Update On My Challenge…

Going Along As Expected…

I had a really bad start to March for various reasons, and missed some days on my daily story challenge.  I expected times like that to happen.

But missing some stories does not mean I have failed. Snort. Not by a long shot. This is a very long year and I would have been delusional if I had thought I could actually write a story every day without missing for an entire year. (Have any of you have a memory of bad days during your year?)

But I still plan on having 365 stories by the end. I am on target for that.

And here is where I will mess even more with those of you still lost in the myths of your English Teacher’s class.

Math… Yikes… Be ready…

Takes me about 2 hours or so to write a 2,000 to 2,500 word short story. If it takes me three hours, I am slow at the start and faster as I get going, so that means the story came in over 3,000 words. After that is is about a thousand words every hour or so.

So for now let’s just say 2 hours per story or 14 hours per week to produce seven original short stories.

So I start in the afternoon, have a story done even with email and eating out and shopping and cooking dinners and workshops and watching television and taking a nap, by midnight. (Carving out 2 hours out of 12 can sometimes be difficult, believe it or not, if you like to nap like I do.)

So I am back at my writing computer by midnight after some television and two hours later finish another story, do some more email, do this blog. Two stories in one day.

Scene: Believers fall down holding their hearts.

” Those stories could not be any good.”

(I wager money some of you thought that.)

Yes, I know it hurts those of you who think writing is special and must be struggled over, but I love telling stories and nothing is difficult. I write into the dark and entertain myself and one draft with cycling and my story is done.

One day in April six years ago, I wrote and finished four stories in one day, all over 2,000 words. All were published. 10,000 word days used to be nothing for me.

My biggest writing day in traditional publishing was 23,000 words in 24 hours. Kris brought me food and I sent the book in to New York at 6 in the morning by fax without anyone having read it and it went right into print (not copyedited and editor did not read it. There was no time because of a tight deadline, and it got massively good reviews and was a bestseller.)

Scene: Once again believers fall down holding their hearts.

Yes, I know, I know…  For certain I published four major books in traditional publishing without one person ever reading it. More than likely more.

So for me setting up this challenge, I planned on missing a number of times over the year, and I planned on having some two or three story days. All part of the plan I worked out before I started. Having a bad week at times would not derail me.

So here after 75 days I can actually say the challenge is right on track. And I think I almost have worked out the “What’s the Point?” issue that killed me on this challenge in late March and April three years ago.

By the way, ten or so of these stories from this year’s challenge will be in the Marble Grant collections some of you backed on Kickstarter. Those will be out in April if memory serves.

LICENSING: HOW TO CREATE A BRAND

It is a nine week class leading up to the Licensing Expo.  It is on Teachable. A few of the Lifetime Everything Subscribers have signed up and not one other person. I guess I am not surprised. If it is not selling on Amazon, it can’t be worth while, right?

Brands will help you sell more on Amazon, but don’t let reality break into the myth.

Even I had a problem for a few years with this concept, since I was coming out of traditional publishing where publishers developed their own brands and seldom for authors unless your name was James Paterson.  I walked the floor of the Licensing Expo for three years where every other word was “brand” before it started to sink in.

So I felt I had enough of an understanding of it now to try to help other writers. So I think I’m going to go ahead and do this class just for myself. Hope a few more sign up for the ride.