Work in Progress Update

I recently finished writing the first draft of my Work in Progress. At the moment it's over 150,000 words, and is currently being edited by my wife - a self-professed "Grammar Nazi" who volunteered for the job. She's hoping to be done with it by this week, after which I'll  go through and double check it myself.

Here is a basic summary of the plot:

In the mountains of Calambria, the dwarf tribes have disappeared, and merchants have been expelled. Two are assigned to investigate this mystery: Edmund, a human from the Order of Magi, who are gifted with the ability to utilize the elements; and Diane, an elf from the Sisterhood of Dagger Maidens, who excel in close combat. As they attempt to uncover what has happened, they discover betrayal and secrets not only from outside the continent, but from within as well. Soon they uncover a plot with dangers that will go well beyond the mountains.

After I get done with the editing, I intend to follow the next guideline:

1. Come up with a title for the dang thing (currently working on this while the editing is going on).
2. Send the polished draft to beta readers for further opinions and changes.
3. Design the cover art for Kindle and print.
4. Publish!

My goal is to publish within the beginning of March.

I hope to discuss and explain this further in future blog posts. Please let me know in the comment section if you have any other questions or comments.

Using a Writer's Journal

"I have about five or six random doodles right here."

Do you use a writer's journal or notebook when you're planning a book or a series? Or even just for random ideas?

I asked this question on Twitter some time ago, and pinned it on my page to see if I could garner some responses. Some people said they just kept everything in their head. Others said that they definitely did, and filled it with various ideas that came to mind. I was originally the former, since I was pretty good at remembering things. Usually I would make a single document with a list of characters, important places, and a synopsis of where my story was going. I didn't start writing until the synopsis was all figured out, though I permitted myself improvisation or adding things to the story as characters and plot elements developed.

Over time, I began to wonder if there would be some benefit in a writer's journal. Finally, I stopped by CVS Pharmacy on the way home from work and bought a $4 pocket journal (because there was no way I was spending $50 on one of Barnes & Nobles' journals). I started jotting down world building ideas, and facts about my current fantasy Work-in-Progress (still unnamed at the time of this writing). I was just collecting ideas, but soon I found that I was enjoying this. I started doodling animals and creatures in my world, and creating maps to help better plan where my characters would go, and what cities or peoples they would encounter. I started sharing them on Twitter, and had people faving, retweeting, and commenting on them. I shared my doodles and notes with my wife, and received feedback from her regarding them.

What I found was my writer's journal became a nice little database to collect ideas that popped in my head or quotes I heard. It also became a pocket sized reference source that I could turn to in my story if I needed to remember a place name or the name of someone important in my world's history. It likewise encouraged me to think more on my world and how it functioned, and what it's history was like. If I had time before work, or I was sitting somewhere bored, I took out my journal and began to jot down any ideas that came to my mind. It got to the point where my journal joined my wallet, keys, and cell phone in the prestigious "I feel naked leaving the house without this" group. It has become a part of my writing which makes it fun and engaging.

Don't worry - I'm in no way saying you aren't a "real writer" unless you use a writer's journal. If you're like some of the people who replied to tweet and you like to just keep things in your head, that's absolutely fine. To paraphrase a Reese's commercial: there's no wrong way to plan your story.

Yes, I write 1-star reviews (and here's why)

I had an interesting experience last week on Twitter, after I shared some links to a 1-star review I had written on Amazon. This led to sharing other 1-star reviews, and soon all the people with whom I was speaking said something to the affect of, "Whoa, dude! I do not want you reading my books!" I think they were half-kidding...but half-kidding also means they were half-serious. Some people on Twitter became downright terrified of me because I had written some 1-star reviews. And not only that, but I had written detailed 1-star reviews, outlining everything I found wrong with the book. People were worried that I would find their book, find every tiny flaw in the style of the Cinema Sins YouTube series, and tear their book apart.

So yes, I confess that sometimes I write 1-star reviews. Now let me expand on that...

Let's first establish that if you read most of my reviews (especially if you've also read the books I've reviewed), I think you'll find I'm actually pretty gracious. When I read a book, even if it's in a genre I'm not particularly fond of (eg., romance), I ask myself this one question: "Is the author doing a good job in their role?" So take the example of the romance author. Are the characters likable? Can I relate to them as people? Do I care what happens to the characters? Is the description understandable? Is the plot interesting rather than tired and cliche? Do I want to finish the story? Even if I don't like the romance genre, if a romance author has fulfilled all this, then they can probably expect at least a 4-star rating from me.

I think part of the problem today is that so many people react with extremes. They didn't like something? Automatic 1-star! They sort of liked something? Automatic 5-stars! No one seems to think, "Alright, even if I didn't like this, it has some merit"; or alternatively, "Alright, I thought this was nice, but there were a few flaws." So, if you receive a 1-star review from me, it's because your book has reached a level where I personally do not believe it is even ready for the market. Which means yes, I really truly do believe your book deserves a single star rating. I try to reserve 1-stars for what I believe would be a complete waste of time for the average reader.

If I do write a 1-star review, do I make it thorough? Yes, I do. However, that's because I don't believe in writing negative reviews that amount to, "This sucks. The End." If I offer someone constructive criticism, I let them know my reasons for said criticism. The best professors I had in college were the ones who could look at my work and say, "You're bad at this. Don't do this as much. You're good at this. Hone in on this.", etc. I try to do that for authors, whether I like their work or don't particularly care for it, because I believe it is only respectful that, if you disagree with someone or believe their work has flaws, you attempt to explain to them why you feel that way.

But this also brings up a much larger problem within the Indie Publishing community, which is review fishing. That is, writing positive reviews in the hopes of getting positive reviews back. One might even lump in here writing positive reviews for friends just to help them out. While this isn't true across the board, some people think they are entitled to highly rated reviews. Keep in mind here that I am not saying if you like someone you shouldn't review their work. If you have a good friend and they wrote a book, go ahead and review it! The problem is when we begin to say, "OK, I'll write a positive review not necessarily because the book itself was good, but to give them a higher rating and make others think it's good." That's where our intentions become flawed.

And on this subject, I have a bit of a horror story...

Several years ago, I played a game entitled The Movies. It was somewhat inspired by The Sims, except here you could make your own movie studio and design your own movies from a collection of pre-made scenes. What was really cool was you could upload your movies to the game designer's website and get other people to watch, rate, and review them. One such person I had met on The Movies forum came to me and asked me to rate his film. I watched it, and I liked it. It wasn't a Kurosawa successor, but I thought it was alright, so I gave it 4-stars. When the guy saw it, he lost his mind! He contacted me on IM, and berated me for not giving him a full 5-stars. He claimed that his film "deserved it" and that I was an a--hole. When I apologized for upsetting him, I received a curt "Whatever" and was blocked.

Obviously this was over a silly computer game, but people can be like this about their written work. Some people go ballistic over negative reviews. Even more saddening is that there have been recorded instances where an author who has received a negative review from another author will gather up his buddies and go spam that other author's books with negative reviews. Yes, you read that right - some people do revenge reviewing. This instills a level of fear in some authors (and I'll admit, this thought has crossed my mind a few times) that if they write negative reviews, people will be out to get them. Perhaps there's even a fear that, if you review one author's work negatively, you may get backlash in the community and become the black sheep.

Brothers and sisters, things ought not to be this way.

When we review, we should review honestly. If you really did like the book, then fine and dandy. If you didn't like the book, you're entitled to your opinion. If you write a positive review just for entitlement, or to keep a good name for yourself, then you're being dishonest to potential readers. If you review one of my books, don't give me 4-stars or 5-stars because you think you're doing me a favor or you think I now owe you something. Give me 5-stars, 4-stars, 3-stars, 2-stars, or 1-star because you think my work deserves that score. Let other readers know if this book is worth their time and money. We should treat all authors equally.

And please, if you get a 4-star review, treat it as a good thing.