Well, it’s
the end of the year. Time to start
thinking about New Year’s resolutions and all the things we really want
to make sure we do this coming year. And
to celebrate the fact that 2012 was not, in fact, the end of the world.
However,
it’s also a good time to look back and think about what we did this
year. Did last year’s resolutions get
met? Did we get close?
Did we even
really try?
I started
off the year working for Amazon Studios, the film branch of the well-known
online media giant. I had a meeting and did
a treatment for a sci-fi film called Original Soldiers they
were trying to develop. It was pretty
clear early on that we had different opinions on it, but they decided to see
what I did with it anyway (I saw Liam Neeson in a glorious B-action movie and
they thought they could get... I don’t know, Schindler’s Robot). They still went with someone else (or
possible, as my girlfriend supects, just canned the project when they didn’t
see a potential Oscar anywhere), but they paid very well for the work I did.
After that
it was diving back into Ex-Communication, which I’d only barely
started. That was a good chunk of the
year (I think until late August or early September). The final, sixth draft came in at a little
over 100,000 words. And I’ll be doing some more work on it before the Crown
release.
It’s about
time to mention Crown, too. As some of you may have heard, I was offered a four book deal with
Crown Publishing, a division of Random House, for the Ex-series just as I was finishing up Ex-Communication. While it’s great on one front, it did sort of
put me on hold for a while as far as “what to write next.” If the deal happened, Crown was going to want
another Ex-book. If it didn’t
happen, well, I usually wrote something non-superhero-and-zombie related between Ex-books
as sort of a palate cleanser. So there
was a period of about two months this fall where I wasn’t really sure what to
start working on.
I ended up
going back to a sci-fi horror idea I’d started ages ago (before my Crusoe
mash-up) and doing a fair amount of work on that. But then some things shifted, negotiations
hit a certain point, and I shelved it again.
Alas, at this point I think I can honestly say Dead Moon has
become my booty call idea. I
should keep that in mind next time it’s late at night and I’m feeling the need
to poke at something...
For a
couple of reasons, I shifted over to an idea that had been tickling my mind, a
concept for a new series. After a false start, I ended up scribbling out almost 15,000 words of notes and
outlines and huge swaths of action and dialogue. I stopped because I didn’t want to burn out
on it, and also because the Crown deal was finalized.
So, right
around Halloween, I started working on the fourth Ex-book. Still working on a title for it, but the book
itself is about 2/3 done by now. I think
I might actually be on schedule for the April 1st deadline.
I also had
to do a bunch of layout stuff and edits for the new editions of the Ex-books. It wasn’t tough, but it is time-consuming.
And there’s more of it coming in January.
I also
managed to squeeze in about ten reviews for Cinema Blend here and there. I enjoy writing reviews because when they’re
done right they’re a good mix of critical analysis, storytelling,
and a bit of snark (when deserved).
Which reminds me, I still owe them a review for this box set...
And of
course, here on the ranty blog I scribbled out forty-four articles about
writing. In all fairness, this is one of
the weakest years here since I started this.
Plus thirty-three articles on another page I keep up. And those H.P. Legocraft pages.
So that’s
what I did.
What did
you do?
Yeah, I
know, I’ve got a bit of an advantage. I
don’t have kids. This is my day
job. So I get to focus a lot more time
on this than most people.
But y’know
what? I had a full-time journalism job
when I wrote Ex-Heroes. Almost all of my fellow authors at Permuted
Press—Craig DiLouie, C Dulaney, Tony Faville, Jessica Meigs, Thom Brannan, and
more—still have full time jobs. Michael
Crichton started writing when he was in medical school. You don’t get much more full-time than that. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Maya Angelou, John
Grisham, David Wong, Clive Cussler, Stephen King... all these famous writers and
many, many more had full-time jobs when they started their writing careers. Heck, King had a full-time job and two kids.
So, with
that in mind... I ask you again. What
did you do this year?
As I’ve
mentioned before, it all comes down to priorities. If I want to spend a few hours each day with
my (hypothetical) kids or watching Netflix with my lovely lady, that’s my
business and my decision. It says where my priorities are and there's nothing wrong with that. Likewise,
the fact that my lovely lady and I live together, both work out of the home,
and only see each other for a total of four or five hours a day on an average
day... well, that says something about our priorities, too.
A fellow I
know got the screenplay rights to a fairly well-known book series. It was at the same time I was starting a
novel, so I jokingly said we should make a contest out of it. He kind of brushed me off, but loudly
announced his upcoming adaptation to the Twitterverse.
The book I was starting was 14. To the best of my knowledge, he still doesn’t have a first draft of his adaptation. Granted, he’s trying to start a business and has two kids. And there were a lot of movies he had to see. And some opening night parties. And a bi-weekly poker game he never misses...
The only way to get ahead is to write. There is nothing else. There are no tricks or magic bullets. The work will not get done if you don’t do it. It doesn’t matter how you spin it, if you’re not writing, you’re not getting any closer to selling something. And if you’re not selling anything, it’s really hard to make a living at this.
The book I was starting was 14. To the best of my knowledge, he still doesn’t have a first draft of his adaptation. Granted, he’s trying to start a business and has two kids. And there were a lot of movies he had to see. And some opening night parties. And a bi-weekly poker game he never misses...
The only way to get ahead is to write. There is nothing else. There are no tricks or magic bullets. The work will not get done if you don’t do it. It doesn’t matter how you spin it, if you’re not writing, you’re not getting any closer to selling something. And if you’re not selling anything, it’s really hard to make a living at this.
Which is
why you’re here, yes? To get
some tips on making a living at this.
A page a
day. That’s it. That’s all you need to
do. If you can write a page a day,
you’ll have a solid draft of a novel by next New Year’s Eve. You could have the first draft of that script
done by April Fools Day.
If you
write it.
But if the
latest episode of Dexter or Dancing With The Stars deserves your
time more than writing... well...
Next
time—or next year, if you prefer—I’d like to go over what this little
collection of rants is trying to accomplish.
Until then, pour yourself a glass of champagne, kiss someone special, and then go write.
Just write
one page.
I also have no kids, but a very supporting wife.
ReplyDeletethis year i brewed 199.9 gallons of wine and beer
fermented and dry cured ~120 pound of various salami
brined and cold smoked ~150 pounds of bacon
fermented 2 gallons of hot sauce
lovingly tended 6 beehives that gave me no honey because of the drought.
had 10 terrible hangovers
caught lots and lots of fish
scratched many dogs heads
and wrote and self published my first novel!
all of this with a full-time job.
not a bad 2012
I've always thought that picture of Stealth makes it look like she has grey bunny ears instead of a hood.
ReplyDelete