Category: Writing

For the love of a good notebook

Posted on by Ashlee Scheuerman in Thoughts, Writing

There are so many reasons to love a new notebook. The fresh paper, the new cover. Clean and crisp, or rough and natural. Gilding, embossing, or just a lovely picture. Notebooks are awesome.

In the last month, I’ve gotten two new notebooks. Both with red covers; one was heavily discounted from damage (which gives it pre-loved character!), and the other an expensive guilty pleasure which I justified with Christmas money. I haven’t written in either of them, yet; all my writing work has gone straight onto the computer. But I have big plans for these, yes I do.

Starting today, I’m using the larger of the two for writing out a lot of world lore for TDM universe. It’s all in my head, and I’d like to have it out on paper for easy reference. Goodness knows, my memory isn’t the best! I always hesitate over the first words in a new notebook. Oh, it’ll turn into a scribbled mess as soon as I get going, but that point where I’m marking the first page…

I am not the only one with an almost obsessive love of notebooks! In fact, there were so many in agreement when I wrote about my appreciation of new notebook number two, a collective was born. We are the Society of Notebook Aficionados. If you share our joy, come and join us on Facebook. It’ll be fun.

Society of Notebook Aficionados | Facebook

~A

The cost of creation

Posted on by Ashlee Scheuerman in Other Writers, Thoughts, Writing

Natasha McNeely triggered a lengthy tangent in my mind; one I’ve been considering rather in-depth for a long time, and moreso in the last few days as I truly begin to weigh my options in publishing. Natasha talks about e-book prices, and her take on appropriate cost.

Firstly, you all get a disclaimer: this is just my thoughts, from a personally inexperienced perspective, yet with the backing of a whole lot of research and sense of pride in storytelling. There. Now, onto my rambling.

There’s nothing wrong with the $0.99 price point. There are valid reasons for using it, including drawing in new readers, and letting people get a relatively risk-free taste of your work. After all, isn’t it exceptionally easy to justify dropping a dollar on an e-book, just to see if you like the writer’s style? I know I’ve done it.

However, there is a catch. Many, in fact.

As I outlined to my husband when we were setting up his freelance illustrator rates, you need a wide scope for what the client, or consumer, is actually paying for. When you are an artist, whether through images or words, you have years of experience and learning behind you. The buyer is purchasing a quality product because you have a decade or more practice put into your craft. By asking for a fair price, you are giving value to the sheer amount of dedication necessary to perfect your art.

Then there are subtle overheads. The tools required to produce your product. A computer, with peripherals and software; a desk, pens, paper. Electricity, an internet connection, and a workspace. Even if you had all of these things before you started writing, using the home computer in your lounge room, they are still business costs. You could not offer an e-book without paying for those things at some point.

There are also literal costs in producing and marketing a finished e-book. You might get lucky and not have to pay for all of them, or you might go all-out and use most of the following (and more): cover art, editing, formatting, uploading/account fees, advertising including business cards or other little handouts like bookmarks (which require design and printing), a dedicated website, the list goes on.

After all that, the writing itself must have value. It must. You did not spend a year or longer writing this one specific book, to see no returns on your personal effort. Now, that’s not to say value is inherent in money (quite the opposite), but this is an important element to consider when offering your e-book for under a dollar.

I believe an e-book novella deserves to cost up to $5.00, with novel-length works going anything up to $15.00. I’ve been happy to pay $15.00 for an e-book I especially wanted, and will probably do so again. I also believe the lure of a cheap first book should come when you already have a backlog of work available; that way, readers can buy more of your writing while it’s still fresh in their mind. Will they remember to come back in a few months time, even if they liked their $0.99 purchase?

Just as a new author releasing a paperback will not sell their first book for less than its worth, as a book, as a complicated, dedicated creation, independent writers most certainly shouldn’t be expected to sell their e-books at a devaluing rate.

~A

Oops

Posted on by Ashlee Scheuerman in Blogging, Writing

I guess it’s been a while since I updated. I have a perfectly valid excuse! No, I really do.

I spent the final four days of 2011 editing. Almost non-stop. Thursday and Sunday both came and went in a flurry of words. Reading, cutting, adding, cutting, changing, reading reading reading. For me, editing fiction is a very particular activity. I have come to terms with the fact that it will never be a tidy process.

On New Years Eve, I ran around outside with some sparklers at approximately 9pm, Perth time. I have more of a tradition of celebrating New Years with Sydney, who are three hours ahead of us at this time of year, than anything else. This is simply because I would normally be asleep for any celebration here! This year, I greeted the turn of midnight in my hometown still editing. Approximately twenty minutes later, I touched the last line and declared it a success! I’d reached my goal!

I woke to the first day of 2012 with my mind buzzing; I knew something I needed to go back and modify more. I often wake up with story ideas, since my subconscious is very well trained in making adjustments and working through problems in my writing. My sleeping mind was totally right, and I spent all of yesterday editing even more.

Last night, I provided my beta readers with their copy of the story. I hope to hear back from them pretty quickly about their initial impression, and just hope I haven’t overlooked some kind of atrocious error! But honestly, I am confident in the place my story has come to, and I am really looking forward to getting right back into drafting book two.

At the end of the second draft, traditional means of word count estimation puts TDM at 54,500 words. Yes, that breaks free of being a novella by 14,500 words. I knew when I began editing that this story would stretch to become a short novel, and I simply had to accept the fact. It changes what I will do with the series, slightly. I haven’t made any firm commitment to how I want to publish TDM, and won’t until the final edit is complete!

In the meantime, I have a sequel to write.

~A

A time for responsibility

Posted on by Ashlee Scheuerman in Crafting, Thoughts, Writing

It’s one of those words, isn’t it? Responsibility? Even we who are well into adulthood and are already used to taking care of things tend to baulk at life’s requirements every now and then. Not least when we have conflicting responsibilities!

I’m probably going to miss my self-imposed deadline for finishing TDM by the end of the year. The sheer amount of things I have left to do in preparation for Christmas is certainly enough to keep me busy, and then there are always other obligations and vital activities to attend. Yesterday, I helped a relative move house. Today, I finished a number of Christmas gifts. Tomorrow, I need to do more. When will I fit in writing, or editing? When will my mind slow down enough to let me dedicate my thought to the deep processes necessary for critical editing?

I like Christmastime, but man, is it busy.

I’ve considered a daily schedule of sorts, to try and fit in all my projects, but I know how I am. If I’m on a roll, or making something specific, I prefer to finish what I’m doing before moving on, not just stop at a designated time and come back to it later. This is the same for all my work. I’m not very good at schedules, regardless of how flexible I make them.

Writing is usually relegated to the “lesser responsibility” pile, unfortunately. Grocery shopping is more important, cooking meals is more important, sleep is sometimes more important. Finishing Christmas gifts is getting more important, as I need to send a number of them overseas ASAP, then going to the post office to wait in line for half an hour will proceed to become more important than my editing time. And while I might be able to write snippets while standing in line, or in the car (as I’m always the passenger), I most certainly cannot edit in those garnered moments.

If nothing else, I will try and put aside an hour every day, whether it be first thing in the morning, or last thing at night, or any other time I can be reasonably assured of few interruptions, and actually stick to editing a little each day. I know how much progress you can truly make as long as you keep chipping at something daily. I’ve used that technique to great success before! So it’s just a matter of being responsible to myself and my passion, as well as everything else I’ve taken on. My story is definitely that important.

~A

The gift of humour

Posted on by Ashlee Scheuerman in Thoughts, Writing

I am super lucky to have some of the best friends anyone could hope for. They appreciate my sense of humour! Who would have thought that was possible! It swings from the wildly exaggerated, to completely dead-pan (though that’s hard to translate to text), and while I certainly amuse myself, I don’t usually consider myself a funny person.

The husband is outrageously proficient in humour, and expressing it through multiple mediums. He honestly makes me laugh every day. It makes for some very interesting conversations about my writing work, though. I will express an idea or a concern I have, and he will usually recommend disarming the entire situation with something humourous. I rarely take his advice, but if we ever co-author a book like we have discussed, it will definitely feel the presence of my comedian husband.

In the meantime, we’re working on other projects together. Youtube videos and comic strips are in their respective stages of planning. Though I can’t give too many details, we also have an independent video game in production with a programmer friend, and that has a significant dose of our joint humour. It’s usually a good sign that, after our brainstorming sessions and I’ve written up all our notes, we both still find it funny later (and our programmer also gets a good laugh!).

When I read through my writing, I often come across moments of character interaction that make me grin and chuckle. Some characters are intentionally humourous, while some just have flashes of wit. The interesting part is trying to give them diverse thoughts and behaviours, and making sure that carries through well. Making a character express a sense of humour which I don’t necessarily share becomes a very interesting experience.

The single way to find out if I’ve succeeded in these endevours is to share my work with others and receive feedback on those characters. There are certain things a person just can’t judge on their own, and the presentation of the varied types of humour is definitely one of them. While I may or may not be a funny person, some of my characters definitely need to be!

~A

On being a relentless recluse

Posted on by Ashlee Scheuerman in Thoughts, Writing

I just realised it’s after 9:00PM on Sunday night. There was a lot I intended on doing this weekend, and I suspect I only got a small fraction of it completed. Nothing new in that sense – I frequently find my plans disrupted by other activities, or in this case, repressive weather turning me incredibly lethargic.

Summer isn’t exactly my season, particularly here in Western Australia. In the general Perth region, we don’t get it too bad, but the older I am, the lower my temperature threshold creeps. Even this early, just a few days into official summer, I just want to sit in a cool, darkened room for most of the day.

Aside from reading a lot thanks to the awesome birthday gifts I received, I’ve still been busy. I can honestly say I’m more interested in my story, and the lengthy process of editing it, than I am in almost every other form of entertainment at my disposal. Considering the vast quantities and especially the new release video games I’ve been waiting for, that really says something. So if I’m not glued to the very nice screen of my Kindle, I’m on the computer, engrossed in ever more editing.

When two days pass without my notice, it suddenly hits me that I have been holed up in my room for almost that whole time. And days before, except for essential departures; work, groceries, and so on. If it weren’t for the internet and all my exceptional, multi-national buddies, I wouldn’t have had much contact with the outside world.

In the heat of my room, despite the valiant efforts of my freestanding air conditioner, I’m sleepy and just a little content with being away from the world for a while. It’s humid and even warmer outside. I’m too distracted and tired to pay attention to other people, and forgetful besides.

All that’s missing is another rain dance.

~A