Thursday 14 May 2015

It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish...

I'm so glad it's nearly the weekend. This week just seems to have dragged on and on and on...

Writing-wise, I've been super excited to start the outlines for both the sequel to Synthetica and a brand new fantasy series idea I'm currently toying with. Whenever I'm not at my computer, I keep imagining scenes for the fantasy series; I love that little flame of excitement that makes me want to rush home and get cracking.

And yet, when I do finally have the chance to sit down and write - I don't want to. The ideas are all in my head, but I'm finding it strangely tough to get them down on paper. Is it because I haven't actually written an outline in so long, I've forgotten how to start?

I think that I've forgotten the fact that an outline (as well as a first draft) isn't perfect - it's simply for throwing my ideas together and seeing if it works. I can always change it if I have to, that's the whole point. But I'm scared - I'm scared of it being a giant mess with nowhere to go. I know I just have to fight through the fear and get on with it, but I am finding it difficult to get started. And because I want to write but can't, I keep berating myself for not starting which I think puts me off writing even more.

Ah well, guess I'll just have to keep Sam Gamgee's wise words in mind:



In other news, I spent over an hour tonight emailing possible reviewers for Synthetica. The reviews I've had so far have been fantastic (a huge thank you to everyone who's left one/downloaded a copy of my book!), but I'm starting to realise that you can't really stop promoting in self-publishing. Synthetica definitely sells better when a new review goes up, but it's a bit of a catch-22: no one will buy the book if it doesn't have reviews, but because it doesn't have a lot of reviews, it's a slow burner when it comes to selling copies! I know I should've sorted all this out before I published it, but you live and learn :).

How's your writing going this week? If you've self-published a book, do you find reviews help your sales or not? Readers - would you review a self-published book? Why/why not?

14 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing! Great post. Personally, I'm always working on something at some stage (right now, I have an idea that's only a Pinterest board, an outlined story, a WIP about 45% written, and one in the edit stages), for two reasons: 1. because I have too much going on in my brain so I can't NOT and 2. so I stay fresh in all these stages.

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    1. Thanks, Anne Marie :)! Goodness me, that is a lot! I also suffer from the 'too much going on in my brain' syndrome - I like the idea of working on different ideas so they stay fresh, will have to remember that!

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  2. I used to do reviews, but no longer do, because I'm afraid I might not like the book. However, I am currently busy reading Synthetica and so far I am enjoying it. Hopefully I can post a review for you by next week. Don't worry, the writing will come. Wishing you the best.

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    1. Fair enough! Thank you so much for your lovely review :)!! I hope so - I guess I need to stop stressing and hopefully the words will flow better :)

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  3. I'm awful with outlines. I really wish I could make myself do them. Even when I've done one in the past, I end up going way off in a different direction than what the outline says.

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    1. I can't NOT plan my novels - otherwise they'd never get written! Synthetica did end up being different to the outline, but I'm glad I had it, just so I had a vague idea of where I wanted the story to go :)

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  4. Maybe you're not putting a plan down on paper because your mind knows you're missing something. :-)

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    1. Ooh, I never thought of that, Misha! You're probably right!

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  5. I've always struggled to find reviewers. Or the reviewers that do say yes, and are given a copy, never put the review up. I don't have very good luck with reviews!

    I tend to write my first outline (very loosely, because I don't really plan) as individual scenes on index cards, and then play around with the order on the floor, adding new stuff as needed. I don't know if that helps?

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    1. Ah no! That's sad :(. I've read about that method before - I did try it once, but now I tend to do it all on a spreadsheet instead. I tend to be quite a visual person though, so maybe putting it all out on index cards would help me more...thank you for the suggestion :)!

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  6. Congrats on your new beginnings.....

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