Moving On, Not Giving Up

A little over a week ago I got my second rejection for "A Reason for Evil." I truly believe the agent gave my novel as much consideration as any other project she receives. Her reply was probably a form letter she sends to everyone she rejects (I know that's how I would do it. I hate having to think up a good way to say something bad). Still, there was something in the letter that really made me consider. She said, "I'm just not enthusiastic enough about the premise of your story...." After reding this I realized that I wasn't enthusiastic about the premise of my story either. I was sending the novel out to agents to get practiced in doing so, but I didn't really expect the novel to get published. I don't really love the story. While the experience is good, and there is a chance the book could get picked up I've decided to stop sending the book out to agents. Why would I want them to publish something of mine that I don't love? It would be a waste of everyone's time. My first novel did a wonderful thing for me: It showed me I could write. It has served its purpose. Now it is time for it to be put into the file drawer while I work on more exciting tales. I'm not giving up on it. I'm just moving on to something better.

Losing Your Computer Hurts

So, I was regaining my writing habit (though I have yet to be as dedicated as I was at the beginning of 2009), when my laptop broke. It was nothing major, a loose jack, but the end result was that when the battery ran out it couldn't be recharged. So we sent it away for repair (free of charge do to blessed warranties). This effectively killed my writing habit. I had hoped to write while at work, but that time was dedicated to actually working, so that didn't happen (which I am sure makes the people who cut me checks happy).

During that time I did buy a brand new notebook. I have had a story in mind since about 2001. I tried to write in beginning in 2002 on several different occasions, but none of them panned out. I eventually gave it up to wait until I had written some other things. During this time I also re-conceptualized the book into a tv show and a movie, fleshing it out a little more, mostly in my mind. I decided that I would take the time without my laptop to rework this story even more, filling in the names of countries, people, religions. The new notebook is dedicated to this.

This is actually a change for me. I usually make stuff up as I go. However, having a reference guide for my world and having to invent nothing (or next to nothing) mid-writing is definitely appealing. I don't plan on starting this book anytime soon. I have received my laptop back and have too many other projects already started. However, it will be nice to know that when I am ready to write it, it will be ready to be written. Plus, by then, I'll have some more experience and it will be better than if I started writing it now.

Finding Ideas

For a while now I've been longing for an idea book, a place to write down my wonderful ideas. I've had notebooks, notepads, spare scraps of paper, and a whole lot more for the past ten years. Notebooks and pads always seemed to be used for whatever I need them for. They're also inconvenient to carry with me all the time which means I won't have them when I want them, and I'll have to hope I still remember my idea later when I get back to my notebook.

The problems with scraps of paper is obvious.

so, I needed an idea book and I finally got one! It's a leather bound book that is no larger than my hand. The inside pages are grid paper, but that doesn't bother me. It has a ribbon book mark to keep my current place, and an elastic band to keep it closed. It fits nicely in my pocket and it is now one of three must have items when I leave the house, along with my keys and wallet.

The greatest feature of this little book is that it works! It write down ideas and I get more ideas. I'm usually not a fan of writing things down (it weakens the memory), but spending brain power remembering an idea for months (or years) until I can put it into effect is taxing. Now I write down the ideas as they occur to me and I have brain power to spare creating new ones.

It's almost like a dream journal. If you write down what you dream, you'll soon find it easier to remember your dreams. If I write down my ideas, I get more of them.

Maybe someday you'll see the results of the book.

Keeping on Track

It's important for me as a writer to stick with it. The longer breaks I take between writing on a book, the harder it is for me to find the voice of the book again. I hate missing a day. I usually penalize myself by writing twice as much the next day. Unfortunately, being sick also has an effect. It makes the mind sluggish, dull, lifeless. I'm not against writing when I'm sick, but it often drains the motivation so that I don't write.

I won't say that I've been sick for a week now, because I'm not sure that I have. I do know that I haven't felt well (on and off) for a week now. My writing has suffered as a result. Today I am getting back on the horse. It is time to recover my novel.

I need to keep writing so I have something worth updating soon.

Getting an education

I had a teacher once, Ph.D. in psychology, who told me that the undergraduate program in psychology didn't effectively prepare students for graduate work and future careers in the field. They are constantly changing the undergraduate program to make that statement less true. At the time, he believed that the English program did more to prepare psychology students for future study (granted psychology students would still need to take a few core courses).

I can see his point. English majors read a lot of books. Books about people. Then what do they do? They write papers about the books about people. They analyze them. They try and guess their motives, understand the significance of a character's actions, find the symbolism that must lurk in all things. (I used to believe that symbolism wasn't in everything. I have since corrected that belief to: symbolism isn't purposefully in everything, but good writing will have symbols throughout. They tie the prose together).

It's a great training ground for future clinicians. You don't even have to worry about confidentiality clauses. English majors as clinicians.

It made me ponder the other day, and I realized that maybe my career training (two degrees in psychology) has better prepared me to write fiction than it has to be a psychologist. I have studied how people learn, how people are motivated, how they think. I've learned about humans as social animals, humans with disorders, humans as individuals. Psychology, the study of what makes a human human.

It could mean that I can write better characters, whose actions and inactions are more realistic. I can write about what people will do in situations, because I understand the psychology of what people do in various situations.

At the same time...do I really need a degree to be able to do that? I've lived for almost three decades among humans, only 1/5th of that getting my degrees. It seems that sheer experience more than anything would qualify me to be able to write about the idiosyncrasies of man.

Who knows...but it is something consider: If you want to be a writer, study psychology.

A Matter of Pacing

I was writing this last week when I encountered a serious problem. The story was happening too fast. I had reached a big point 35 pages into the first draft. Now let me clarify: big events early on are okay, but only if they are the right event. Not this event. This event meant I was on pace to end the book at 75-80 pages. That's pretty bad for a book that is supposed to hit 200 pages.

Pacing is a pretty important element in books, and one that the reader notices, but doesn't think about. Each event is given the appropriate amount of time to develop. That way big events have the impact, and little events don't drag on, boring us to tears.

Good pacing doesn't mean a book is a page-turner either. I've found some books that were enjoyable to read, but also easy to put down. The pacing was good, but not necessarily compelling. And that's fine.

Anyway, I'm just pontificating. Pacing isn't something you can plan correctly. You just have to know. Did I get here to fast? Did I get here to slow? So when I got to one of my big events at page 35 I knew the pacing was all off. It came too fast for anyone to care. I had no time for the characters to develop. I had to put on the breaks. I went back and put in a new "Chapter 2", pushing back all my other chapters. This added several pages to the story and I have a new "Chapter 4" waiting in the works as well, which will push the event farther back.

The way I have it planned now is that the event will hit at about page 60 instead of page 35. That puts me on pace for a book that's going closer to 130-150 pages. That's still shorter than my goal, but it's much closer to what I want it to be.

Title Contest

As previously mentioned, I am not good at creating titles. About a week ago I changed the name of my first book from "Basein" to "Brothers' Journey." Not a real good improvement. The title bothered me. It worked at me. I spent way too much time thinking about it. Then, as soon as I decided to put the title up for recommendations, I stumbled upon what I feel is a great title.

However, I am still going to open a contest to name the book. If I like you're title more than the my own, it goes on the book. If it gets published with that title, you get a big fat acknowledgment in the book somewhere. I'll even give you a signed copy recognizing your service.

To help I am publishing a synopsis of the book. Copyright Brendan Rowlands 2009

SYNOPSIS

In the fantasy world Basein most people follow the god Aloi, founder of Basein. Hidden in the shadows are the followers of Damascus, the dark god. Shorn is a high-ranking member of their order who was raised in isolation by a Damascan father. Although he is a decent man, he has never been exposed to anything except the doctrines of Damascus. He truly believes that by following them he will make the world a better place, even if he has to commit some distasteful acts along the way. What are a few dead men if it saves the souls of the entire world?

This serves him until he befriends Sephin, a follower of Aloi. His worldview is put in danger when he is forced to kidnap and torture Sephin. His friend holds the key to finding Palthion, Damascus’s greatest enemy. Can Sephin protect Palthion’s whereabouts? Will Shorn destroy his friend in the name of a better world?

Complimenting this story is the tale of three brothers Palthion sends to rescue Sephin. Unbeknownst to them, they are being set up by Palthion to become heroes, because he has his own secret that would change Shorn’s plans. The stress of the journey soon has the brothers fighting each other. They need to learn to trust and protect each other in order to accomplish their goal.

END SYNOPSIS

Also, I want to know: Does the synopsis make you want to read the book?

Post comments and thanks for the feedback.

Why Writing Seems More Important than My Family (but isn't)

Writing is communication. I was not the first to say this, but I said it best. I was also not the first to say it best (see "Elements of Style" by Strunk and White). This means that writing is similar to conversation, another form of communication. The major difference is that conversation entails back and forth communication between two or more people, a mutual exchange of information. Narrative writing is one person giving information to another person, no reply expected.

Conversations are generally fairly rapid. In my mind this can be for two reasons: we are well practiced and we can immediately clarify any misunderstanding. There may be other reasons, but theses are the most salient to me. Writing, is generally slower. It takes much longer to write a book than it takes to read one. This is because people are not as practiced at writing as they are at conversation. Also, you rarely have the opportunity to clarify misunderstandings when you write. The words have to be perfect the first time.

What does this have to do with my family? I will often spend hours a night writing fiction. During that time I am not very attentive to my family. What this means is that I spend more time on my writing than on my family. Based on allocation of time, my writing may appear more important than my family, but that is not the case. I am practiced at communicating with my family. I can spend less time trying to find the right words, because of how familiar I am with my family. The time difference is due to practice. I don't need to spend as much time with my family as I do with my writing to make it right.

A lot of you are shaking your heads in dismay. No, this does not excuse me to spend less time with my family. If anything, I should be cautious about my well-seasoned communication skills. We all should. We take for granted our ability to communicate and converse that we often don't do it well enough. If we spent a little extra time thinking about what we said, before we said it, there would be less miscommunication and all the problems associated with it. I should spend more time with my family, making sure that my communication is everything it should be and nothing it should not be both in quality and quantity.

Would I have upset you, dear reader, if I had thought before posting today?

Basein Changes to Brothers' Journey

When I embarked on a writing career I knew that certain milestones were inevitable. Beginning the first novel that is never finished and beginning the first novel that is. Ending the first novel. Editing the first novel. I have passed all of these, along with several minor markers along the way.

Today I reached another one. I received my first rejection letter. I sent out a polite query to an agency and after several weeks of waiting I received an equally polite e-mail declaring their disinterest in my project.

It hurt for about one minute. I had to remind myself in that minute that the most I had been hoping for was an invitation to submit a manuscript, realizing that even that would be an achievement. The manuscript is nowhere near ready to be sold.

The bright side of the matter was that it reminded me of why I am writing: because I want to make a career out of it. If I am going to do so, today's rejection will be the first of many. If I want to succeed I need to improve my query letters, improve my novels, and never give up.

I came home and decided to pick up Basein again for the first time since changes were made. I have finally given it chapters (you're welcome mom) and it is now composed of a prologue, epilogue, and 47 chapters stretching over 310 pages. I like small chapters. They're easy to read. I also added page numbers and a title page.

While I was adding the title page I decided a change in title was in order. "Basein" didn't accurately reflect the nature of the story. The world is not the story. I pondered and I couldn't find anything that I was excited about. In the end I settled on "Brother's Journey." This will probably change during the next rewrite, especially if I find a particularly salient phrase in the text that will serve the title role.

I didn't touch the text except for a few cosmetic changes that I noticed as I was scrolling through the pages to find chapter divisions.

For those of you who have been waiting for these changes to read my book your wait is over.

Moon Shadows Prologue

So, as is my custom I am posting the prologue to the book I am currently working on here.

Enjoy.

They came from the cities, the fields, the forests, the mountains. They did not follow the moon or the sun. They did navigate the stars, would not have if they knew how. They used roads only as long as the roads were moving in the same direction they were travelling. They did not know where they were going, but they walked in the direction they were called.
The journey would take some of them weeks to complete, as they came from farther away. Even the closest took days to reach the journey’s end. They did not stop to eat or to drink or to sleep. They were sustained by something beyond them so that they were not troubled by bodily concerns.
In the moment, they could not say why they were doing travelling. Afterwards, they would not remember doing so. They gathered because they had to gather.
A small trickle of individuals became a stream, which eventually joined other streams, until these joined together to form a nation; they arrived at the same time in the same place.
They gathered together away from the eyes of the world in a place that history had forgotten.
Under the light of day they told the history of their people in a dead language. Under the light of the moon they sang songs forgotten by the rest of the world. They celebrated their lives. They danced and became themselves. Then they became more than themselves. They became the essence of their people. They became free. They became shadows in front of the moon.

First post of 2010!

Well, I'm not sure why I am writing this blog post. This blog should have died with 2009, but I find myself unable to resist updating here occasionally.

Let's start with November and the Nanowrimo challenge. I failed! 10,000 words and then life caught up with me. It might have helped to have a computer at home, but I don't know for sure. November was a busy month. I did learn that I didn't like writing as fast as I was writing (I was putting out 2000 words a day). I wouldn't mind putting out that many words a day, if I had all day to do it. That is, if writing was my day job.

We got a new computer for Christmas, which makes it much easier for me to maintain my writing habit. I tried on several attempts to revitalize my work in progress "Soul Mating" (formerly known as Progression). However, the multiple starts and stops have made me unenthusiastic about the project. I don't remember what I've written so I have to reread each time I go back to it, and the inertia is gone. I've officially placed it in a coma (it's not dead yet) and moved on to a new book.

This book has the working title "Moon Shadows." Trina's not a fan of the title. Neither am I, but it gives me something to refer to the project by, and it makes me laugh at the same time. I have no idea what this book is about. Well, correction. I have an idea, but it's a small one. And it's got me excited. I can't go into the details here, but it was an idea I've had since high school. However, the idea is just a background. A puzzle to be solved. I have no idea who my characters are, my world, or how to solve the problem. I'm just writing it, and letting these things show up as they become necessary. I'm sure the first draft will be ridiculously bad, but I'm enjoying the writing again.

And that's what I'm writing.