Write What You Know. I Mean, What You Want

People often say that the key to success in writing is writing what you know. Which seems like a strange idea considering all the science fiction and fantasy work that is floating our there. So I've come up with something else. Write what you want. Write what you want to be. What you want to do. Where you want to go.

This does something to the writer. Something more than writing what you know. It stimulates your imagination. Think back to when you were a kid and you would think about all the things that you wanted to do and all the places you wanted to go. It's was endless. It had a horizon that you never thought you would get to but that didn't matter as you'd keep running towards it anyway. Why? Because it was exciting and new and uncharted and filled with all these ideas and desires. Filled with what you wanted.

And this should be your mindset when you go out to write. Writing what you know limits you so much. It's like creating what you know. Or researching what you know. Facebook, Youtube, and Apple would not be around if their creators stuck with what they knew. They created what they wanted. And vaccines, tech, and every discovery would be lost if their founders stuck with what they knew. They were looking for something they wanted. Some cure or device that they had in their head. Creativity is all about the uncharted!

Now, these ideas in our heads hardly ever turn out the way we would want them to. But that's okay because combining what we want with our current abilities and that strange magic of creation makes for some interesting and beautiful products. I mean, I've been wanting some cats, but I live in a pet free apartment. So I decided to start writing about cats. My interest in adventure series combined with inability to write very long pieces came together with The Serialized Adventures of Marlo & Norway. Something I didn't expect. But still something quite exciting.

So don't worry about writing what you know. Sit there and think hard about what you want. What story do you want to tell? What story would you want to read? Sit and figure that out then start writing it. You might actual find you've stumbled on to something grand. Something truly you and truly unique. And in the end, you may come out with the book that you not only always wanted but, also, always needed.

KDP Select? Amazon Lending? I don't know...

I just received an email from Amazon detailing the KDP Select which is the lending program that has been in the works. Here are some highlights of what the email said:

When you make any of your titles exclusive to the Kindle Store for at least 90 days, those with US rights will automatically be included in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library and can earn a share of a monthly fund.  The monthly fund for December 2011 is $500,000 and will total at least $6 million in 2012.  If you haven't checked it out already, the Kindle Owners' Lending Library is a collection of books that eligible US Amazon Prime members can borrow for free once a month with no due dates.

Your share of the monthly fund is based on your enrolled titles' share of the total number of borrows across all participating KDP titles in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.  For example, if total borrows of all participating KDP titles are 100,000 in December and your book was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn $7,500 in additional royalties from KDP Select in December.  Enrolled titles will remain available for sale to any customer in the Kindle Store and you will continue to earn your regular royalties on those sales.

Now, I am all for lending and borrowing of books. It's part of my librarian background. I mean, I make all my stuff DRM free for a reason. But I have a problem with this. First, the exclusivity of the deal. Second, the share seems very little. At least for indie authors. 100,000 titles being shared in one month seems low considering how many of us authors are eager to share work and make money. Then we have to compete with how many times our books is borrowed vs those of the bigger guys or more well known! Seems ridiculous.

It's just that don't feel this will offer me anything. It removes my titles from other stores for at least 90 days. That's just to be in it! And the shares is just weird. Splitting 500,000$/m with several hundred thousand authors seems rough to me. I may be completely wrong on this. No one has ever said my business sense was keen. But I don't think this is for me. Though, I will be watching this with a keen eye.

What your thoughts? Any writers out there going to give this a try? Dip a toe or dive on in?

Another Artist's Struggle with His Work

You've heard it before. The one thing that holds back a writer is his/her own lazy butt. It's no different here. I have a few things I can use as good excuses, mostly my grad school stuff. But there has been something else that has been holding me back from going forward (something other than grad school) with any of my current projects. And that's something I call 'The Importance'.

The Importance is the why I should be writing and publishing, the reason I think my work should be out there. In the past I didn't think too much about it too much, but in the last few years it has weighed heavy on me. Now, I look at what I am writing and wonder if it will have an impact on anybody. The current piece I am working on is a fantasy novel about some orcs, elves, gnomes, and goblins in a world run by money, drugs, and politics. I thought it was a cool idea. Something genre bending and different. Up my alley.

But in the last few weeks, I have just stared at the pages. Adding here and there. Forcing myself to work on it. With no passion which usually means the words lay flat on the paper. I struggle so much with it because I don't know if it will contribute anything to society. If it will matter. If it will make people think. If it will have The Importance. I look at people going to OWS or spreading info on sustainability and I am here writing silly stories about orcs.

My favorite writers come out of the Sixties and New Journalism. A time of activism which showed in their work to varying degrees. And a method that told true stories that got to the heart of things. And I've always wanted to be doing that. But I've never been much of an activist or a reporter. I make up stories well. I live in a fantasy place in my head. But I've never been completely happy there. So I've been sitting around the last weekend trying to break down everything I've been doing and why I've been doing it to find where my work truly belongs. And what truly belongs in it. And what is important to have in my work.

I wonder how many other writers or artists care about the impact, The Importance, that their work will have on society...Probably not as many I would hope. Well, not outside people reading it and loving it and buying it. Which is also what I want. But I want something else as well. So this December I will spend it working a little bit on the orc story (probably less and less) but, also, look over my options. See where my head belongs. And try to find that line of thought that will carry great importance in my work for my readers and also for me.