|
|
On this page Starting Over
I can’t begin to count the number of times I have started over in my life. To be honest, I think if I tried to count the number might depress me. Yet now, at this point in my writing career, I’m doing it again. I’m starting over.
Writers are lucky. We can just start over at any point, and in any number of ways, from changing our names to switching genres to just going back to basics. But starting over is something many writers forget they can do.
For me, my writing career up to this point has had three different and distinct phases. I am going into the fourth now.
The first phase was what I call my “start-up” period. Every writer has a start-up period, and most writers never get out of this period. For me, from 1974 through 1981 I lived in this period, thinking about being a writer, talking about being a writer, producing one or two short stories a year, plus some poems.
On January 1st, 1982 I decided to get serious about my writing, and thus started over, moving into my second phase by writing and mailing one short story a week. This second phase lasted from 1982 until 1988, during which I wrote almost four hundred short stories and a number of novels. I sold around sixty short stories and one novel, which came out in 1989.
Then I stopped writing and went sideways into editing and publishing for a period lasting up until 1994. I wrote very few stories, no novels. Granted, it was a start-over point in my life, but I don’t consider this period a writing start-over, although I learned a vast amount about the business of publishing, at a very high cost.
Then when the publishing side of things ended finally in 1994, I needed to start over again with my writing. I turned to writing work-for-hire and from 1995 until 2003 I wrote and sold over seventy novels, a few original, but mostly all work-for-hire. And during that period I learned even more about the writing business.
So now, here at the first of 2004, I am starting over with my writing yet again. I have switched to writing my own work almost completely, gone back to writing short stories and poems, and will finish my first original novel in some time in February. I’m getting form rejections, some nice letter rejections, and to be honest I’m having a blast.
To me, this attitude of starting over is freeing. I can write what I want, just like any new writer can do. There are no deadlines except those that I put on myself, there are no expectations from anyone but me. Totally free and I’m loving every minute of it.
One of the things I’m doing in this start-over, is finally having a web site. Now I haven’t seen much reason over the years to do a web site that just lists my publications and books. And to be honest, I don’t keep much track of my own publications, so it’s going to take me a while to get my bibliography current on the site.
What I am planning to do on the site is have writing discussions. I have this intense desire to learn more and more about writing, all aspects from business to craft, from life issues to success issues. And the best way to do that is have discussions with other writers.
So with the help of two fine people, this web site is coming up slowly. It’s going to be a work in progress for some time, and that’s fine with me. There will be two areas on this site that will, with luck, allow me to keep learning.
The first off is an area where I will just go in every day and talk about something going on, maybe business, maybe a craft issue, maybe just an event that happened, or something I heard. Sort of a topic statement for the day on the web site.
Second, there will be a forum space, where different writing discussions can continue. One area will be for the Star Trek fans who are interested in getting into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which I edit. Another will be for general writing discussion. Another for market information. And yet another will be for the graduates of a master’s program we do here in our home. This site will even have an area to discuss writing conferences, the workshops we put on here, and sf/romance/mystery conventions.
So I hope if you have an interest in writing and becoming a professional writer, you will stop by and join into the discussions. I think it’s going to be fun. I know I’m sure looking forward to this as part of my new restart in my writing life. It’s going to be an interesting period.
Stop by, watch, and join the fun.
Challenges. A better term for writers might be motivation. Or maybe an even better title for this would be "Getting to Work."
Hell, why not call this "Getting Something Finished."
Every professional and want-to-be professional I know uses different methods to get something finished and in the mail. For professionals, it's often money that shoves the machine forward, gets the butt in the chair day-after-day. For many others, it's the joy of just creating story. Or a thousand other goals, all different from writer to writer.
Professional writers have figured out what method or goal works for them and use it. Beginning writers haven't. That simple, actually.
For me, over the years, the most common method has been using a challenge. Either with another writer or with myself. Challenges have worked for me. For some writers, challenges flat fails. My wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, hates challenges, won't take part, and if someone does talk her into one, she finds a way to undermine the challenge or just flat out cheat. And she admits that freely.
But I love a good challenge when it comes to my writing.
Back in the years from 1974 to 1982, I was in the stage of writing I call "If I only had the time." I talked about being a writer, but managed to produce and mail maybe two or three short stories a year. I talked the talk, just couldn't find the time or drive to walk the walk.
But on January 1st, 1982, I moved to the next stage. "I got serious." I had been reading a Ray Bradbury book which talked about him writing a short story a day in his early years. I was working three jobs and had just dropped out of my last semester of law school. I figured if Bradbury could write one a day, I could do one a week. In steps Nina Kiriki Hoffman, also a writer who wanted to get serious. We decided to challenge each other to write, finish, and mail one short story a week.
The punishment if either of us missed? We had to buy a steak dinner for the person who didn't miss. I couldn't afford to buy Nina many steak dinners, so I went to work. We took a couple of weeks off for travel and conventions, and I ended up mailing 44 original stories that year, and got over 200 rejections. No sales.
Hadn't expected any, to be honest. Hoped for some, but had no expectations.
Challenge continued for a second year, and another 42 stories and 410 rejections later, I had sold three professional level short stories. And on most of the others I was getting great rejections telling me I was close and getting better. At one point I had over seventy short stories in the mail at one time.
I very seldom bought Nina a steak, and she very seldom bought me a steak. And I am convinced the training we put each other through over those three-plus years of the challenge is one main reason we are both working professional writers.
We still challenge each other. At Christmas back in those early days, we started doing a little limited to 50 copies booklet of five stories each we wrote in six days on some Christmas topic in early December. We would put our first drafts into this little book and give them away to friends. Some of those things have to be collectable by now. Two years ago we challenged each other to writer "Christmas Food." Five stories in six days. I had to finish a novel, got started late, and only did four. One of which you can find in the Christmas issue of Ellery Queen Magazine.
I know of many other challeges going on around the country. One challenge I really admire is a professional writer friend set out to write two pages per day, no misses, no days off. No birthday, no Christmas day off, not even being sick. I admire that sort of challenge and find it daunting. This writer has done this, without missing a day, for almost four years. Wow.
Right now, among a surprisingly large group of professional writers, there is a challenge going on called The Beautiful Trophy Challenge. You can see pictures of the Beautiful Tropies and six of the first quarter winners at www.oregoncoastwritersworkshops.com. I think there's a link here on this site.
These glass floats that are used as trophies are something Lincoln City, Oregon does as a promotion every year. It puts 2,000 plus handmade glass floats, signed and numbered, on the beach over the winter for people to find. These floats are artist hand-made and are very beautiful. I designed a base for them like a trophy, thus the name Beautiful Trophy Award.
(Sorry, this challenge is for workshop grads only, but you and other writers can design a challenge and trophy like it if you want.)
How do you win a Beautiful Trophy Award? Simple, really. At the beginning of a quarter, you tell the challenge master (me in this case) that you want to be in the challenge this quarter. Then, sometime during that three month period, you finish a novel. You could have started it six months earlier. Finishing is all that matters. The second part of the challenge is you must submit the novel into the publishing process somewhere. So, to win a trophy, you must finish the novel and get it in the mail in some fashion, either a query letter or chapters and outline, or turn in to your editor or agent.
Twenty-one pro writers, including me, finished novels and mailed them this last quarter. Another sixteen or so are in this current quarter, again, including me.
But, for me, that's not enough. As I said in the topic that's been leading this site for some time, I've just started over in my writing. And even though I'm getting older, one of the things that has always made me more successful than many others around me is that I just flat work harder than others.
So, last November 1st, I started my own personal Beautiful Trophy Award challenge to myself. I wanted to turn into my agent or editors twelve books in a twelve month period. Now, I'm letting myself cheat a little. I've been editing Star Trek: Strange New Worlds anthology for Pocket Books for nine years now. It takes most of the month of October for me to do. So, I turned in SNW #8 to Pocket Books in the second week of November and counted that book as Book #1. And I hope to turn in SNW #9 the last week of October and count that as well. Which leaves me ten novels or other books to write during the year.
I turned in to Phobos my new novel, City Knights in December, for book #2. (For each book, I'm giving myself a Beautiful Trophy Award, base, engraving and all).
In the first week of January, I turned in my new novel I called Battle to my editor. Book #3.
I rewrote a huge proposal (150 pages and 100 page sample) on another new thriller and got it to my agent in January. Didn't count. Not a finished novel yet.
In the middle of February, I turned in to my agent the novel Poker Boy vs. the Slots of Saturn, for book #4. (I'll let you know if it sells.)
Kris is reading Book #5 right now, so it can go off to my agent this week. It's called Dust and Kisses by Lisa Dean. (I'll let you know if it sells as well.)
I'm behind the pace I need to be at to finish this challenge with twelve books in twelve months, but I haven't given up by a long shot. I was ahead for a time, I'll be ahead again. And I will, in the blog section, post updates on this challenge.
But right now, what's important, is that I'm writing books, books I may not have written if I wasn't pushing myself with this challenge. And let me tell you, that's a blast. And the more books I get under my belt this year, the more I want to go into my office and write and get done.
I love challenges. They have always worked for me. Try one and see if it works or doesn't work for you as a writer. You may be surprised at just how much work you do get done.
A side note: Now that this place is slowly getting up and running, I will put new topic thoughts here at times. And also start a topic in the Writers Forum section under the same header. So, if you have comments or questions about challenges, ask away over in the challenge topic.
Cheers
Dean
Over the years, I have been lucky. Very, very lucky, actually, in so many ways, and at so many different times. But, for the moment, let me just talk about the luck of being in a few special writers workshops.
Writers workshops have their good points, and their bad points. The bad side of the coin first.
When a workshop is bad, like a read-aloud workshop, or a workshop that makes members turn in parts of work-in-progress, they can be very damaging for the writers attending in so many ways. Read aloud workshops are just silly unless the writers think they are going to go to New York and read their story to every editor and then every reader who picks up the book. And some writers are just better readers than others, thus making shoddy work sound good, or good work sound bad.
Workshops that force members to turn in works-in-progress are the most damaging to the creative process, since it quickly becomes writing by committee, and we all know how well that works.
Workshops can also turn bad when egos get too much in control, or the writers start writing to please just the members of the workshop and not the general reading public. This usually happens when workshops have been going for a number of years, or when one or two members start become more successful than the others.
Run away from those workshops.
Also, regular workshops tend to have a lifespan of three to six years. After that, they need to reborn or just let to die.
So, why have I been so lucky with workshops, and why talk about this now? Because of a very special workshop this weekend, that's why.
Here's my track record of great workshops that I have been lucky enough to attend.
In 1982, a new workshop with a bunch of newer writers started up in the little college town of Moscow, Idaho. I helped start it. My stint with the workshop lasted four years, but in that four years, it jump-started six different novelists careers you would recognize right now, including mine and Nina Kiriki Hoffman's. It was weekly, with the focus on publication and mailing short stories.
In 1982, I also had the luck of going to Clarion in Michigan, and getting to learn from Orson Scott Card, Samuel Delany, Algis Budrys, Damon Knight, and Kate Wilhelm. And then for the next four years, I would be found once a month sitting in Damon and Kate's living room, in their invite-only workshop.
How lucky can one writer get? Well, let me tell you, I got even luckier.
In 1986, I had the amazing luck of being invited to a very special, one-of-a-kind writers workshop in Taos, New Mexico, taught by Algis Budrys, Jack Williamson, Fred Pohl, and Gene Wolfe. I was one of the most published students there with a dozen or so short stories sold. None of us had novels sold. Twelve of us students, four instructors, one week. I met my wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch at that workshop. Eleven of the twelve went on to major writing careers, names you would know from book covers in many genres.
In 1987, my wife and I started a weekly workshop in our home town that, because of a number of factors, ended up being a major national workshop for about five years, with book and magazine editors stopping by regularly when they were in the area on a workshop night. On one night in that workshop, we had the editors of F&SF, Pulphouse, Amazing Stories, and Writers of the Future sitting in that room. And the editors often bought stories from writers attending right in the workshop. It was a high-level, high-energy workshop that eventually burnt out as all workshops do.
For the last four years, my wife and I have been holding professional level "graduate" workshops here in our little town. We've been trying to help young professionals in much the same way as the Taos workshop helped us up to the next level. We've had three different New York book editors helping us, brought in two top New York book agents, had entire short story weeks with Gardner Dozois, and even had two workshops with the top editor at Tekno books, Denise Little. In one of those workshops, Denise actually bought stories from those attending right in the workshop. Also, a bunch of professional writers have helped us in the teaching, including K. W. Jeter, Loren Coleman, and Michael Swanwick.
Over the four years, there have been numbers of young professional writers dropping everything to make these workshops, doing what I would have done when I was at that stage if I had had these workshops offered to me. And even now, I can't imagine having not done these. They have been a real learning experiences for me, even though I was often sitting in the instructor chair.
Now, as with any workshop, these are winding down as well, reaching the end of the cycle. They may morph in the fall of 2006 into something new, or just stop. Next year will tell. But at the moment, this next spring workshops are the last ones in this old way.
This last weekend, it became very clear to me at one moment in time that I was again very lucky. I was participating in a workshop that had brought together an amazing talent pool of 25 young professional writers. Everyone in the room was published, many with many novels and awards under their belts.
Let me repeat that. Everyone in the room was pubished with novels or short stories to their credits.
It was a high energy, high intensity group of people all working to become better at the craft of writing by focusing on one subject, and the subject of learning itself.
Looking back at this weekend, that feeling of amazing luck really covers all my emotions. I feel lucky to have been there, to have been a part of the group that came together for three short days, then went back to lives and careers and writing desks.
So, why am I putting this here? Because I know why I've been lucky. And why the rest of the 25 people there this weekend were lucky as well. Because all of us went after it. That simple and that hard at the same time.
Many of these people really shouldn't have been at this workshop for one reason or another. A number for financial reasons, including losing jobs, many for family reasons, another because of an upcoming heart surgery. I really shouldn't have been there either, since I have book and short story deadlines pounding at me and that's how I make my living.
But we were all there. We all felt the time, the money, the effort was worth it for the learning, for our careers. So we put everything aside and went to the workshop. Some traveled from Canada, others from the southern part of this country. Hotel costs, travel costs, nothing seemed to get in the way for these writers.
And that's why this group was so special, why, in a nutshell, this group is making careers, selling stories and books faster than I can say congratulations. They put their writing and the education in their writing career first.
I have always done the same thing. I couldn't afford to go to the Taos workshop, but I did, and I would have quit my job to do so if forced. (Entire story in the SNW forum) I couldn't afford to go to Clarion, either. But I did. Borrowed the money to do it, actually. For three years, I drove nineteen hours round trip from northern Idaho to Eugene, Oregon once a month to simply attend a Saturday afternoon workshop at Damon Knight and Kate Wilhelm's house.
I wanted the information and I never once have doubted that I did the right thing in what I gave up to get it. I have been lucky. But I put myself in positions to be lucky by chasing every detail of learning I could chase.
I was lucky again this weekend to be with such a fantastic group of writers. It was one of those points in history that when looked back on in 15 years will seem even more amazing as the writers who attended continue to sell books and stories and win awards and become well known.
When I tell someone the twelve names who were at Taos in 1986, they go, "Wow, all of you were there for a week? That must have been amazing."
Yeah, it was. But we were all just hungry, young professionals. It was the fact that we were hungry, that we had all given up a lot to be there, that made that group special, and gave a hint of the success to come.
So, if you really want to be a fiction writer, make your living some day at this fantastic job, make sure you never turn down a chance to be where you might learn something. Go after that learning every day, every week, every month, even if it means traveling long distances to do so. There is lots of great teaching going on by established professionals around the country. Seek them out, go listen to them, take notes, and bring the information back to your own workshops, to your own writing office.
Our workshops here are winding down, with only a few more scheduled this spring designed only for those that have been here before. But as our workshops wind down, somewhere, new ones, different ones start up. And if you can't find one, start your own, run it like a dictator to make sure you get what you want, and then plan on moving on in three to five years.
Whatever you do, go out there and get lucky. And maybe one day you'll find yourself like I did this weekend, sitting in a room of talented, driven writers, learning more than you think you can hold from every conversation. It will leave you exhausted and feeling overwhelmed. But also feeling lucky.
Very lucky.
Over the last few years, I've been making an adjustment in my writing career. And luckily, Kris and I have the money freedom to let me make such an adjustment, because such a thing takes time. Lots of time.
Why make an adjustment? I've published 80 novels, made a lot of money, what could be wrong? Nothing, actually. I was just on the wrong path. It wasn't the path I claimed I wanted to be on. That simple.
I have always been a believer in doing what you love in life. Life, basically, is just flat too short. So I have always done that, often to the head-shaking wonderment of friends and what family I still have that pays attention. Most of my family gave up on me long, long ago. Most of the friends are hanging in there, thank heavens.
Adjustments to anything in life, when you find yourself on the wrong path, are not easy to make. I compare it to turning a big ocean liner. The turns are long and slow and take time. I'm no exception to that rule, darn it.
So where was I that was so bad that the ship needed to be turned? Actually, I was in a wonderful place, getting hired all the time to write media books that I loved. And making a ton of money doing that. But every year I swore I would write one of my own books, and every year for a decade I failed. For a decade.
10 years.
I wrote six or seven or eight other novels each year, but never one of my own. That's a lot of years of failure, let me tell you.
The solution? Stop media books cold turkey and write only original novels. In other words, wave goodbye to a six figure income and start over. Oh, yeah, that's easy.
Go ahead, try it.
But that was basically what I did. Sure, I still edit Strange New Worlds. But I haven't written a Trek novel, or any other media book for over three years now. In the last two years I have written two romances, a fun fantasy (All Eve's Hallows), a Christian thriller that is out with a co-writer, a satire on the gambling industry that is on the market, a golf book that is on the market, and now the large thriller that is going on the market. All original novels. I'd love to do a media novel a year to keep my hand in, but so far no one has offered a project I like, so I haven't.
Just like a beginning writer can't believe he can make a living selling fiction, I had no faith at all that I could make the transition from media books to original books and make a living at it. Media and original fiction are a very different form, and I had done so many of the media books, often writing for other writers copying their voices, that I was afraid I had lost my own voice.
That problem took a year of me writing to believe I still had an original voice.
During the three years, I decided that one of the ways to help me work my way back to original novels was teach all aspects of original fiction. So that's why we did so many workshops over the last three years, and why they are now stopping. (I don't need them anymore, to be honest.) We made no money on those workshops, but they helped me more than I want to think about. I just hope I gave as much to the writers who were here than they gave me.
I finished a large book just last week, one that haunted me for the past two years. And by finishing that, I finally was done with the transition.
The ship is turned.
Do I have a ton to learn still? Oh, sure. Tons and tons. And I need to practice like crazy. But Dean Wesley Smith has moved to Dean Edwards and other names, writing original novels. And maybe even one or two under the Smith name as well. We shall see.
So, how does this apply to those of you reading this? I looked around, listened to myself three years ago, and heard that even though I was happy being a full time fiction writer, I wasn't happy with what I was writing. So I did something about it. Back to my life-is-too-short theory of living.
So, listen to yourself. If you are saying, I always wanted to write fiction, the question is, why aren't you doing it? If you blame your life, your spouse, your kids, your job, you are just kidding yourself. It's your fault. Period.
This article will be about 700-800 words, more than likely. Three manuscript pages. If I did that many pages every day all year long, I would complete three novels. So, set a goal. 250 words a day takes about 15 minutes. That's one novel in a year. Doesn't take much of a ship-turning to do that.
Do you hate your job? Then why stay there? Yeah, I know, mortgage, kids, food, and so on. Changing a job with those kind of responsibilities is a large ship to turn, but over a few years, like I did, it can be done. Slowly, carefully, until you are going in the direction you want to be going in. Does this take help from family and friends? Sure. But you first have to talk to them. And you first must make the move.
And that's the key. I had talked and talked about writing original books for a decade, but had never done it. The moment I started to do it, the moment I called an editor back after accepting a job and said I couldn't do it after all, Kris was with me all the way, helping where she could.
But I had to take the first step.
And let me tell you, if you think moving from one type of writing to another is nothing, think about tossing out a six figure income with no other job waiting and you'll understand what I did. Not counting learning the new form of writing.
I still have a very long way to go. But the turn is over and I'm steaming full speed ahead.
And that feels wonderful. More than I can begin to describe.
You make the turn and get on a life track you want to be on, you'll feel just as good. Trust me on this.
Cheers
Dean
Those of you new to this site, this home page is only a part of what's going on here.
I give bi-weekly updates and post pictures of books and art and other stuff over in the blog section.
You'll also find me answering questions from time to time in my blog from writers and fans.
So please do check out the blog and other links you see along the left side of this page. Thanks for dropping by.
Cheers
Dean
Welcome everyone.
I wanted to post this news up on the front page. Basically, for a time, because we have found the niftiest place, the professional fiction writer's workshops here on the Oregon Coast are back.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but if you are a writer who is working hard toward making a living with your fiction writing, maybe have a few sales under your belt, these graduate level workshops are for you.
These are not beginning writer workshops. There are lots of those, starting with Clarion and on. These are graduate level, and only for fiction writers who want to make a living at their writing in any genre.
All the workshops we do here, and there will be different types over the next year or so, will be intense, blunt, and taught by working, full-time professional writers and New York editors. As each workshop gets firmed up, I will list it here and talk about it in my blog. The workshops will not have a web site, so much of the information will be on the blog area. Or maybe I'll start a workshop topic area. That might be better.
Right now, we are looking for interest in what we call our "Master Class." This is a two week program, more than likely held next fall in October. It is taught by me, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Kris Nelscott in mystery, Kristine Grayson in romance) and editor and writer Loren Coleman. We are there for the entire time, with help from Christine York (romance and thriller writer). Three New York editors will come in during the two weeks. One short fiction editor and two book editors. They will be announced if we firm this up and have enough interest.
This is an intense writing workshop. And a very intense business workshop. You will know more about the business of publishing and how to survive in it after this workshop than you can ever imagine needing to know. (You ain't lived until you've sat around in a big comfortable room with four full time professional fiction writers and two New York book editors, all talking about the business. And that's just the informal after-hours sessions.)
The workshop fee, which will be in the range of $1,500 to $2,000 for the two weeks, will include all the instruction and 15 nights room. Many of the rooms are suites or small apartments, and there is a nifty community kitchen where the writers attending often cook group meals to save money. You will have to bring a computer and printer. Again, this will be an intense writing two weeks.
The idea of these workshops is to help younger professionals, or professionals whose careers have stuck, jump to the next level. We have done these five times total so far, but not for about three years. The workshops work if you come in with a certain basic skill level and the desire to work harder on your writing in two weeks than you have ever worked before.
If after this short bit of introduction to the Master Class, if you are interested and have some credits behind you, or a bunch of novels already in the mail, e-mail me and let me know at dean@deanwesleysmith.com If you are doubtful about your credits, e-mail me and let me see if this is right or not for you. Trust me, we won't let anyone into the pressure cooker of a master class who isn't ready for it.
Now, for me, it's back to writing. I have a thriller under deadline I have to get done, and a romance to rewrite and turn into a young adult novel. What fun.
Cheers
Dean
Copyright ©2004-2007 Dean Wesley Smith. All rights reserved.
Send us mail about the web site. Site hosted by Communicadence. Content management system by Movable Type.