Wherein Marsha Ward (the founder of American Night Writers Association) and a few of her friends blogged about Life, the Universe, and their place in the World of Writing and Publishing. This blog is now dormant.
by Marsha Ward @MarshaWardmarshaward.com Month after month I've been forgetting my turn to post. That's a crying shame, because, yanno, the blog is named after me, sorta, kinda. I'm the founder of ANWA, and I blog with a few of my friends. Maybe I'm burning out. I've been writing a white-hot streak of fiction for several months, and often find myself with no words of wisdom to share at the end of the day. I've produced ten (10!!!) projects this year, including a brand new short story that was released last Friday. Scandalous: An Owen Family Story is my first venture into the exclusive program at Kindle called Select.
You can find Scandalouson Amazon for purchase, or read it free if you subscribe to KindleUnlimited. Here's the blurb: Young Julianna Owen didn’t think flirting with Parley Morgan at the barn raising would lead him to put his hands where they ought not to be. But worse yet, her sister discovers them and Parley abandons her, running off into the woods. Julianna’s strict father has found where she is hiding, and her world on the Colorado frontier is crashing down around her ears. She thought love and romance was only about going on picnics and holding hands, not rough kisses and hurtful pawing.
Now the consequences of her actions might be beyond what she can bear.
In the 1860s Owen Family universe, Scandalous shines a light on teen hormones run amok during a trying time in the family’s story, as it ties up a loose thread from the novel, Spinster’s Folly.
This edition contains bonus material at the end, an excerpt from the Shenandoah Neighbors story, Bloodied Leather.
~~~
I've also been going-going-going this year and I have three more places to go before year's end: The ANWA Writers Conference, where I'm doing a two-hour presentation; an epic road trip to the Northwest, and the Mesa Book Festival. Maybe I can relax during the Christmas holiday? That's not likely.
I'm just hanging on and hoping to be more consistent with my blogging turn here. So, I certainly will try to be here in two weeks.
The
first step to getting a book published is to write it. Here's an
encouraging excerpt about that from my new book for writers, The Checklist: Indie Publishing My Way.
The
essential step in publishing a book is writing it. Yeah. That. This
step will take however long it does, but the sooner you develop habits
that help you move forward—without an internal editor on your shoulder
to make you write, rewrite, polish, and re-polish Chapter 1—the better.
It doesn't matter whether or not you own the most popular writer's
software out there, or if you write your 1st draft using Word, Open
Office, Pages, or Notepad. The point is to push through and finish the
draft, because you can't publish a book that isn't finished.
On
my checklist, I allow two to three months for writing. Sometimes I hit
it, and sometimes I don't, Because Life. Happens. Did I mention that I
have a condition known as ADHD? That's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder. A great many creative people—or Creatives, for short—suffer
from this malady in its various forms. The condition is difficult to
deal with, but all challenges can be overcome (or so I keep telling
myself).
Here's a Truth that you must remember: every writer
writes differently. In other words, there is no One True Way to write.
Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that their method for writing is the only method of writing.
The
corollary to the Truth is that every writer may write each book
differently. Okay, I don't want to scare you or introduce unneeded
stress into your life, so I won't say much more about that. Just realize
that you may need to write a second book using a different method. No
stressing about it, okay? Just get this book finished.
Writers
write using methods that string along a spectrum that ranges from
Plotter at one end to Pantser at the other. Where you may fall on this
spectrum (and it probably will shift from time to time and book to book)
depends on how your brain is wired. Plotters feel a compulsion to know
everything that will happen in a book, so they plot it out, using
outlines of varying degrees of exactitude and comprehensiveness.
Pantsers (the name comes from the term
"writing-by-the-seat-of-your-pants") are also called organic or
discovery writers. They want to write the story and discover what
happens as their fingers work on the keyboard. You'd be surprised how
many top authors are Pantsers. Really surprised.
Pantsers often
are stymied by complete outlines. For example, if I write so little as a
synopsis of a book, my brain says, "Well, look there, you've written
the story. You don't need me anymore," and it shuts down and refuses to
cooperate with me in writing a first draft.
There is so much
danger in this state of affairs that I cannot plot out a book. I can
only figure out who the main character is, a vague estimate of where the
book could end, and maybe a couple or three things I hope will happen
along the way. I usually know when and where the story will be set, and
maybe what the "inciting incident" or "change in the character's life"
is. Beyond that, I have to let my mind direct my fingers when I write.
The process is really kind of cool.
That doesn't mean it's your process. It's mine. And it can change. Slightly.
Different
books I've written have called for different degrees of foreknowledge,
so I have ranged a bit from the Pantser end toward the Plotter end, but
never so much that my brain turned off.
Go with what works for you in writing your book, but do go forward.
The Checklist: Indie Publishing My Way is now available for only $4.99 on the sites of all major ebook vendors:
by Marsha Ward @MarshaWard I'm running as fast as I can, but I feel like I'm always a step behind where I should be. Perhaps I'm judging myself harshly, but I lost precious writing days earlier in the year due to bad weather and power outages, which put me behind schedule for producing new work. That caused me to give in to anxiety, which of course put me further behind in my production schedule. I'm trying to catch back up, but the days have been lost, and putting more pressure on myself could cause another period of anxiety-driven down time, which can't be good. Unless I'm supposed to stop being so busy and be still.
Maybe I need to explore that concept?
I haven't worked out how being still will aid my publishing schedule, except in the realm of being still and knowing that God is, and that He loves me and is mindful of me. That is always a great comfort.
Two weeks ago I revealed the cover of my new book, From Julia's Kitchen: Owen Family Cookery, which was published last Friday. I'm now working to finish and format the manuscript of another book, a nonfiction Indie Publishing guide, so I can release it soon. I've been agonizing over a cover for that book. I just couldn't find anything that suited it. Then I decided to throw off fear and make the cover myself.
Perhaps that will work. I hope so! Yes, I'm fluffier than the chick on the cover, but that's how I'd like readers to think I look. I can dream, right?
I won't give you a date for the release, but if God be willing and the creek don't rise any higher (literally), it will be soon. I have more story ideas than I have time to write them, so wish me luck, good weather, and lots of energy so I can get them all written and published.
by Marsha Ward @MarshaWard Early next month I’ll publish an exciting new project: From Julia’s Kitchen: Owen Family Cookery. This ebook contains Julia Owen’s prized recipes, plus a note on each recipe telling about it.
Of course the idea that a fictional character has collected recipes, or “receipts,” as they were sometimes known in those days, is pure fiction, but the recipes are real. Sign up for my Readers mailing list below to get the first notice of the release of From Julia’s Kitchen, right in your inbox.
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