Out of a Funk - a Newbie's Journey In Self Publishing

[Lex DeVille]

mmmmm....haven't written another word. I'm stuck, I don't know which way to go on my next book. I have a couple floating ideas but no real plot. I am not meeting my plan. I don't want to just write "something" I want it to be better than the last. I need a story. I need better character development. Well, that's where I'm at.

Hang in there and let your mind rest if you can.

It seems like every time I get stuck this really helps.

Many times I hit a point in the day where I say F*** it and know that I'm done.

After that point nothing good comes from my mind and I switch focus to more technical aspects like web design.

Basically anything I can do without thinking too much.

 

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[U.P. Author]

mmmmm....haven't written another word. I'm stuck, I don't know which way to go on my next book. I have a couple floating ideas but no real plot. I am not meeting my plan. I don't want to just write "something" I want it to be better than the last. I need a story. I need better character development. Well, that's where I'm at.

I sometimes have a hard time starting a chapter. I'll know where I want to go, but not exactly how to get there. So, I'll just skip the how to get there part and just start Writting the scene I want to get to. Then I go back and find that filling in the "how do I get there" is so much easier because I'm in a state of flow now.
As for character, I had a character toward the end of my last book that wasn't supposed to be much when I first introduced him. But, I felt like I should give him some kind of personality. So I took one of my favorite characters in a series I read, Lan Madragoran from the wheel of time series, and said, "How would Lan act if I put him here in this situation?" I loved that character so much that he's now central to the story. Maybe you could try something like that. Take a favorite character of yours from a book you've read and put him/her in a different situation. Have you ever wondered how Frodo Baggins would fare as a vice detective? Lol

 

[LisaK]

Hang in there and let your mind rest if you can.

It seems like every time I get stuck this really helps.

Many times I hit a point in the day where I say F*** it and know that I'm done.

After that point nothing good comes from my mind and I switch focus to more technical aspects like web design.

Basically anything I can do without thinking too much.

Oh my mind is resting alright. Well, actually I'm realizing..yet again that I rushed to publish and should have had at least one more edit. My friend who did the first edit took pity on me and is doing another for me right now. We are coming up with a better system for next time. Regardless, I'm getting some bad reviews do to errors which was something I didn't want to happen and honestly did think I had caught the issues overall. I blew it on this. NOVICE MISTAKES. So, now I'm just embarrassed. I'll get over it but I think it is one of the reasons I'm stuck. Blah blah blah. I am an impatient personality and this has not been a favorable trait regarding editing ...etc. Lesson learned. Edit by someone else, edit again by me and then...edit by someone else before publishing. I can't be trusted to catch the errors. I'm frustrated and annoyed with myself. 3300 free downloads with the error ridden version. I will correct for the future but all those others are out there and I'm sure I'll glean some more reviews about it that won't be positive. Live and learn. Learning.

On the bright side, I had 5 people sign up for my mailing list and one asked when my next book would be out. Hilarious! It does give me a little more accountability to get the next one done. I have been selling about 1-2 books per day. I have only had 1 paid return. I had 4 free downloads returned...what? I guess they didn't want it sitting in their library. I found it amusing.

 

[LisaK]

I sometimes have a hard time starting a chapter. I'll know where I want to go, but not exactly how to get there. So, I'll just skip the how to get there part and just start Writting the scene I want to get to. Then I go back and find that filling in the "how do I get there" is so much easier because I'm in a state of flow now.
As for character, I had a character toward the end of my last book that wasn't supposed to be much when I first introduced him. But, I felt like I should give him some kind of personality. So I took one of my favorite characters in a series I read, Lan Madragoran from the wheel of time series, and said, "How would Lan act if I put him here in this situation?" I loved that character so much that he's now central to the story. Maybe you could try something like that. Take a favorite character of yours from a book you've read and put him/her in a different situation. Have you ever wondered how Frodo Baggins would fare as a vice detective? Lol

I will try this. I'm having a hard time getting my angle for this next book. My original idea I feel was too bland so I'm trying t wrap in some better suspense and there was a blooming romance toward the end of the book that I had wanted to capitalize on. I don't know how to play it out. I don't wan to get too many things going on as far as the focus of the plot. It wasn't mean to be a romance although I had thought of a couple of angles to add that. I am just not sure it will go over well. I'll try to do some scenes like you suggest. I have a few in my head I could at least get them out.

 

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[LisaK]

I have set up a countdown for later this month. I'll let you know how it goes.



I feel your frustration. It was the same for me when I started book two. In the end I walked away from the keyboard and started jotting down ideas in a notebook. After a while I found a couple of characters and a plot that excited me.

Good luck, don't give up!

Thanks. Please do update after your promotion. I am very curious if the countdown is now the best way to go.

 

[COSenior]

I had 4 free downloads returned...what?

I've had that happen, too. Who knows what they're thinking?

I'm here to address the editing issue. One of the perils of self-editing (I know you didn't do this, but bear with me) is not only that you just don't see the errors after going over the book several times, but that you can actually introduce new ones if you do it after you've had a professional edit. Almost everyone has habitual errors that they don't realize are errors. For example, I've noted several times in your posts that you say 'do to' when it should be 'due to'. I'm sure I have similar quirks. So take care in that third pass.

Also, I don't recall what your friend's credentials are, but I've had the experience of someone going over my co-written books and introducing errors. So, you also can't NOT read it a third time. It's frustrating, and no one is going to catch all of the errors. Just put out the best product you can and move on.

However, if you are going to upload a corrected version, it might not hurt to answer those bad reviews (the only time I'd ever recommend this), apologize and ask them to re-download the new version. They may not do it, but maybe someone who's reading the reviews will know that it's been addressed. I've even known people to change their ratings for the better after a gesture like that.

 

[LisaK]

I've had that happen, too. Who knows what they're thinking?

I'm here to address the editing issue. One of the perils of self-editing (I know you didn't do this, but bear with me) is not only that you just don't see the errors after going over the book several times, but that you can actually introduce new ones if you do it after you've had a professional edit. Almost everyone has habitual errors that they don't realize are errors. For example, I've noted several times in your posts that you say 'do to' when it should be 'due to'. I'm sure I have similar quirks. So take care in that third pass.

Also, I don't recall what your friend's credentials are, but I've had the experience of someone going over my co-written books and introducing errors. So, you also can't NOT read it a third time. It's frustrating, and no one is going to catch all of the errors. Just put out the best product you can and move on.

However, if you are going to upload a corrected version, it might not hurt to answer those bad reviews (the only time I'd ever recommend this), apologize and ask them to re-download the new version. They may not do it, but maybe someone who's reading the reviews will know that it's been addressed. I've even known people to change their ratings for the better after a gesture like that.

OMG! "do to" that made me laugh. I had no idea I was doing that and when you wrote it out I was like, "Huh?" I know "due" what happened in there? (In my head)

My friend is an English Major with a teaching degree. We have figured out a better way to do the editing from here forward so it is not so time consuming. I had to do a big re-write after my first draft. It was some timeline issues and I had to move a lot of stuff around. I did not have her re-edit when I was done with that. I thought I could do it myself. I can't. That is all there is too it.

I did just reload the new version and I did make comments on two of the reviews thanking them and letting them know I had re-edited the book. I did not know they could re-download it so I will suggest that. I assume that is free since they already purchased it?

This has all been a good learning lesson. I went through my friend's edits and still, most of the errors were not giant, it was little stuff. I had capitalized after dialog when I shouldn't have. I still have comma issues. I'm apparently afraid to use them. I had a couple misspellings, "she sat on the coach" instead of couch. Ha, ha, ha.

I want to freak out. Instead, I'm attempting to have some humor about it. That will be a new journey for me. I am a very impatient person. If I can't do something perfectly or pretty competently from the get go I quit. I don't feel this is healthy and I need to learn to accept the process of learning and making mistakes. I hate criticism and I am very sensitive to it. I tend to beat myself up long after most people move on. I had to think long and hard about this step into writing. I knew it would be challenging for me to take criticism. So, I did my best to prepare for it a head of time. No one is usually perfect out of the gate on anything they are learning. There are some people, I suppose, who are Naturals. I have been a Natural at many things and I pursued those things with abandon because I had little criticism along the way. The problem with this is that I am pretty sure there is a wide color pallet out there of experiences that I have not allowed myself to explore due to my perfectionistic personality. I don't know if I will be successful in this endeavor. I want to learn to give myself permission to be imperfect, especially while learning a new skill. I need to learn to give some things a chance to build. I want things to happen, NOW! I want to be awesome NOW! My inner voice tells me, however, that this thinking is not realistic. I need to have realistic expectations. My current expectation is that my next book will be better than this one. I have to keep my head there or I will quit. I know me. This is not just about writing. It may sound weird but this is about a deeper issue for me and I'm sorting through that. Since this endeavor is challenging me to grow I do feel motivated to stick with it and see where the journey takes me. It may take me into a completely different Fastlane endeavor. I don't know. I do know I enjoy the support on this forum and I have a super opportunity to learn.

 

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[COSenior]

experiences that I have not allowed myself to explore due to my perfectionistic personality. I don't know if I will be successful in this endeavor. I want to learn to give myself permission to be imperfect, especially while learning a new skill. I need to learn to give some things a chance to build. I want things to happen, NOW! I want to be awesome NOW! My inner voice tells me, however, that this thinking is not realistic.

Oh, my dear, we have so much in common! I do hope you continue this journey, if for no other reason than to force yourself to give up perfectionism, which is neither healthy nor even possible. It sounds like you have an awesome resource in your friend.

 

[LisaK]

Ok...I am up to 4000 words. Started writing last night. I've had to contemplate the plot and direction of this book. It is all going a little different way then I first planned actually. I don't think I'll do a trilogy. I'll do this one. I don't know that I want to stay in this storyline for some personal reasons. Anyway, I did finally resolve in my mind the direction so I began writing last night. I anticipate this being a full novel. There are a number of elements happening so it will take that I think to hammer them all out properly. I'm a little afraid that the subject matter may narrow my readers...but then again...ghosts demons angels, they have all been out there in the contemporary market so I finally decided to just shut up (there's been a lot of self talk and stuff going on) and move forward. It will work or it won't. I have a story, I'm going to get it out. I'll probably have horrible writers block after this if I try to switch gears but that is for another day.

 

[splok]

One of the perils of self-editing (I know you didn't do this, but bear with me) is not only that you just don't see the errors after going over the book several times, but that you can actually introduce new ones if you do it after you've had a professional edit.

No idea if this would be helpful to anyone else as it sounds really painful to use on an actual book, but it's a trick that I use when proofreading things. Read it backwards, sentence by sentence. This forces you to do it slowly and look at each sentence in isolation of it's context.

 

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[COSenior]

it sounds really painful to use on an actual book,

Sounds like it! I don't think I'm that much of a perfectionist, lol.

 

[LisaK]

No idea if this would be helpful to anyone else as it sounds really painful to use on an actual book, but it's a trick that I use when proofreading things. Read it backwards, sentence by sentence. This forces you to do it slowly and look at each sentence in isolation of it's context.

Hmmm, that kind of makes me want to kill myself! (kidding, just kidding) You mean read it backwards from the end to the start?

 

[splok]

You mean read it backwards from the end to the start?

Ya, when you read things normally, especially things that you wrote yourself, you can accidentally skip over tons of errors because you already know what it's supposed to say. Reading it backwards rips you out of that mode, making it almost impossible to get into any sort of reading flow, and then it's much easier to see mistakes. Of course, it takes a while, and it isn't exactly pleasant. I haven't tried it on a book yet, but it works pretty well for papers that I've published (maybe 10-30 pages) when I can find the patience to do it.

 

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[Cannonball]

I had a couple misspellings, "she sat on the coach" instead of couch. Ha, ha, ha.

I did a last pass of my book, by putting it into Word and getting it to read the book to me. I think I read about this method here on the forum? It helped catch a lot of these mistakes.

I want to freak out. Instead, I'm attempting to have some humor about it. That will be a new journey for me. I am a very impatient person. If I can't do something perfectly or pretty competently from the get go I quit. I don't feel this is healthy and I need to learn to accept the process of learning and making mistakes. I hate criticism and I am very sensitive to it. I tend to beat myself up long after most people move on. I had to think long and hard about this step into writing. I knew it would be challenging for me to take criticism. So, I did my best to prepare for it a head of time. No one is usually perfect out of the gate on anything they are learning. There are some people, I suppose, who are Naturals. I have been a Natural at many things and I pursued those things with abandon because I had little criticism along the way. The problem with this is that I am pretty sure there is a wide color pallet out there of experiences that I have not allowed myself to explore due to my perfectionistic personality. I don't know if I will be successful in this endeavor. I want to learn to give myself permission to be imperfect, especially while learning a new skill. I need to learn to give some things a chance to build. I want things to happen, NOW! I want to be awesome NOW! My inner voice tells me, however, that this thinking is not realistic. I need to have realistic expectations. My current expectation is that my next book will be better than this one. I have to keep my head there or I will quit. I know me. This is not just about writing. It may sound weird but this is about a deeper issue for me and I'm sorting through that. Since this endeavor is challenging me to grow I do feel motivated to stick with it and see where the journey takes me. It may take me into a completely different Fastlane endeavor. I don't know. I do know I enjoy the support on this forum and I have a super opportunity to learn.

Hmm, I could have written that about myself. I wonder if this is a common thing with people who are drawn to writing?

 

[LisaK]

I did a last pass of my book, by putting it into Word and getting it to read the book to me. I think I read about this method here on the forum? It helped catch a lot of these mistakes.

I did no know word could read something back to me....how do you do that?!! that is interesting for sure.

Hmm, I could have written that about myself. I wonder if this is a common thing with people who are drawn to writing?

I'm seeing that too...it's good to know it may be a normal part of the process and not a reason to turn tail and run. I appreciate the support here on the forum. It has helped me cross a couple bridges I don't know that I would have crossed had I not had the encouragement from people who are going through the same process.

 

[LisaK]

I've sold 48 books in 19 days. I was selling at least a book a day until the last 3 days...zero. Hmmmm....not sure how to combat that. I've made half of my expenses back. I'm not sure if this is where I go into oblivion.

I am writing and I am doing some research for the book I'm writing so this is slowing me down a little, well maybe a lot. but I'm still writing. Maybe I should drop my price? Any ideas out there on marketing? I'm going to head over to the marketing thread and see.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I was on Kboards two days ago and saw someone else mentioning a slump in their sales.

It was mentioned in the same thread that sometimes this indicates less people buying as a whole.

The suggestion was that it wasn't just that one person's sales which were slacking.

I haven't sold any books in a few days either, so perhaps there is some truth to it.

Then again perhaps not.

 

[LisaK]

I was on Kboards two days ago and saw someone else mentioning a slump in their sales.

It was mentioned in the same thread that sometimes this indicates less people buying as a whole.

The suggestion was that it wasn't just that one person's sales which were slacking.

I haven't sold any books in a few days either, so perhaps there is some truth to it.

Then again perhaps not.

Hmmm, that is another angle. What is Kboards? In another thread @ChickenHawk suggested ..basically moving on with finishing the next book and not worrying about this book. I am 90% in agreement and the marketer in me wants to also know how to get the longest ride out of any of the books I write. If there are techniques that might do this...then we can all help each other get more bang for the book. That is all I'm thinking.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Kboards is a forum for Kindle readers & authors.

A good place to find suggestions, or even just comfort on this journey.

You can also promote your books, and put a ton of links in your signature.

 

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[LisaK]

Got stuck. Rearranged a chapter and began writing - 6500. I like my re'arrangement. I had accidentally painted myself in a corner and was having a hard time tying in my story lines and characters. I think this was the remedy. At least I was able to get a little further. I was stuck for days.

 

[LisaK]

Agh.....stuck again...

 

[Lex DeVille]

Agh.....stuck again...

What specifically are you stuck on?

Is it the flow of the story?

 

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[LisaK]

What specifically are you stuck on?

Is it the flow of the story?

What it is, well, I have a continued sort of plot with my characters but I left things open on the last book to maybe get some romance in there...and I've got that going on, plus...a basic plot line and a betrayal plot line and I'm not sure how to get from point a-c...The heroine has started ghost hunting so will now have "cases" but I don't want to get too much going on, but I can't just launch into the heavier "case" until I do a couple more little ones in ..well in my mind anyway...and the betrayal part is part of a deeper story so...I have to start it correctly. I did get on into a new chapter I'm not sure how I will tie it all together is all. I don't want it to be confusing but the people who are the "cases" will sort of come and go. I don't know what I'm doing...

 

[Thriftypreneur]

What it is, well, I have a continued sort of plot with my characters but I left things open on the last book to maybe get some romance in there...and I've got that going on, plus...a basic plot line and a betrayal plot line and I'm not sure how to get from point a-c...The heroine has started ghost hunting so will now have "cases" but I don't want to get too much going on, but I can't just launch into the heavier "case" until I do a couple more little ones in ..well in my mind anyway...and the betrayal part is part of a deeper story so...I have to start it correctly. I did get on into a new chapter I'm not sure how I will tie it all together is all. I don't want it to be confusing but the people who are the "cases" will sort of come and go. I don't know what I'm doing...

Don't be so hard on yourself. Just let yourself write without worry about everything being stellar and let whatever comes out come out.

 

[LisaK]

Hurray...break through! I'm at 10,600 words and I believe one big part of my story line is coming together. I am excited about the direction this part is going. It is the link to the main plot line so it is important and I believe it will be a good story and will drive into the later storyline. I've written a few thousand words since yesterday. At least there is forward movement.

 

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[LisaK]

12,000 words. The plot seems to be developing. I may have to rearrange some things later. I don't know how many simultaneous stories can go on at one time. I'm trying to keep the timelines straight and also not get into a "boring" pocket of connective strings. Anyway, writing away...

 

[COSenior]

If it's not too late for this advice, don't worry about little cases before the big one--no one else does. Even series featuring small-town sheriffs start out with a murder and keep going with one or two or more every book, in spite of the fact that small towns don't usually have many--at least the small towns I've lived in. Adding too much set up slows the book down, and you don't want that. Hope that simplifies your life.

 

[LisaK]

If it's not too late for this advice, don't worry about little cases before the big one--no one else does. Even series featuring small-town sheriffs start out with a murder and keep going with one or two or more every book, in spite of the fact that small towns don't usually have many--at least the small towns I've lived in. Adding too much set up slows the book down, and you don't want that. Hope that simplifies your life.

Thanks! That does make me feel better. I'm not sure if I'm getting bogged down. I have a couple "telling" their story to an investigator. I read in one book that it was ok to do that. What are your thoughts?

 

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[COSenior]

I don't see it as a problem if there's some back and forth and talking over each other--something to keep it from just being a long backstory monologue. Have the investigator interrupt to ask follow-up questions, etc.

 

[LisaK]

14,285...some progress.