by Nikki Amare | Aug 22, 2018 | Musings
For me, I really need a routine in order to maximize my writing time. Which hasn’t been possible lately with so much going on in my life. So instead of writing every day or having any kind of writing schedule, I’ve been trying to fit it in when I can. Some weeks I might write for three hours a day, six days in a row, and then it’s two weeks before I really have time to do more than write a quick blog post.
I can’t tell you how happy I will be once things have slowed down again and I can get back into a routine.
I’ve never really been one of those writers who writes a certain number of words a day. I mean, I’ve tried it, but it wasn’t long before I realized it wasn’t for me.
Just like plotting out a book beforehand isn’t for me. Writing has to be fun. It has to entertain me or else I lose interest and if I know everything that’s going to happen before I ever sit down to write, then what’s the point of writing the book? At least that’s the way I feel. I know there are plenty of writers out there who swear by plotting and would never dream of sitting down to write without having a detailed outline. And that’s great… for them.
I also don’t worry about word counts. I tried by then I would get discouraged if I didn’t hit my word count goal or I would fixate on that number and push myself to hit it no matter what. And then nine times out of ten I would end up deleting the stuff I’d written trying to hit that number because it wasn’t needed.
Now, I write as often as I can and I write at least a scene each time. I try for, and often end up writing, an entire chapter each time I sit down to write. I’ve also started reading through the previous one or two chapters before I start writing the next one just to make sure I know where the story is going. I’ve also started writing the first few sentences of the next chapter just so I can remember what I was thinking. That way, when I do sit down next I know where I’m starting from. For me, it makes it a lot easier to jump back into the story, even if it’s been a few days or weeks since I last worked on it
Part of being a writer is figuring out what works for you. There is no right or wrong way to write a book. If by the end of the process you have a book, then how you got there doesn’t matter. The finished product is all that matters. I’ve had people ask me for writing advice over the years. I usually tell them two things.
- Write. Which should be the obvious thing, but isn’t always. Some people seem to be so worried about doing it “right” that they never actually get around to putting words on the page.
- And trust yourself. If you’ve decided you want to be a writer, then the odds are you’ve read a lot of books in you life. So while you might not know the technical jargon or be able to pick out things like the rising action or know what a protagonist is, you still know how to tell a story. You still know what a story is and know the difference between a “good” story and a “not so good” story. You might not know why something works or doesn’t work, but you can usually tell either way. So trust that you can tell the story you want to read. Because while we love it when others like our work, we should always write for ourselves first and foremost. I guarantee that you are never going to write a perfect book. And your first drafts will always need work. But that’s what editors are for.
Part of being a writer is finding your own way. Figuring out who you are and embracing what makes you you.
by Nikki Amare | Aug 15, 2018 | Business
As creatives business is often the last thing we want to think about. I hear writers say they just want to write, they don’t want to have to worry about all of that other stuff—that other stuff being the business end of things.
Unfortunately, the moment you decide to publish you become a business whether you want to or not. If you are only going to publish that one book and you don’t really plan to do any advertising or care how many copies you sell, well, then you can call it a hobby, but you still have to keep up with things like taxes and receipts.
Now, I’m not giving business advice. I don’t hold a degree in Business or anything like that. However, I have spent the last several years learning all I can about small businesses and large businesses and what it takes to transition between the two. I’ve learned about copyright and EINs (Employer Identification Number) and DBAs (Doing Business As) and accounting and a ton of other little things that go into running a business. I’ve learned the importances of having your own ISBNs (International Standard Book Number). And yes, I know there are going to be a bunch of self-published authors out there who will say you don’t need ISBNs to publish and technically they would be correct. You can publish without your own ISBNs, but by having one you ensure that YOU are the publisher of record for that book. The legal system hasn’t really caught up with technology yet. None of us know what the future holds as far as things like digital copyright laws. Or copyright laws in general, for that matter. I plan to do everything I can to safeguard my IP (intellectual property) now and in the future. I’m a worse case scenario planner. I always try to think of the absolute worse thing that could happen and then plan for it. That way, if it ever did happen I would already know what to do or how to respond.
I’m also a look to the future kind of planner. While I think about the here and now, I also think about two years from now… five years from now… ten years from now. I think of where I want to be and what it would take to achieve those things.
As much as we would all love to just be able to write and not worry about anything else, that’s just not realistic. Writing is as much a business as it is an art form. Before I did anything else, I sat down and wrote out a business plan. I was honest with what I hope to get out of this career—in the short term and in the longterm. I went into details about certain things and was more vague with others, because I know that those things are more fluid.
I think the most important thing, however, is to be realistic. The odds of my publishing my first book and hitting the NY Times Bestsellers list is slim to none. It does happen, but it’s rare and to my knowledge has never happened to a self-published author. Saying something like, I would like to break even, financially, would be a realistic goal. Of course, depending on how much you put into the cover design, marketing, editing, ISBNs, etc., that might not happen on your first book. Or your second. Or even your fifth. It could take several books before you break even. It could take double that amount before you start making a profit. Or, you could make a profit on your first book in the first month.
One thing I know for sure, there are NO guarantees in publishing. Just like any other business. You have to built a business that can sustain the ups and downs, that can weather the storms. For me, that means being realistic with my goals and never being exclusive to any one platform. While growth may be slower and it might be a bit more work to publishing across platforms, you are building a more sustainable business by doing so. As easy as it is to get caught up in the moment, you should always keep an eye to the future as well.
by Nikki Amare | Aug 8, 2018 | What I'm Reading
I just finished reading Saint or Sinner, the latest in Cynthia Eden’s Bad Things Series. Saint or Sinner, is book eight in the series. While Cynthia Eden uses familiar paranormal characters she has a way of making them her own.
If you like paranormal romance, then you should definitely check out this series. The first book in the series is, The Devil in Disguise. This book introduces Luke Thorne—ruler of all the dark paranormals. Luke is one of the major characters in this series and he is probably one of my favorite “bad” guys.
The Devil in Disguise ebook is currently free on all major retailers so it’s a great time to give the series a shot. I have a feeling once you read the first one you’ll be hooked.
She has several paranormal romance series. I haven’t had a chance to read them yet, but they are definitely on my to be read list for this year.
Happy Reading
by Nikki Amare | Aug 1, 2018 | Musings
As I get closer to being ready to publish, you’ll be seeing more and more changes to this website. When I originally launched this site I was still undecided on a lot of things and I was super busy with my day job. So I didn’t have a lot of time to put into the design. Which is why it’s a very generic romance themed design at the moment. I just wanted to get a website up so I could start blogging and introduce myself to the world.
At first, I wasn’t sure of what genre, or genres, I was going to write. I had ideas for, and was working on, two different books for two different genres at the same time. The original plan was to release the first book in one of those series in October of this year. I’ve since decided to focus on one series and wait a year or two to release the second one. I might occasionally work on books for that other series, but I want to focus on building a name for myself in one genre before I start branching out into a different genre. But the ultimate goal is to write the books I want to write, all under a single pen name, without having to worry about the genre. One thing you can almost always bet on though, they will be romance of some kind. At heart, I’m an unapologetic romantic and therefore my books will have romance in them.
As things stand right now, book one of my fantasy romance series will be released early 2019. I’ll be sure to let you know if that changes for any reason.
The last six months things in my life have been chaotic and it’s been nearly impossible to make any kinds of plans or have anything that resembles a schedule. As soon as I attempt to it seems something always comes up and then I’m stuck having to change everything around. None of which makes it easy to write. Especially for me, since I really have to have some kind of routine in place when it comes to writing. Most weeks I’m lucky if I have enough time to write a quick blog post.
I can’t tell you how happy I will be once things have slowed down again and I can get back into a routine.
by Nikki Amare | Jul 25, 2018 | Musings
Hubby and I rewatched Wonder Woman this last weekend. I loved it just as much the second time around. It’s going to be take a lot to knock it out of 1st place for me when it comes to the comic book movies. I’d have to it’s easily in the my all time top ten favorite movies, period.
The one scene that really got to me the first time, hit me just as hard the second viewing. It has had be fighting back tears each time.
If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want spoilers, then you should stop reading now. And you should go watch the movies, because seriously it’s a great movie.
Spoilers: You’ve been warned.
The scene I’m talking about is No Man’s Land. Diana, Steve, and the others arrive at the place designated No Man’s Land. On the way there she sees people in trouble and wants to help but Steve convinces her to keep moving that there’s nothing she can do for them and that where they’re going is what is really important. And so she does nothing. But when they get to No Man’s Land and she’s once more confronted with the realities of war and innocence asking for her help, she can no longer stand by and do nothing.
She’s told it’s impossible to cross No Man’s Land, that it’s guaranteed death or even try. But Diana believes in herself and her skills. So, instead of listening to them, she does what she knows in her heart is right.
And she steps onto that battlefield.
Alone.
She has no way of knowing what will happen but she believes she will accomplish what she sets out to do and then she does exactly that. Diana started that journey alone because no one else believed she could do it, but she did not finish it that way. By the end Diana had her friends and an entire army behind her.
There is so much about that single scene that speaks to me, inspires me. I think we could all benefit from being more like Diana Prince. So much of our lives we’re told what we can’t do. So then all too often we end up believe them. We give up our dreams. We sacrifice our true selves. All so we can fit into the box society has decided we should be in, rather than believing in ourselves enough to step out onto that field alone.
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve had someone tell me that writing isn’t a real job. In high school I was writing a book, and I’m sure it wasn’t very good because I was sixteen and didn’t know a lot about the craft of writing yet, but I was excited about it and I shared it with a teacher whom I respected. He read through it and gave it back to me the next day. After class I asked him what he thought. I told him that I wanted to be a writer. He told me that I should focus on things I was good at and leave the writing to professionals because I did not have what it took to make it as a writer. It was fifteen years before I wrote anything else. Because I let his words kill my dream. Now, I may never succeed as a writer. I may never make enough to be able to support my family. But one thing I’ve learned throughout this journey is that it doesn’t matter. Writing brings me joy and I’m fortunate enough to live in a time where I can publish my work and share it with others with no more than the click of a button. This is my second attempt at this career. I was published for five years with a publisher and then I decided to take time off for personal reasons. I’d been going back and forth about whether or not to publish again, when something happened in my life that made me realize life is too short for regrets. So I blew the dust off of my keyboard, created a new pen name, and I decided to write the books I want to read. It’s a different genre than I wrote in before but these stories are the ones that have been with me for years and years. They’re the ones that didn’t fit with my previous pen name. The ones that I worried might not fit neatly into a specific genre. They’re the ones I wasn’t confident enough in myself and my skills to write.
So this is me, stepping out onto the battle field alone. It’s one small step. But I’m hoping it will make a big difference in the rest of my life. That the next time I’m told I can’t do something I will remember Diana Prince defiantly and confidently stepping out into No Man’s Land, determined to make the impossible possible. And I hope I can be as brave, as courageous, as confident as she was.
And more than that, I wish it for all of you as well. Believe in yourselves. Show the world what can happen when we stop listening to the ones who tell us what we can’t do and start showing them what we can.
