Research

I thought I could just get going, but yesterday told me differently.

Stupid really, an A-level in Medieval history and 6 weeks studying the Dark Ages at degree level (before I switched to Classics) do not equip you to write a multi-stranded historical novel without a bit of extra work.  I started with 1910 - a period I am happy and familiar with due to my research on The Ash Grove.  Then I stopped,.   I need to write the three different strands independently and then cut them into each other - I think.  But logically I should start with 1910 and the story of Dorothy's research (actually maybe I'm going to call her Constance)   But I start doing my own research, and I'm drawn to the historical periods, rather than trying to understand the history of female scholarship and women's role in the Society of Antiquaries,.   Next week I am going to the Antiquaries' library I think, to get on with it.

Yesterday I felt stupidly stuck, but an hour's reading of a book about Romanesque sculpture this morning has filled me with ideas again.   I am off to buy a bookstand for the desk - so I can take notes onto the laptop.  Why haven't I had one before?

This is a Barfrestone capital formed as a double-bodied dragon - a fairly typical "grotesque" illustration, which as I observed at the time, seem to mimic designs seen in medieval manuscripts.  This has been confirmed this morning.   I also discovered the that masons' lodge was under the direction of a church official, the Prior of  ChristChurch (the Cathedral monastery) so that adds a whole different dimension of tension and conflict and the need for concealment - good stuff.

The new term begins!

I have started writing the Devil's Chapel - and I am delighted that I have 4,000 words of an actual beginning... I have re-used some of the MR James type text I wrote in March, but in a more concise, dynamic way.  I think I will write the three stories independently and then intercut them and edit and add foreshadowings and so on later.  I have even thought of a plot twist.

Today I felt very ill, so I didn't do much, but I edited and read up notes and thought and tried to induce in myself a medieval/dark ages mindset.  Tricky.

The autumn campaign

It  has been several months now, well actually over a year, since I found myself in the midst of writing a book.  It isn’t lack of ideas, perhaps it’s the anxiety that I am not “doing it right” and that I have no way of understanding how to “correct” myself.  Is that it?   I think really it is “what’s the point?” and the realisation that the books I am writing are not what the market wants, however well written and excellent they are.  And of course as time goes on one begins to think how they might be re-worked and made even more excellent. Perhaps the fact of having written 4 novels in 7 years seemed a bit overwhelming and maybe my brain needs a rest, but frankly I think it is discouragement rather than anything else.  The reason I feel able to write now is because there is interest in one of my books.   

Since the spring, well, since about May, when the energy I first had for The Devil’s Chapel petered out, I have done no real writing.  I messed about with the OAMFD idea and then lost interest.  I fiddled with a few ideas, wrote a few sketches, but nothing caught fire.  I have had endless ideas for work, but nothing that really grabs me.  TDC is listed as this autumn’s project and I think it’s a good one.  I just hope I that this lassitude doesn’t extend beyond our trip to Naples.

It really is quite depressing not writing, however domestic life has been rather demanding over the last few months, and I hate the idea of writing during the summer holidays.  However, all this will change soon I expect, there will be no "summer holidays" to speak of now that Finn has left school, and we can choose where and when to go away.  I will miss the summer holidays - a six week period of feeling at liberty to enjoy oneself, even if one doesn't have the funds to enjoy it completely, or that they are supplemented by AirBnB which requires a certain amount of work.

The feeling of "the autumn term" has always been one that I've liked.  I've postponed it a bit this year, with our trip to Napoli - but when I come back I will be ready for lots of good new things.

All Change

Several things have happened.

Firstly, an enlightened agent has asked for a full read of the book formerly known as The Malice of Fairies
He is still reading it, I will not worry about it until October.

Secondly, I decided not to go to "The Festival of Writing" because the actual cost was £490 plus train fares and taxis and was just too much.  Also my gut was telling me not to go, and the fact that an agent was having a full read was enough to console me.

Thirdly, I decided that even if the agent turned down the book, I would not self-publish in the autumn.  This came about in a conversation with Tara, she said "your heart's not in it" and this is true, it's always been a sort of desperate measure... something I felt I must do to earn some money and justify my existence.

The upshot of these three things is that I have, miraculously, felt I can write again, that it's worthwhile.  I started to look at all my notes on the triple story book (working title The Devil's Chapel) which I started thinking about and researching and writing after my trip to Barfrestone Church at Easter.  I was delighted to find I had the beginnings of a good structure and some nice ideas about what women have wanted throughout the ages.  I'm excited.  I hope I can do it justice, marry it together and make it moving..

I intend to base the carvings on those at Barfrestone, but not to use them literally.  I don't want to get stuck, my ideas about continuing Woden worship are a little weird, but not impossible.  So I want to extrapolate from that.

A burst of enthusiasm

After the marketing man never got back to me, despite florid promises, I decided "What the helll, I shall do it myself."   I opened my list of "agents qualified to be, attendant on my lovely book..." and found some.  The first agent wanted something different in the subs letter, which was fun to write.   Even more fun, he got back to me 10 minutes later and said "it was the sort of thing he liked" and asked me to be patient.   A few days later he asked for the whole MS, and asked me to be patient.   He's brief, businesslike and un-gushing, which I like (shades of the lamented lost agent, JM).

I have changed the title for subs, it's now going out as "The Road through the Woods" and this may have made all the difference.  That, and removing the Sioga elements from chapter 3 and leaving them until later in the book.

On Thursday, when I got the request for the full MS, I was smiling for about 2 hours.   The smile shifted slightly when I remembered that I had left a half-finished acknowledgements and glossary at the end of the text, there is something hubristic about thanking everyone before you are published, looks a bit babyish... no matter.  I was preparing for self-publishing.  I may still have to do this.

But I am so Relieved that finally an agent has taken some notice of it!  And Delighted that it is someone I think has a good reputation.  

Daniel Adorno's advice on Tweeting

This is a bit of a break with the blog style to date.  I need somewhere to keep my bits of useful information about book marketing (whether I'm conventionally published or indie, I need this sort of advice) and I thought, put it on the blog - share it with my readers.  It may or may not be of interest, but it has rather more general appeal than my struggles to get published!

So, this is an email I received from blogger Daniel Adorno.

Ask any writer and they'll tell you that writing is meant to be a solitary experience. Writers do their best work when no one is around and when distractions are minimal. Unfortunately, many aspiring authors are unaware that this rule of solitude should never apply to their social media platform.

Too often I've seen authors who have either neglected their Twitter accounts or are completely oblivious to the rules of social media. I'm sure many authors would like followers on Twitter in the thousands because it'll probably lead to more sales of their books, more reader engagement, and more visibility in a crowded industry. And yet, most indie authors on Twitter have follower counts in the teens and tweets with no engagement.

Did I just describe your Twitter account? It's frustrating isn't it? You've written an amazing novel or non-fiction work and no one knows it exists! I understand how you feel because I was in the same boat.

When I first signed up on Twitter, I was excited for the possibilities of building a platform and an audience for my writing. I was confident that after a few tweets about my book and short stories, people would flock to my book page and click the buy button. Reality set in pretty quick. For weeks, my Twitter page languished with a meager 20 followers (most of them friends and family) and a dozen pathetic tweets from yours truly about writing.

I didn't realize at the time that there were two problems with my Twitter approach.

1. Not searching for my audience

For some strange reason, writers throw out all logic when it comes to their own writing. I thought my stories would be good enough to garner some attention and I'd gain an organic following. Well, unless you're a celebrity, don't expect people to find you on Twitter and start following you. You, the author, need to find your audience, not the other way around.

How do you go about doing this?

It's really simple. Find people on Twitter who like the same books, movies, TV shows as you do and start following them. Search for fans of Harry Potter, Dr. Who, Downton Abbey or whatever franchise you're into and connect with them. Retweet their posts, read and comment on their blogs, and engage in conversation.

Remember these are people who are into the same things as you so connecting will be really easy and even fun! Twitter is about socializing, not just marketing. If you take the time to connect with potential readers, you will naturally grow your audience and interest in your work. Not understanding this concept was the cause of most of my frustration when it came to gaining more followers and once I remedied the problem things started to turn around. But there's one more gap that kept me from gaining traction on Twitter...

2. Not following the "rules" of Twitter

When I say rules, I don't mean the terms and conditions when you sign up for Twitter or any other social media platform. I'm talking about the norms people follow when they tweet, retweet, and follow others. You'll quickly realize that once you start following potential readers and like-minded folks on Twitter, you'll get them to follow back.

I've learned that it's good Twitter etiquette to follow someone back who's followed you first. Initially, I didn't want to follow people who I didn't know because most of my experience with social media came from Facebook, where I avoid friend requests from strangers and do my best to keep privacy settings pretty strict. This approach is counter-intuitive on Twitter if you want to gain a following and reach an audience.

Will your Twitter feed be flooded by tweets from strangers? Yes, but you can manage this with apps like TweetDeck or by creating Lists to filter out the tweets you don't want to see. But within the flurry of tweeting there are informative posts and tips you can respond to, which brings me to the next "rule".

Retweet like crazy!

Well, don't go completely nuts with it, but try to help your followers and those you follow by sharing their content. As an author or writer, you're also bound to gain fellow authors as followers--retweet their content too! Don't see the other authors as competition. They're trying to build their brand, platform, and following just like you. Help them out with their marketing and you may help yourself out as well, either by gaining some followers from their audience or landing a guest post on their blog. Twitter can be very reciprocal that way. Be generous and treat others as you'd like to be treated. You'll be surprised how far you can get!

In the spirit of tweeting and retweeting, if you're on Twitter and I'm not a follower of yours, click below to tweet me and I'll follow you! I'll do my best to retweet your latest writing success so your marketing efforts are just a little easier ;-)

Click here to tweet me!

See you on the Twittersphere,
Daniel

Goodbye cruel (publishing) world?

Periodically one's writing is a source of despair.  Viewed rationally this despair is no more real than one's feelings of delight in one's work.  The work is as it is, nothing has changed (apart from a little light proof reading) but one's whole attitude to it is changed.

Last week, the publishing marketing guy took on the task of giving me a one-line pitch for The Malice of Fairies.  We exchanged a couple of emails, and then he was delayed by his other work...so I felt low again.  I think it's really hard to do a one-line pitch for the book.  I've had this discussion with T and I know the theory behind the one line pitch, but getting the feel of TMoF into a sentence is crazy.   The marketing man agrees with his ex-wife that TMoF is a title that will not work... A lot of people like it - they say it's intriguing, they sense an opposition between Malice and Fairies... they say they'd pick it up... I'd be sorry to lose the title, the suggested alternatives  "The Stolen Child" "The Road through the Woods" "Hashtag Lost Girl" don't really do it for me...I'm usually good at titles...

Another point is that the number of agents who have turned me down in the UK is still only about 20 (including the madwoman mentioned in the previous post, who seemed to think it was horror).  I haven't submitted it anywhere recently, I am waiting for the guru to pronounce.  Yet somehow I feel as if I have no where left to turn.  But there are about 79 agents who might be interested.  And things can happen, but over all, since the edit in the spring I have felt increasingly unwilling to write, unwilling to engage, unwilling to believe that anything will happen.    Apparently visualising (ie daydreaming) about your future success is not as helpful to creating actual success as having sensible expectations based on previous experiences.   A lot of my previous experiences are so long ago I cannot quite tell what I should expect on the basis of them.   I got sacked from several jobs - but I can't see how that fits with the future success of this or any other novel.

So, at present, I am seriously considering giving up writing.  Been there, done it, failed.  I have devoted the best part of 7.5 years to this - to say nothing of all the abortive novels and ideas pursued since my late teens. I have nothing to show for it financially.  People admire my tenacity - but I am increasingly wondering if I am barking up the wrong tree.  The emotions I feel are similar to those I felt when I abandoned the idea of becoming a priest.  An intense disbelief that something I had pursued so ardently and with considerable work and energy and felt was the right thing to pursue, turned out to have no future.  Something that meant everything for me had to be abandoned, at that time, when I prayed about what I should do next, I heard the word Writing.  It took a while to get up to speed, but finally I did, and now it doesn't seem to be the answer either.   T has been very staunch and saying "the darkest hour is before the dawn" etc., but I really feel this must be one of the longest hours before dawn ever...I am glad I don't do Tarot cards any more - I suspect I would endlessly be getting that card, I think it's the 3 of Swords, which means "the false down, disappointment, despair".  That seems to sum it up when I feel at my worst just now.

So the plan is this: inundate agents with the book, then give up and self-publish.  The only question I have is whether to go to the Festival of Writing and see if I can hook an agent there.  It's £400, which would make TMoF the costliest book ever.   Will I ever get back all that money?