Authors J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, Lee Goldberg, J. Carson Black, and Scott Nicholson are running up a lovely promotion for their combined 5-book “Ultimate Thriller Box Set” by giving away 10 Kindle Fires and other prizes. The promotion is called Big Kindle Boogie, and you can find out more at http://bigkindleboogie.blogspot.com/.

Digging around online, all the buzz revolves around the FREE KINDLE FIRES and the PRIZES, but I can’t seem to find out anything about the contents of this “Ultimate Thriller Box Set.” Can’t even find the titles of the stories involved. Are they a secret? It certainly is suspenseful.

What really is thrilling is finally seeing someone promote the Kindle Fire over the i-pad. But I wonder if there is an actual “box” involved in this “box set”? I”m guessing that these are e-books, since they’re giving away Kindle Fires and all, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up for a physical box.

Here’s the official press release:

WIN A KINDLE FIRE IN THE BIG KINDLE BOOGIE

10 Free Kindle Fires, 75 free ebooks, $300 in gift cards, a $500 library donation! Entries for 10 free Kindle Fires are already underway at http://bigkindleboogie.blogspot.com and gift cards are bing randomly awarded on Twitter for those who tweet about the Big Kindle Boogie.

On Feb. 1-2, bestselling thriller authors J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, J. Carson Black, Lee Goldberg, and Scott Nicholson are making 75 Kindle books free on Amazon. They are also making a $500 donation to the local library of one Kindle Fire winner. They are also releasing the five-book Ultimate Thriller Box Set for free during the event. Contest is international, no purchase necessary. You can also join the Facebook party at http://www.facebook.com/BigKindleBoogie.

Three easy ways to enter:

• Use the entry counters at http://bigkindleboogie.blogspot.com
• You can also enter manually by tweeting to be eligible for Kindle Fires and Amazon gift cards: 10 free Kindle Fires. 75 free ebooks. http://bit.ly/xWOoKN #bigkindleboogie RT to enter for a Fire!
• You can email bigkindleboogie@yahoo.com ONCE PER DAY with “Boogie entry” as subject line

Everything free, everything fun. Good luck!

So spread the word and best of luck!

A Christmas gift straight off my Amazon Wish List, Leather Denim and Silver: Legends of the Monster Hunter is a compilation of modern writers tackling the subject of those who fight back against the darkness. The Van Helsings of the world who stand up against creatures that we hope do not exist.

The  compilation is divided by the type of monster being hunted:  Werewolves, Vampires,  Spirits, and Monsters. The book is a monster in itself by today’s standards. At 9.7 x 7.4 inches, the 271-page book packs 29 stories.

Overall, the compilation was well-written and bloody fun. The first story, Reasons to Kill by Shelley Ontis, sets the tone for the book nicely by presenting a werewolf hunter from the American Old West. Whiskey and whores! Revolvers and revenge! Gritty, dark and dirty! And that’s just the hero…

Alderwood and Old Lace by Jaleta Clegg is a great story about an old widow named Rose wearing fuzzy, pink slippers and wielding a feather-duster. But don’t be fooled. When a powerful vampire and his followers come to finish business started years ago, they discover that this retired vampire hunter still has some fight left in her.

Other favorites include Capitol Vices by Lina Branter, Tentacles and Petticoats by T.W. Garland, and the impossibly-epic story Finally, the Source by Christopher Nadeau, (H.P. Lovecraft would be proud) but this compilation contained many other great stories and interesting heroes.

Unfortunately, there was one poorly-written story, and the editing was dodgy throughout. I’m not an editor by any stretch of the style manual, but all the proof you need that editors cannot be replaced by a computer are here. Actual editors reading this book might burst into flames, but none of the issues kept me from enjoying  fighters, slayers, and hunters squaring off against real monsters.

Issues aside, Leather, Denim and Silver: Legends of the Monster Hunter delivers on its promise, with stories of heroes who load up and head out into the night to look evil in the eye and fight it to the death. If you’re tired of Monster-Soap-Operas, then you need this book.

Most authors have blogs, and most bloggers know about problogger.net. It’s a great resource to help you build a better blog.

I’ve been following Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger.com for years now, and I have to admit that his 31 Days To Build A Better Blog e-book / workbook is well worth buying. This handy, concentrated source of blog-tastic info should be the first stop for authors looking to increase their traffic, networking and conversion rates on their blog.

I purchased last year’s edition of 31 Days to Build A Better Blog, and just the few changes I implemented from that book throughout 2011 have helped my blog traffic and subscriber count grow significantly. I can’t contribute all the traffic growth to Darren Rowse, but I know that 31DBBB helped. I didn’t think twice about buying the 2012 edition, which was just released.

Over the next several weeks I’ll work with the updated version of 31DBBB and work a little harder to implement the tips there. My goal is to double my existing traffic and subscription rates, just in time for the end of the world on 21 Dec 2012.

 Dark Fiction Author Carole Lanham allowed me the opportunity to preview her upcoming collection of dark fiction short stories titled The Whisper Jar.

From the Publisher

“I do not know what you have done, but put your mouth right here. Confess your crime to this fruit jar as though it were God’s ear.” ~ from The Whisper Jar

Some secrets are kept in jars — others, in books.

Some are left forgotten in musty rooms — others, created in old barns.

Some are brought about by destiny — others, born in blood.

Secrets — they are the hidden heart of this collection. In these pages, you will encounter a Blood Digger who bonds two children irrevocably together; a young woman who learns of her destiny through the random selection of a Bible verse; and a boy whose life begins to reflect the stories he reads…

Most importantly, though, if someone should ever happen to offer you a Jilly Jally Butter Mint, just say “No!”

Review of The Whisper Jar

The Cover

The cover shows a red eye peering through an ornate door/windowframe. This looks great, and a touch unnerving. Definitely fitting for a work of dark fiction, but I was disappointed that it wasn’t more directly related to the title itself.  I would rather have seen a visual of an actual Whisper Jar.

The Content

Overall, there were nine stories

• The Whisper Jar
• The Good Part
• Keepity Keep
• The Blue Word
• Maxwell Treat’s Museum of Torture for Young Girls and Boys
• Friar Garden, Mister Samuel, and the Jilly Jally Butter Mints
• The Reading Lessons
• The Adventures of Velvet Honeybone, Girl Werewuff
• The Forgotten Orphan

The running theme of this collection is secrets, and none of the stories capture this theme more succinctly than the first story/poem, also named The Whisper Jar. This is a riveting story-poem written (in rhyming couplets) about people capturing their secrets in glass jars, and the troubles that follow…   A quick and fun read, this first story definitely piqued my interest in reading the rest of the book.

Another delightful poem/story is The Adventures of Velvet Honeybone, Girl Werewuff  - a short, rhymed couplet that gives a new twist to the classic Red Riding Hood mythos.

The stories Keepity Keep and Friar Garden, Mister Samuel, and the Jilly Jally Butter Mints both have a Brothers Grimm feel to them. Keepity Keep is about a fairy discovered by two brothers.  (Or two brothers discovered by a fairy, if you like.) The contrast of this innocent fairy and these two nearly-innocent brothers is fun to explore. I enjoyed Friar Garden… but it was tough for me to put my finger on exactly what was real in the story and what was imaginary. Actually, I think I enjoyed Friar Garden… because it was tough for me to put my finger on exactly what was real in the story and what was imaginary.

The Good Part is the highlight of the collection for me. A wicked, incestuous story reminiscent of Let Me In but set in the deep South. The story highlights the relationship between coming-of-age teens and coming-of-age vampires.  The Reading Lessons is another awesome addition of teenage angst, lust, and doubt about who-is-really-in-control.  These two stories work so well because Carole’s writing really sells the characters. They are disturbingly real, and so are their actions.

The Blue Word is a post-apocalyptic genre tale with a clever twist. But I don’t want to tell too much here, lest I spoil the surprise. Suffice to say, the story twist in The Blue Word would make this story a  great Twilight Zone episode.

Overall

Carol Lanham’s stories flirt with relationships, sexuality, paranormality, brutality and even reality.  The stories are glimpses into dark places and alternative realities which never go to full-on Horror, but there is at least one implied death.  Plenty of sexuality, but very little actual sex.

The Short Story

The Whisper Jar blends dark and sometimes paranormal situations into the really-real everyday world with clever writing, an Edgar Allen Poe sensibility, and a splash of Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things. Carole Lanham writes in her own carefree but intuitive voice. Audiences will slip into these short stories as easily as they would a warm bath, only to be surprised at how quickly the waters deepen.  Those looking for a variety of dark character studies, whimsical situations and disturbing relationship dynamics will enjoy The Whisper Jar.

The Whisper Jar will be available from Morrigan Books on 31 October 2011.

I’ve been looking into several books which expand on the Dragon Age and Mass Effect mythoi. And since I recently jumped in on Google Books, I compared the e-book price with the hardcopy price, and made a not-so-astonishing discovery:

The prices are the same. See for yourself. Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn:

• Physical Book: $7.99
• E-book $7.99

Guess Del Rey Books missed the news that Virtual Products are not Physical Products. I really don’t want to see the publishing industry fail, but if this is your business model, then I’m looking forward to your funeral.

Urban Paranormal Lesbian Fae Adventures in Minneapolis

First, a full disclosure – I know Michael Merriam personally. He’s a fellow member of The Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers Group. Michael and I also share the same psychotherapist.

Second, a disclaimer – I’m all about the paranormal, but romance stories aren’t really my thing. I’m also not the target market for this genre. So when I tell you that I enjoyed it, that’s saying a lot, although I may have to keep my y-chromosome in check as I give this review.

Third, a quandary – Michael Merriam’s paranormal romance novel, Last Car To Annwn Station was released in e-book format only, and I didn’t have an e-book reader. So I waffled over the different options available – namely the Nook, the Kindle, and the Sony e-book reader. I finally decided to give Google Books a try.  I read Last Car on my Samsung Droid Charge phone, and while that was an awesome experience in itself, I’ll stick to the book review in this post and report on smartphone-e-book-happiness another day.

From the Publisher

“The fare is ten cents, miss.”

Mae Malveaux, an attorney with Minneapolis Child Protective Services, is burnt-out, tired and frustrated. Passing on an invite from Jill, her flirtatious coworker, Mae just wants a quiet night in. Leaving the office late, she’s surprised to find the Heritage Line streetcars up and running and hops aboard, eager for a quick trip home.

But this is no ordinary streetcar. Death is one of its riders, and Mae is thrust into Annwn, a realm of magic and danger.

“Your transfer, miss. You’ll need that.”

Mae’s life is turned upside down as human and fae worlds collide. Her budding relationship with Jill takes a perilous turn when they are hunted by mythical beasts, and Mae is drawn into a deadly power struggle. With Jill at her side, Mae must straddle both worlds and fight a war she barely comprehends, for not only does the fate of Annwn rest in her hands, but the lives of both a human and fae child…

My Review of Last Car to Annwn Station

The Cover

I won’t lie. I do judge books by their cover, and I’ve even created a system for doing so. And the cover graphics for Last Car to Annwn Station are minty-golden. I mean ice-cold-hotness. But as I mention in my system of how to judge a book by its cover, this doesn’t mean the story is necessarily good, just less likely to suck. However it would look quite good on a bookshelf or coffee table… if there were a physical version available. Just sayin.

The Heroine

The protagonist in Last Car is Mae Malveaux, an attorney living and working in Minneapolis, MN. She seems a bit prim at first, and her character arc sees her growing in many different ways. Mae has at least three major ‘coming out’ arcs.

The most obvious arc is in her sexuality. This is a lesbian-coming-out story, and if you aren’t secure enough in your own sexuality to handle reading something like this… then maybe you shouldn’t. I thought the romance between Mae and her coworker, Jill, was well done. In some ways the relationship seemed to move too slowly, almost teasing the reader. But the sexual tension added to the overall tension of the story, reminding me of the very best parts of agents Mulder and Skully’s interactions in The X-Files.

Mae also develops a bit of backbone and pluck throughout the story, growing into the kick-ass heroine role. She probably wouldn’t stand against Sookie Stackhouse, well… maybe at the end of the story she would.

The third way in which Mae develops is… a surprise. You’ll have to read to find out.

The Downtime

Now remember, I’m trying to keep my y-chromosome out of this, but I couldn’t help but notice that there was a lot of ‘domestic upkeep’ in this story. Lots of cooking, cleaning, packing, unpacking, etc. Lots of coffee and tea-making. Lots of snuggling and lounging while wearing fleecy pajamas. There were plenty of great action and chase scenes, and I won’t argue that there needs to be something to buffer the action scenes, and I don’t expect them to sit around drinking Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey while cleaning their H&K MP5…

…OK, that’s a lie. I actually was hoping for that. Sorry, Michael.

Suffice to say, I’d have enjoyed the book more if there was less lounging, noshing and kibitzing. But I’m a guy. Your chromosomes may vary.

The Plot

The story starts in modern-day Minneapolis, but Mae unknowingly boards a streetcar that takes her into the land of Annwn, home of the fae. . Soon she’s chatting with Death and being chased by the Cwn Annwn. (Actually the hounds of Annwn, not to be confused with Cwn Annwn, the Minneapolis Prog-Metal Band.)

It didn’t take much digging to come up with the history of the Heritage Streetcar line in Minneapolis, the ghost of which plays an important role in the story.  This also shows Michael did a bit of hometown homework. He also makes the city very apparent in the story. Anyone from Minneapolis will feel quite at home as they follow Mae on her adventures. That is, until she crosses over to the realm of Annwn. Those who are up on their Welsh mythology will appreciate the appearance of King of the Fair Folk, Gwynn ap Nudd in the story.

The story sticks to the core conflict and steers clear of High Fantasy Politics. While the influences of the leaders of the paranormal races are made real through the plot and character actions, we are thankfully kept out of the High Council Chambers except for a few combat-laden moments which don’t count.  I guess if faerie-political-intrigue was the option, I’d choose fleecy-pajama-lounging myself.

Michael’s dry and wry sense of humor shines in the writing in Last Car. His timing is spot-on, breaking the tension in just the right places with plenty of laugh-0ut-loud moments. The line “I’m about as magical as a dead gopher” made me laugh so hard I nearly drove  right into the ditch. Hey, it’s hard to drive while reading e-books on your smartphone!

The Short Story

Michael Merriam’s Last Car to Annwn Station is an exciting paranormal fae lesbian romance coming 0f age story in Minneapolis. Plenty of modern-day action crossed with paranormal adventures, interesting characters, and some pleasant breaks for tea and croissants.

If I’ve mastered anything about writing, it’s How To Put Off Writing By Reading More Books About Writing. And Larry Brooks latest work Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing made me put all my writing on hold until I finished reading it.

Lots of writing books focus on a single aspect of the writing craft. Books on Character, Plot, and such abound. It’s rare books like Stein On Writing by Sol Stein, Story by Robert Mckee and Story Engineering by Larry Brooks that present a top-level perspective of many essential writing aspects at once and shows how they interrelate.

For those dying to know what the six core competencies are:

• Concept
• Character
• Theme
• Story Structure
• Scene Execution
• Writing Voice

There may be other elements of writing, but I doubt anyone will argue that these six are essential. Story Engineering not only explains each element in detail, but also takes examples from popular bestsellers, and shows you exactly how it’s done.

Tools, Not Rules

My only criticism of Story Engineering is that the useful information is slathered in a thick coating of the author’s opinion on how you should use these tools. He rails against the practice of organic writing (also known as ‘pantsing’) suggesting you must have your story structure in place before writing a word, or you’re signing your own rejection letter.

I’ve already thoroughly examined this topic in a previous blog post, Let the Muse Run Free or Tie Her Down? Organic Writing vs Outlining. The short version is that no one can or should tell you how to write. The six core competencies in Story Engineering are tools, not rules. They are descriptions of good writing, not prescriptions of ‘the way thou shalt write it.’  There is no question that an awareness of these core competencies will make you a better writer. But how you implement them (or knowingly break them) is up to you.

Despite the strong personal opinions, Story Engineering has plenty of excellent core content. Here’s how I recommend approaching the book to get the most out of it:

1. Start by previewing Chapter 8 – The Development Process, which presents the top-level concept of a “Beat Sheet” and gives a method for organic writers to implement the six core competencies. Starting with this information will give you a context for the rest of the book. Reading chapter eight again when you get to the end of the book will really gel all the pieces together.
2. Skip the first 18 pages. Or read them for what they are, an opinion. In fact, you can safely start at chapter five.
3. If you’re the kind of writer who doesn’t outline, bring a lot of salt.

合計 (In Summation)

Which Is Better, Outlining Or Organic Writing?

To outline, or not to outline, that is a fiction-writers battle as old as fiction-writing itself. Books on writing are as polarized about the subject as authors.

Julia Cameron pretty much paved the path of organic writing in her famous book, The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Although I don’t think she called the process “organic writing” she showed how anyone can channel their own creativity into writing without using an outline.

On the other hand, Larry Brooks latest book Story Engineering trounces on the process of organic writing, calling it “…nothing short of insane,” and stating that “A scene written organically – without a mission – is already being fitted for a casket.”

So who’s right? I’ve tried organic writing myself several times. One result was my first published short story, Big Game which sold on its first submission, and has reviewed quite well. Another result was a disasterous mess of dark fantasy pseudo-manuscript that shall not be named here, and made me wonder if Larry Brooks was right.

I did some research on plotting methods and the comparison of outlining vs organic writing. Here’s a look at the differences between these two methods and my answer to the question of which is better.

What is Organic Writing? (aka ‘Pantsing’)

Organic Writing is writing free-form, without plan or structure, and no real concern about where the writing is going. Check out free writing or automatic writing. The visual equivalent would be an artist doodling until they stumble upon an image. The musical equivalent would be ‘jamming’ in which a person or group simply plays until some musical structure jumps out of the ether and manifests into a song.

Some fiction writers use organic writing as a tool to flush out a scene, a character, or even a story.  They write to find out what their character is like, or where the story or scene leads. The author just… writes, letting a spontaneous flow of words rush through them. The author might be as surprised as anyone else about what hits the page. This is sometimes called discovery or exploratory writing.

I call this exploratory writing tactic “Chasing The Muse.” You let the muse out of the bottle and see where she goes. Sometimes she won’t move even if you prod her with a Tazer. That’s called writer’s block. Sometimes she plods along, (which is where this method also gets jokingly referred to as ‘plodding’ as opposed to ‘plotting’) feeding you a stream of words, and you write it all down.

If you’re lucky the muse runs, and it’s your job as an author to keep up. If it’s 2AM and you’re dead tired but you can’t stop because you’ve been possessed by the spirit of an amazing writer with words flowing faster than you can type them… congratulations, you’ve experienced true organic writing.

Some people call this “Pantsing” which is short for “Seat of the Pants Writing.”  Mr. T from The A-Team would call it being “On The Jazz.” Some people call it “insane” and begging for a rejection letter. Those opposed to organic writing suggest a different method – Outlining.

What is Outlining?

Outlining is the method of defining the structure of a story before writing any of it. The analogy is often made to building a house. Planning the structure down to the nearest sixteenth of an inch is crucial if you want to build the house with maximum efficiency and minimum waste.

Likewise with story construction, if you plan out how the story will start, end, and all the pieces between, then when you actually sit down to write the story, you know not only what goes where, but why.

There are various systems of outlining. Some people use notecards. Some use the Outline View in Microsoft Word. Some use the Snowflake Method software by Randy Ingermanson. Some just have the story structure in their head.

Regardless of how they do it, the primary difference between outliners and organic writers is that outliners write from A to B, and organic writers write from A.

Which writing method is better?

Which method is better? Let’s take a look at several different aspects of writing that can be affected:

Speed

In both methods, you will do lots of work up front on something that influences the final product but will not necessarily be part of it.

Outliners like to point out that much of the organic writer’s work will be edited or cut later. This is true. This is why organic writing is sometimes called “discovery writing” in which case you are discovering the outline.

But isn’t it also true that you’ll spend a lot of time on outlining? And once the outliner’s work is done, isn’t the organic writer thousands of words ahead?

It’s impossible to say which is a faster method for you. There are just too many variables. How fast do you outline? How fast do you write? How detailed an outline do you need before you start writing? You’ll have to answer these questions for yourself, probably by experimenting with both methods to see which is faster for you. And, as my own experience has shown, which method is faster could change on a project-by-project basis.

Quality

Which method results in the best quality writing? Outliners make a good case that your writing will flow better if you know where it’s going before you start. But some argue that outlining results in contrived writing and wooden characters, and organic writing begets more natural prose. I once heard someone remark that if the ending doesn’t surprise the author, it won’t surprise anyone else either.

Your mileage may vary. It’s impossible to say which method will result in better quality writing for you.

You see where this is going, don’t you?

Difficulty

Which method is more difficult? It might be more meaningful to consider which method is more fun. If the thought of outlining makes you feel as though you are strapping the muse into a straitjacket… if the constraints of getting from point A to point B give you writer’s block… if the thought of writing thousands of words that might be reworked for hours and/or thrown away makes you reach for the liquor cabinet…

Again, this is a subjective measurement that only you can make for yourself. It’s impossible to say which method will be easier or harder for you.

Really Zero, stop screwing around and tell us! Which method is better?

Sorry folks – after all that analysis, it turns out the whole thing is a trick question. In the logic field of Philosophy, this is what’s known as a False Dichotomy – focusing on two possibilities when there are actually others. In this case, the question of “Which Is Better?” implies that the two can’t both be used.

The truth is you can use both. The wicked truth is that you have to use both.

Structuring and Organic Writing are ingredients, and finding the best possible mix for you is like trying to find the right combination of Jagermeister and Red Bull in your penultimate, writing Jag Bomb.

Let’s take another look at both methods, and see what we missed.

Structuring, Revisited

The structural method sounds efficient on the surface. Once the structure is complete, you won’t waste many words filling that structure. Every word you put into that structure will be used to make the story go forward as it should. Very little rework, very little waste. Right?

Look again.

What exactly are you putting INTO that structure? Well, you know you have to get the scene from plot point A to plot point B, but when it finally comes time to fill that space, how do you do it? What do you fill it with?

That’s right, Organic Writing. At some point you have to stop drawing the outline and start filling it in.

And what happens if you fill that space as directed and when you’re done the scenes are flat? Boring? Contrived? What then? You rewrite.

But what if you rewrite those scenes a dozen times, and they still don’t sing? What if you find the structure is limiting your writing? You restructure.

What happens if your muse starts coloring outside the lines? What happens if your characters won’t behave? What happens if you find a plot hole big enough to sail an aircraft carrier through? What happens if you start writing from point A to point B and discover you’ve ended up at point C, by way of F, Y and the color Blue? What if point C is a far more interesting place than B?  Now what do you do?

If you want to keep point C in the story, you’ll have to revisit the structure and adjust everything! You’ll have to change all your foreshadowing, and maybe even the ending… oh boy. Maybe it’s better just to forget you ever discovered point C, get the train back on the structure track and rewrite your way to point B? Rewrite or restructure?

Not quite as easy as you thought, eh? Don’t be fooled. Good writing is hard work.

Organic Writing, Revisited

The organic writing method sounds pretty on the surface. Pretty easy too. So easy in fact, that many writers think they can shortcut the process by organically writing a bestseller out of the air.  Don’t be fooled. Good writing is hard work.

You’re going to throw away or rework a lot of that organic writing. You’ll need to go back and check that the plot flows, and the pacing and that all subplots resolve, and you’ll have to go back and check your foreshadowing and make sure all scenes are leading toward an ending you weren’t even aware of when you started…

Wait a minute! What exactly are you doing to that organic writing?

Surprise! You’re putting structure on it. Yes, you can structure your work after it’s written. And you’d better, unless you are journaling or writing poetry.

The Question, Revisited

Every author outlines, whether they do it intentionally, intuitively, subconsciously, naturally or artificially.

Every author writes organically, unless they are writing technical manuals for the military.

Those who outline have to fill their structures with organic writing. Those writing organically have to rework their organic writing to check/create/enforce a structure.

Without a structure, you don’t have a story, you have a dictionary run through a blender. Without organic writing you have a sterile description of a story.

The questions are not “which method is best?” or “should you outline?” The questions are “how do you outline?” and “how much outlining do you do?”

The Middle Path

Structure is a necessary component of ALL fiction, but whether you apply a structural outline before, after, or even during the creative writing process is not important. In other words, you should have a structure to your finished story, but how you get that outline is up to you. Some authors need to discover the story as they go. Some authors need an outline before they can start.

Between the two extremes are an entire purgatory of options that are overlooked by most authors. What if you organically wrote a story structure? What if you loosened up the story structure, and instead of putting the muse in a straitjacket, you got one of those dog leashes that allows some play before setting a boundary? What if you designed multiple ending structures and wrote each one organically to see which was best?

What works best for me is to bounce back and forth between organic writing and outlining. I write organically for a while, then take a step back to look at the big picture, and adjust the outline as necessary. Here is a link to a process called phase drafting which is very similar to what I’ve learned to do on my own. Yes, I rewrite a lot. No, it’s not easy. Need I say it again? Good writing is hard work.

The method that will work best for *you* is… whatever works best for you. If you want to improve your writing, read about organic writing in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and read about story structure in Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. But don’t let Julia Cameron, Larry Brooks or even me tell you how to write. Learn the ingredients and then mix your own drink to taste.

Part of the adventure of becoming a writer is making the craft your own, and experimenting to find a method that feels good to you and helps you release your best writing.

A Convention for High-Level Author Discussion

The 4th Street Fantasy Convention Conversation describes itself this way:

• a convention for people who are serious about good fantasy and good stories.
• a weekend of high-quality, high-intensity, mind-stretching fun.
• a single track program sized so that everyone can experience the same panels.
• fascinating conversations.
• an opportunity to promote interest and quality in fantasy literature.

I like that they call it a Conversation, not a Convention. The panel programming is structured like a Convention, but the audience is allowed to interact  add, and steer the conversation (under the control of a panel moderator). Some of the best conversation for me was found outside the actual programming, when writers would break into groups between panels, kibitzing in the back room, noshing at nearby venues, assembling in the hotel bar for some social lubrication, or taking over the conference room after hours for a late-night music jam.  The ability to digest and process the info with other authors is great because it allows you to take the high-level theory back to the day-to-day applied practice of writing.

Fourth Street is geared more toward art than craft. The level of discussion is more philosophical and abstract than the discussions we have at MNSpec Writer’s Groups. The topics are heady, and even panel topics that were started simply because “I didn’t like it when author X did this…” end up getting analyzed at a high level that might throw newer authors. With a roomful of experience, intelligence, alcohol and overcompensating introverts, your mileage will definitely vary. You could get moments of non-topic pedantic bullshit, but the results are usually writer-philosophy-Nirvana.

Who-All Was There

It was good to see a respectable turnout of my fellow MNSpec writers: the talented, published (and MODEST, damn him) Michael Merriam, his lovely wife Sherry Merriam, the uber-talented Dana Baird, the lovely and talented and very pregnant Abra Staffin-Wiebe, the cheerful uber-hipster couple Eli Effinger-Weintraub and Leora, and the charming Tracy LaChance. It was comforting to know that we could have taken the conference if we had to (except maybe Elizabeth Bear, she seems like a scrapper) but fortunately it didn’t come to that. It would be great if MNSpec could have an even greater presence at 4th Street in 2012. I was glad to have plenty of people I knew at the convention, because socializing is a major component of the event, and if you have people there whom you know, (or if you’re naturally outgoing and extroverted) I think you’ll get more out of it.

I was forewarned that there is a “country club” feel to the 4th Street convention, and I can tell you this is  is kinda-sorta true. A high percentage of people attending conference have been there before. I would say less than 10% of the group were first time attendees. Overall the regular crowd was friendly and accepting of The New People. There is also the core group that created 4th street called the Scribblies. These are the royalty in the not-so-invisible hierarchy of 4th Street. You don’t have to bow to them, but it’s clear that they run the show.

If the Scribblies are the Royal Court, then the Queen would be Janet Grouchy, the real power behind making 4th street a success. Janet is actually a Momma Duck in Disguise who made sure we were all taken care of over the long weekend. She was my personal caffeine source, keeping me supplied with Diet Coke and Louisiana Coffee for my high-octane needs. Janet was the epitome of Southern Hospitality. She checked on each table personally to make sure our lunches were alright before she sat down herself. Fourth Street is very lucky to have someone like Janet to coordinate this awesome event/resource for writers.

Highlights

Conrad Zero and the Queen of Urban Fantasy, Emma Bull

The #1 highlight of the convention for me was when one of my personal hometown heroes Emma Bull sat down beside me, and we got the chance to chat. For those who don’t know, Emma Bull wrote War for the Oaks in 1987, which is considered to be the book that defined the Urban Fantasy genre, and had a huge impact on my own writing career. I told Emma that her work inspired me greatly, but that she should not feel responsible or guilty for any stories I might publish because of that inspiration. After three days of observing Emma in action, I can tell you she is smart, sparky, fun, and still passionate about writing after almost 25 years. She is living proof that writing will not eventually turn you into Harlan Ellison.

Another personal highlight was during a panel called “Off with ‘is head!” which discussed how, when and why authors might kill off main characters. One audience member was struggling to come up with an example of a character who become immortal, even mythological, by transcending death. I yelled out “Frodo Lives!” The guy looked equal parts confused and annoyed, like I had Tourette’s Syndrome or something. I could just as easily have yelled out “Jesus Christ!” but I figured more of the audience had read The Lord Of The Rings than The Bible. (I’m waiting for the movie myself.) But seriously, I didn’t just make up this phrase. If it has it’s own wikipedia page, it qualifies as pop culture. Good thing I had a +3 Potion of Snub-Resistance on me.

The “Another Panel” is complete genius. If anyone tries to take the discussion off-topic (intentionally or not) people can claim “That’s Another Panel” in which case someone writes it down on a board and the discussion returns to the topic at hand. At the end of the weekend, the last panel is called “Another Panel” where the list of topics is examined for further discussion.

There was so much book/author-name-dropping that it made me feel guilty for not reading more. The good news was that I was able to add a whole slew of fiction books to my amazon wish list. (Thank goodness for free wireless.) and a slew of movies to my Netflix queue. Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore had a handy table at the conference with an assortment of books by the authors in attendance.

I picked up a copy of The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, and got Scott to sign it. Scott is a great speaker with a great sense of humor and an odd combination of gregariousness and modesty. One of the discussion panel topics was about killing off main characters, which apparently happens in this book. Of course, I immediately had to buy it. Not because a main character dies, but I told Scott that any author willing to take chances like that is going to take chances in other areas too, and that’s the kind of author I want to read.

The best parts of 4th street for any author are information, motivation, and networking. Just talking about writing with writers, and bouncing around so many great ideas made me want to go home and write ten novels. If you’re a writer in the Minnesota/Minneapolis area, you owe it to yourself to attend the 4th Street Fantasy Conversation.

Things I learned at 4th Street Fantasy Conversation 2011

• If you have a clean house, you are not an author.
• If you aren’t a control freak, you aren’t really an author.
• Weight gain in authors is also known as “street cred.”
• Write better.
• Write things you have a passion for.
• Simply because you talk a good talk on a panel doesn’t mean your writing is good.
• Simply because you botch or get trounced on a panel doesn’t mean your writing sucks.
• You’re never going to keep your audience if you worry about keeping your audience.
• The deadline for your Science Fiction manuscript is Fantasy, and the deadline for your Fantasy manuscript is Science Fiction (esp since it involves Time Travel.)

Are you fighting a chaotic mess of manuscripts? A plethora of plot outlines? Reams of rejection letters? Do you lose documents and important info? Do you have enough paper on your desk to potty-train a herd of baby Godzillas?

You’re not alone.

I recently did some research on organization specifically for writers and authors, then I presented my findings to the MNSpec Writers Group. I’ll post a link to the podcast here when it goes live, but this blog post highlights five key points from that presentation.

One book that was very helpful in my research was Organizing for the Right Side of the Brain: A Creative Approach to Getting Organized by Lee Silber. According to Mr. Silber, writers, authors and other creative types have special needs when it comes to keeping organized.  Writers (especially Fiction writers) tend to be right-brain dominant, and right-brain dominant people are wired for creation, not organization. Their thinking is more abstract and intuitive than left-brain dominant people, whose thinking is more linear and analytical. You can read more about Left-Brain, Right-Brain Theory here, and you can take this test to see whether you are right or left brain dominant.

The most surprising discovery I made in my research was that I’m not as disorganized as I thought I was. It all started with this revelation:

Cleanliness Does Not Equal Organization

I used to believe that a clean desk was an organized desk, but on closer examination, I found that is not always the case. For instance, I work with someone whose office cubicle looks like it was ransacked by the FBI. It looks like the contents of every desk drawer were turned out onto her desktop. But she never loses things. She knows exactly where everything is. She can pull stuff out of the chaos like a magician. You wouldn’t know it by looking, but she is very organized.

Meanwhile, another coworker’s cubicle looks like it’s her first day on the job. Not a scrap of paper in sight. You literally could eat off the surface of her desk, it’s that clean. But she’s constantly asking me for copies of paperwork I gave her earlier. And when I ask her for paperwork, the usual response is, “Oh, I’m not sure where it is. I’ll have to dig for it. Let me get back to you.”

So there you are: Cleanliness does not equal Organization. If you “clean” your writing desk by shoving all those stacks of paper down the laundry chute, then your desk really is clean. But if you spend hours sifting through a mountain of paper in the basement, looking for manuscripts instead of writing, then you really are not organized.

So if organization isn’t cleanliness, what is it?

Redefining “Organization”

Bing.com suggests Organization is “effectiveness of arrangement” But we can do better than that. Try this:

Organization: The ability to find things in a reasonable amount of time.

The more organized you are, the faster you can find things when you need them. You either know EXACTLY where they are, or you know MOSTLY where they are, and can find them after a short search. Either way, if you are organized, then you don’t waste much time looking for things, whether these ‘things’ are contact information, appointments, character bios or that manuscript you haven’t worked on for months.

None of which has to do with cleanliness, which leads me to my first tip for writers and authors trying to get more organized:

Writer Organizing Tip #1 – Don’t Fear The Clutter

Authors, writers and other creative types are less limited by clutter than your average person. They are able to see patterns in chaos that would drive a left-brained person barking mad. Having things out where they can see them is a trait of right-brained folks who tend to believe that out of sight = out of mind. Where others see piles of paper on a desk, right-brainers are able to see a series of tasks they are working on: Manuscripts to revise, royalty checks to deposit, and rejection letters to burn to offset the heating bill.

So just because you have piles of paper on your desk doesn’t mean that you aren’t organized. Measure your organizing skills by how long it takes you to find things, or how often you lose things. Obviously its more pleasant to work in a clean work environment, but that’s a blog post for a different day. As long you are able to find what you need when you need it, don’t be afraid to have things out where you can see them.

Writer Organizing Tip #2 – Use Containers and Labels

The bad news is that being organized requires setting limits on the areas we have to search and flagging items so they can be easily found. The two tools that help us do this are containers and labels. These are also the core philosophies (and the core differences) in the way the Microsoft and Google approach organization.

Microsoft Windows was designed to be a digital desktop replacement. It has a desktop, and a series of containers just like your real office has file cabinets/drawers/file folders, etc.  So when you’re done with your manuscript, you file it under MyDocuments/Writing/Manuscripts/2011/RejectedByEveryone/Twice. Later when you go to look for it, you navigate through the containers to the folder “where it oughta be” and there it is.

Google approached organization in a different way. “If we can search through everything to find what we’re looking for really quickly,” they thought, “then why bother to separate things when we put them away? We’ll just tag things with labels to look for later and throw them all in a big pile!” Using this system, we search for [MyDocuments Writing Manuscripts 2011 RejectedByEveryone Twice] and there it is.

Regardless of which you prefer, Containers and Labels serve the same purpose: to help us find things later on. Unless you have a perfect memory, you will need these tools to be organized.

Containers and Labels sound like tools made by left-brainers for left-brainers, but here’s actually where creative people like writers and authors have an advantage. Creative people are able to see containers as an abstract thing instead of a bunch of boxes you buy from IKEA:

• A calendar can be a container for appointments
• Your cell phone can be a container for all your contact information
• A room of your house can be a container for manuscripts
• A computer can be a container for digital documents
• A website you log into can be a container too.  For example, gmail.com is a container for e-mails.

In fact, you are already organized to some extent. Your manuscripts are already in a container called Planet Earth. It’s just going to take you a few thousand years to search it, but if that’s not an unreasonable amount of time, then congratulations! You’re organized.

For most of us, a few thousand years is about how long it’s going to take to hear back from our agent, and certainly an ‘unreasonable’ time, so we’ll need to narrow the boundaries on where our important documents are kept (container) and paint them bright orange (label)  so we can find them in a more reasonable amount of time.

Writer Organizing Tip #3 – Outsource the Search

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a house-elf (lets call him Dobby) that you could send to fetch your manuscripts, notes and character bios for you? Would you care what the filing system was? Would you care if Dobby had to run down a slippery circular staircase with only a torch for light and fight off a hungry dragon to get your manuscript that was filed underneath the cat’s sandbox?

Hells No! As long as Dobby was able to return it in a reasonable amount of time, you wouldn’t care. You’d just throw all your documents down the laundry chute and be done with it! The best part is that you would STILL be organized!

Well, if you are able to get your info into a digital format, you’re in luck. Because there are Dobbys all over the digital world. They’re called Search. Your operating system has a search feature to help you find files on your hard drive. I think every e-mail program has a built-in search feature, and if yours doesn’t then you need a new e-mail program. If you store stuff in EverNote, WordPress, Gmail, Google Docs, etc… then you have plenty of little Dobbys just waiting around to find things for you. Take advantage of them and let them do the search work for you.

Writer Organizing Tip #4 – Don’t put things where they belong. Put them where YOU will look for them

“I don’t believe it! There she goes again! She’s tidied up and I can’t find anything!”

-She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby

If that sounds familiar, then this tip will help you a lot: When you put something away, don’t automatically put it “where it goes.” Instead, put it where you will go to find it when you need it later on.

Would you store a cookbook in the kitchen? For left-brainers, sure. But for right-brained types, it might just as well be near your desk where you make the grocery list, or in the bookshelf with the other books, or on the nightstand because you like to read the chocolate fondue instructions aloud during intercourse. One of the authors from my writer’s group keeps her dental floss in the living room where it’s easily accessible while watching TV. A good rule of thumb is to put the thing near to where you will actually use it.

This goes for labeling too. When labeling things, make sure to use labels that you will look for later. For example, all the email fan letters I get from Suzanne Vega I tag with:

• Fan Mail
• Superstar
• To be read aloud while making chocolate fondue

So when putting things away, don’t think about putting this thing away. Instead, think about looking for this thing later. That will help you determine how to label it and what container to put it in, which will help you to be more organized.

Writer Organizing Tip #5 – Three FREE Programs To Help You Get Organized

Evernote

Evernote works great as a container for story ideas, outlines, research, marketing info, and much, much more.  Read this blog post about how Evernote rocks for authors.

Gmail

There are plenty of e-mail clients out there, but a Gmail account gets you a LOT more than just  e-mail:

• Use Gmail contacts as a container for all your contact info.
• Use the Gmail calendar to contain your schedule and appointments (Bonus Tip: Set up SMS messaging for important events. I do this for birthdays and appointments, and receive a text reminder on my cell phone.)
• Use Google docs instead of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, then your documents are contained and organized for you.
• Your Gmail account also gives you access to Picassa, Google’s online picture organizing software
• Google Reader makes a great container for RSS feeds and podcasts
• Of course, all of these services come with labeling and search features to help you get and stay organized

SugarSync

There are many free file-backup software services: SugarSync, Dropbox, Mozy and more. But any of them can act as a container for your important documents, manuscripts, photos and other data files. Read my review of SugarSync vs Dropbox for all the reasons why you want this FREE software.

Rejoice

Does this mean you can just throw all your manuscripts, notes, and character bios into a single folder (or a single program like EverNote) and call yourself organized? Does this mean you can have stacks of paper on your desk and still call yourself organized?

Hells Yes. As long as you can find things in a reasonable amount of time, you no longer have to feel guilty calling yourself an organized writer.

So rejoice all you authors, writers and right-brained friends! Putting together a system of organization is easier than you think. It’s keeping things IN the system that’s a challenge. It requires willpower and motivation, which are topics for another day.

If you have any useful organizing tips for writers/authors, drop them in the comments section.