Advice For A Budding Writer

Recently I received an email from an aspiring writer who had just read one of my eBooks. The writer asked if I had any advice for a budding writer. It led me to think about my writing career and how I got to where I am now.
I wrote my first short when I was in junior high school and somehow or another, it got into the hands of one of the girls in my 7th grade class. She, in her infinite wisdom, read it in front of the class...I didn't write again for almost thirty years.
In 1989, while struggling through a turbulent period in which I felt my life both personally and professionally falling apart (I have since learned I displayed all the behaviors of PTSD) I decided to write a novel dealing with my Vietnam experiences (that novel, ELEPHANT VALLEY, is now available through Smashwords.com, B&N Nook Books and the Kindle Store). Unfortunately, I had not a single clue about what GOOD writing was, but I wrote it anyway. For the next few years I wrote feverishly (and quite badly) completing two more novels and numerous short stories. One of my novels, THE WAR WITHIN, took second place in a literary contest and I made my first ever money as a writer ($1500.00) which I immediately wasted by working with a predator agent (I told you I knew nothing about writing...let alone about the business of writing) who charged me a $2.00 per page reading/editing fee (She told me it because I was unpublished). This bad experience led to me turning my back on any serious writing for another eleven years. In 2000 I attended my 35th class reunion and guess who confronted me saying "Why aren't we seeing any books by you in the bookstores?" yup, the same ones who embarrassed me into my thirty year long funk. This time however, I asked myself the same question.
I was going to fire up the word processor, only this time determined to do things differently. To make a long story short, I started to attend writing seminars (many at the Barnes & Noble Store in Manchester, NH) where I started to build a network of relationships with published authors. This led me to joining MWA and from there I was invited to start a writer group with several established editors and published writers (all female I might add). As a result of what those ladies taught me, I was able to offer the following advice to the aspiring author:

1. Foremost: Get into a writer group. However, don’t join one unless all the members have a goal of being published. It does you no good if the feedback you get is from friends and family, they’ll love everything you write no matter how much work it needs. My first group consisted of two professional editors and two published authors. I walked in thinking my writing was terrific—I limped out of the first meeting so mad I swore I’d never go back again. After some serious thought, I did go back and I listened and tried what they recommended…needless to say, they were right… my writing got better within a couple of weeks. Try what more experienced group members suggest. If you feel that you aren’t getting better as a result of the group…find another one. Accept their criticism as an effort to make you better. However, if you feel that their feedback is malicious rather than constructive, leave the group.
2.   Join a professional writers organization. Since most of my work is thriller and mystery, I belong to Mystery Writers of America. 
3.  Find a GOOD writer’s conference and go. You’ll meet many writers who are still starting out, but you’ll also get to meet and talk with some very good, established writers. I’ve attended the first 10 New England CrimeBakes and have had the opportunity to meet and talk such noted authors as Lee Child, Robert B. Parker, Lisa Scottalioni and Janet Evanovich. Talk to everyone and anyone you meet there. It’s tough to get top writers such as those I mentioned to read your work but if you can get them to look at it you may get a reference to their agent—that is a tremendous help. Don’t expect them (or an agent, for that matter) to read anything at the conference, but take business cards and spread them out. They may ask you to forward something to them and will provide you with feedback. One thing I’ve learned is that writers love to help other writers. Make sure the conference is one that offers the opportunity for you to make a pitch to an established Literary Agent…they will usually as for a sample of your work if it interests them. My experience is that you never bring a manuscript to the pitch (the agent will not be able to carry all of them back so they will not accept it). Don’t restrict your pitch to the organized session. Try and obtain a copy of the conference program before hand and research the agents who represent the type of work you do. It does no good to pitch a romance to an agent who doesn’t represent it. Work the cocktail lounge! Agents love it when a writer will spring for drinks and will spend some one-on-one time with you. Also, do not be too aggressive when approaching an agent, they’ll be swamped with people and I’ve learned that I got more attention from them when I don’t approach them with an immediate pitch. I usually start by making small talk and eventually the agent will ask “What do you write?” Don’t go on a long dissertation of your work. Develop a 30 second pitch…imagine that you end up on an elevator alone with an agent and have 30 seconds to tell him/her about your book…make the best use of your time. 
4. Develop a tough skin, learn to deal with rejection. Remember that writing is no different than any other business in that it’s about sales. You can write the book ever written, but if it doesn’t have a market no one will touch it. If an agent feels that it would require too much effort to sell your book they’ll pass on it. Even Stephen King was rejected hundreds of times before he made it. 
5.  Read everything you can find by successful writers in the genre you want to write. Don’t read for enjoyment, read for how they advance the plot, develop characters and how they structure each and every sentence. 
6. Last of all, write, write and them write some more. On average, once a person decides they want to be a writer, it takes about 10 years to really perfect your skill (not that many writers haven’t done it in a much shorter time span). Don’t get hung up on reading about writing. As a writer friend once told me, “You spend so much time reading about writing, you don’t have time to write!” You can’t learn how to drive a car or fly a plane from a book…you have to do it. 

eBook Publishing

If I can believe all I've read and heard this past year, ebooks are the hottest form of publishing, supposedly 70% of all books published last year (2010) were ebooks. The keynote speaker in the first writer conference I ever attended, Jeremiah Healy, said, "The personal computer has made it very easy for people to write. Unfortunately, it also made it very easy for them to write badly." The same thing can be said for the burgeoning number of ebooks available through any number of outlets.

I have published a number of ebooks via smashwords and Kindle Direct Publishing (for some reason Barnes and Nobles and a number of ebook sites will accept books from Smashwords whereas Amazon does not, preferring that the author use their Kindle Direct Publishing) and receive an RSS feed from Smashwords each time I access my email with Outlook. Scrolling through the uploads can be quite eye-opening. The number of amateurish books makes one believe that ebook publishers have become the vanity press of the 21st century.

I find it quite easy to identify some of the lesser experienced writers by checking the price they put on their work. I doubt any accomplished writer would publish a book for free or for as small a price as $0.99 (Barnes and Noble and several other outlets will not list a book unless they meet a certain pricing standard).
Of late, I have seen more and more books by established authors for the Nook and the Kindle so I can't arbitrarily dismiss the platform...I am seeing more an more readers carrying ereaders of one type or another.

One of the reasons it is so easy to publish an ebook is that no special software is required. In fact, Smashwords and KDP prefer that the manuscript be written using Microsoft Word. There are some things to be aware of when preparing your manuscript for submission and the easiest way to ensure that your work will look its best on an ereader is to download the publisher's style guide. It has been my experience that if your book complies with Smashwords Style Guide (available for download at http://www.smashwords.com) most other publishers will accept it with no reservations.

It can, however, be very frustrating when your Smashwords version keeps generating format errors. EReaders do not like tabs, or a sequence of more than 3 spaces used to separate text (I recently had the wonderful experience of preparing a manuscript which contained poetry where the author had used spaces to align sentences to create a visual. For example in one poem entitled PINE, the author spent a lot of time making the lines appear to form a pine tree. It did not work as an ebook--ebooks ignore things such as page breaks and, on my Nook, the pine tree was presented across two screens.) and font can be an issue. EReaders allow the reader to increase the font size for easier reading and therefore most publishers restrict font size to 12 pitch for normal print and no more than 16 for titles etc. Most publishers also require a cover for their higher levels of service. In the case of Smashwords to be included in their Premium Catalog requires you meet certain standards.

Why is inclusion in the Premium Catalog important? To quote Smashwords: "The Premium Catalog includes Smashwords titles that meet certain mechanical requirements for distribution into major online retailers such as Smashwords partners, Barnes & Noble or Apple. Smashwords books that achieve Premium Catalog status receive the greatest possible distribution across Smashwords' growing distribution network. If you're a serious writer and you want to reach the greatest number of readers, you want inclusion in the Premium Catalog. It's free."

In summary, eBook publishing is easy (although it usually takes me 3 to 6 hours to redesign a manuscript to meet Smashwords Guidelines) and virtually instantaneous--in a matter of hours you can see your book or short story in an ePublisher's catalog.

Why I Dread The Holidays

Connie Opening a Christmas Gift From Her Sister, Shirley

Once again the holidays are upon us and I've been hit with bad news. Before I tell you the bad news, I'd like to fill you in on some history. I had a turbulent childhood, so much so that I left home at the age of 17 riding in an eighteen wheeler bound for Boston to pick up a load of beer. I had five dollars, some record albums and a change of clothes with me. During the ensuing year I bounced around like a racquet ball going from Massachusetts to Connecticut to New Jersey until I finally enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps in June of 1966. I turned nineteen in Parris Island (my birthday had passed by three days before I realized it).

Throughout my service, I did not go home for the holidays, choosing instead to spend time with friends (especially one particular friend in Memphis) or to stay at the base. During the years I was married to my now deceased wife, Connie, I went along with the flow, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas was her favorite time of year. All I can say about those years is that for the most part I was able to get through the season without ruining it for her and our daughter. Then came 2006.

On October 16, I lost my beloved Connie, which of itself was enough to dampen any semblance of holiday spirit I had. Then on December 20 my older brother, Norman, lost his battle with diabetes and kidney failure. I attended his funeral on Christmas Eve and returned to my home in New Hampshire, where I spent the holidays in seclusion. I have not put up a single holiday decoration since my last Christmas with Connie in 2005. My dislike of the holidays was, if anything, strengthened (while I think of her everyday, I find myself reminiscing of her and our holidays more and more during the season).

Now we jump forward to 2011. Last month I learned that an old childhood friend, Bob Cyr, was hospitalized with stage four intestinal cancer. I visited with him on Thanksgiving afternoon and again the following week. During the Thanksgiving visit he was lucid and we joked about some of the crazy things we did as kids, several of which I had forgotten. The second visit was not so nice. The cancer had spread and he was unable to carry on a conversation or maintain a consistent thought. About once every five minutes I had to tell him who I was. It was earth-shaking for me...a flashback to my wife's last days. I am still haunted by the last words she ever spoke: "Vaughn, help me." All I could say was, "Connie, I don't know what to do..." Looking at Bob and remembering Connie made me think about how helpless we truly are when our loved ones need us the most.

Bob passed away yesterday, December 14, 2011, at the age of 65.

It always hurts to lose a loved one, but to lose someone at this time of year seems to hit harder. For most of us (this writer excluded) the holidays are a time for family and for giving. To have to remove a loved one's presents from under a Christmas tree has to be devastating. It's bad enough to try and fill the void they left behind... I don't think I can handle too many more holidays.

In Memory of Connie

During our courtship 1970

Yesterday (8:30 P.M. last night to be more exact) marked the fifth year since I lost my best friend, my most avid fan and my wife of over 35 years. As I sat in the dark listening to old rock songs from the 1960s and 1970s, I let my thoughts drift and found myself recalling many of the high points in our life together.

Connie and I first met when she was 5 and I was 9. How can you recall that you may ask. Well, she was the aunt of one of my best friends. The very thought of anyone having an aunt younger than them was unique enough to linger in my memory for years. After a brief encounter at my friend's house, I did not think about the little blond again. (She however, went to school with my younger brother and over the ensuing years heard many of my crazier escapades--although I'll never truly know how much embellishment my brother added.) Connie and I met again when she was 19 and I was 23, recently discharged from the U. S. Marine Corps and still half crazy from my time in VietNam.

Once again, my friend and her nephew was the catalyst in the meeting. She was looking for him and found him with me at my mother's home, where he and I were pondering what we should do that evening. As soon as he introduced us, she said, "I've heard about you..." At that moment I thought she and I would never get together. I was wrong...

Two nights later I asked her out and she and I spent every day and evening together after that. We married five months after that fateful second meeting and the next year we were the parents of our one and only child.

Muir Woods, California 1999

Last night, my thoughts were a mish-mash of what we did right and what we did wrong; of all the times we unknowingly hurt each other and how much we grew up together. There were good times and, of course the bad times, still throughout all of it she stayed by me. When I was carousing and drinking, she was there when I returned to my senses; when I battled a severe case of PTSD in the late 1980s, she weathered the storm with me. More than anyone I've ever known, Connie had an immense capacity to forgive (something that I lack, especially when it comes to forgiving myself). She was truly one of God's special people.

Connie was weak in many ways and oh so strong in others (I am still astonished how this woman, who was terrified by the smallest bird, kept her sense of humor throughout her final battle against cancer and faced death with a strength that I can only hope to have myself). She always had the ability to keep me balanced and was the one constant bond that kept our family together on those times when my insanity threatened to tear it apart. Since her passing our family has become scattered and disjointed--something that I know she is not pleased with as she watches over us. Throughout her six month battle against an aggressive form of cancer, she did her crying in private and hid her fear from her family, sparing us as much anguish as possible.

Over the course of our marriage, she many times expressed to me that I was her source of courage and confidence...she had no idea that she was also my font of strength (truthfully, neither did I). If not for her continual support, I'd have spent my life at menial, low-paying jobs. Her presence spurred me to obtain three degrees and a career in hi-tech. When I mentioned to her in passing that I was thinking of writing a book, she encouraged me; the result was Elephant Valley (available as an ebook through Barnes & Noble and Smashwords). When I was discouraged by the rejections from agents and publishers, she again urged me keep submitting and work on something new; the result was The War Within, which was awarded second prize in a major literary contest (soon to be released as an eBook).

Connie's passing rocked me like nothing else ever has and has made me come to grips with one fact about myself...I don't appreciate anything until I lose it. I was once told by a therapist that I walk around with a hole in my chest that I believe only a woman can fill. Well, I now walk around with a canyon in my chest that will never be filled until she and I are reunited again.

Darling Connie, I love you, I miss you and I'm being good so I can join you in the afterlife...

Getting Back On Track

As anyone who follows my blog knows, I've been away for a while, almost six months to be exact. There are a number of reasons why I haven't blogged since last March...but they are all really excuses and we all know that excuses always sound good to the person making them. Let's suffice to say, it's darned hard to come up with things to blog about on a continual basis.

During my Blogging Sabbatical, I did however, publish my novel Elephant Valley as an eBook. Available through Barnes and Noble as well as Smashwords.com . It's a novel loosely based on my experiences as a helicopter machine-gunner in Vietnam. Although it's not yet available through Amazon, Smashwords does have a Kindle-friendly version in .mobi format as well as the popular Adobe Epub format used by many e-readers.

I have also published several short stories during this period. Among them are Net Profit (co-authored with a long-time friend, Paulette Littlefield Clark) in The Storyteller Magazine (January/February/March 2011 issue) and several others in Breathe; Volume II an anthology of short stories and poetry by northern Maine writers.
The New England CrimeBake is coming up on November 11 through 13. If you haven't registered, it may be too late. The conference limits registration to about 250 attendees and those slots filled withing three weeks of registration opening. There are however, always cancellations so you may want to get on the Waiting List.

I'm also closing in on the completion of The Black Orchid, the second Ed Traynor novel (the first, My Brother's Keeper is available in eBook format from Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and Amazon .

Where Are You Ronnie Jay?

Several years back I was a member of a writer group that met monthly at the public Library in Exeter, NH. The group had no rules about what type of writing members had to write. I also belonged to another group that met weekly, but was comprised exclusively of mystery writers.

I have to confess that I cannot write poetry, nor do I read it nor do I understand it. I belong to a group today in which there are several poets and each time they read something I am absolutely lost. In fact, what usually happens is that I listen to the comments made by my fellow writers and always ask myself, "How did they draw that conclusion from what was read?" I'm a hard-boiled kind of guy and the nuances of poetic language, as well as the art form are lost on me.

Now, let's talk about the subject of this blog. I recall watching Ronnie Jay when he entered our group for the first time. He was dressed in cowboy hat and boots and told us that he had recently relocated to New Hampshire from Nashville where he wrote country music songs. I won't tell anyone what my first impression was. To get to the point, Ronnie didn't read anything that night, but promised to have something when he came back the next month.

He sat quiet through most of the next meeting and when his turn came he said, "I wrote a little poem about writing that I'd like to read." A few seconds later I was astounded. Ronnie had written the first poem that I could not only appreciate, but also understand. Here's that poem:

The Unknown Writer

By

Ronnie Jay

© 2004

I’m an unknown writer

Creative as they come

But, there’ll come a day, I dare say

I’ll be a famous one

I’ll write a #1 best-seller

And oh, the riches it will bring

It’ll sell more in every bookstore

Than Grisham, Crichton or King

I know you won’t believe me

And I can’t make you a believer

But, if I don’t believe in myself

No one else will either

Yes, I know it sounds impossible

To reach those heights of fame

And I realize that I may never

Be a household name

But, it doesn’t really matter

If my dreams do or don’t come true

I’m still gonna keep on writing

Because that’s what writers do

Ronnie disappeared from our lives after that. We assumed that he had gone back to Music City, but if by chance you should read this blog, Ronnie. Leave me a comment and I'll get in touch.

Guns In Fiction Part 1

If you are a writer of mysteries, suspense or thrillers, sooner or later you will have to bring firearms into your story. Over the years I have read more mystery and suspense fiction than I could ever recall. I have, however found one thing that writers continually confuse and that is the uses and capabilities of firearms, both hand and long guns. So, I've decided to do a few posts on the various types of weapons, their operational characteristics. In this post I'd like to discuss the differences between various handguns and some of what I consider to be common misconceptions that I've seen writers have.

This posting will deal with handguns, specifically revolvers.

First, let's discuss some common terms.

Revolver: a weapon, usually a handgun, in which the ammunition (cartridge) is loaded into a cylinder. The cylinder revolves aligning the cartridge with the chamber and the firing pin.

Single Action: A type of handgun in which the shooter must manually pull back or cock the hammer to place another cartridge in the firing position. Single Action handguns can usually be identified by one of two loading mechanisms. On many there is a gate on the right side of the cylinder through which cartridges are loaded and spent casings ejected.

Double Action: A handgun in which the hammer is cocked and the cylinder rotates with each pull of the trigger. Double Action revolvers can usually be identified by the fact that the entire cylinder rolls out so the handgun can be easily loaded.

Break Action: A pistol in which the barrel and cylinder are released as a unit to allow loading.

Cartridge: Commonly misidentified as being a bullet or a shell. It is a single round of ammunition.

Bullet: Projectile portion of a cartridge.

Shell: A shotgun cartridge.

Chamber: The portion of the barrel into which an unfired cartridge (round) is either aligned (revolvers) or inserted (pistols).

There are a couple of characteristics of revolvers that movies and television seem to routinely ignore and it drives me crazy! Silencers DO NOT work on revolvers--there are too many openings through which sound can escape! Another pet peeve of mine is the absolute misconception that six-shooters have more than six cartridges in them. We all remember the B westerns and crime movies we saw as kids where the hero and the villain seem to shoot forever without having to reload. If you have a gunfight in your story count the times your characters discharge their weapons and ensure that the rounds fired do not exceed the capacity of the weapon.

For a detailed description of various types of weapons consult the ATF Guidebook - Importation & Verification of Firearms.

Ammunition, and Implements of War
In the next post I'll talk about revolvers in more detail.