Writing with Zette

"Exciting, complex and richly textured, with a world you'll believe
and a protagonist you have to cheer for -- Silky is wonderful." Holly Lisle
(Quote from original 1998 Embiid Publishing release.)

This is an edited and slightly updated version of Silky, released in preparation for the never-before-released second and third books in the series.  I've been editing and writing, and enjoying the work. The third Silky book brought an unexpected surprise in the story line, and one that I'm having a great deal of fun exploring.  The notes are starting to get a bit messy and I may have to sort them out before I go much farther in the story.  I love the surprises like this one.  

And that reminds me of something.  I often see people say that outlines kill their creativity.  For me, it's just the opposite, especially with a 'light' outline (a line or two per chapter or scene).  Once I have the basics of the story down and I no longer have to worry about how the big pieces fit together, I find that my mind opens for all the extra things that make a story so interesting.

In the world of real life -- whatever that might be -- the weather has gotten better (as long as we ignore that mention of snowflakes possible next Friday). I'm waiting for it to hit 60 again before I go out and mow the lawn, though. It's just too cold still, and I've been fighting miserable colds all winter, so I'm not going to take a chance at getting another one.  Two of my cats have colds.  It's been that kind of spring.

There's something rewarding about scratching out lines on a long list and knowing you have at least that much done.  I've had about three days like that, just working through list after list of things.  I write a new list each night before I go to bed, moving over anything from the previous day's list that didn't quite get finished and adding in whatever new things have popped up.  Some days I do well, and some days -- like yesterday -- it seems like I don't get anything done at all, even when I mark a couple things off.  But even so, it's good to mark any of them.

My life is ruled by what I call The Neverending List from Hell.  Sometimes I print out week long lists of things that need to be done, but they start looking too overwhelming, so I generally go with a few scratched notes on paper each day.  Today's list started with nine items and is down to four.  That doesn't count any writing, which is at about 200 words right now, so I need to get back to that soon.  However, since I've been pretty good about work today, I thought I'd stop and write up my journal. 

I have finally sent off the edits and cover art for Silky.  I admit it -- I was just messing around with both the book and the art by the end, and for some reason was having a hard time letting go.  I don't know why.  It's not as though I'm never going to work with the characters again, after all.  In fact, my main work right now is the sequel to the book.  I don't know why I kept lingering over the first book.

But it's done, and I'm feeling much better about that right now. 

The rest of today's work will mostly be more Vision stuff.  I finally got the Interview off to the author and the copies of articles off to the copyeditor.  Next up is the contracts, which really won't take long at all.  The great thing is that I have enough articles for almost two full issues.  I can't remember the last time I had so many great articles!

After that, I will go back to writing for the rest of the night.  It's early, by my standards, and I should have a good run at it tonight since I'm getting all the rest of this stuff done early.  Writing, of course, is the thing by which I measure my days.  I don't keep an Excel sheet listing number of items marked off of lists, after all.  But I have kept Excel sheets since 1998 listing how many words I've written each day.  I have some handwritten journals going back farther, too. 

There is no excuse not to write, at least in my world.  Worldbuilding, outlining or writing the actual story -- there is always something to do.  It's a good thing I love this work.

And now I'm off to celebrate finishing all the work on Silky!

First the really good news -- Darwin A. Garrison accepted my short story, Professional Choice, for Darwin's Evolutions.  I've returned the contract and he's already paid me.  I can't wait to see the ezine come out, and not just because of my story.  I think he's going to do an excellent job of pulling this together and creating an interesting collection of stories to read.

Professional Choice is a fun little story, really.  Writing it -- and having it accepted for publication -- reminds me of why I really enjoy what I'm doing.  Stories that you love to tell (not just 'fun' stories, but any story that gives you a rush of feeling while you write) make writing worthwhile.  Not all stories can be that way -- but sometimes you have to write the lesser ones with the more powerful one, because you need to see what works.  Writing is an art and takes practice, just like everything else.  Not everything will be something you'll want the public to read, but you can learn from everything you write -- as long as you're willing to learn, of course.  It makes being a writer kind of an odd combination of creativity and good work habits.

I did fine at real world jobs, from taking care of kids, to factory work to running bookstores for years and years.  I kept at writing all through those years, too, and finally reached the point where I could write full time and not have to go to work.  I love it.  And do you know what the best part is?

This isn't a 9 to 5 job.  I write every day and have for decades -- when I had an outside job and not.  But I know that my creativity isn't tied to the mundane world of business hours, and once I escaped them, I felt creativity expand to fill the time.  I don't believe in the 'my muse has to come to me first' school of writing -- however, I will never, never let this become just another job where I have to sit at the computer because it's required of me, rather than because this is where I want to be.  Even with contracts, I work to my own schedule.  I give my mind time to work on inspiration, and to process ideas into stories, so that I'm not just sitting down and pounding out words to fill some quota.

And that means that some days I work better than others.  Today, so far, has been a good day.  I have major work done on two different projects, plus a bit of art work thrown in and some housekeeping.  I'm trying to create a 'housekeeping as art' attitude, and maybe it's even sinking in a little.  Housework has never been my strong point. 

I am also not a morning person and never have been.  I work best late at night, when the rest of the world has quieted and the distractions of sounds and sights outside my office window have mostly disappeared.  I love working at night, but the only reason I can is because this isn't a 9 to 5 job and I don't have to worry about when I'm getting up the next day.

Now I'm dealing with another big change -- Russ going to New York to work.  I now have absolutely no ties to time or even day for that matter.  Creatively, I can't say that it's made a big improvement because I generally work the same as I did before.  Lifestyle-wise, it has certainly added some interesting moments as I try to figure out 'when' I am.  And it has made remembering to update this on Mondays a real challenge.  But here I am anyway.  I may be getting the knack of this time and date stuff finally!

I love the dawn and I see quite a few of them, but that comes from still being up rather than getting up.  Sunsets have always been my favorites, though, and you can tell that from my photography.  I love night storms and hope we get some nice ones this year, and that I get luck with the camera again.  It is mostly luck, because where I live makes it difficult to get a clear view.

So in many respects, I've got things pretty good.  I would prefer to have Russ working closer to home, and we both think that's going to happen soon.  And then will I have a better connection to the day?  Probably not. (grin)  It wasn't as though I was very good at it before he took this job.

It's a good life in many ways.  I'm lucky.  And I'm having fun.  You can't ask for much more than that out of life.

First, the good news that I've been hoping to post for quite a while!  The last two books of the Dark Staff series are finally published and available at Double Dragon!

Book Seven: Gathering http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-55404-559-2

Book Eight: Hope in Hell  http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-55404-560-6

This series has taken me a long time to complete -- so much so, that I can see a change and improvement in my writing from book one to book eight -- but then, I suspect that happens to anyone who is willing to keep learning and who has a long term project of this sort.  I'm quite happy with the last two books, and thrilled to have the entire series finished.  If I hadn't gotten so bogged down with work on Dragon Tooth Fantasy Books and Forward Motion, I probably would have had the series done a couple years ago -- but there it is, finally. 

I also had the opportunity to do the cover art for these last two books, which proved to be really fun and demanding.  I've done other cover art, but not much for my own work, and certainly nothing lately.  I don't get to do art like that very often.  Here is a picture of the original art, without the lettering:

http://artzone.daz3d.com/index.php?mode=photo_album&act=view&pho_id=140256&p_id=885

I also received a contract from a British publisher, Studymates, to do a print book on writing science fiction for them.  I apparently do well at writing books about writing. (grin)  This one is going to be a nice challenge and I'm already about 6k into the book of around 60k or so.  It will be slower going than writing fiction, of course, but I have done enough nonfiction writing books that I have something of a feel for them.  This one is due to the publisher in the first week of September, so I need to stay focused on it.  Having fulfilled my contract to DDP means I have less to draw my 'this has to be done now!' attention, though.  I do have three other books still due to another publisher, but one of those is pretty much done and I'm half way through the second.

I have turned in my chapter on contemporary fantasy, too.  Another thing off the list!

So things are looking pretty good, really.  I have a few things to get set up for the next month at FM, but other than that, I think things are looking good from the writing point of view.  Now if it would just warm up and stay there, rather than getting now every other day, I would be really happy!

Edits, rewrites, updates -- various publishers asking for various things.  It's been a busy few weeks and I think it's going to get worse at least until April and probably for a long time afterwards.  I don't mind busy, of course.  At least most of the time.

What I do mind are people who just straight out waste my time.  I offer to help anyone who is interested in the world of publication, and I often point them to other people who know more than I do.  I've been having an ongoing email conversation with an old friend about the publishing world and that's been a lot of fun.  But yesterday I had a round of emails from someone who was not only clueless, but rude.  'But (person I will not name) told me that publishers are all evil and stealing work and money.  Why should I trust them?

Because, child, if that was really true there wouldn't be a publisher in business today.   Do you really think something like that would be kept quiet?  Do you think a publisher who did something like that would still be in business?  Get a clue.

If you don't trust publishers then go self-publish.  It's the only way you'll be happy.  But stop bothering me with your stupid paranoia and 'but (person) said that we shouldn't do this.'  If you want to listen to someone else, then go plague that person.  If you really aren't looking for answers and alternative suggestions, don't come to me.

Oh, and one more clue.  If you are going to tell me that copyeditors will ruin your book, make certain that you at least know the difference between there and their, it's and its, and how to write a sentences with actual periods in place.  Just a suggestion, of course.  (Why is it so often the people who really do need help who have this attitude?)

I spend a lot of time offering whatever little help I can to other writers, but there are days when I have to shake my head and wonder what some of these people really expect.  Thinking back on the entire exchange, I have to admit that it was kind of funny.  Maybe that's it.  Maybe I need to remember the humor in some of this.  It is amusing sometimes.  The paranoia level ought to be good for a few laughs, right?  I mean I'm not paranoid about anything, after all.

Not as funny as Zaphod falling into the sink of dishes a couple minutes ago, of course, but still funny.  And look, now he's dripping water all over my desk and notes.  Isn't that cute?  (Ack.)

So there you have it -- my Monday.  I have a ton more things to get done tonight, so I think I'll just go leap into that work now.  Better to get some of it done yet tonight than face it in the morning.

Must remember to let the water out of the sink, too.

We all know the publishing business is changing -- just as it has changed in the past and will change in the future.  When paperbacks hit the stands, people cried out in horror at the loss of the elite right to own books -- because books were hardbound and expensive.  Writing books for the plebs -- how awful!

And, of course, we are going through the same thing with the Internet Age of Publishing.  People still turn up their noses at ebooks, as though stories somehow change from the computer to paper.  I do have a preference for printed books, just like many people, but I have never judged any story by anything other than the writing -- and yes, that includes self-published books.  The problems I have with self-published work fall into a couple different categories:

1.        Too many people who go this route have no clue what they are doing and don't even understand that their books will not be in stores and that they will have to sell each book themselves.  (Sometimes the posts at NaNo are just painful to read.)   Added to this is the problem that too many have not learned  to write well before they throw themselves into the publishing world, which only diminishes the chances of either selling their current work or drawing readers back for later publications.

Remember, when you self-publish there is no one between you and any really stupid mistakes you make in your book.  You can't count on any spellchecker or grammar checker to do all the work -- they are only programs in a computer, and they will fail you at the worst time.  If you get someone else to read the story first, make certain that person has more of a clue than you do.  Getting the best friend who hasn't spelled an entire sentence right -- let alone written a full, real sentence -- in any email is not the person you want. 

Cultivate the friendship of people who write well, as long as they aren't snobs about it.  If they aren't willing to help, or if they lecture rather than help, find someone else.  This is where writing communities can be a real help.  You can peruse the sites without even posting anything, and quite often you will still learn a thing or two.  And if you have a question, the people are there specifically to help.

2.       The other problem revolves around those who really have worked hard and written excellent work, but are afraid to approach traditional publishers for fear they will be rejected.  They won't be rejected, but the story might.  This is something that is a normal part of the publishing world and nothing extraordinary, though it can be annoying --  but for fear of it happening, they will give up any dreams they've had of seeing their books on the shelves of stores by their other favorite authors, and of sharing those works with the widest possible audience.

I have spent ten years at Forward Motion helping people to reach a goal of being traditionally published.  Some people make it and some do not, but Forward Motion will always focus on helping to reach that goal.  That was why Holly Lisle created the site, and it is something she and I both share as a vision for Forward Motion.

But neither of us is stupid, and we both know there are other opportunities out there, if you want to take the chance and if you know what you are doing.  There are more than a few people at FM who self-publish, and who have learned a few things at the site that have helped them write the best that they can which should be the most important part of any writer's life, no matter where he or she goes with the work later.  However, FM has a specific purpose, and it will continue to maintain that focus.

And that brings us, finally, to Lulu.com.

A few years ago, my husband published a book through Lulu for a very specific audience.  The workmanship was wonderful.  I was very impressed.  Since then, I know of some of the small press publishers who have started ordering print runs though Lulu.com.  Some order on a book-by-book case, and some take advantage of the bulk rates and order quite a few copies at once.  I have rarely heard any complaints from anyone about Lulu's quality.

And the best part of all, of course, is that they are not a vanity press.  In a vanity press, you have to pay the publisher to produce the work.  Lulu takes their cut straight out of the sale of each book.  You set the price of the work above what they get per book.  The amount probably looks high at first glance, but it is a reasonable amount for the work that is put into producing each book -- and it is the best way to get your product out there in the market without any cost to you, unless you take one of their distribution plans.

I have books at Lulu.com through a couple different publishers.  I will have more soon, it appears.  Right now I'm trying to learn their cover art strictures so that I can turn in the proper material for a couple different publishers.  I am starting to think that the wrap-around cover is going to be way too much trouble.

Looking at the site, I see that they are doing picture books now.  I'm really tempted to do something with some of my animal photography, just for fun. 

I am really fascinated by how Lulu works.  I have always tried new things, and Lulu looks as though there could be some fun aspects to it, especially in the reprint and art areas.

Of course, I need the time to do that kind of stuff.  Right now I still have several more contracted books to get finished, although one more is in the very last nit-picking phase that I go through before I send something off.

But it's always fun to learn something new, to try new things and to look at possibilities in the changes the world has brought us -- at least if you do so with an open mind and clue about what you're doing and why.

I'm about 100 pages into the edit/rewrite of Silky.  There is more reworking than I expected to find, but that's all right -- it's been fun and a wonderful learning experience.  If I can concentrate on it, I shouldn't have much trouble getting through the book.  I think I might go straight into book 2 after I'm done and while everything is still fresh.  That book will take far more reworking.

And I started book 3.  I wasn't going to, but I always start a novel on my birthday, and it was the only one that really called to me.  I'm taking it very slowly for me -- only a few hundred words a day so far -- while I get through the rest of Silky 1, at least.

In case you can't tell, I'm really enjoying the work.  The other work in my life has momentarily eased up -- or maybe I'm just getting used to it.  It probably helps that spring has arrived (39f!  Yay!), and I can sit in my office without freezing.  I really will have to do something about that before next winter.  (Yes, I say that every year.)

I've written over 100k words so far this year, which is down from my usual word count, but since I'm doing far more editing than usual, that's not a surprise.  I wrote a short story this weekend, but I'm not particularly happy with it.  I think, in fact, that it needs to be reworked into a myth and reworked into the canon for a larger work.  That might be fun -- writing myths for a larger world, and then incorporating the myths into the stories.  That looks like a long term project!  But I could do a few more short pieces every now and then.  Might make a nice writing exercise.  Maybe try to keep each myth down to about 1000 words.

Not that I actually need more to write.

Hello!  And isn't this a lovely Monday? (Except it's cold again!)  I can actually see spots of green in the yard.  I think we're creeping up on spring.

Vision is done and posted.

Forward motion is updated for the month.

The DAZ newsletter is about 3/4's done -- just waiting on some last stuff.

All in all, it's been a nice, productive few days.

I am also working on the rewrite/edit of Silky.  I had thought it would be just an easy edit, but I found some areas I felt really needed clarification, so I've been expanding a bit as I go.  It's been a lot of fun, especially since I have the new keyboard, and it is a pleasure to type again without worrying about those missing spaces.  I hadn't realized how much it was affecting my willingness to sit down and work until it was gone.  It's amazing the things that will slow you up, and you don't even realize it.

The weather is better, too.  Well, not great today, but it has been up in the 40's and will be again soon.  This is really great news.  I can sit in my lovely office without freezing, and that helps me get a bit more creative, too.   I usually love winter, but there was far too much stress associated with this one for me to get too comfortable.  I think things will be better with the spring.

I have discovered the joy of ordering groceries on-line.  I pull up the page, order things, let it sit for a couple hours, go back and order more, change things, remember something else -- there is no stress about 'what did I forget to buy!' and they deliver it right to the door for $15.  Since I do not drive, this is a real boon.  It helps poor Russ, too, who doesn't have to worry about getting home just because I've run out of cat food.  (There, just put an order in for delivery on Wednesday Afternoon.)

And then there is Schwan's.  Oh my.  I ordered a bunch of things from them a few weeks ago, and it's been hard not to gobble it all down.  Wonderful food.  I'll be ordering more there, too.  I am going to have to get a freezer, though.  It's the only way to really make this kind of buying practical.

The food is just the tip of it, but I seem to be getting the knack for this living alone stuff.  I figure about the time I really get settled in and comfortable, Russ will get a job back in this area, and we'll be together for more than a day or two a month -- and I am looking forward to that time again.  The cats are okay company, but they lack a little on the conversation side.

But I am, finally, able to concentrate on work again and not think about how unfair life is, etc.  All in all, I know I have a pretty good life, even though I miss Russ and wish he would find that job here.  But.... I don't work outside the home, I have a house all to myself with everything a person could want (Big Screen TV, huge video/DVD collection -- though the last thing I watched was Tin Man when it was on -- December?), lots of music, so many books that we bought the house next door so we could expand the library, etc.  (We have had the heat off over there, though, for the winter, so I haven't spent much time there at all this year!)  The worst part of this whole mess with Russ working in New York is that I had to scoop the sidewalk.  Well, not even all of it because the guy on the other side of house # 2 has a little tractor with a scoop on it, and he cleared the main sidewalk from my house down through his.  So I only had to do from the house to the sidewalk on both houses, and out to the street on one so I could get the mail.  Poor zette.  Such work!

My vet will deliver the very expensive cat food we feed the house guys.  He did a few weeks ago when Russ was late getting back for a day.  He will also pick up sick animals, which he has done many times over the last several years when Russ was out of town.

I can order books online if I want to.  Oh, I just saw that Butcher's Small Favor is coming soon.  Must preorder! (Which I did -- they take PayPal, the wonderful people.  Pre-ordered it and Tin Man on DVD.  There are a couple other things I need to pre-order as well, but it will have to wait a bit longer!)

You know, it's not so bad a life, all in all.  Russ has it much worse-- living in hotels all the time, traveling from city-to-city.  He doesn't mind the work so much, but the travel part is difficult for him.  He'd like to be able to come home between trips, but he has to be in the office in New York too often, so it's weeks and weeks between trips here, and then he might get a day and a half before he's back on a plane again.

He doesn't like that part much, and neither do I.

Funny -- just went out to the mail and found that I got two postcards and a letter from Russ.  Mostly we do email, of course.  I have to love the computer age.  It provides me with everything from a job to contact with others who share the same interests I do.  (Try talking about writing or computer graphic art forms with the lady next door who hasn't read a book since grade school, and who is consumed with the latest Hollywood gossip about people you've never heard of.)

I am looking forward to spring and spreading my wings a bit farther, though.  We have a lovely pond about a mile or so away that I intend to walk to on good days.  I've gotten lovely pictures there in the past. I might walk the twenty-some blocks to the park on the river, too.  I'm even considering getting a very small dog to take on walks.  I'm sure the kitty-gang would be thrilled with the idea.  Actually, I think the boys -- Zaphod and Edmond -- wouldn't mind much at all.  It would just be something more to play with.  The older cats might not be as thrilled, though.

And now it's time to get back to work on Silky.

When I first began what would become the Dark Staff series, I wrote one book a year for eight years.  However, I didn't realize that was what I was going to do when I started the first book.  I found myself down at the end of the book and I saw an opening for something far vaster than the single story I had first imagined.  When I finished the first book, Aubreyan, I put it aside and worked on other things for the rest of the year, but I knew that I would write more.

I always start a new book on January 1.  The next year, when I first started Brendan's Song, I didn't even consider it as the second book in the series. Then I realized I had been moving in that direction without even realizing it.  It set two precedents for the rest of the series -- that I would start one at the beginning of each year, and that they would go in alphabetical order:  Aubreyan (1982), Brendan's Song (1983) , Crystal and the Stars (1984), Dacey's Dream (1985), Eliora's World (1986), Freedom and Fame (1987), Gathering (1988), Hope in Hell (1989).

I finished the series in 1989, and though I did only minor reworking on it afterwards, I would still reread it every couple years because I really enjoyed the series.  I finally pulled Aubreyan back out in 2001 and decided to seriously rewrite it.  I'd learned far more about writing in those years, and I found that I still loved the story.  (It is one of the reasons I tell people to go ahead and write something, even if they think they aren't quite ready for it.  No story is lost that way.)

Then, unexpectedly, someone came to me and said that a publisher was looking for more fantasy books, and did I have a series?  It seemed good timing.  I offered the Abby books, which became The Dark Staff series.  In February of 2002, they were accepted by Double Dragon Publishing.

Over the following six years, I did drastic rework on the series.  In at least three of the books, I wrote outlines of the plot and rewrote them from scratch.  I edited, re-edited, saw them go through copyeditors, and reworked them again.

A few minutes ago, I finished the last rewrite of the final book.  This is six years and five days after the original acceptance of the series.  The last book has already gone off to the publisher with the blurb and the thoughts on cover art.

It took me eight years to write the original series and it took me another six to rewrite and edit it -- it's been part of my workload for fourteen years.  And even in those years between, it was never really far from my thoughts.  In all, the series has been part of my life twenty-six years, and it's very hard to come to terms with the idea that I'm done.

But I am glad to have finished the work and done it to the best of my ability. 

And I do, after all, have other stories to work on. . . .

Sometimes there is just too much work to get done.  Here it is, very nearly the end of the month again, and I have Vision to finish, FM to update, the rest of Mirrors to edit (that, at least is going quickly!), and some work to do for DAZ.  There are things I would like to do as well, and things that I'm ignoring that needs to be finished up.

But mostly, I just need to get focused and get a list set up and do the work without bouncing around.

The problem, I admit, is editing Mirrors.  I am really enjoying the work, but it does take considerably more time than I really have to devote to it.  In another couple days that won't be a problem.  If I put it aside and did the other work, it would be much better.

But I don't want to put it aside.  I want to keep throwing myself into the story and enjoying the fun of tweaking it here and there before it goes off to the publisher.  And I want to have it done, of course.  I hate leaving things unfinished.  Once I start working on something, I want to run with it to the end.  That's why I do such fast first drafts -- I love the flow of the story, and the feeling of living it when it moves so quickly.

Ah well, it will still be there, later.

And there are only (counts) eight things I need to get done, after all.

Sigh.

Whatever your dream is for publication, that's the one you should follow.  That doesn't mean it has to be a dream of seeing your book on the shelves of bookstores.  I concentrate on that facet because that's the world I am most involved in, so it's natural for my thoughts to go in that direction.  But remember, I have work up on websites, too. 

If your dream is to have a story on a website that is visited by thousands of people, that is a perfectly legitimate and good dream as having a book in a store.  It's your dream.  You should pursue it in every way that you can.  And, while I've said not to let people talk you out of trying for that book on the store shelf, by the same token, don't let them talk you into it, either.  As long as you fully understand what it is you want, and understand both what you gain and what you lose, and then go after what you want.

And don't listen to the people who tell you that it is impractical.  Dreams are meant to be impractical on some level.  If they were things you could do easily, they'd hardly be worth dreaming about.  Some people may even tell you that pursuing dreams is something you should give up.  If everyone followed that advice we'd be a very poor world.

Find your dream and follow it.  Don't go the easy way -- because the easy way will rarely be the fulfillment of your dream.  If you are going for website publication, then work harder to make certain that publication is the very best you could possibly write.  Find out about website layout and the best way to present it.  Even in Blogger and LJ there are a number of options.  Make it unique, and make it yours.

If you are going to try for traditional publication, remember that it is harder work.  The writing might be much the same, but you are going to have to deal with everything from query letters, synopsis writing, and submission packages to agents and contracts.  Don't let that daunt you.  Every month there are new names on the shelves, and you know that they had to go through the same thing.  (Even the ones who are old writers under new names still had to do this initially!)

Part of the work at FM is learning to understand other people's dreams and accepting that what others want is not always what you would do.  I've noticed that some people have a hard time with the concept that just because they found something that works for them, it doesn't mean it will work for everyone else -- or that everyone else wants what they have.  This is true of both what they write and their goals in writing.  Since my work is to help people reach professional publication -- the reason FM exists -- I am not going to tell people to toss their book onto a website.  On the other hand, if that's all they're after, that's fine, too.  That's their choice.  Pretending that it's the same as professional publication is silly, but hey -- that's their choice, too.

Other people have the dream of seeing their books on the shelves in stores and libraries, or seeing their novel accepted by the reputable small press and electronic book publishers -- and of seeing their shorter work make it to similar publications.  Congratulations to Justin Stanchfield, again, for seeing his short story, Beyond the Wall, picked by Gardner Dozois for the Year's Best SF, 25.  People Angelscribe has seen an incredible number of her poems placed, And PeaceHeather whose book was accepted by a small press publisher, and who pointed out that they reject over 90% of the submissions because they are not good enough. Hey, and that's just a few of the people who have reached their goals so far this year.

Those people who are pursuing the world of traditional and semi-traditional publication (going through publishers who have a true submission system and copyediting) will work harder and face frustrations that those on the easy path will never face.  Those challenges, though, will help them become better writers because they will be forced to push past their own 'this is good enough' feelings about their work.  We are not the best judges of our own work because we can't see our own blind spots -- I know this from personal experience and from working with other writers.  Some of the writers will even walk both paths -- and that's a lot of fun, too, because in some ways it's the best of both worlds.   There is nothing that says you can't do both -- and several other ways -- if you want to -- at least if you are prolific.  If, on the other hand, you only write one novel every ten years, think very hard about what you want for that work.

If you are looking for professional publication, even for only part of your work, know that it does mean harder work, and that not everyone will make it. That doesn't mean you can't try if that's what your dream really is.  Don't settle for the easy way if you want something else.  The easy way is always there.

There has always been a question of 'what do you owe to the reader' but I think that answer has always been easy:  you owe the reader the best that you can do.  Sometimes that means getting help, which can come from books or from one of the many on-line writing communities.  Those readers always include editors at the publishing houses, of course, and they are a tough group to please.  That doesn't mean you can't try.  People manage it all the time -- and if that's your dream, then don't let anyone else talk you out of trying with promises of 'this is better' or 'this is just as good.'  It's your dream, not theirs.