Today I sent a check out to become a member of Healthcare Communicators of Oregon. I love the concept of writers as communicators.  I like thinking of myself as a communicator even more so than a writer. After all writers are always trying to communicate something–a particular story, idea, setting, etc. How well you’ve communicated any of that comes down to how well you’ve written it.

If you’re a writer take a moment and think about what you’re working on right now. What is it exactly that you’re trying to communicate to your audience?

Photo Credit: Andrew

Spring has sprung. Now if we could just some blue skies on a regular basis!

Love this sculpture.

Pretty in pink.

Love the shape of these pots.

Yes, someone in my neighborhood has a bowling ball collection in their front yard.

So Portland!

Absolutely love it.

Yeah baby!

I liked this chair and the little American flag in the background.

Love the golden yellow of these crocus.

Another kind of neighborhood flower.

Obviously we all experience ebbs and flows. I remember when I only followed a couple of blogs and read them each day religiously—now, not so much. In fac,t what I’m finding is that I much prefer following blogs that don’t necessarily post ever day. I know this goes against everything we’ve been told about blogging, right? You have to blog at least five times a week to keep people connected, and to keep them coming back from more. Still, I’ve begun to wonder when a blog has gone on too long. I think the answer to that question is probably different for every reader. Some of the blogs I follow I don’t even read any more. I think to myself geez it’s like they are forcing themselves to cover the same ground over and over again. Another favorite is the post that starts out with, “It’s my day to blog and I don’t really have anything to say” or “I’m behind and haven’t been able to write a post yet.”

Instead what I’ve found is that I’m much more interested in blogs that don’t necessarily publish every day. Instead the author only posts when they actually have something to say. It may not necessarily be earth-shattering but it’s something that moved them enough to write it down. Instead of it’s their day to blog so they had to rack their brains to come up with something.

And this is why I love being able to subscribe to blogs. I don’t have to remember to go to a bunch of blogs everyday and see if there’s something new. I just check my reader secure in the knowledge that I won’t miss a post by the occasional blogger. Don’t get me wrong, I should be writing posts much more often—hopefully my personal life will smooth out here soon. Still, I think depending on your goals and the purpose of your blog, it’s okay to be an occasional blogger. I’ll still read you.

Photo Credit: Michael Karshis

One of those clues comes in the form of the very first book I ever wrote. I can’t quite remember how old I was–maybe 3rd grade? I’m not even sure how it all came about and I certainly don’t remember writing my little book. What I do know is that some amazing person–maybe the mom or dad of one of my classmates–owned a book binding business. This lovely person gave each of us the opportunity to write a book and have it “published.” My sister very kindly typed out my story on our family’s Corona typewriter. This was long before personal computers people. I did the illustrations myself. I remember thinking a good book definitely needed illustrations. I remember the thrill of seeing my name on the cover of a book.

Every now and again I think of the person or persons who made this possible for a class of young children. It was an amazing act of generosity. I wish I could offer a proper thank you after all these years. I also wonder about them. Did they love books? Did they hope to spark the creative spirit in a group of kids. Were they a writer? I’ll probably never find out but that’s okay. When I read my book  I laugh and smile at the story that came out of my young mind.

My first “published” book still brings me joy after all these years.

This is my beautiful lettuce and some marigolds.

My poor tomatoes are hoping it gets warm soon.

I love my nasturtiums!

I know there are a lot of writers who are either self-publishing to print-on-demand or straight to ebooks. The above scenario really got me thinking about this. I wrote a book called Visions of Justice. It was professionally edited by an editor who works with published authors–many of whom are mid-list or higher up the publishing food chain. The editor really liked it. (Of course, I did pay them to edit the whole book so it kind of reminds me of that line from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, “You probably think strippers like you too.”) Also, it was good enough to snag an agent. It didn’t, however, snag a publisher.

Part of me keeps thinking about just putting it out there as an ebook. At least that way it will get out there and people can read it. Maybe people would even like it–that would be really gratifying to experience. Still, another part of me thinks what if it just wasn’t quite good enough to get published? If that’s the case then do I really want to put it out there? I think about the scenario I described above with Early Work. If that had been the first book I read by that author I wouldn’t have given them another chance.

I think fiction self-publishing is a risky thing because of this very issue. Whether a book is “good” or “bad” is so incredibly subjective. Maybe “good” or “bad” aren’t even the right words. There are a lot of best-selling books out there that I haven’t like at all.  There are other books that have gotten poor reviews that I really love. I think it’s incredibly hard for authors to be subjective about their own work. Someone tweeted recently that thinking that your book doesn’t suck any more than what’s getting published shouldn’t be the criteria by which you write or judge your writing. I agree. I also know that most published authors have anywhere from 2 to 10 books tucked away at the bottom of a drawer that were never published. I’ve heard many writers say that in retrospect they are very glad those books were not published—even though at the time they thought they were good books.

I think part of the issue is that it can take so long to break into traditional publishing that writers get frustrated. They start to think why not just put their work out there. What difference does it make?

I’m wondering what other writers think about this issue. Do you think the ease of self-publishing, especially ebooks, is a good thing? Do you think it’s okay for writers to put their early work out there for the world to see? Do you think writers risk losing long-term fans by self-publishing early work that may not be all it can be?

As you can see I don’t have any answers, just a lot of questions.

Photo Credit: Flowery *L*u*z*a*

Fiction writers working towards publication often get this advice–create an online presence and author platform. This suggestion seems to pop-up everywhere and is usually in all those “top five” lists for aspiring writers.

I’m going to break with tradition here and say that I strongly disagree with this advice.

An online presence usually consists of one or all of the following: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, personal or group blog. What does each of these have in common? They take up time that aspiring writers could use for well. . .you know. . .writing.

If you want to be on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with writing friends, see what other authors are doing, or stay up on the latest industry developments, that’s great. Just don’t feel obligated to do so because you think you need a social media presence. After you sell a book it generally takes a year for it to be published. For the sake of argument let’s say your book only takes six months to get sold and published. That’s still plenty of time to attend conferences, start a blog, and hit Twitter and Facebook every day if that’s what you want to do.

I think it’s really important to think about what your motivation is for having a presence online. What happens if your first or second book doesn’t snag an agent or sell? Will you still be willing to keep your blog going? Are you still going to want to spend as much time online?

I firmly believe that published authors benefit from including social media in their overall marketing plan. I don’t think writers working towards publication need to be concerned about marketing a product they don’t currently have to sell.

If you love to blog or enjoy Twitter I say go for it. However, don’t buy into the idea that you “have to” do it in order to create an online presence for a book you haven’t sold yet. Time is a precious commodity and the best thing you can do as a fiction writer is to write fiction.

At least that’s what I think.

Photo Credit JMT-29

Yet I find myself torn about this issue when it comes to fiction writers. There are those writers who flat out will not explicitly discuss politics or religion. They’ve made a conscious decision not to do so. Some writers take this stance because they fear the affect their personal opinions may have on the sales of their books. Others simply believe that it’s best to separate their personal opinions from their professional life. On the other side are the authors who let it all hang out. They are outspoken about their beliefs—-not belligerent or arrogant—-just vocal.

I’ve watched both types of authors in action. Do I think a writer’s personal politics should affect whether or not you read their books–absolutely not. If an author writes your favorite thrillers or romances what differences does it make who they vote for, right?

Well, here’s the truth for me—-it actually does. I don’t want it to but it does. There’s an author I like a lot but his/her politics are very different than mine. Every time this author comments on their blog or Facebook about politics I cringe. I literally cringe and think, “Oh, I don’t want to know this about you. Please stop.” This may not be an enlightened response but it’s truly my honest response.

Will it affect whether or not I buy his/her books–probably not but I’m not sure. Unfortunately, then I get into the whole do I want to support someone who holds those political beliefs argument with myself. Believe me, I don’t want to go there when it comes to reading fiction. Publishing is a hard business and I want to support the writers I like to read.

I think it’s important as writers to decide which approach you want to take and stick with it. A reader may never tell you that they cringed over what you said on Facebook about politics. Still, I think authors have to acknowledge that all their written words have an affect on others.

I’m not saying either pathway is better than the other. Ultimately each writer must choose the right path for themselves when it comes to handling religion and politics. I respect whichever choice a writer makes. I suspect that the authors who are outspoken about their beliefs know they run the risk of alienating some readers and have accepted that fact.

What do you think? Are you affected by an author’s politics even if they write fiction? I’d like to hear about your take on this subject.

Photo Credit: ktylerconk

This week I finished Book B. It has gotten some nice online buzz. The plot was sound, the characters stayed true to the world the author created, and I couldn’t have cared less. I just wanted it to be over. I knew exactly where the book was going and I didn’t care.

I enjoyed reading Book A much more than Book B.

In the course of the original discussion on twitter we talked about analyzing a book versus turning off that part of your brain off and just reading. Yes, if I need to I can certainly analyze a book–the plot, pace, chracterization etc. However, I am the kind of reader that just wants to be entertained. Like that old commercial, “Calgon take me away.” I  want to be whisked away into another world.

In comparing both books I became alarmed that I’m some kind of slovenly reader who doesn’t care how well a book is plotted or written. I just don’t think that’s true. There are other things involved in how we preceive a book including the author’s voice. Reading is a highly personal activity. We bring to it all our own experiences. So, I might just relate to Book A‘s characters more than Book B. Maybe I prefer one author’s voice over the other. Perhaps, it was just the mood I was in.

All I know is that it’s damn difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes me like one book over another.  Ultimately, I think it’s like friends and lovers–there’s a natural chemistry that comes into play. The truth is it doesn’t matter. What’s most important to me is the reading itself becuase I love to read. That plus great discussions with other readers!

Have you ever liked a book that all your fellow readers dissed? I’d love to hear about it!

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we affect other people. As humans it’s nearly impossible for us not to see things through own filter of reality. I think most people want to feel “right” or “justified” in how they act or react–that’s pretty normal.

I’ve been looking at the idea of how our actions create who we are in other people’s minds. To a certain degree our actions are our legacy. The question is what kind of legacy do you want to leave people with? Here’s some of what I think is important:

• Kindness—-Of course you can be kind and helpful as a strategy to get something you want. However, isn’t it better just to be kind to people because they appreciate it and it’s how you want to be treated as well?
• Give ‘Em A Break—-You don’t always know the stress or hardship someone is facing. So maybe someone is rude or or short with you. How about giving them a break a time or two and then see what happens.
• Loyalty––It’s easy to be a loyal friend when things are smooth and easy. Can you be loyal when the rough winds are blowing? I think loyalty is so important.
• You Can Do It—-It’s so much more pleaseant to be around people with a positive attitude. Life throws us enough detours and closed roads that we don’t need negativity coming from our friends.
• Boundaries—-Knowing your boundaries and adjusting them as needed helps those around you find their boundaries too. Sometimes saying no is the greatest gift you can give yourself and others.
• Forgiveness/Compassion—-For ourselves and others. No one’s perfect. Our feelings and sensibilites get hurt. Forgiving ourselves and others so we can move forward is a big one.
• Interest in Others—-Life can’t just be about us. It’s so much more fun to take an interest in other people, what’s going on in their lives and what they’re doing.

So do I always embody these attributes that I think are important—-nah definitely not. Still, I can continue to strive for them. I do believe that we’re all doing the best we can given who we are in the moment. The miraculous thing is that in every moment we can learn, change, and expand who we are.

The legacy I want to leave behind is one of kindness, enthusiasm, fun and imperfection. I know I’ve go the imperfection part down already!

What about you? What kind of legacy do you want to create for the people in your life?

Photo Credit: docentjoyce