Future Plans

First of all, tomorrow is Blog Reader Appreciation Day. Since most of my readers seem to enjoy my fiction, I hope to post a story for you tomorrow. I'm not saying what time, it may be close to midnight, but unless something really unexpected messes up my plans, I'll have a story for you tomorrow. (All my cats seem healthy, my computer isn't on the immediate brink of failure right now - I think it is safe to promise that.)

Second, I already posted about DBA Lehane's latest contest (you have to scroll down a bit). I also have an idea for an entry in that contest, so if any of you are interested in reading that, you may want to join his writing group so you can do so. I'll have that done before the deadline of the 30th, but I'm not making any tighter guesses on what date I'll finish it.

Much as I enjoy posting here, and reading all your blogs, I'm still posting a bit sluggishly, and reading and commenting on your blogs only occasionally. Why? I'm trying to "clear the decks" for action. That is, I have plans for what I'd like to do, and I'm busy struggling with all the tasks that have accumulated, and been put off, over the past number of years.

When I have less to do looming over my head, I'll have more time for writing. I intend to seriously pursue a full time writing career. The first step is to make sure I'll have time to write without being distracted by "that computer problem I noticed back in 2006 isn't going away, in fact it seems to be getting worse." In addition, I need to develop and improve my writing. No matter what you may think of my writing ability, writing is a skill which can always be improved.

I also need to develop a source of income that won't get in the way of writing more than necessary, one that I can step back from as I get more opportunities to write. One task I mean to finish, then keep up with, is looking over everything I've written so far, editing it wherever I see opportunity for improvement, making a catalogue of it, and tracking those novels and stories I've never finished.

It seems a useful discipline to work through the process of finishing, or of revising, those projects that are stalled. Only if I discover something that truly is beyond salvage will I set it aside unfinished. Then, I plan to keep up with new ideas: I know one writer who has a rule that she finishes everything she starts in a year by the end of that year. I may not adopt exactly that rule; I need to work out what will work best for me, first. But I do plan to adopt a similar rule.

I'll be keeping this blog for now, but over time I will be developing my own web site. I'll post a link to that once I have it up, and I'll be posting some of my new material there. Eventually, I will shift my blog to a WordPress (probably) blog hosted on my own site. Again, when I have a link, I'll post it here, and I'll leave this blog in place, so anyone following an uncorrected link can still find me.

I still need to plan my web site in detail, and I still need to work out the ways I hope to begin bringing in a little income by writing. Don't worry - even if I were to open up a subscription only web site (which I am not considering, by the way) most if not all of my readers here are also friends - I'd just send you free subscriptions and wait for paying strangers to sign up.

My options to begin with are limited to, first, taking on freelance writing work. I do plan to do that, but since none of that is likely to be very creative, it isn't my favourite choice. Editing work is a little more attractive to me, although I'd really rather have more time to devote to my own writing. (Yes, I know we can't always get the things we want. On the other hand, I am very conscious of the fact that the more time I can spend writing, the better I will come to be at it. And I think every real writer craves the chance to develop their potential as fully as possible.)

I will be doing (very limited) affiliate selling. I won't recommend anything just to make money from it. I won't pretend it is better than it is. In other words, I doubt I'll be the greatest salesman on the Internet. And I am at least considering the possibility of accepting advertising. I would be interested to know what my readers think of that idea.

As you may have guessed, my tendencies tend strongly towards the non-commercial - while I like the idea of getting paid for doing nothing more than drawing readers, I hate the idea my writing might lure readers into being exposed to an ad for some junk I'd never wish on my worst enemy. Of course, I could limit ads to, say, small publishers - but then I'd feel unjustified in charging them much and making it harder for them to pay their authors.

Finally, I am toying with an idea I haven't seen attempted yet. I wonder if there are businesses out there who would pay a fiction writer to write stories just to attract readers? It would gain them extra traffic, and goodwill from the readers who enjoyed the fiction. Or they could offer mini e-books with a few stories as a reward for loyal customers. What do you think? Is there any chance of finding even a tiny, niche market for such an idea? And, of course, it has the same problems as accepting ads on my own site. I'm considering all these possibilities because, in the end, I am the one who has to arrive at a mix I can feel comfortable with.

For Writers

I have two announcements of possible interest to the writers who read this blog. The first concerns an interesting contest the extremely talented DBA Lehane is holding. The details are on his blog, Short Short Fiction. His blog post provides the links to the actual site where the contest is being held. Note that the deadline has been extended; there is a notice on the site hosting the contest. I encourage anyone who can come up with a good story meeting the requirements of the competition to enter.

Also, I have a few minor resources to share with any writers who are interested. Since blogs aren't set up for downloading files directly (and I could probably set up a link to remotely download the files, but I'd be forever tweaking it) just visit my public E-Snips folder, Writers Helps. Everything there is free.

There is a sample of one of Holly Lisle's books, the Create a Plot Clinic; as I already mentioned, I have become an affiliate of her shop. In this case, you don't have to rely on my judgment (and writers are different, so even a book I found helpful might not be for you). Download the sample and look it over. If it doesn't look helpful, all you'll have wasted was a bit of time reading. If you do find it helpful, pass the sample along to a friend once you get the full copy.

There is also a character creation checklist I made up a while ago. If you use that kind of thing, it might help you. It is free, and you can make as many copies as you like for yourself; all I ask, if you want to share, is that you point your friends to the Writers Helps folder. There is also a PDF for a very experimental form of manuscript paper I designed. That probably won't be right for many of you, but if it is, enjoy it!

Fiction Contest Deadline Extended

I must apologise to all of you; I should have been on top of this and let you know sooner. As it is, I've been so swamped, I barely noticed the problem a couple of days ago. Out of five entrants in my Longer Fiction Contest, only two have sent in their entries, and the tentative deadline was to be tomorrow. I did state that if that proved too difficult, I'd extend it.

One entrant has actually requested that I extend it, which I was considering doing in any case. It seems that perhaps I chose a bad time of year for the deadline, anyway. We're all recovering from the hectic pace of the holidays, battling seasonal illnesses, and generally swamped. So I am extending it to the first of March, at least. If any of you are concerned about that date, please let me know as soon as you can, so I can consider your input.

I had hoped to post a review of the second entry, The Milkman, today. Unfortunately, I pulled or tore something in my shoulder today, so simply typing this post is almost beyond me. Composing a review, then typing it, is more than I care to tackle right now. I'll post my review as soon as the shoulder is a bit better and I can think clearly. Thanks for your understanding.

Review: American Cemetery by Mike Cunningham

The first entry received in the Wandering Author Short Fiction Contest is a novella entitled American Cemetery by Mike Cunningham. It focuses on an American bomber crew flying out of Britain during World War Two. The work is a testament to the ability of its author. I am convinced this has the potential to be expanded into a full length novel if the author ever wished to do so.

In common with nearly every unedited manuscript, there are a multitude of tiny points that need to be fixed. I think the author would be surprised to see how much more smoothly his prose would flow just by trimming a few superfluous words here and there. Such a polishing would make this story a real powerhouse.

One of the great strengths of the story is the fact the author draws characters the reader can care about. A few small changes might make it even more compelling, but it is worth reading as it stands. Of course, an author may develop one area of his skill to the extent it leads him astray in another area. The only real weakness in this entry is due to such a cause.

The author was so careful to develop his characters the story starts and builds up very slowly. It is still worth reading, but more impatient readers might discard it before discovering its merits. With an effort to introduce more action in the beginning, something the author clearly has the skill to do, the story would take off like a Spitfire off to intercept Nazi bandits coming in over the Channel.

I am not ready to declare a winner without even having received the rest of the entries, but American Cemetery is a worthy contender. When Mike gains just a bit more skill, I have no doubt he has a shot at a career as an author. Publishing is too uncertain an industry to say for certain he would succeed, but finding his name on the bookstore shelves some day won't come as any surprise to me.

Some of my readers may wonder why I haven't included any excerpts from the story. Since it does develop so slowly, the portions that most aptly display its true quality are those which fall close to the climax of the action. Quoting from these pages is all too likely to spoil the story for later readers, so I felt it best to refrain from doing so.

Fiction Contest Entrants

This post will remain at the top of the blog while entries remain open. To see the most recent post, just scroll down to the next entry. When entries are closed, this will be dropped to 29 September when it was first posted.

To date, the following people have entered my Longer Fiction Contest:
DBA Lehane
Brandon
Mike Cunningham who also showcases some of his work on this site*
Ian Healy who showcases his fiction here (Withdrew 30 January 2007)
Susan Abraham

*May appear garbled in Firefox

If you would like your information corrected or amended, simply let me know. If you don't see your name here, I may not have had a chance to read your e-mail and add your information yet. If, after a reasonable interval, your name still doesn't show up here, contact me again. If you would like to recheck the rules, click here.

08 February 2007: Please note the following change to the rules. I had posted on 30 January that the deadline would be moved to at least 01 March, and noted an exact date awaited responses from the three entrants I have not yet received entries from. I have not yet heard at all from one entrant. However, due to a request from another, recent problems with my shoulder, and the fact that my own job will, with little warning, require most of my time for the remainder of February, I am moving the deadline to 31 March 2007. This is a final change. I'm sorry for all the uncertainty; I will be contacting each of the four existing entrants individually.

22 February 2007: I am dropping this post back to 29 September 2006, but I adding a prominent link in my sidebar as a reminder that the contest remains open. This is to minimize confusion, and allow readers to more easily locate new posts.

Longer Fiction - A Contest - Revised Rules

I've been toying with the idea of sponsoring a writing contest, and I've finally come up with an idea I like. The rules are a bit flexible at the moment, due to the nature of the contest, but entries may be novellas, or short collections of stories or poems. Any genre is acceptable, although I reserve the right to ignore without comment any entries which promote hatred, bigotry, or racism.

The prize, to be awarded to at least one winner (in the case of a tie, I may award multiple prizes), is one some of you may find intriguing. I am a pretty fair editor and typographer. I will work with you to edit the winning entry until it is as polished as possible, typeset the manuscript as a small book, and provide you with a file you can submit to Lulu.com - which will give you, at no cost, an electronically published book visitors to Lulu may buy.

If you would like to have the book assigned an ISBN and made available through various online booksellers, you will have to pay that fee yourself. However, you will still have all the preparatory work done for you. If you are also an artist or photographer, you may submit cover art or illustrations with your manuscript. You will probably want to limit interior illustrations to greyscale to keep the book's price reasonable.

If you intend to provide your own artwork, please make advance arrangements with me so you don't overwhelm my inbox or exceed my e-mail's limits. If you do not provide a cover illustration, I will locate artwork or a photo that is available with an "attribution only" licence, and use typography and judicious manipulation to provide a suitable cover. The exact process followed in editing will be worked out by agreement between the Wandering Author and the winner.

Due to the length of submissions, I will not be able to publish them here, much as I would like to do so, but I will review entries unless the entrant specifically requests otherwise. To avoid being swamped by writers with already complete manuscripts, should word of this contest spread, I reserve the right to limit the number of entrants at any time.

To enter, e-mail me at thewanderingauthor at yahoo dot com with "Wandering Author Contest Entry" in the subject line. Include your name, or the pseudonym you want to use for your book, e-mail address, and blog or website. As long as I get your e-mail before I close the field to new entrants, you've reserved a spot in the contest. I will post the names of every entrant in a sticky post at or near the top of this blog.

I hate to have to do this, but to avoid legal tangles, anyone under 18 may enter, but only if their parents provide signed consent for them to do so. I will send my mailing address on request, for the purpose of sending a signed letter of consent. Upon receiving your request for my mailing address, I will reserve a spot for you until I get your parents' consent.

The tentative deadline for sending completed submissions to me is 31 January, 2007. It is my hope that will give everyone who is interested time to polish up their entries. The deadline will not be moved forward under any circumstances, but if enough of you have trouble meeting that deadline, I reserve the right to extend it as seems appropriate. If any of you do have trouble, please let me know as soon as possible.

Your completed entry should be between 18,000 and 50,000 words, give or take a few hundred. You should submit it in one of the following formats: WordPerfect 12 or earlier, MS Word 2003 or earlier, AbiWrite, ASCII or ANSI plain text, or RTF. Submissions that include active macros will not be accepted! Do not include photos or artwork you do not own the rights to!

E-mail your submission, as an attachment 9 MB or less in size, to me at thewanderingauthor at yahoo dot com and include "Wandering Author Contest Submission" in the subject line. Include in the body of the message a statement that you are the sole owner of rights to your submission; if you don't object to a review, add that you assign the Wandering Author the non-exclusive right to quote from that submission.

Since it isn't clear right now if most of the entrants will send in their submissions early, or wait until closer to the deadline, it is impossible to predict the exact date the winner will be announced. I will announce that date as soon as I have enough information to do so. Any extension of the deadline, or clarification of these rules, will be added to this post, so save a permalink to it if you plan to enter.

The Wandering Author will decide the winning entry or entries, but may at his discretion seek the opinions of others. I offer the following guidelines to those considering entering. I have read fiction in all genres that I enjoyed; if it is well written and has an interesting story and characters that is all I ask.

I do find most formulaic genre fiction, that which focuses on the expected elements of the genre to the exclusion of all else, distasteful. It also seems to me that the quality of poetry is a more subjective matter than perhaps any other form of literature. Which is not at all the same as saying poetry cannot win.

I can ignore minor factual errors; I'd simply suggest you correct them during the editing process. However, unless you are explicitly writing alternate history, or fabricating a completely new fantasy or science fiction world, a setting which rings totally false is more than enough to ruin a story for me. Even then, the setting should have some internal consistency.

I must rule out "fan fiction", for legal reasons at least. In any case, I think only the greatest of writers could make such fiction work for non-fans. Young adult fiction is fine; I won't absolutely rule out fiction for younger children, but I won't encourage it, either. Finally, while I don't mind stories with a moral or a point to them, it needs to be a part of the story. There are few things as dreadful as a tract thinly disguised by a few splatters of fiction flung on.