Archive
Monthly Archives: February 2012
- by Tara Maya
Blunders to Avoid Designing Magic Training
GUESTBLOG:
MAGICAL TRAINING
by Rayne Hall
To become a mighty mage, your character needs training. Mere talent isn’t enough.
Like in any other field, success in magic comes from a combination of natural gift, determination, study, and practice. It’s similar to writing: you can have the greatest natural literary gift in the world, but unless you learn the craft and actually practice writing, you won’t achieve your potential.
Give your magician character a backstory which includes training, or send him (I’ll use the male pronoun for this article, but everything I say applies to either gender) to magical school.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
1. School of Magic
Your novel may have a school of magic for children, a college of magic, a mage academy, or even a university offering postgraduate degrees in comparative magic and magical anthropology. Students sign up for full-time study, most likely on a tuition-and-board basis. If the novel is set in the modern western world, the classes may meet the requirements of the national curriculum in addition to providing magical training. In ancient Egypt, most magicians were priests, and magician-priests were brought up from a young age at the temple.
Depending on the type of school and level of education, a magic school is likely to teach subjects of relevance to magicians: for example sciences (especially botany and chemistry), medicine (conventional, alternative or complementary), music (especially chanting and drumming), physical education (especially dancing), philosophy and ethics (especially the ethics of magic spells), ancient languages (e.g. Latin, Aramaic, Sanskrit), religion (especially if it’s a temple school), astronomy, astrology, mythology, psychology, divination, and more. A modern school may also have compulsory classes in health and safety.
2. Apprenticeship
A master magician takes one or several apprentices. The apprenticeship is similar to that of other trades, bound by similar rules. Typically, the master signs a contract with the youngster’s parent, which indentures the apprentice for several years, and in return, the master teaches his craft. There may be payment involved; either the parent paying the master or the master paying the apprentice. The apprentices may live in the master’s house, and practice under his instruction. Typically, they may be put to hard work, including non-magical chores such as scrubbing floors. This form of magical training has been prevalent in many cultures and periods, especially for shamans.
3. Self-study
A magician can plausibly teach herself, learning from observation, trial and error. This suits reclusive, organised, studious types who have a high education, a lot of self-discipline and intense curiosity. She needs access to learning materials, as well as the money and leisure to devote herself to the study. Self-taught magicians are plausible among the educated wealthy upper classes in the western world from the Renaissance onwards. Sometimes, a magician has initially served an apprenticeship and outgrown her master (or fallen out with him), and is pursuing further studies on her own.
4. Part-Time Study
Although it takes several years of full-time training to become a professional magician, it’s also possible to practice magic as a hobby, and to devote only a few hours every week to training. The part-time path is particularly plausible in the modern world, where many adults take up magic while earning their bread from a day-job. Many organisations offer part-time classes: community colleges, Pagan religious groups, New Age societies. Classes may be in classroom environments, by correspondence, or online. In about a year, the student can achieve enough skill to work a little magic, and this may be all a hobbyist wants. If she wishes to go further, then decades of part-time study can make her a magician of significant power.
5. Informal Learning
Non-professional magicians may pass on their skills informally, especially among family members. For example, a mother may teach her daughter a few things she picked up from her own mother, and make the little girl practice it until she gets it right. The range of applications is limited, typically involving skills of practical everyday use, such as how to make the cow give more milk and how to make the potatoes boil faster. This type of magic is often called ‘folk magic’. It won’t equip the student to battle the sorcerous evil overlord and save the world.
CANDIDATE SELECTION
Schools, universities and masters are choosy about the students and apprentices they take. Before a candidate is accepted for training, there will be an interview and an aptitude test. Typically, the teacher will assess some or all of the following:
When testing future apprentices, magicians may check for one or all of the following:
When testing future apprentices, magicians may check for one or all of the following:
– ability to concentrate
– ability to follow instructions
– creativity and imagination
– ability to visualise
– ability to memorise
– motivation (Why does this person want to learn magic? A candidate who replies ‘To hurt my enemies’, ‘To get rich quick’, ‘To seduce chicks’ or ‘It sounds fun, much better than doing real work’ will be rejected)
– moral integrity
– obedience (especially in traditional-style indentured apprenticeships)
– ability to control thoughts
– ability think and act under pressure
– patience
– health
– ability to follow instructions
– creativity and imagination
– ability to visualise
– ability to memorise
– motivation (Why does this person want to learn magic? A candidate who replies ‘To hurt my enemies’, ‘To get rich quick’, ‘To seduce chicks’ or ‘It sounds fun, much better than doing real work’ will be rejected)
– moral integrity
– obedience (especially in traditional-style indentured apprenticeships)
– ability to control thoughts
– ability think and act under pressure
– patience
– health
– sensory awareness
– certain features traditionally attributed to magicians of that form of magic (e.g. Nepalese shamans may look for a child who instinctively climbs trees)
– certain features traditionally attributed to magicians of that form of magic (e.g. Nepalese shamans may look for a child who instinctively climbs trees)
– natural affinity for magic
– existing skills in related fields (e.g. clairvoyance, astrology)
– faith and piety (especially for religious magic, e.g. training in temple schools)
In addition to the candidates character and aptitude, other factors may play a role, such as money, politics and connections. A college may give preference to the offspring of distinguished alumni, and a master may take on the apprentice whose parents pay most.
THE DAILY GRIND OF LEARNING
Magic requires a lot of practice, which students may find tedious. Every spell needs to be drilled and repeated, perhaps hundreds of times. There’ll be a lot of visualising exercises, sitting still for an hour while keeping an imagined image of a yellow brick or a red flame in the mind’s eye. Some forms of magic involve a lot of rote learning and recitations, others require the steady stirring of simmering potions at just the right rhythm all night long. The average teenager will probably hate much of it.
EXAMPLES FROM LITERATURE
Harry Potter by JK Rowling. The children attend a specialist school,
Hogwarts, for several years, studying several forms of magic and related subjects. The students at Hogwarts learn theory, but they also practice a lot, and some scenes show them practising until they get it right. Several years of study is appropriate.
Hogwarts, for several years, studying several forms of magic and related subjects. The students at Hogwarts learn theory, but they also practice a lot, and some scenes show them practising until they get it right. Several years of study is appropriate.
Mage Heart by Jane Routley. A historical fantasy novel, a story about a young girl who grows into her powers as a magician at the same time as she grows into womanhood. The heroine started her magical training as apprentice to her adoptive father, a magician. Then she enrolled in a College of Magic for several years of formal classes. The novel is set during her final year at college when she takes on a magic job to boost her finances.
Krabat by Otfried Preussler. A powerful YA dark fantasy novel, huge bestseller in Germany, winner of several literature prizes. It’s little known in the English-speaking world, although it has been translated and published variously as Krabat and as The Satanic Mill. A boy starts an apprenticeship as a miller, and is delighted to discover that he’ll learn magic at the same time. The dual apprenticeship – miller and magician – takes several years. Several apprentices and journeymen work at the mill. Gradually, the boy realises that the magic he delights in is evil.
With A Single Spell by Lawrence Watt-Evans. An enjoyable, light-hearted, humorous heroic fantasy. It plays with the idea ‘What happens if an apprenticeship doesn’t work out?’ An apprentice magician is left stranded when his master dies. The master had used the apprentice for mundane tasks, always promising to teach him real magic, but never teaching any. The boy is too old to apprentice himself to a new trade, and he can’t find another master willing to take him on. The only spell he knows is how to start a fire. Now he must make his way in the world with no other skill but arson.
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. A beautifully written, witty YA fantasy, highly enjoyable for adults as well. The government controls use of magic and arranges for talented children to be adopted by professional, government-approved , magicians. An unusually talented precocious boy is gets apprenticed to an not-very-good magician. While pretending to learn at the slow pace set by his master, he secretly teaches himself more advanced stuff, soon overreaching himself by the summoning a powerful demon. This is a combination of ‘apprenticeship’ and ‘self-study’.
BLUNDERS TO AVOID
* The protagonist discovers that she has magical talent, and this makes her a powerful magician… as if magic didn’t require study. That’s the equivalent of getting a black belt in karate without any training, purely on the basis of natural talent.
* The protagonist discovers an ancient book of magical which instantly enables him to work spells… as if magic didn’t require practice. That’s the equivalent of someone finding a book on Russian grammar and instantly speaking fluent Russian.
* A master mage or an old witch invites a child to spend an afternoon with her, and in this time she teaches the kid everything she knows… as if a lifetime of learning could be crammed into a few hours. That’s the equivalent of becoming a brain surgeon by spending an afternoon with a brain surgeon.
* * *
RayneHall teaches an onlineworkshop ‘Writing about Magicand Magicians’. Create believable magicians(good and evil), fictionalspells which work, andplot complications when the magicgoes wrong. Learn abouthigh and low magic,witches and wizards, circle-casting andpower-raising, initiation and training, toolsand costumes, science and religion,conflicts and secrecy, lovespells and sex magic,and apply them toyour novel. This isa 4-week class with12 lessons and practicalassignments. If you wish,you may submit ascene for critique atthe end of theworkshop.
Rayne’s workshops include‘Writing Fight Scenes’ and ‘WritingScary Scenes’. For an up-to-date schedule go to sites.google.com/site/writingworkshopswithraynehall/
Rayne has had more than twenty books published under different pen names, with several publishing houses and in several languages. Her latest novel, Storm Dancer, is a dark-heroic fantasy about magic and demons.
Purple wizard: Artwork by Kuoke, copyright Rayne Hall
Amrut/Egyptian magician: Artwork by Kuoke, copyright Rayne Hall
Beltane/Wiccan witch: Artwork by Leah Skerry, copyright Rayne Hall
* * *
And don’t forget!
If you’d like to receive a free copy of Wing, please sign up for my newsletter. When you sign up, be sure to tell me what ebook format you prefer.
- by Tara Maya
GUESTBLOG: MAGICAL TRAINING
by Rayne Hall
To become a mighty mage, your character needs training. Mere talent isn’t enough.
Like in any other field, success in magic comes from a combination of natural gift, determination, study, and practice. It’s similar to writing: you can have the greatest natural literary gift in the world, but unless you learn the craft and actually practice writing, you won’t achieve your potential.
Give your magician character a backstory which includes training, or send him (I’ll use the male pronoun for this article, but everything I say applies to either gender) to magical school.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
1. School of Magic
Your novel may have a school of magic for children, a college of magic, a mage academy, or even a university offering postgraduate degrees in comparative magic and magical anthropology. Students sign up for full-time study, most likely on a tuition-and-board basis. If the novel is set in the modern western world, the classes may meet the requirements of the national curriculum in addition to providing magical training. In ancient Egypt, most magicians were priests, and magician-priests were brought up from a young age at the temple.
Depending on the type of school and level of education, a magic school is likely to teach subjects of relevance to magicians: for example sciences (especially botany and chemistry), medicine (conventional, alternative or complementary), music (especially chanting and drumming), physical education (especially dancing), philosophy and ethics (especially the ethics of magic spells), ancient languages (e.g. Latin, Aramaic, Sanskrit), religion (especially if it’s a temple school), astronomy, astrology, mythology, psychology, divination, and more. A modern school may also have compulsory classes in health and safety.
2. Apprenticeship
A master magician takes one or several apprentices. The apprenticeship is similar to that of other trades, bound by similar rules. Typically, the master signs a contract with the youngster’s parent, which indentures the apprentice for several years, and in return, the master teaches his craft. There may be payment involved; either the parent paying the master or the master paying the apprentice. The apprentices may live in the master’s house, and practice under his instruction. Typically, they may be put to hard work, including non-magical chores such as scrubbing floors. This form of magical training has been prevalent in many cultures and periods, especially for shamans.
3. Self-study
A magician can plausibly teach herself, learning from observation, trial and error. This suits reclusive, organised, studious types who have a high education, a lot of self-discipline and intense curiosity. She needs access to learning materials, as well as the money and leisure to devote herself to the study. Self-taught magicians are plausible among the educated wealthy upper classes in the western world from the Renaissance onwards. Sometimes, a magician has initially served an apprenticeship and outgrown her master (or fallen out with him), and is pursuing further studies on her own.
4. Part-Time Study
Although it takes several years of full-time training to become a professional magician, it’s also possible to practice magic as a hobby, and to devote only a few hours every week to training. The part-time path is particularly plausible in the modern world, where many adults take up magic while earning their bread from a day-job. Many organisations offer part-time classes: community colleges, Pagan religious groups, New Age societies. Classes may be in classroom environments, by correspondence, or online. In about a year, the student can achieve enough skill to work a little magic, and this may be all a hobbyist wants. If she wishes to go further, then decades of part-time study can make her a magician of significant power.
5. Informal Learning
Non-professional magicians may pass on their skills informally, especially among family members. For example, a mother may teach her daughter a few things she picked up from her own mother, and make the little girl practice it until she gets it right. The range of applications is limited, typically involving skills of practical everyday use, such as how to make the cow give more milk and how to make the potatoes boil faster. This type of magic is often called ‘folk magic’. It won’t equip the student to battle the sorcerous evil overlord and save the world.
CANDIDATE SELECTION
Schools, universities and masters are choosy about the students and apprentices they take. Before a candidate is accepted for training, there will be an interview and an aptitude test. Typically, the teacher will assess some or all of the following:
When testing future apprentices, magicians may check for one or all of the following:
When testing future apprentices, magicians may check for one or all of the following:
– ability to concentrate
– ability to follow instructions
– creativity and imagination
– ability to visualise
– ability to memorise
– motivation (Why does this person want to learn magic? A candidate who replies ‘To hurt my enemies’, ‘To get rich quick’, ‘To seduce chicks’ or ‘It sounds fun, much better than doing real work’ will be rejected)
– moral integrity
– obedience (especially in traditional-style indentured apprenticeships)
– ability to control thoughts
– ability think and act under pressure
– patience
– health
– ability to follow instructions
– creativity and imagination
– ability to visualise
– ability to memorise
– motivation (Why does this person want to learn magic? A candidate who replies ‘To hurt my enemies’, ‘To get rich quick’, ‘To seduce chicks’ or ‘It sounds fun, much better than doing real work’ will be rejected)
– moral integrity
– obedience (especially in traditional-style indentured apprenticeships)
– ability to control thoughts
– ability think and act under pressure
– patience
– health
– sensory awareness
– certain features traditionally attributed to magicians of that form of magic (e.g. Nepalese shamans may look for a child who instinctively climbs trees)
– certain features traditionally attributed to magicians of that form of magic (e.g. Nepalese shamans may look for a child who instinctively climbs trees)
– natural affinity for magic
– existing skills in related fields (e.g. clairvoyance, astrology)
– faith and piety (especially for religious magic, e.g. training in temple schools)
In addition to the candidates character and aptitude, other factors may play a role, such as money, politics and connections. A college may give preference to the offspring of distinguished alumni, and a master may take on the apprentice whose parents pay most.
THE DAILY GRIND OF LEARNING
Magic requires a lot of practice, which students may find tedious. Every spell needs to be drilled and repeated, perhaps hundreds of times. There’ll be a lot of visualising exercises, sitting still for an hour while keeping an imagined image of a yellow brick or a red flame in the mind’s eye. Some forms of magic involve a lot of rote learning and recitations, others require the steady stirring of simmering potions at just the right rhythm all night long. The average teenager will probably hate much of it.
EXAMPLES FROM LITERATURE
Harry Potter by JK Rowling. The children attend a specialist school,
Hogwarts, for several years, studying several forms of magic and related subjects. The students at Hogwarts learn theory, but they also practice a lot, and some scenes show them practising until they get it right. Several years of study is appropriate.
Hogwarts, for several years, studying several forms of magic and related subjects. The students at Hogwarts learn theory, but they also practice a lot, and some scenes show them practising until they get it right. Several years of study is appropriate.
Mage Heart by Jane Routley. A historical fantasy novel, a story about a young girl who grows into her powers as a magician at the same time as she grows into womanhood. The heroine started her magical training as apprentice to her adoptive father, a magician. Then she enrolled in a College of Magic for several years of formal classes. The novel is set during her final year at college when she takes on a magic job to boost her finances.
Krabat by Otfried Preussler. A powerful YA dark fantasy novel, huge bestseller in Germany, winner of several literature prizes. It’s little known in the English-speaking world, although it has been translated and published variously as Krabat and as The Satanic Mill. A boy starts an apprenticeship as a miller, and is delighted to discover that he’ll learn magic at the same time. The dual apprenticeship – miller and magician – takes several years. Several apprentices and journeymen work at the mill. Gradually, the boy realises that the magic he delights in is evil.
With A Single Spell by Lawrence Watt-Evans. An enjoyable, light-hearted, humorous heroic fantasy. It plays with the idea ‘What happens if an apprenticeship doesn’t work out?’ An apprentice magician is left stranded when his master dies. The master had used the apprentice for mundane tasks, always promising to teach him real magic, but never teaching any. The boy is too old to apprentice himself to a new trade, and he can’t find another master willing to take him on. The only spell he knows is how to start a fire. Now he must make his way in the world with no other skill but arson.
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. A beautifully written, witty YA fantasy, highly enjoyable for adults as well. The government controls use of magic and arranges for talented children to be adopted by professional, government-approved , magicians. An unusually talented precocious boy is gets apprenticed to an not-very-good magician. While pretending to learn at the slow pace set by his master, he secretly teaches himself more advanced stuff, soon overreaching himself by the summoning a powerful demon. This is a combination of ‘apprenticeship’ and ‘self-study’ .
BLUNDERS TO AVOID
* The protagonist discovers that she has magical talent, and this makes her a powerful magician… as if magic didn’t require study. That’s the equivalent of getting a black belt in karate without any training, purely on the basis of natural talent.
* The protagonist discovers an ancient book of magical which instantly enables him to work spells… as if magic didn’t require practice. That’s the equivalent of someone finding a book on Russian grammar and instantly speaking fluent Russian.
* A master mage or an old witch invites a child to spend an afternoon with her, and in this time she teaches the kid everything she knows… as if a lifetime of learning could be crammed into a few hours. That’s the equivalent of becoming a brain surgeon by spending an afternoon with a brain surgeon.
[Endmatter]
RayneHall teaches an onlineworkshop ‘Writing about Magicand Magicians’. Create believable magicians(good and evil), fictionalspells which work, andplot complications when the magicgoes wrong. Learn abouthigh and low magic,witches and wizards, circle-casting andpower-raising, initiation and training, toolsand costumes, science and religion,conflicts and secrecy, lovespells and sex magic,and apply them toyour novel. This isa 4-week class with12 lessons and practicalassignments. If you wish,you may submit ascene for critique atthe end of theworkshop.
Thenext date for this workshopis:
March 2012: LowcountryRWA www.lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/
March 2012: LowcountryRWA www.lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/
Rayne’s workshops include‘Writing Fight Scenes’ and ‘WritingScary Scenes’. For an up-to-date schedule go to sites.google.com/site/writingworkshopswithraynehall/
Rayne has had more than twenty books published under different pen names, with several publishing houses and in several languages. Her latest novel, Storm Dancer, is a dark-heroic fantasy about magic and demons.
Purple wizard: Artwork by Kuoke, copyright Rayne Hall
Amrut/Egyptian magician: Artwork by Kuoke, copyright Rayne Hall
Beltane/Wiccan witch: Artwork by Leah Skerry, copyright Rayne Hall
- by Tara Maya
5 Steps to Writing Without a Muse
I need to write a story. And I have no idea what to write. How do I start?
Trying to write without inspiration is like trying to drive without gas.
For various reasons, I’ve been reading a great deal of literary fiction, and for various reasons I am expected to write something that is not fantasy or science fiction. So I have the added burden of writing something out of my comfort zone.
I feel like I’m writing without a muse. That’s not the end of the world. It makes the process slower, that’s all. It doesn’t all pour forth in white heat. At least not right away. Eventually, the story must be molten to be poured into shape, but there are steps to take before it gets there. That’s true also of my genre fiction. The problem isn’t the genre, really. That’s just one more challenge.
Here’s what I do.
1. Brainstorm.
I flip through my notebooks, reminding myself of previous ideas. I brainstorm. I jot down new possibles. Since this is to be a mainstream, “realistic” story, I search my own experience. I have an idea… a real incident, based on two people I know. I’ll just write down exactly what happened.
Damn, this will be easy. I feel almost like I’m cheating.
2. Outline.
Even though it’s a short story, I write an outline. A simple one, whatever comes to mind. Tat-tat-tat, into the computer. In this case, I tat out six lines, six movements in the story. It is the story of a mother and daughter, both coming to terms in different ways with a dying father. My outline looks like this: Father dying; Daughter responds; Mother responds; Father gets worse; Daughter responds; Mother responds. Because this is based on a real incident, I know more than I write down. I have a sense of the details I will work in.
I add a last header to the outline: “Conclusion.” As if it were a journal paper, not a story. I don’t know what the ending will be. Not a clue. But do I need a real ending? Some clever twist, some final confrontation with the bad guy, some big reveal? Nah. I can just through in a beautiful metaphor and leave it at that. This is a literary story, so I can get away with an ambiguous ending. In fact, it will be considered more profound that way! Excellent.
The outline might seem so simple as to be useless, but in fact, it has revealed glaring problems. Reluctantly, I acknowledge that it’s not just the ending I don’t know. The details I thought would be easy to write about–because this all really happened–turn out to be more elusive than I thought. As I run through the story in my mind, turning real people into characters who are their own, different people, I realize there’s much I don’t know about them, about their lives, even about the disease that’s killing the father in the family.
This won’t be so easy after all.
3. Research
I can’t avoid research after all, not even for a contemporary story based on my own experience. It’s humbling. I realize how easy it is to stumble through “real” life only half-knowing things, and how this is not allowed in fiction.
There are two kinds of facts I need to research. One kind is easy to find. The name of a disease that will work for my plot. The medical particulars. Stuff like that. Fact facts.
Then there’s the other kind of fact I need to research. This is trickier. How does it smell, how does it taste? How does it feel? Sensory details. Philosophies. Emotions. And what kinds of other everyday things can I weave into the story, things to stand in as metaphors without being painfully obvious and cliche? Not to mention just trawling for oddbits and curiosities to enrich the story, to try to light that spark, to try to wake the muse and warm the pot to molten inspiration.
4. Craft
There are certain technical questions I have to address before I can begin. Whose point of view will be used? A single narrator, a friend outside the family, or the alternating voices of the mother and daughter? Perhaps even the father? Unspecified omniscient? How long will the story be? Will there be formal breaks between the seven sections in my outline, or will I sew them together and disguise the seams from all but the truly discerning? Past tense or present? What word count will I aim for?
5. Heat
I lied. I can’t write a story without my muse. I can’t write without the white hot fever of inspiration. But inspiration can be stoked, like any fire. If the outline, research and craft decisions don’t bring me to the point where I feel it, I go back to research. Or, I put the project aside, and go back to brainstorming. Yep, I start from scratch. But I don’t throw away the work I’ve done on this story. I keep it, as a half-finished project. Another day, I might flip through my notebooks or files and find it, and that day might be the right day, the day I fall into a feverish heat of typing and finish it.
I have just one more secret.
Sometimes, even when I’m sure I don’t feel the bell ringing, I pretend I do. If I’ve really done the research, I know the images I want to use, I know the characters, I know their actions. I just write that down. It’s like like writing notes, but now arranged in paragraphs. I’m convinced it will suck, but I keep at it. I go through the motions. I KNOW it will suck. I keep writing. It’s the worst piece of suck EVER.
As some point, I realize that I’ve completely gone off track from my outline…and yet, I’ve ended up with a story which is not half as bad as I feared.
- by Tara Maya
Thoughts on Self-Publishing, Success and Failure
It’s probably a bad marketing idea to admit you are a failure.
“Hey, here’s my book. Over one hundred different agents and editors agreed it was crap. Want to read it?”
Yeah. That’s a big selling point. Not.
“So, having run out of all other options, I’ve resorted to self-publishing.”
You’re not winning me over here, Tara.
You don’t understand… I’ve been this close. I’ve had many agents ask for partials and a couple ask for fulls. Fulls, I tell you! And some of them paid me lovely compliments while declining to represent my book. Surely that counts for something.
Nice try. Thanks for playing
What if I told you that after every rejection I agonized over the book again, tweaking and tuning, fixing and fidgeting, trying and trying to find the secret, make it better, make it work. And it has grown and improved. Oh, certainly, there were stages where I tried too hard, where my additions and subtractions worked to the detriment of the story, rather than advancing it. And I had to go back and sift and shift again, sometimes returning to an earlier state, sometimes finding, unfortunately, I could not, and simply had to press on and make new changes to make the old changes make sense. If that makes sense.
Good on ya, then. Send it out again.
No.
No, I don’t think I will. And not because I’m tired of making changes. I do have some more changes I want to make, I’ve decided. But this time, I want those changes to be solely for the enhancement of the story I need to tell. Not for agents. Not for publishers. Not to meet the submission guidelines restrictions, which are broken all the time by successful books, but still shoved onto new novelists simply because they are new. I want to go back to my first duty as a writer, my duty to the book. Isn’t it ironic that I became so obsessed with trying to fit the story to the guidelines, I somehow lost the thread of the story?
A part of me still feels that the only real publishing is their publishing. I don’t want to go to the other extreme, and become one of those bitter writers who sit around decrying traditional publishing.
I don’t want my motive to self-publish be out of a sense of failure, neither that I’ve failed as a traditional writer, nor that traditional publishing has failed writers. Publishing is changing, that’s all. And I realized it makes no sense to paddle a rowboat to a sinking ship.
Sinking ship? Ouch.
Maybe that was too harsh. What I wanted to emphasize was not the negativities but the possibilities.