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35 y.o. fantasy/sci-fi enthusiast & gov. worker in Norway

NickVGreen

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Hey there,

My name's Nick (Nicholas Vikør Green) and my reason for aiming for the fastlane is to not have to make the same choice as my mother with regards to working more hours/spending less time with my kids (when I have them) in order to afford a good lifestyle. I also don't want to be a hypocrite, telling any offspring that they can be whatever they work towards while I myself simply did what was the norm.

I currently work in what could almost be called a slowlane ideal: I work for the Norwegian government, which in thirty so years (probably a few more with future pension regulations) will entitle me to a yearly pension of 60% of my top income. My job security is just about as secure as it can get, even if I were to do something stupid enough to lose my security clearance. Along with 28 days vacation a year and other benefits (such as year-long paternity leave at 80% salary), it's a comfortable cage that can really numb the senses.

Yet, I shiver and feel lost when I think of it as something to do day-in-day-out for the rest of my pre-retired life.

As for fastlaning, there is two exceptions to my analysis paralysis: authoring and teaching.

My default is to day dream and think up stories, characters, relationships, and events, such as the mother searching for her children in a post-apocalyptic landscape while guided by a corrupting angel or the bullying victim who in the course of his trials must choose between saving his community (family, bullies, and all) or leaving them to die in search for a better life for himself.

In a CENTS perspective, I am on the line of C and E with this strategy.
C) Amazon seems the most viable market for selling indie fiction, which reduces my control over my income (though I could move away from there and still own the product and sell it elsewhere).
E) Anyone can, hypothetically, write fiction and sell it on Amazon, resulting in a low barrier to entry. However, I believe I either have or can develop the skills to be a very good writer, particularly fantasy, due to how I can set myself into my imagination and how I can describe what I sense there, as well as my empathy skill when imagining characters and their motivations. My skill level should be able to compensate for the relatively low barrier to entry.

I also enjoy teaching, helping others improve their competencies and their understanding of subjects and people. I like helping people help themselves. Whether I could/should do this on its own or through fiction authoring is unclear.

Currently, I'm working my way through Chris Fox's non-fiction as his write-to-market strategy is congruent with the N - need aspect of fastlaning. I am also reading through books concerning motivation and habit-building, with some concern that I am reading my way to busyness rather than business.

Cheers!

- Nick
 
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Sheens

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Welcome to the forum Nick!

It will be great to watch your fastlane idea progress! Having your current position pay bills and give you a comfortable lifestyle is a great position to be in to support your goals! It may also allow analysis paralysis to go on and on..and on, so hoping that you begin immediately!
 

Jonathan Hoch

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Hey there,

My name's Nick (Nicholas Vikør Green) and my reason for aiming for the fastlane is to not have to make the same choice as my mother with regards to working more hours/spending less time with my kids (when I have them) in order to afford a good lifestyle. I also don't want to be a hypocrite, telling any offspring that they can be whatever they work towards while I myself simply did what was the norm.

I currently work in what could almost be called a slowlane ideal: I work for the Norwegian government, which in thirty so years (probably a few more with future pension regulations) will entitle me to a yearly pension of 60% of my top income. My job security is just about as secure as it can get, even if I were to do something stupid enough to lose my security clearance. Along with 28 days vacation a year and other benefits (such as year-long paternity leave at 80% salary), it's a comfortable cage that can really numb the senses.

Yet, I shiver and feel lost when I think of it as something to do day-in-day-out for the rest of my pre-retired life.

As for fastlaning, there is two exceptions to my analysis paralysis: authoring and teaching.

My default is to day dream and think up stories, characters, relationships, and events, such as the mother searching for her children in a post-apocalyptic landscape while guided by a corrupting angel or the bullying victim who in the course of his trials must choose between saving his community (family, bullies, and all) or leaving them to die in search for a better life for himself.

In a CENTS perspective, I am on the line of C and E with this strategy.
C) Amazon seems the most viable market for selling indie fiction, which reduces my control over my income (though I could move away from there and still own the product and sell it elsewhere).
E) Anyone can, hypothetically, write fiction and sell it on Amazon, resulting in a low barrier to entry. However, I believe I either have or can develop the skills to be a very good writer, particularly fantasy, due to how I can set myself into my imagination and how I can describe what I sense there, as well as my empathy skill when imagining characters and their motivations. My skill level should be able to compensate for the relatively low barrier to entry.

I also enjoy teaching, helping others improve their competencies and their understanding of subjects and people. I like helping people help themselves. Whether I could/should do this on its own or through fiction authoring is unclear.

Currently, I'm working my way through Chris Fox's non-fiction as his write-to-market strategy is congruent with the N - need aspect of fastlaning. I am also reading through books concerning motivation and habit-building, with some concern that I am reading my way to busyness rather than business.

Cheers!

- Nick
Hi Nick,

I’ve read a few books recently in regards to fiction writing, and they all have had a recurring theme: building an audience/fan base is almost as important as being able to write the books.

There are so many books that fly under the radar, from the overwhelming quantity available. It’s always scary to buy a book that has no ratings, because you want to spend your hard earned cash on well deserved quality.

With that being said, have you already taken steps towards building an audience?

A good couple of books to read/listen to, are “the hero’s 2 journeys” by Michael hauge and Christopher vogler, and “creating character arcs” by k.m. Weiland.

The first book breaks down THE DEFINITIVE way to tell a story, and is worth a million bucks if you ask me.

The second book covers numerous styles of character arc. 3 positive arcs, 3 flat arcs, and 3 negative arcs.

I’m cheering for you now, before you get famous!

Ps. I don’t know if you are into horror, but r/nosleep is a great place for amateur horror.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Welcome Nick!

I’ve read a few books recently in regards to fiction writing, and they all have had a recurring theme: building an audience/fan base is almost as important as being able to write the books.

True for non-fiction. My books are more popular than average because of this forum.
 
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rogue synthetic

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My default is to day dream and think up stories, characters, relationships, and events

What's stopping you from doing this now?

(I'm asking out of curiosity, not to scold.)

Welcome!

About having a platform: Here is an interesting telling of how E. L. James built Fifty Shades of Gray into a billion-dollar franchise: Fifty Shades of Grey, the viral myth, and the truth about how things get popular

Outliers are outliers, of course, but there are some lessons in there.
 

NickVGreen

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What's stopping you from doing this now?

(I'm asking out of curiosity, not to scold.)

Welcome!

About having a platform: Here is an interesting telling of how E. L. James built Fifty Shades of Gray into a billion-dollar franchise: Fifty Shades of Grey, the viral myth, and the truth about how things get popular

Outliers are outliers, of course, but there are some lessons in there.

The only thing stopping me is, well, me.

The more detailed answer would be my script. I have so far been well-suited for directed work, where there is a clear "do this to get that done" (school work, tech support). Once I have the directed work under control, then I open myself up to seeing and initiating expansions on that work. I have a built-in distrust of doing my own thing without a clear foundation of support/sense of mastery, as well as a low tolerance for risk and a worry of shame. There is also the inertia of not doing something and the fear of success (that success will dismantle the foundation of my fears and my understanding of my life for so many years).

In essence, I stop myself with my mind games.

Thank you for the article link! It speaks to the issue of establishing an audience, the patience that may be (and is often) required for success, and the importance of providing value to your audience.
 

NickVGreen

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Jan 22, 2019
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Hi Nick,

I’ve read a few books recently in regards to fiction writing, and they all have had a recurring theme: building an audience/fan base is almost as important as being able to write the books.

There are so many books that fly under the radar, from the overwhelming quantity available. It’s always scary to buy a book that has no ratings, because you want to spend your hard earned cash on well deserved quality.

With that being said, have you already taken steps towards building an audience?

A good couple of books to read/listen to, are “the hero’s 2 journeys” by Michael hauge and Christopher vogler, and “creating character arcs” by k.m. Weiland.

The first book breaks down THE DEFINITIVE way to tell a story, and is worth a million bucks if you ask me.

The second book covers numerous styles of character arc. 3 positive arcs, 3 flat arcs, and 3 negative arcs.

I’m cheering for you now, before you get famous!

Ps. I don’t know if you are into horror, but r/nosleep is a great place for amateur horror.

Heya Jonathan!

Thanks for the tips and recommendations as well as the cheers! ^_^ I'll be checking out those books.

I am just starting now with taking steps building an audience/fan base. I think I understand the importance of providing value to the audience before having any expectation that they will buy anything. I've been a fan of Gary Vaynerchuk's "jab, jab, jab, right hook" mentality, that you have to convince the audience/market by providing actual value freely to them (and even then, you cannot expect all or even the majority of them to buy your product afterwards).

So far I'm leaning toward setting up at website and writing regular short fiction on it. rogue synthetic's article link to E. L. James and how she built up an audience through participation on FanFiction.net is also something I'm taking into consideration. Reddit, as you point out, is also worth checking (r/nosleep sounds like a good place to try out some attempts at horror). As I am leaning into fantasy/science fiction and I play roleplaying games, I think providing RPG-type material for what I write could also be handy.

I've got plenty of work ahead of me! :-D
 
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NickVGreen

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Jan 22, 2019
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Welcome to the forum Nick!

It will be great to watch your fastlane idea progress! Having your current position pay bills and give you a comfortable lifestyle is a great position to be in to support your goals! It may also allow analysis paralysis to go on and on..and on, so hoping that you begin immediately!
Thanks Sheens!

I've started with daily dictation/writing practice to build a habit, which I can then direct toward writing deliberately. So I have begun with the first steps. :)
 

Jonathan Hoch

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Nosleep is especially fun because there is a rule that everythingbisbto be taken as true. But it poses the challenge that you have to write in deep POV, as they are supposed to be first hand accounts.

I wrote the start of a series, but have too many fires in thing to keep hot. The skill set is highly suggested to learn, because it makes story telling for sales, that much more potent.

I think you have a good idea as far as fan fiction shorts. Once you get a bit of a fan base, you could try a “choose your own adventure,” giving your audience some involvement with the stories. I did this on a marketing forum last year in a lounge sub forum, using keywords to infuse into the stories.

It was a ton of fun, and you give people a commitment to come back and consume more of your writing!
 
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