Writing Your Bliss

Right now I am in an enchanted place, and I want to share more of it with you, those who toil along with me in this writing gig.

The first presentation I ever gave about writing was, "Writing With Emotion."  It has now grown and been incorporated into my classes.

But that's not what I'm talking about here.

I'm not talking about how to write with passion, with emotion. 

I'm not talking about craft.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once offered this advice to a young student:

"You’ve got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner. This is especially true when you begin to write, when you have not yet developed the tricks of interesting people on paper, when you have none of the technique which it takes time to learn. When, in short, you have only your emotions to sell."

Selling your heart, your emotions, your passions.  That means being fearless and going where it sometimes hurts to go, digging deep where it sometimes hurts to dig, and fueling your fiction with this source that is deeper than coal or oil and more powerful than atomic energy, and the reason he gives is so that you can do what we all want to do--write something people are willing to spend money to read.

But I'm also not talking about why to write with emotion, with passion. 

I'm not talking about selling.

I'm talking about the creation, the work itself, the sitting down and doing of it.

And that starts quite simply, and yet, for too many of us, not obviously.

First, you have to identify your passion. 

Find that world--whether it is a physical location or a kind of magic or technology or a genre or a dream--that stirs you to the depth of your soul. 

Find that passion that excites you, and come up with a story that embraces it.

Create characters that deserve it.

Design a world that involves it. 

Make your writing a place that you can't wait to get to, that is worth it even when it's hard, that sizzles in you like fresh infatuation and forbidden love and ageless wonder.

Find your passion and write about it, and you will have created work that you love, and there is nothing more rewarding than that.

And when you do that, when you finally find that passion and delve into it, and when you learn your craft so that you can execute it with precision and yes, the passion it deserves—

You will have achieved the success of finding work that you love to do.

You will have found your bliss, and followed it, and lived it. 

In the words of Joseph Campbell:

"I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."   

And when you do that, you will have built your very best foundation for success that comes from publication, for if your work is infused with that kind of intensity, you will reach people, you will touch people, you will find your audience.

Come with me.  

Write your bliss.

A post about Self-Publishing with numbers.

This fabulous image came from here.

The numbers you need to be considered successful by the traditional publishing industry.

And a surprising view of small presses.

Check it out. She's one of the new agents on the block, and her blog is great.

Writers and their Superstitions

 [Source of image.]

Do you have any writing superstitions?

This article is one of the first in a series from a young writer just starting out.

I want some cool superstitions. Whenever anyone asks me, “So what’s your secret?” I want to be able to answer: “I drink two cups of lemon juice with lunch,” or “I channel the ancient godess Sekhmet over cereal,” or “I burn half of anything I write with incense.” At least that way, if measures prove fruitless, I’ll at least have confused a generation of authors.

Yes! That's me, exactly! I don't think I have any superstitions. (Thinks harder.) Can't think of any, but the idea of having them is so cool, and what great interview fodder.

But I do have preferences.  I have a preference for a fountain pen, and a preference for a certain shade of red ink for editing (which is not the shade I chose in that entry, I ended up going with plain RED from the same company and it's deliciously bloody).

But there is no superstitious "if I do this, this will happen" aspect to it.  It just makes editing more fun and anything that makes editing fun is a plus in my book.

Do you have any writing superstitions?

More cards! More walls! More office pr0n!

I stumbled across this article about home offices, home businesses, and it happened to be about people who put their work on the walls to inspire and organize.

This is not the Blake Snyder method by any means, no story structure or even story, because this is the office of the creator of Jars of Joy (a nifty gift idea).

And this wall belonging to a pr rep is what my wall would look like (and I'd like it!) if I weren't plotting on it.

Do your walls inspire you? Organize you? Are they full and busy or stark and clean?

What's your working style?

Money from the other side of the desk.

Yesterday we looked at money and writers. What about the other side of the desk?

What do editors make?

Follow that up with the question, how much does it cost to live in NYC?

"...making $123,000 a year would buy you the same standard of living as someone who makes $50,000 in Houston, Texas, according to the New York Daily News."

But since we don't have to actually live there and pay the price, it's fun to daydream and this site will help:    New York City Apartments

 photo source

Because dreaming, like writing, is free.

What Everybody Really Wants to Know--MONEY

Today's subject--money, writing for it, earning it, watching it ebb and flow, not getting rich fast enough.

Kameron Hurley writes: When I got my offer for GOD’S WAR, I was woefully ignorant of exactly how many copies I needed to sell to earn back my advance, or how to track those numbers. Every writer’s situation is different, so it’s hard to glean any data from other folks online – even the few who are willing to talk about it. Looking back, it would have been smart to simply ask my publisher or my agent directly, but nobody likes to look like a n00b… So there was a lot of worry and gnashing of teeth. And discusses frankly watching to see if her advance earned out, and what that would mean to her career. This is good information, people. Read it.

And then Psychology Today chimes in, also the source of today's image (above). Write for the money. Really? Well, let's see what they have to say.

Honestly, I have to write from that place of passion, but I couldn't and wouldn't bother if I weren't deeply positive that once I'd done so, I would reap millions of readers and the money that comes along with it.  That's when I'm writing.

Dealing with reality comes later.

Carry on! Write!

Mastering your domain...

[source of image, more good info here]

In classes I've advised students to secure their own domain name--preferably the name under which they want to publish--as soon as possible. There is no need to develop a site until you have a book to market, but having the domain ready is certainly a big step in the right direction.

Duolit is a great site with information for those who are self-publishing. But even if you are going the traditional route you'll find lots of information there, including these three articles:

Better Author Branding Through Domain Registration: Part One

Better Author Branding Through Domain Registration: Part Two

I Registered My Domain: Now What?

Great information in detail, clear and easy to follow.

I've been contemplating a remake of my own site for a year or longer, but can't make up my mind what kinds of changes I want to make.

Do you have any author sites you particularly like visually? For the content? For another reason? What are they?

Do you feel lucky, punk?

Sometimes I decide to put writing content on my other blog that could go either place. This is one of those days. So, here is a hint of what is waiting for you when I talk about the pros and cons of self-publishing.

See ya there!

Jim Hines Addresses the Great Myths of Getting Published

I mentioned this survey in classes last night and this morning, and here it is.

In February of 2010, I began collecting information from professionally published novelists.  My goal was to learn how writers broke in and made that first big novel deal, and to use actual data to confirm or bust some of the myths about making it as a novelist.

The results of his survey are here.

A new one in the sidebar

I love to read about process, which means I frequently love reading writing blogs that talk about process. Especially when they are blogs of successful and prolific writers who somehow manage to meet deadlines and have a life.

So I'm adding some of those to the sidebar.

Today, Elizabeth Bear's blog gets added, specifically, those entries that she has tagged "a writer at work."  Enjoy, and maybe even learn.