Writing, the best of jobs, the worst of jobs

This week on SFF Seven, we’re talking about the absolute best part of publishing… and also the worst, the nadir. The pit. The suxors.

First, the good stuff. For me, the best part of publishing is not even publishing, not really. It’s writing the book. I believe that writing is not a thing I do so much as it is a thing I am in my most core self. If I wrote nothing, I would no longer exist. That’s how integral storytelling is for me. 

Note that I’m using words like writing and storytelling here, not necessarily publishing. Where publishing shines is those occasions when I am identified as an authoress. In other words, I love validation from the outside world of a thing that I know already: that I’m a thing that writes. That validation can come in the form of an email from somebody who read a book of mine and liked it enough to tell me, or having my agent or editor express excitement over a manuscript, or even my kid telling her English teacher that she developed strong writing skills because her mom is “a professional writer.” 

Those are the moments in my life when I feel the most real, like I’m earning my spot on this planet by doing the thing I was meant to do. Publishing sometimes offers those moments, and I love it for that.

I love it less for being a business, which leads us to my least favorite thing about publishing: money. Anybody says they’re writing purely for the riches of it all gets an automatic side-eye from me. That person would be better served in almost any other profession, because fiction writing is a terrible get-rich-quick scheme. The dirty secret about this biz is that most writers don’t make a living wage through their fiction writing alone, so they supplement by giving talks, doing a little editing on the side, writing how-to books, teaching classes, or, as in my case, having a partner who doesn’t mind that I’m a net negative on the household income tax form. Yeah, I am very aware of my privilege, and I am grateful. 

To him, mind you. Not to publishing. Publishing as a biz minds very much if a writer does not rake in the bucks. Publishing is very okay with kicking that writer right to the curb. Nothing personal, just business. And that’s the thing I hate most about it.

Best & Worst of Publishing

What is the best and the worst thing about publishing?

Best: Getting to share my stories with the world!

Worst: Most of the world being unaware of the existence of those stories. 

~takes knife through the heart~

~collapses to the floor~

~single tear dribbles down cheek~

The pros and cons of the writing gig

What are your favorite and least favorite things about publishing? Oh, my...So many options.

Dislikes: 1) Everything happens so slowly, except the deadlines to turn around edits. Inevitably once you've turned in a book the hurry up and wait begins.. Then, and this is UNIVERSALLY WITH EVERY BOOK I'VE EVER DELIVERED TO A MAJOR HOUSE, when they shoot themmanuscript back to you, they want it back in ten days please.

2) once again with the major houses, I've had remarkaby little say on cover art.

3) could we, maybe, just this once mind you, try advretising the book/ you know, so i can spend my time writing?

4) wouod we maybe be able to work out buying the book on an outline and a few smple chapters? It happens, but not as often as I'd like.

5) I got you blurbs. Can we use them?

Likes:

1) I have 9 moths to write this. Plkay, I'll spend seven months on other prok=jects, but I have 9 months!!!

2) Damn, that's some pretty cover art. With the exception of maybe three covrs, I've almost universally loved the artwork for my books.

3)Self-publishing is no longer a sin. BAD edit jobs are, but not self-publishing. I'll take what i can get. 4) i love occasionally writing media tie-ins. I'd do that more often if it were offered. How can you NOT love writing in some of your favorite sand boxees?

5) I can nver say how much i've learned from good editors, and I am normally blessed with good editors.

A bonus ;love: I get so much excitement out of projects that stick in my mind and whispr to me. The image below is one of many pieces of insoiration for my nove abut the Bogeyman. I'm 30,000 words into this beast and its echoing around in the back of my head. This is goingto be deliciousy evil fun!

What are YOU working on, writer types? Artist types?

The Pain and the Glory of Publishing

 

At the SFF Seven this week we're asking: What are your favorite and least favorite things about publishing?

How much time have you got?

Okay, okay - the question implies one of each, so I'll go with that, starting with the negative so I can finish on the positive.

Least Favorite Thing

The uncertainty. 

The uncertainty, she be a bitch. Unless an author really strikes gold, the uncertainty never goes away. And I'm talking serious gold here, not gold-for-a-season. I'm talking million-dollar sales. And even then, there's no guarantees. I'm thinking of a couple of authors who struck serious gold, have made millions and millions of dollars on a particular book or series, then can't sell anything else. This happens surprisingly often with phenoms. Whatever it is about that one book or series that attracted the phenom lightning, it rarely happens again. In some cases, where it was the idea that attracted the lightning and the writer themselves isn't all that great - or doesn't push themselves to grow - the likelihood of them penning another book that anyone but the most die-hard fan wants to read is super low.

For other authors, working away at their productive word mines, it's difficult to know what the next day or next year - or next decade! - will bring. There's no corporate ladder, no particular career path, no salary or benefits. Publishing is a fickle beast and I hear regularly from my author friends, some very successful, who hit rough patches and worry about the future of their careers. The ones who survive are ready to reinvent - and to be flexible and diligent in their efforts.

I'll be frank: a lot of them can't take the uncertainty and give up. It's not a career for someone who wants certainty and security.

So, why be a writer at all? Well, that's... 

The Favorite Thing

Writing for a living.

Seriously, it's the reason we put up with the rest. I've had other jobs and a nearly twenty-year career in another profession, and being a writer is the absolute BEST. It's amazing being a creator and the font of something that I alone bring into existence. From there other people can also have jobs, but I am the origin. The money I make is from my own self, not derived from someone else's thing, and that's an incredible experience. 

It kind of comes around to the risk/opportunity ratio. Yes, there's a lot of risk and uncertainty, but there's also an equivalent or greater measure of opportunity. Because there is no corporate ladder or career path, it's all up to me to create. And I love that. I love that all the meetings have to do with something I'm passionate about, that the phone calls are about me and my work. I'm serving my own creation and not someone else and that, my friends, makes all the rest worth it. 

Weathering the Storm

This week's topic is Temperature Control: How often does weather, climate, or environmental temperature factor into your stories?

I am an atmospheric writer. I like description that makes me feel something. As a reader, I like to be completely submerged in a world, and that means that all the senses need to be engaged. I also love scene setting. There's nothing worse than trying to read a book that doesn't orient me or suck me into the scene. Setting can also create suspense or nostalgia or evoke fear or happiness, or any other gazillion emotional responses. It's a handy tool when used correctly. So in answer to this week's prompt: Yes, weather absolutely factors into my stories. Sometimes A LOT.

The trilogy I'm working on now is an example. The elements are a character in themselves. Book one, The Witch Collector, finds the hero and heroine trapped in an enchanted, frozen wood. In book two, the weather element will be different, as the characters move south, and book three will change again. This trilogy was designed around weather. There's a Frost King and a Fire Queen, and gods who reflect much of the area of the world they represent. My characters are forced to weather storms. Literally.

But even if I hadn't designed these books around elemental reasons, you will always get a strong sense of atmosphere via the weather in my writing. Weather can build so much tension, provide conflict, and even mirror characterization. I thought I'd share a few snippets to give you an idea: 

Cutting through the village green, I memorize every detail. Frost glistens on the thatch of each cottage and hut, and the last thin breaths of nighttime fires curl out of chimneys. Gardens are dying back, and the wildflowers lining the path to the fields have turned to colorless husks. Soon, snow will pile on the eaves and creep knee-deep over every door, and life here in the vale will grow bitter and difficult.

My attention draws back to the path. As we ride, the autumn cover changes, the dirt and rotting foliage becoming marred by branching veins of crystallized frost. The awaiting cold reaches for us, clawing at the ground to drag us closer.

Ahead, light snow swirls in a coming breeze, depositing a white dusting over everything. With flurries dancing, I almost miss the second flicker of movement along the path’s edge.

Turning a glance over my shoulder, I look more closely as we pass. Snow clings to a thick patch of curled briar vines that have been hacked away, leaving a barbed hole big enough for a person to crawl into if they become desperate enough. Beyond, I think I see the whites of eyes. An animal, perhaps, but I can’t be sure.

The old oil lamp Alexus found at Littledenn hangs from his hand, its wavering flame giving off enough illumination through the amber glass that we travel inside an orb of golden light. Worry for Eastlanders spotting us has long passed, our need of light the larger worry. The rest of the world outside our little bubble is dark but white with cold, the snow and ice that glazes every limb and needle and leaf emitting the faintest eerie glow—a forest made of silver and shadows.

Stormy Weather or Sunny Book Skies

Happy Friday the 13th from stormy and bracing for tropical storm Fred Florida. Apropos that we're talking weather in books.

Have you ever gone on vacation on one of those gloriously clear topaz days where all the colors are brighter and vibrating with life? Have you ever gone on vacation only to have the temperatures plummet, the wind blow clouds and misery in?

You probably felt a certain way about each of those experiences. And weather in books is a tool I can exploit to bring those feelings back to you while you read. 

I can either juxtapose lovely weather against a character's misery, or I can have it mirror their misery or joy or sorrow or rage. Weather offers an easy-to-deploy threat, yet another obstacle to be overcome if I really need to test how well my characters have learned a lesson, or how badly they want a goal. 

Because I'm writing mostly science fiction, environmental conditions take on outsized importance. Ships in space live and die by environmental factors. Weather provides great color for alien worlds. It's also a great plot point. It shows up in every single book I write. In one book, a key scene hinges on how sweltering a noxious swamp is. Another book describes a planet having its atmosphere being slowly blasted away by an expanding sun. In the current WIP, the weather is a ticking clock. Beat that clock and live. Fail and die. 

Even in the urban fantasies, weather gets mention. It's such a constant part of our lives. Weather determines our survival as individuals and as a species. Without some kindly weather, we'd starve. So while it might be something we don't always consciously think about, we all experience it. Day in. Day out. It's familiar. It helps me take you someplace you've never been, but still anchor you with an experience you can relate to. 

Besides. If I didn't use weather in my books, how else could I get my emo on?

What's your book weather?

Great Smokey Mountains  

 Tendrils of smokey mist curl through the trees, dampening the air to curl my hair. It’s called the breath of dragons…

How often does weather or climate factor into your stories? 

When I write fantasy—all the time. To me, fantasy and nature go hand in hand. Rumbling thunder and earth quakes are the result of incredible power moving through. Mist hides monsters. And twilight is for smoldering gazes that ignite. 

Our environments—rain, sleet, or shine—effect our emotions. Rainy days make us want to curl up on the couch with a hot cuppa the same way bright blue skies make us want to run around outside. And when I think of my favorite books they all feature character emotions that are highlighted by the weather. Sort of like a movie soundtrack…only it’s book weather! 

Before writing this post I’d assumed weather only showed up in my fantasy stories. Then I thought about The Mars Strain and how it opens up on a steamy, summer day that contrasts with the cool, dry inside of the lab. 

I guess I can say weather and climate are part of my writing tools! Writers, do you like to emphasize character emotions or events with storms and sunshine? What's your book weather?

Weather in Fiction: Effective or Tedious?

Weather starts out as a huge part of my Wanted and Wired series…and just gets more important. In the very first scene of the very first book, a sniper lines up her target while rain beats down on a grim, gray future urbanscape. Later, we find out that storms — hurricanes in particular, and climate change more broadly — have shaped this fictional world and raised stakes that, in a climate-neutral alternative reality, might not have been such a big deal. Weather events are intentional, important to both character and plot.

So, yeah, I use weather and climate to propel a story. I think it can be an effective tool in your storyteller’s belt.

Just be careful not to overdo it. For instance, I love Dean Koontz (shameless fangirl here). Those early books of his were important to my teen brain development. So when someone recommended a Koontz book — the Jane Hawke series — a few years ago, I devoured it and all its sequels, and then eagerly recommended the whole thing to my critique partner. Well, she read the first one, and when I asked what she thought, she gave me a look and said, “He does love his long weather descriptions, doesn’t he?” 

Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed on first read, but when I looked back, holy crud, almost every chapter begins with some gloomy mood-music description of the weather. I guess it sets the tone or something, but it almost never has anything to do with the story itself. I can see how she thought it overwhelmed the story instead of deepening it.

And that, perhaps, is when weather becomes tedious: yes, use it to layer in plot or character points; no, don’t overdo it when it is just a ruffle tacked on to the story.

p.s. — I would still rec the Jane Hawke books. They’re super fun. Just skim the weather bits if they bug you.