Plans, Thoughts, Hopes

I have several plans I'm considering. Of those, some are too vague yet for me to write about them. But I do have a few things I would like to move forward on. First of all, I do intend to keep cleaning this poor, old blog up. Second, I hope to start a serious discussion among interested writers about the issues raised in the previous post. What can we do to make a living? What will work, what is worth trying, and what isn't worth even wasting time thinking about?

If you are interested in this topic, please leave a comment. I'd really like to find a few serious writers who understand just how important this is. We need to put our heads together, brainstorm, and work on finding real solutions. I know we're all busy, but please don't offer to take part unless you are really going to make the time to do it. I would like to help improve the choices all writers have as they seek to survive doing what they do best.

Finally, I have toyed with one idea for a while, and I'd like your thoughts. I sent out one enquiry, but I am also interested to see what my readers think. I've been wondering what I could do for America's troops overseas. Whatever your politics, these guys aren't the ones making the decisions. They are leaving their homes, going to harsh and hostile lands, and risking death. They see friends die around them. Most of them are just kids. And they do all that because somebody else orders them to.

They volunteer because they want to protect their country, their families, their friends, to guard all our freedoms. How they are used is not theirs to decide. There are those who would disagree with me. If so, go write about it on your blog, the one you're free to express your opinion on because of men like the ones you despise.

A lot of Americans, even those who don't despise them, don't seem to give them much thought. I do. My son was one of them for a while, when he was in the Marines. He served for eight years; he's home now, safe and sound, but I can't forget that people just like him are still there, still dying. Now, I don't have enough money to contribute anything significant to the care packages sent over there.

What I can do is write. In some ways, it is useless, but perhaps some of the men and women over there would get a bit of encouragement out of the idea that someone was offering to write something to entertain them. So my idea works like this: I'd ask for suggestions for ideas - stories they'd like to read - from the men and women stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Every two weeks, I'd pick an idea I can work with, write a story, and post it (on a separate blog set up for this project, or a special web site). If I found I could manage more frequent stories and posts, I'd pick up the pace. The story would be dedicated to the person who suggested it.

I'd keep the basic Copyright rights, but I would post the stories under a blanket grant of non-exclusive rights to any service member to print it out and to pass on copies if they like. If other writers are interested, they could join the project, and select the ideas they wanted to work with. They would keep the rights to their own stories, but would grant the same blanket non-exclusive rights I've described above.

I would be the overall editor; this is not open to just anyone who thinks they are a writer. Only someone able to write decent stories, ones that at least might end up in a magazine, would be accepted. In addition, I'd look over their stories and suggest any changes they needed to make so the story would be the best it could be. The idea here is, if we're going to do this, the troops deserve soemthing decent.

Actually, they deserve the best, but I'm not the best and I know it. I am at least a halfway decent writer, though. At least, I hope I am. I don't think it would be appropriate to take on any writers who weren't at least good enough to describe as "halfway decent". If you are interested in taking part, leave a comment here. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If I think you are good enough, or that I can edit what you write so it is good enough, I'll count you in.

Tentatively, I'm calling this Tales for the Troops. I hope I can make it work out, and I hope it will bring a smile to at least some of the faces that badly need it. Maybe it will be a reminder to them that at least a few people do care what happens to them.

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.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Today is a day set aside to honour Saint Patrick, a man who converted Ireland to Christianity while respecting the basic values of their culture. This is perhaps one reason the Irish are so fond of Saint Patrick, because he left them happily Celtic instead of insisting they become more like the Romans. Once they were converted, this made it more difficult for would-be meddlers to interfere and ruin their culture.

It is also a day to remember Ireland, to think of those beautiful green shores, those lush fields, those magnificent coasts... Yes, a good part of my ancestry is Irish. In fact, I could qualify for Irish citizenship (and depending on how the Presidential election goes, I just may apply) handily; I have two family members who are, alone, enough to qualify me. And I love hearing Irish voices speak, seeing Irish landscapes, eating Irish soda bread (there will be some of that, nice and hot, later today), hearing Irish music...

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I do also want to share a little more with my readers about my plans for this blog. Before events kept me from posting for so long, I was considering some changes, and I've thought still more about those in the meantime. I may be setting up my own site, and moving this blog to a WordPress platform on that domain. Over time, once I get the ongoing projects I'm bogged down in cleared away, I hope to set up a more regular posting schedule, and post more on topics of interest to writers.

I will still be making some fiction available, but I need time to decide how I'll do this. The sad fact is, once a writer 'publishes' a story, it is virtually unsellable. If it is a very small blog, some markets may still agree to purchase "first publication rights" - but some will not. And if it is posted on a larger blog, or any public site, it can no longer be sold except as a previously published story. And, unless the author is very well-known, there is no market for previously published stories.

There is also the issue of doing this in way that won't interfere with my pursuing a more serious writing career. I have decided, even more firmly than before, that is the direction I am headed in. That means I have many decisions to make, and I'll be revealing those to my readers as soon as I have made them. Also, in an effort to make things a little easier, I have become an affiliate of Holly Lisle's shop, selling books of interest to writers and some fiction.

While I don't criticise anyone for what they choose to do with their own blogs, I don't plan to cram my own blog with ads; that just isn't what I want for my blog. I don't expect any of my readers to buy any of Holly's books, unless they truly decide they want to. I chose this program for several reasons. First, the products are ones I have bought, or would like to buy, myself. Second, when I contacted the program, I was specifically told, by Holly Lisle herself, that I was free to write honest reviews of her books, mentioning things I disliked or disagreed with as well as things I liked.

I will be writing reviews of some of these books, and I hope to have a nice offer for anyone who is interested up soon. In the meantime, I will simply say this. The books I have bought and read all share several qualities. First, they were written by an actual, working author who makes her living by writing, and knows what it takes. Second, they are, as much as possible, written to take into account all the varied and individual ways each writer must work. They offer useful suggestions and ways of coping, not rigid rules or useless theories.