway.  Yet, for WHITE SPACE on Goodreads . . . there are over 2400 entries--and that's because people have a reason to be on Goodreads.  Goodreads is a community.  By contrast, there is no community organized about Ilsa J. Bick.

So it's clear that my blog--just me and my vanilla random thoughts--doesn't generate much traffic.  Yes, I have fans, and yeah, I get a fair number of comments and fan mail.  But it's not me that makes people come to the blog.  What makes them come there, if they come at all, is that I've written a book they like.

So when they come to the blog, what should they find?  What is it that you want your blog to reflect about you and your work?  Is there some hook you can use to keep a random consumer--someone who's read one of your books and decided to look you up--coming back?

Remember, I said that the Internet is nothing but a vast marketing tool.   Blogs and every aspect of social media is/are marketing tools.  In her blog last week, Kris Rusch mentioned a few things the standard blog ought to provide a consumer in terms of basic information about you and your work, past and current.  Take a few minutes to read her blog; it's well worth your time, although I'm not sure that I agree that your blog needs to be genre specific.  For me and most people I know, a blog needs to be clean and easy to navigate.    I used to have a different theme for my blog,  one that I thought was very spooky and kind of cool. But I also found that that particular theme got to be too cluttered, busy  and difficult to read.  At the time, I'd been influenced by other folks' blogs--no, I won't tell you who--that had all kinds of bells and whistles.  I mean, navigating their blogs was like playing a video game.  Roll over this, something would happen; click this, something else would blow up.  All very nifty.  But also very pricey--and not easily transferrable to things like iPads and iPhones, which don't use Flash (and something I discovered to my chagrin after shelling out a fair amount of cash for an animated sequence for ASHES that relied on Flash.  All that money for nothing.).

So, recently, I switched, going for a blog format that I think is clean and easy on the eyes.  Is it as spooky and creepazoid as I would like?  No, but it's easy to navigate; you can find out all you want to find out about me (or, as much as I'll let you find out) and you can also read about my upcoming releases and where to find them. That's really all the information that a blog needs to provide the average consumer. 

But once you've enticed a consumer to your blog--to that bit of advertising about you--do you want to keep them coming back?  If so, what can or do you offer?  Some writers give out free fiction; others just post their opinions about this, that, or the other; some folks talk about what recipe they're trying out that week.

Or . . . are you targeting different consumers?  That is, if someone loved your book, will they keep coming back to your blog if you talk about writing?  Or cats?  Or what cake you baked that week?  Do you capture a different audience on Mondays--when you post a picture of your latest cake, for example (actually, Sundays are when I usually post mine--and on Facebook and Twitter because I don't think people stroll by my blog then, but I know they're on the other platforms)--and yet another on a different day when you offer advice on writing?  Or share your latest needlepoint pattern?  Or your Charger's new paint job?

There are some fans who read a book and then want to know all about you, and so they're the ones who will happily read a post about yak tea on Monday and your car's new paint job on Wednesday.  There are others--and I would say that they form the majority--who only come to find you because something you wrote touched them in some way.  They happen by your site and drop a line . . . but they don't keep coming back.

Except . . . don't we want them to keep coming back?

So that then begs the question, the very same one I had for SFBR's CEO: if I want to use a certain service, I need to understand the target audience.

It's the same for us as writers.  Who's your blog for?  Who's your target audience?  Who do you want to engage--and are those people you engage on, say, Monday, the same folks you engage on Thursday?  My guess is that you can't please everyone, and people cherry-pick.  As I've said before, I happen by a particular blog every week on the day that I know there will be information I think might be useful.  But that's all.  But if I were to offer, say, a free story on a certain day and do it reliably . . . would that increase my traffic?  Chances are good that, eventually, it would--and if a reader's read enough free fiction, he or she just might want to pony up to buy an actual novel.

I'm not suggesting that all we writers need to or can do that, but I think that a writer who provides an array of content--say, a story one day a week, advice another, a recipe a third--is one who understands a diversified market.

Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing from other writers out there, and bloggers, too: do you even think of a target audience?  If you do, do you think in terms of different audiences and different platforms for those audiences?

That Time Again

By Dan Haring

What's that you say? It's been 2014 for over a month? Already? Whoops. Well, better late than never, I guess. The last month has been a super busy one. We're down to the very last few shots on Rio 2, which comes out in April. It should be a good time, and if your kids liked the first one, they'll love this one too!


I've also been doing crazy lots of freelance graphic design-type stuff, so I really haven't had much time for writing. But I'm working on a MG graphic novel synopsis and am excited to get going on that. Hopefully the rest of 2014 will be as good as the first month has been. But for now, a few goals:

Read more, but don't ignore the kids to do so.

Put the phone down. Look around more.

Draw and write.

Enjoy every day.

I think that's about it. So far I'm doing all right. Hope you are too!

Inspiring: An Art Form In Itself

Writing is a recent (by recent, I mean no more than two-three years tops..) love of mine, but it is a strong one nonetheless. Before writing, it was photography. It was awful, my photography skills. I tried very hard, and I thought I loved it very much, but I was very bad at it. Though unaware of my lack for a creative eye, I did and still do admire and appreciate the art of photography. History seems to be commonly understood through writing; textbooks, novels, autobiographies.

 Now that I think about it, photos appear to capture not just history, but they evoke ideas and creativity and opinions. Photos inspire people, photos make them remember the exceptional and the tragic. I never thought of writing as an art; when I realized that, I was amazed. Dumbfounded, really. But when I look at certain pictures, the words that come to mind, they way they weave into sentences, that's when I see the real beauty in writing.

This right here if a photo of what many believe to be the Loch Ness monster, taken sometime during the 1930s. Recognize it? Thought so. This photo of a legend has created not only a following of believers, but countless books and films have been created due to the influence of this one photo. One photo, whether it is the truth or a farce, has changed people and those changed people continue to change others. It is all one big cycle that is fueled by fiction books, stuffed Nessie plushes, and novelty shoppes that encompass all of the Loch, so people the world over are aware that there may or may not be a mysterious creature dwelling on the bottom of a lake somewhere in Ireland. Cool, huh?

On a darker side, this is a photo from the dropping of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, Japan during World War II. The US was the first to use nuclear warfare, and this was the first time in 1945. I am not exactly sure of what scenes resonate in other peoples' minds, but I do certainly have a few in my mind.. The individuals who I have never met, nor am I sure they ever existed, flash through my head. I think of the people it saved, the lives of American soldiers, and possibly the rest of the world if power fell into the wrong hands. Then the people that died due to the explosion begin to flood my thoughts, all the people who had no idea it was coming.. 

Check this one out, it's happy. Yay for happy. People like to recreate this picture with their significant other because it is a classic symbol of love. A navy man kissing his lovely lady, how romantic. Gross, but the majority of the population is very much for public displays of affection. This and photos like it lets one get in touch with their soft side, if they have one. It's just a picture you say? Well, I bet you are just like me with my lack of understanding for the need of human contact, so it is completely fine for you to think so. 

The written word now seemed to be the most influential form of art, in my opinion. But I also believe that photography and paintings-drawing and the like, come in a close second. These pieces of art were not made to merely hang on a wall or sit in a library. They must be taken in completely by those who see the aspects that are below the surface. Those people who think and see and do. And 'those people' create others like them, believers out of the close-minded. Art is not the creations by man, but the feelings and affects of those creations on the world around them.

What inspires you, dear reader? Is it photos of people taking photos?  How about paintings of the sky with intricate colors and swirls? Your family and dear friends? Well, whatever provokes the cogs to turn within your mind, I hope it never ceases to yield beautiful thoughts to tug at your imagination. 

"There are some awful things in the world, it’s true, but there are also some great books. When I grow up I would like to write something that someone could read sitting on a bench on a day that isn’t all that warm and they could sit reading it and totally forget where they were or what time it was so that they were more inside the book than inside their own head." --Among Others by Jo Walton

Have a lovely Tuesday. (:

When the Wolf Comes

Sechin Tower

@SechinTower

Let me tell you about my disastrous December. One of my uncles died after a long, painful battle with cancer—the passing was a welcomed relief to him. Another uncle went to the hospital with sepsis following a surgery. A sister lost her apartment and had no place to go. My mother was scammed out of her entire life savings and was almost evicted. Obediently following Murphy’s Law, my car had a minor breakdown and my laundry machine burned out and filled the room with stinking smoke. (These mechanical troubles were certainly not emotional blows, but my bank account was already suffering after a month of disaster management.)

It never rains but it pours.

I’m sure we've all hit rough patches like that, where we wake up every morning wondering what fresh calamity awaits us that day. Eventually, I found myself becoming philosophical about the whole thing, and I took strength, as I often do, from literature and books.

This time around, I looked to Norse mythology. The Norse were a people who understood hard times, and they believed that even their gods were doomed to suffer and die. What’s more, their gods not only knew that they would eventually die but also the exact manner of their horrible, violent end. The carnage truly begins when Fenrir, the titanic wolf, appears in their hall to lead a pack of monsters to slay Thor, Odin, and all the rest.

Emil Doepler [PD US Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

For all their pessimism about mortal existence in an uncaring universe, the ancient storytellers did not advocate giving up. Rather than waste time bemoaning their fate, the Norse gods prepare themselves by seeking loopholes in the prophecy, training to respond to the conflict, and enjoying what they had while they had it. Even though they knew they couldn't win, they were ready to fight hard.

My own troubled December was no Ragnarok—in fact, considering all the wonderful people I still have in my life, it doesn't even qualify as a dress rehearsal. The wolf has not yet come for me, but his distant howling still prompted me to question a few of my assumptions. I realized that many of my priorities had been a little out of whack. It made selecting a New Year’s resolution easy: I’m resolved to remember that if something doesn't help my family/friends, my fellow human beings, my health, or my writing, then it simply doesn't matter.

By Seney Natural History Association (Female Gray Wolf) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Of these priorities, my gut tells me that the writing is the thing I neglected too much during 2013. It wasn't because I procrastinated, but rather was because I failed to fight hard enough to do what I believe I was put here to do. In 2014, I’m going to take inspiration from the Norse and fight the good fight.

I can't change the rules of mortality, but it is my privilege to defy it, even if only for a short time. Therefore, when the wolf comes, I’ll be waiting to hit him on the nose with at least one new novel. That’s my resolution for this year.

Be good, and dream crazy dreams,

Sechin Tower is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of Mad Science Institute. You can read more about him and his books on SechinTower.com, Facebook, or Twitter.

Procrastination At Its Finest

I REQUIRE ASSISTANCE.

Not really, but I do need to bust this bad habit I have developed with old age. I continued to put off everything I had set my mind to do for four solid months in a row. I have yet to touch my underdeveloped and mistreated novel in progress, started and never finished fifteen scholarship applications because I cannot face the fact that I graduate next year, and I have yet to open a non-school related book. A monster is the definition of what I have become, and I am wondering if there are any other beasts I can converse with over this matter. My dearest authors and beloved writers; how on earth do you stay motivated?

Well, a fire has officially been lit under my rear. I have recently been given an opportunity to possibly intern at a local newspaper, so I really need to kick it in gear. Plus, I have a darling mother who continually reminds me that "if you have a book published, I'm sure any college would love to pay for you to attend". Yes, I understand. Stop telling me. Please.

Is there a secret to this whole "being a successful writer" thing? As in I should start meditating and making sacrifices to the gods of literature; because I would totally slay a raven to honor Poe or fight to save John Coffey for the sake of Stephen King, maybe even create a man out of spare parts or take a journey to the center of the Earth. Is my lack of triumph in finishing something because my name is lame? That would make more sense than anything else honestly.

Or, I can blame school! Yes! That is the thing to do; blame the educational system for my troubles like a good student would do. I have been working awfully hard and all I have to show is a pathetic grade in Calculus and a thirty minute master piece in English. (What is that? Well, I'll have you know that I wrote a magnificent research paper in a little over half an hour. I received a perfect score on the AP grading scale. Horn tooting is over now...) Don't believe me? Check it out.

In all seriousness, I do not believe there is a secret. Immature and undisciplined, lacking the ability to create deadlines for myself. I do hope that trait begins to shine through in about a year or so... Either way, I have great respect for anyone how can finish writing anything at all. I barely finish my blog posts, and yet, I always manage to finish my pizza. In the near future, a way to combine writing and eating should be created. (No, restaurant reviewing is not what I am thinking of, but nice try.)

This is my year of finishing. This year I shall finish what I have started; including my brain-child "The Pond", at least a few scholarships, and even finish a work out because I know that is most definitely needed. Jordan should hold me to this, just like my mother; I want the book finished and ready to take to San Antonio this summer to pitch it. If it is not ready, I am not allowed to go. And I am not going to miss an opportunity to see the lovely Jordan Dane so expect great things come.

I hope everyone had a safe and pleasant holiday season, and if you did make a resolution or two, I hope you stick to 'em. (:

What A Reader's Looking For, And What They're Hiding From

I have very little writing experience, but what I do know is reading. After reading approximately two thousand-ish books, I have come to realize that my reading style has pattern; anything. Having a vast variety within reach, I do however stick to YA in place of my much beloved classics. Here is what I mean to provide authors, not exactly sure how it may be interpreted but hey, what turns an average teenager off from a book or series. However, do not write strictly for readers, you will never please everyone. You must tell your story, and all the clichés that you feel need to accompany it. But if you need a little, um, guidelines to making something worth while today.

Numero Uno, A stupid flipping love triangle. It is played out and unnecessary. Unless, of course, it consists of a girl, a fictional character, and food. But let's face it, that is an unlikely novel that I would very much enjoy reading. Off topic, my bad, seriously. Teenagers who read are typically amazing but not the type to be caught between too incredibly attractive supernatural beings, okay?

Secondly, can we stay away from vampires and werewolves for a little while? Now, I am speaking strictly of average werewolves and vampires. By average, I mean the teenage forms of the two that fall in love with whiny girls. Lycans, the creepy things from I Am Legend,  and other deviations of the two are acceptable and still draw intrigue, just maybe keep them out of high school. I sound like I am attacking a certain book series, but I swear I am not doing so intentionally.

Also, let's try some older settings. Trust me, I love post apocalyptic and alien worlds, but we should change things up. I am talking some teen friendly Games of Thrones type books. (Yes, we still read those books but it is frowned upon.) The time of kings and queens and dragons was fantastic, therefore it needs more glorification. By saying fantastic, I am aware I am forgetting the lack of hygiene, modern medicine, and running water... but those can overlooked.

Lastly, where are the cool parents? All the parents I know are pretty awesome. Okay, some are pretty awesome; some, not so much. I keep reading about parents who just do not parent. And they are boring. Parents can be good guys and not all kids hate their parents. I personally love my mommy and tell my friends about it to the point that they just ignore me. Beside the point, parents can have a positive impact on their children and children can recognize it.

Do I know anything, really? No. But, I think I might speak for others. Either way, this is what choir freak, nerd fighting, highly functioning sociopath wants. There must be more of us, so let's just agree upon my cries for variety. If you have any of these, or do not, in your story, that does not make it a bad story or an amazing story. You are the one who makes it; your characters that take form; first in your mind then on the page.

You Stay Classy, San Diego.

I'm a NaNoWriMo Loser (And That's Okay).

By Dan Haring

November is the month many exciting things happen. My wedding anniversary, birthdays for two of my kids, Thanksgiving, Movember, and more. But as a writer, one of the coolest things about November is NaNoWriMo, or for the acronym-averse among us, National Novel Writing Month. The idea is simple. Write 50,000 words during the month of November.

Notice I said the idea is simple.

The reality is much harder. Which is why of the three times I've attempted to "win" NaNoWriMo, I've never even gotten close. November is also, without fail, a month that piles up with busyness very easily. (Those things I listed above play a big part, except for Movember. That one pretty much takes care of itself.) So not only is it hard to find time to write with the normal full-time job and full-time family life, but all the extra stuff makes it near-impossible.

But still, each late October, in the midst of my Halloween happiness, I get the itch, the idea that THIS will be the year that I dominate NaNoWriMo. And that indomitable spirit usually carries me though a good week or two of November. And then I realize I've only written 2000 words total instead of the daily goal of ~1600. But it's okay, I tell myself, I'll just double up my word count for a few of the days and I'll be right back on track!

And it's usually just about this time that real life comes clomping over and reminds me of all the silly realities and details that I'm supposed to be dealing with, and inevitably my NaNo book falls by the wayside. 

But in the end, I'm really okay with the way things work out, for several reasons.

One is that it's a goal of mine, albeit one that I fail at all the time, to take advantage of the opportunities each day offers. Some days that means having a few uninterrupted hours to write at night. Other days it means that with time spent with kids and my wife, my writing time is minimal to nothing at all. But I'd rather my kids have memories of me spending time with them than of me hunched over the computer, grumbling to myself.

The other main reason is the goal of NaNoWriMo is to get you to write. Write a novel, sure, but write. That's the key. Right now I've averaged just under 500 words per day for the month. I wish it were more. I wish I'd been able to get closer to my goal. But I'm okay with it because I'm a lot closer to finishing this book than if I hadn't tried to do NaNo again.

And I think most people who tried and failed, like me, probably wrote way more than they would have without it. So wear your loser badge proudly. Because you're not a loser in the traditional sense. You're on your way to winning. you're on your way to finishing that book, even if it takes a little longer than 30 days.

PS Happy Thanksgiving!

Gateway Drugs and Pheonix Flames

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Notebooks are piling steadily by the foot of my bed, on and around my desk. Pens are scattered through out the house trailing inky stains of things I have imagined. I am inspired by a word, the word buried itself into my head and over time has bloomed into several words, a scene filled with roaring thunder, or perhaps a silent night filled with horrors of the dark. The idea has bloomed inside of my head and it grows like a weed, twisting and weaving it's way throughout my brain. I fall asleep to conversations of my characters and my dreams are filled with them racing across the pages I am trying to write as they embrace their destiny, their adventure filled fate.

Writing a new story is like wading through a storm at sea. It is so beautiful, entrancing and magical and yet you know that once you cross the line and swim towards the eye, once you write the very first line, the very first word you are lost. It is a dangerous thing falling in love with the story you write, it hurts you when you see everything they must go through to reach the end of the tale. Starting a book is the hardest part for me because I know I am going to fall, I am going to become ensnared by the conversations the characters have in the bleak midnight hours. I am going to become entrapped by the landscape and the haunting memories that are glaring at the horizon. But I don't care I swim towards the first page anyways. I know the risks, the dangers of having a love for something that is so consuming it feels raw and bright.

I think someone once called it passion. I am passionate about writing, it makes me feel good. It transforms me from a seventeen year old girl into a elvish warrior, or a robot. I can become a Greek God, or a witch. I have lived a thousand lives through reading and with writing I plan to live a thousand more. But it isn't just about escapism, writing to me is about the power of creating something. Creating something so incredible that you can feel every single word resonate within you.

As I begin to embark upon the new journey awaiting me I try to take a pause. I try to just live in the regular world doing regular things, but to be honest I am so much happier with my nose touching the notebook as I scribble out words that stream from my head to the paper. My eyes get crossed as I try to keep up with the way my pen is forming each letter. I love fictional things, I love the art of storytelling, the caress of each syllable of beauty and mystery against your eyes.

I love little things in every day life inspiring me. I love the leak in the bathroom sink by my room and the way it echoes into my head as I fall asleep creating the rhythmic beat against the ceramic. In my head instead of rational thoughts I can hear the heartbeat of Theo steady and clear. I can hear his youth, his vitality inside my head. Through the leaky faucet I can hear his unsteady laugh as he tries to diffuse a situation, I can hear his voice hoarse with anger and sleep when he awakens to news that rips through him.

I am inspired by the way the little boy down the street learns to ride his bike, never failing to climb back on once he has fallen. He ignores the scrapes and bruises that are forming on his knobbly knees with a goal in front of his eyes. I am inspired by that determination as I see flashes of a warrior ready to fight until not only the battle is over but the war has been won.

I love the world of possibilities that is resting at the turn of a page or the scribble of a pen. The hope that fills the chest of a child as they fall in love with a character for the first time, the giddiness that comes with happy endings and the heartache that is incredibly consuming when you reach the end of a book and there is no more.

Writing is like a gateway drug(1) to the impossible , it shows you things you didn't expect and makes you feel alive in ways you didn't know were possible. Like a Phoenix the passion of a story burns through you, turning you to ashes as you say goodbye to one tale but then bursting forth with a new flame as you see the beginnings of a new friend.

I write and write and write because a voyage filled with uncertainty and undiscovered territories are awaiting me to join them. I write because Theo needs to speak and because Simon is cranky in the mornings.

Hopefully soon I will get to share some of these adventures with you, but for now my muses are demanding my attention. I am off to embark upon a frightening, exciting time with characters that will surely steal bits and pieces of my heart.

LLAP,
Lexi Brady


1- Hugs not drugs. Or books not drugs. Just no drugs. :)

Think like a Writer

Sechin Tower

@SechinTower

In a recent post, I made an argument for including creative writing in school curricula. Here’s another advantage: everybody, regardless of their profession, can benefit from thinking like a writer.

I’m not saying that all students should aim to become novelists any more than a P.E. teacher would suggest that all the kids in her 5^th period class should set their sights NFL careers. Nor am I trying to argue that it’s the only proper way to think: people should never stop experimenting and weighing evidence like a scientist, or sequentially calculating results like a mathematician, or seeking causes and connections like a historian.

Creative writing isn’t the only window through which one should view the world, but it’s at least as valuable an approach as any other. Everybody can benefit from practicing the habits of mind required to be a writer.

For starters, writing demands knowledge. Anyone who’s ever written a novel will testify that stories are ravenous beasties that will gobble up everything you ever thought you knew and then come back for seconds. For any given piece, a writer might need to delve into the history of the French revolution, or current trends in emergency medicine, or Creole table manners, or the predictions to be tested by the CERN particle accelerator. You might even have to investigate all of the above—I’d love to read that book!

A writer must develop an insatiable curiosity about the little wonders all around us—the color of a sidewalk after a rainstorm, the texture of a dandelion leaf, the crooked finger on the bus driver’s right hand. Fully half of this knowledge will never be useful, but one never knows which half. “Write what you know” is absolutely true, and therefore you can never know enough. A writer must be a compulsive collector of ideas and experiences, and that’s a good way to live.

It’s not enough to simply observe and know, because a writer must weave all these things into something new. How does a treasure-hunting crew in the Caribbean navigate international banking laws? If a vacationing detective found his hotel room burglarized, whom would he call first? What effect would an electromagnetic pulse have on a cell phone? Failing to answer questions like that could result in phony characters and yawning gaps in the plot.

On top of all that, the story must form a cohesive whole inside a reader’s mind. This is one of the most challenging tasks in any profession, and it cannot be accomplished through sentences fragments or text-message contractions because the slightest bobble could break the reader out of the delicate cocoon of willing disbelief. Creative writing is more than just making up stories, it’s the science of how the human brain makes sense of the world and the art of structuring words to expand that sense.

In my class, the idea that creative writing is really about refining human experience and ideas usually doesn’t win over a lot of students right away, but that’s okay because we have a whole  semester for me to show what it mean. I start by giving them free rein to pick their topics, and for many of them this is a first. You didn’t like Holden’s view of the world in Catcher in the Rye? Okay, give me your view. Sick of writing essays about history? No problem, just make up your own history. Or your own future. Within a few weeks, one by one, they get sucked into their stories, and they start to find that they need to search out more from the world around them than they had ever needed to in the past.

It’s not as important to me that they become novelists as it is that they learn to think like writers. At least, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. 

Be good, and dream crazy dreams,

Sechin Tower is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of Mad Science Institute. You can read more about him and his books on SechinTower.com and his games on SiegeTowerGames.com

Requiem Of A Nightmare.

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There is a fever building inside of me. I can feel it building in my head, words rolling like an oncoming storm I can't run from. I force my eyes open to try to keep the flood of images assaulting my mind at bay to no avail. I don't want to see what I know is about to happen. I want to pretend that the words that have been penned down are forever and the end is just a nightmare I can't escape from.

The world of creativity is closing its once open doors to me until I give in to what the muses have thrown at me. I want to say no to them, but I know they are right. It is time to say goodbye to characters my heart holds so dearly. It is time to write their last words and imagine that once I am done their live will continue. I imagine grand-children and weddings. Car-wrecks and anniversarys. But not for me. For me it is time to part with my beloved friends. It is time I give them the freedom to run their own lives.

But it hurts. It hurts to say goodbye and end a story. I can see it so vividly though, the colors clashing violently with one another, the sounds that are fighting for dominion in my ears. I can feel the thick air of the last page trying to choke me with desperation and pleas for it not to be over.

It is a bittersweet romance with words I have found my self falling into. They caress my soul with the tenderest of touches, letting me know they are always their to comfort, and love me. But then towards the end of writing a novel the caress becomes a vice grip, a worry that I share. Is this about to be over? Must we say goodbye?

Someone once told me if you love something set it free. And maybe I am incredibly selfish but I find it ever so hard to do so. I want to crawl into the warm expanse of endless words and paragraphs and lay beneath the same sun my protagonist is seeing. But I don't. I am tell them this is the end. It is over for now.

Our entangled lives need to part so we can continue our journey. But an ache develops inside of my chest, how can I say it's over? How can I possibly bear to leave this magical world that holds such beauty?


I am not throwing our time together away, but rather cherishing the moments shared and knowing when to say goodbye. I will always love my characters and the adventures that brought us together whether it has been tears of laughter, rage or depression. We have made it through battles and fought together when the wind carried plot devices even I didn't realize was coming.

The nightmare is over, I have awakened and yet the requiem plays on. My journey with Voda has ended and through my tears I can somehow make out a new adventure resting just over the horizon.


LLAP,
Lexi Brady

Bye Bye Brady!

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Home is where the heart is, and my heart certainly resides with my incredible family. My mom has always been, is always, and always will be my best friend. the first person I turn to when I need support or even just a hug. She is the only one I want to pamper me when I am sick and most likely the only person who I can argue with for hours and at the end of the day laugh and giggle with one another like school kids. My mom is the type of person that will have a broken ankle and still be doing stuff that needs to be done. She is my role model if you will.

My dad is the person that motivates me. He pushes me to do better by expecting more out of me than anyone else which makes me work harder. He has the driest sense of humor (you would swear he was British) and the best cooking skills ever. My dad is the guy who will let me know when a plot is south bound or when I have begun to look sickly from a lack of the outside world (we all have been there at some point, don't try and deny it). He is a jokester, a friend, a confidant, and the best dad I could have ever wished for. Both of my sisters are artistic and bright and make me a happier person (generally, sometimes not so much in the morning though).

And recently as a family we made a HUGE decision! We have decided to move from Eureka Springs, Arkansas to Denver, Colorado! That is over 1,000 miles to trek across with our belongings.

Though my heart is with my family, I couldn't help but over the years I have lived in this incredible town lose a little of myself to the incredible atmosphere and people.

Eureka is a small town of only 2,000 people. Artistic people that love any excuse there is to throw a parade and dress up! The old Victorian town has been filled with colors and laughter of generations of families who have found their slice of heaven on earth in the Ozark mountains.

All of the old buildings are works of art in an d of themselves, fantastic stone work and hand etched windows line the shops of downtown Eureka Springs. The stars shine above the buildings peeking through the vast amount of trees that line our little windy town.

Eureka also happens to be home to the Crescent Hotel, the third most haunted hotel in North America. Creepy right? Built in 1886 it has been everything from a hospital, a bowling alley, a school, and now a hotel. It has gone through murders, fires, suicides and tragic accidents. And now people pay on a regular basis to have their weddings there. :)


I have made life long friends and made memories that are forever etched inside my head.

I have been eaten by vicious zombies ( also known s my little sister) amidst a zombie crawl.

Stunning scenery that lifts your spirit with the wind.

Halloween is never a boring sight. Colors and lights can be seen lighting up the night sky.

Eureka is a town fond of parades, and I am fond of the people in them.

Eureka! Means I found it, and for many people they have found their home. They have found a town that is all about expressing themselves. A town that celebrates creativity and being unique. Eureka to me is a place that will always make me smile, a place I know is enveloped in love and bright colors.

Eureka is the birthplace of most of my novel ideas, and my inspiration for a few of them. I am grateful to have called it my home for the past five years. But I am looking forward to filling my head with brand new memories I can carry with me wherever I go.


Hello Denver.

LLAP-
Until Next Time My Friends
Lexi Brady

Why We Need Creative Writing

Sechin Tower

@SechinTower

With each passing year, greater numbers of students arrive at Day One of my high school writing classes already questioning the value of what we do. Even in the honors classes, I’ve noticed a growing trend of students seemingly waiting to pounce on the moment when they can boldly declare how much they hate reading novels or how useless it is to practice writing.

“It’s fine for you,” a student told me just a few days ago. “You write books about robots and adventure and stuff, but I don’t care about that. I already write good enough. [sic] I’m not going to be a writer, so none of this will help me in real life.”

These doubts deserve honest analysis. What if novels and fiction and essays really have been made obsolete by video games and texts and Facebook posts? If these new media are the future of human communication, is it really worth students’ time and taxpayers’ dollars to teach them such outdated forms? Or even that it’s worth spelling “you” with three letters?

The answer can’t rest on mere tradition. Just because we’ve always done things this way doesn’t mean we always should. If that were the case, we’d still be boxing children’s ears every time they emerged from the coal mines before the end of their fourteen hour shifts. And it should also be noted that these students aren’t arguing for illiteracy, just that they’ve already learned the rudimentary mechanics of reading and writing, and they believe that’s enough. Why learn more?

Across this country, Teachers of literature frequently find themselves answering this question, and not just to students. They must explain to parents and school boards and legislators that literature is more than an idle pastime because it teaches us different perspectives from our past, present, and future. Furthermore, students who regularly read also score higher on every important exam, including those outside the humanities. Scientific research also confirms that reading challenging literature strengthens the brain.

I wholeheartedly agree with all those arguments, but I feel that there’s at least one more point that needs to be made in defense of writing, and specifically creative writing at that.

Naturally, reading and writing can’t be split apart any more than you could yank the north pole off the top of a magnet. They are Yin and Yang, and every author knows that to be a writer, one must also be a reader. But most classes still revolve around which books you’ve read and how much you remember about them. Maybe this is another artifact of past educational systems, or maybe it’s because English teachers are always passionate readers but not always passionate writers. Whatever the case, the skills of writing for different purposes, different audiences, and in different forms are all too often forgotten or assumed, and then teachers and professors are shocked when even graduate-level students struggle with structuring their essays, let alone with forms of writing other than the essay.

Writing takes practice, but even in our world of texts and emails it’s still worth taking the time to master some of the skills required to be better understood. We don’t have to write like Shakespeare, but we should have the power to express ourselves in writing so that others can understand us—or, at the very least, so that others won’t think we’re idiots.

Anyway, that’s what I’d like to tell the kid who thinks writing is a waste of time. I  know he’ll never read this (and I won’t assign anything I’ve ever written because it just seems too narcissistic), but as final proof of the power of the written word, far more people will hear my side of the argument because of this post than will ever hear his opinion. And if he disagrees, he’s more than welcome to leave a (written) comment on this post!

Be good, and dream crazy dreams,

Sechin Tower is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of Mad Science Institute. You can read more about him and his books on SechinTower.com and his games on SiegeTowerGames.com

A tribute to a dying laptop

Sechin Tower

@SechinTower

The heavy clouds seemed to weep God’s own tears as I turned on my netbook to discover that several keys no longer functioned.

This little laptop has been my constant companion for almost 5 years, and it was on this compute that I composed nearly all of Mad Science Institute, as well as the bulk of the Mad Science sequel and countless other writing projects.

A boson is a sub-atomic particle only detectable in powerful particle colliders. The desktop background of my Boson is a rendering of such a collision.

I called this laptop the “Boson” because of its minuscule size. With a mere 10” screen, it was perfect for wielding on the bus, which, given my day-job, is usually the most productive time of my day—and often the ONLY productive time of my day.

For 5 years, the Boson has been the R2 to my Luke, the Coulson to my Avengers, and the Rusty to my Soap. Its birthday would have been in November, when it would have retired to sail around the world on a yacht named the Live-4-Ever.

Like a trooper, the Boson has endured spills, crumbs, bumpy rides inside my bike’s saddle-pack, TSA X-rays, and even a few accidental drops to the carpet. Though all of that, it never complained or showed me a blue screen, and it stayed strong right to the end of my most recent major project, the Mad Science sequel, which was finally re-finalized at the beginning of this month.

Note the battle damage. This crack in the case was acquired in the first year, but never daunted the Boson for a nanosecond.

Within a few days of typing the last word and deciding I was happy with this version of the sequel, the Boson finally gave in to its accumulated wear. Several of the keys ceased functioning: namely the “V” (as in Very, Voraciously, Virtuous), as well as sometimes the “T” (as in Tower, Twain, and Tesla) and often the shift key (as in everything that’s capitalized).

Since its purchase, all major manufacturers have ceased to build netbooks of this size (tablets are now filling that niche), so my little companion will be difficult to replace.

I even considered keeping on with the Boson by copying-and-pasting those missing letters whenever I needed them, but the keyboard shotcut is shift-V, so that simply couldn’t work. Sadly, if the Boson were a horse, it would be time to load the rifle, take it out behind the barn, and then make up some lie about moving him to a distant pasture so the kids wouldn’t ball their eyes out.

Goodnight, sweet laptop. May flights of calculators sing thee to Silicon Heaven.

This post was the last piece I composed on the Boson. The Vs, Ts, and capital letters were edited in later with the assistance of my desktop computer.

Sechin Tower is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of Mad Science Institute. You can read more about him and his books on SechinTower.com and his games on SiegeTowerGames.com

A Few Thoughts on Storytelling

By Dan Haring

I'm lucky enough to work in animation and make movies for a living. It's a fantastic job and for the most part I love it. But one downfall about the part of the production I'm in is that by the time the shots reach my department, the story is more or less set in stone. I do lighting and compositing, which is basically the last step of the animation pipeline. So shots go through screenwriters and storyboard artists and animators and the director by the time they come to me, and my main two goals are 1: Make it look awesome and, 2: Make sure the storytelling comes through clearly. So I have an important part to play in the storytelling process, but I don't actually have any say in what's happening in the story. And that's fine. I'm not trying to complain. But I have to admit it's frustrating sometimes to be working on a shot that contains a joke or story elements that to me just don't work. But again, I'm not trying to complain. I will make that fart joke scene look as beautiful as possible, and I'll do it happily.

But that's one of the reasons I write and make my own stories. Not that I'm better than the professional screenwriters and storyboard artists that work on these movies, but because I can have the freedom to craft the story and lead it in the direction I want to go. When I was working at Disney, from time to time they would showcase different departments and what part they played in the film-making process. Being someone who loves writing and loves story, I was always really interested when it was the Story Department's turn to be highlighted. One time they gave out a packet of "Story Flashcards". I've kept them with me and once in awhile will read through them as a refresher to what some of the important elements of story are. It's interesting that these are universal ideas, not just meant for one form of storytelling or another. So I thought I'd share a few of them here.

I think most of the time the audience/reader is right there with the main character and what he/she thinks and wants. As we throw wrenches in those plans, the character is going to react a certain way, and hopefully the reader is able to feel at least a small part of that same emotion.

Your characters' true selves will be revealed by the choices they make. It's not about the game they talk, it's about what they do when they're up against a wall. And, as we know from Batman, this is true in real life too. (Batman is totally real life)


And finally,

This one goes hand in hand with the last one, and I know you've probably heard it a million times. But it's still relevant. Don't tell me that this character is smart/funny/good/bad/whatever, SHOW me. It, along with my love/hate relationship with adverbs, is something I struggle with. But it's always more effective to show what you want to say instead of just saying it. It's not going to be easier, but it will be better.

I hope these help a little. I know they have for me, and I'll keep revisiting them until I get them right.