Inspiration and Philosophy – Page 12

Take Your Days Off

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

It’s easy to look around on a Sunday afternoon and think of all the stuff that needs done.

What’s hard is to look inside myself and see what needs done.

We’ve started scheduling alternating Fridays off. Best Beloved and her son and I rotate every third week. No work, no responsibilities other than what we choose. It’s a day to do what fills us, not others.

Weekends have been that way for quite a while. We don’t work weekends. Except, some things I do because they fill me, not others.

Don’t just plan days off. Take ’em. Decide what “off” means to you, and stick to it.

[image: dayoff” width=”444″ height=”444″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-2197]

If You Want Word of Mouth to Work You Have to Teach Your Fans How

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/959135 by Martin Lundgren http://www.sxc.hu/profile/alvaspappa” width=”158″ height=”256″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2160]Word of mouth is the best marketing you can get — if, like free, it’s done right.

What are you doing to help your fans share your books? Do you teach them what to say, so they’re doing real marketing? If they’re just saying “This is a good book” that’s not marketing, it’s just talk. They need your guidance.

You need to craft a message simple enough for them to say something like my fans would say about my first mystery: “Joel’s book is like meeting someone you love for a laugh and a pint at the pub.” Folks hear that, and they’re hooked (or repelled, which is also fine.)

My fans won’t know to say that if I don’t teach them.

… more … “If You Want Word of Mouth to Work You Have to Teach Your Fans How”

All Writers Plan

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/490615 by Ann- Kathrin Rehse http://www.sxc.hu/profile/kalilo” width=”200″ height=”200″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2152]Pantsers seem to take umbrage, sometimes extreme, to my statement that planning is vital to writing.

Let’s get what I hope is an unbiased definition of “plan” from Merriam Webster:

plan verb: to think about and arrange the parts or details of (something) before it happens or is made

Let’s consider writing without planning:

… more … “All Writers Plan”

Vicarious Experience Depends on Description

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/391902 by Bill Davenport http://www.sxc.hu/profile/lumix2004″ width=”222″ height=”276″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2123]The descriptions written by masters like Chandler aren’t there so we know what a wing-back chair looks like or because the cigar smoke plays a role in the book.

Psychologically, statistically, we are conscious of less than 1% of what we experience. The other 99% goes to our unconscious, bypassing our conscious mind.

But we still experience it.

If I don’t know that your protagonist is a little chilly, or that the drapes are green, or the woman at the next table is wearing flats instead of heels, how will you connect with my unconscious, touch my memories, dredge up what I’m afraid of, or willing to fight, or fight for?

Chandler wrote great long paragraphs of what most authors would call “description.”
… more … “Vicarious Experience Depends on Description”

Sharing the Profits vs. Hiring Assistance

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

[image: I'm sure there's a metaphor about paths and choice in here somewhere” width=”200″ height=”395″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-2066]I’ve long been opposed to sharing profits with the traditional publishing world after an author has done all the work to build a following.

Lately I’ve been thinking there’s middle ground.
… more … “Sharing the Profits vs. Hiring Assistance”

7 Reasons Copyrighting Your Art is a Waste of Time

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/666175 by Daniel Duchon http://elduchon.es/blog/” width=”220″ height=”220″ class=”alignright size-full wp-image-1960]Someone stealing your book seems to be every author’s nightmare.

Let’s think this through:

someone finds your book or song
they think it’s worth stealing in its entirety
they publish it as their own
it becomes a big hit and makes them lots of money

For that to happen, we have to get past all this:
… more … “7 Reasons Copyrighting Your Art is a Waste of Time”

Repetition. Habit. Disruption. Pattern.

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

Looks like I consistently have a hard time posting on Sundays.

When habits fail we look at causes; disruption, patterns, outliers.

Sunday morning my schedule is different from Monday through Friday.

Ah ha!

Except, it’s almost identical to Saturday’s schedule, and I don’t have a problem posting Saturdays.

But I post on Saturday afternoon. And Sunday afternoon ends in supper at my Mom’s, which doesn’t happen Saturdays.

I think I need to dig some more.

What’s disrupting your habits? How does it affect your writing?

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1166177 by Dora Pete http://www.sxc.hu/profile/porah” width=”444″ height=”200″ class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-1949]

Engineering Best-Sellers (Are Your Pants on Fire?)

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

[image: photo http://www.sxc.hu/photo/118553 by martin louis http://www.sxc.hu/profile/martinl]Smashwords has a new feature: people can pre-order your book, but the sales can be tallied all at once on launch day.

From the Smashwords blog:

During the preorder period, customers place advance orders. At some retailers such as Apple, these advance orders accumulate in the days and weeks prior to the official onsale date and then credit all at once on the date of release, which causes the title to spike in the retailer’s bestseller lists.

Here’s an easier method: if you want the label “best-selling author” why not just lie about it?
… more … “Engineering Best-Sellers (Are Your Pants on Fire?)”

What if I Don’t Want to Play by the Rules?

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Joel D Canfield

When my middle daughter was taking an interest in music, I tried to teach her some piano basics, and a bit about music theory. Nothing elaborate. Things like chord patterns that work well, melodic structure, lyric writing.

She dismissed it all. “I know what I want to do, and I don’t need all that stuff.” To me, her playing sounded like she was just picking two keys at a time, stringing pairs of sounds together, vaguely timed against some clock that didn’t exist.

No lyrics. She was a poet, and I guess the lyrics were going to stay in her head, not come out of her mouth.

Fast forward 5 years. I mentioned that, at the time, it sure seemed like all she wanted was to “let her genius flow unhindered” rather than learning a few basics that could turn her meandering into real songs.

She said, “Yeah, I was just being lazy and pretentious. I need all that stuff. Will you teach me now?”

Her lyrics never fail to make me cry or laugh out loud. Her melodies are mature. She’s a decent piano player. And one of the finest singers I’ve ever known.

Lateral arabesque to a location somewhere in my head.
… more … “What if I Don’t Want to Play by the Rules?”