An Old Dog & The New Rules of Writing
I recently fell out from under the spell of Black Ops when I had an epiphany about it treating me like a lab rat. Yes, I was playing too much lately when I should have been writing. Alas, my creative juices, confidence and motivation were just not there for me over the past few months. All was not in vain though, Black Ops did get me to restart this blog. Black Ops did get me writing again.
I updated to the latest version of OpenOffice and I found a couple of interesting novel and story writing templates for OO Writer which I will blog about in more detail another time. I modified the templates to suit my needs using Internet resources to brush up on the latest publishing requirements only to discover that things have changed quite a bit over the last several years. Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!
Courier used to be font du jour. Double spacing after a period the norm. You underlined words in your manuscript that are meant to be in italics in final print… There are more but you get the picture.
The whole double space thing after a period is a pain in the ass for me to get used to. See? Even now I had to go back and remove that extra space from these last two sentences. With technology advancing so fast, faster than our humanity, change is to be expected these days. The most important change for the aspiring writer? We no longer have to dream about being accepted by a publishing house who would trustingly spend enough money advertising us to the appropriate niche and then, hopefully, be accepted by said niche. Anis Shivani said it best in his Huffington Post article, New Rules For Writers: Ignore Publicity, Shun Crowds, Refuse Recognition And More.
Why take part in the game at all? Who has ever come out of it alive, able to set up tent and build followers on the other side? Why not accept the reality that writers aren’t forged in social harmony and peer input and obedient fellowship, but in a region where madmen and insomniacs find no comfort? ~ Anis Shivani
A region where madmen and insomniacs find no comfort. Reading his article filled me with renewed hope. It speaks to the rebellious nature deep inside of me. Fuck the gatekeepers, Mr. Shivani says. Fuck the gatekeepers. It was liberating to read. The writing industry, like all other industries, has suffered from the maladies of stagnation, insiders only, and status-quo for ages now. I’m amazed that J.K Rowling was discovered at all while Stephanie Meyers “discovery” does not surprise me one bit. For decades the people manning the entertainment gates of success have been telling the public what they should be reading and watching, never caring about their customers enough to ask them what they want (can you tell I’m still quite miffed over the cancellation of Firefly?) Thanks to the Internet and this little nudge from Mr. Shivani I am encouraged to go directly to the source. I no longer dream of that Random House acceptance letter but of the day when people post here to tell me that they have read my book on Kindle or iTunes and enjoyed it. I will take that praise and I will look away from it. I will wallow in my self-doubt and fear of failing at my chosen art form but I will continue to write. I will continue to write. Not for you. Not for me. Not for fame. Not for fortune. I will continue to write for the story.
But I digress. So what does all this mean to you and I during the actual writing process?
Well for one you’re gonna have to spend the next few days going through all the crap you’ve written so far and remove all those pesky extra spaces and replace all the underlined words with actual italics. Who knows? You may find something long forgotten that’s worth rehashing. From now on when you write you have to remember that the end result will most likely not be printed, so many of the old writing conventions do not matter anymore. Unless you have a dear friend willing to partake the drudgery of editing with you, you will be the only one fishing through your manuscript for errors. I’ll be keeping the Courier type and the double spaces in between lines as this just makes editing far more easier on the eyes. When the time comes to get the manuscript ready for digital publishing, after the traditional editing process for plot, grammar and spelling, I will make a copy and then edit for digital aesthetics. And hopefully I will learn things along this journey and share them with the people kind enough to spend a little of their time reading my ramblings here.
Posted on March 10, 2011, in Productive Pondering, Writing and tagged Double Spaces, Editing, Italics, OpenOffice, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
I often forget about the 2 spaces after a period too. I think all of these changes in the pub industry are exciting. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blathering. Yes it is very exciting, I feel very energized lately.
I love it! I still do the two space thing and I suppose I have a few other habits that I’ll end up hanging onto, but I have found it liberating to not have to worry so much about these things. Just write and deal with everything else later has become my mantra of sorts. I loved the article and I’m glad you were able to step away from Black Ops long enough to write it.
Thank you, Eric. Been enjoying perusing your blog all morning.
This is…wonderful. I recently subscribed to Kristen Lamb’s blog, and it’s been intimidating to listen to someone tell me what to do and what not to do, how to write and how not to write; that is, how to be successful. It’s all useful and helpful, but deeply overwhelming. Shivani’s article is just where I needed to be directed. Thank you.
There is an incredible relief in the words “Fuck the gatekeepers.” Some stories are simply meant to be told. Those who will listen will learn, and those who won’t will lose.
Kristen Lamb is a nice lady but you have to remember, she’s selling you something. She has a point about using social media to your advantage but, as a writer, you have to find balance; a balance that is tilted more towards your craft than to socializing. Anything that bogs down your time and keeps you from writing-keeps you from writing.
Most writers are introverts by nature, they don’t have pools of friends. They reside in a region where madmen and insomniacs find no comfort (to quote the article again). Successful writers have stables of friends I’m sure, but such things come easy with success.
Of course I’m bias, networking always seemed like far too much work, time and money for the achievement of fake friends, something I’ve had far too much of in life. 6 months ago I went through my Facebook account and deleted all the people on my “friends” list I did not know, you know all those folk that send you random invitations cause they saw you on someone else’s list. There’s like 5 people on it now and I’m not sure how I know those 5! They shouldn’t call it a “friends” list they should call it an “acquaintance” list.
All in all, not being chained to that publishers acceptance letter is a good thing. It will make writing an honest art form again. We can write for the story again, not for the editor, publisher, or political correctness. We still have to edit for success, if that’s something we want. We still have to listen to our target audience and give them what they need. Difference is now we can hear directly from them what they want and not from some publishing executive who believes he knows what they want.
I hear what you’re saying. In terms of selling something though…I tend to think that all of us writers are selling something…our stories. At the very least, we want to get to the point where we are selling something. And it’s not even about money. I know I want others to read my writing. That’s part of why I write, to share my stories. In a way, that is selling something. Does that make sense?
When I was younger, they sold me a “Media Course” for 10k. They were gonna teach me how to use the latest audio/video equipment and get me a job in the field. In the end I got no job and ended up spending about 5k more building my home studio, off of which I learned more than what they taught me.
As a fiction writer I’m not selling anyone promises or services, just a few moments of entertainment. I can’t lie to or “persuade” a potential fan and say “you need this” because, quite frankly, he/she doesn’t need it.
I am in no way accusing Ms. Lamb of any of these things, she’s offering a service that some people may need and want. But she is selling something that she needs to persuade people they need. Whether they do or not is completely arbitrary. I’m sure she has some sound advice and is worth the read.
A few years ago I was bordering 200lbs so I decided to go on a diet. I read up on every diet there is, looked into every weight loss pill there was, even tried a few. In the end I ended up just counting my calories and working out on a daily basis.
Sometimes it’s as simple as a Nike commercial. “Just Do It”.
I meant selling in the sense that I do want someone to read my stories and eventually buy my book (when I have one published). To some extent, I will be persuading others that my book is great. The pitch to the agent or publisher, the query. Etc. Not like selling a tv or flying shoes or something but I will have to draw a reader in. Of course, a writer can’t disguise poor quality writing. It will show through.
It’s true though that not all advice works for everyone. I don’t think anyone can offer a do-it-all system for every writer. There are too many variables and, in the end, you just gotta write.
“You just gotta write.” That pretty much nails it.