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+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, non-fiction, Publishing, Writing

Self Publishing, good or bad?

by Unknown's avatar

“Good day,

I have already finished a novel and decided to post my second novel on a blog and give people something to read while I decide on publishing.
My question for you is do I self publish my book or try and find a literary agent. I have sent my work out to a few but I am slightly impatient and want to know if they like it or not. I know it will take time but I wanted to get your thoughts on self publishing.
Mignon.”
The publishing aspect of writing seems to be a recurrent theme for me. Well the easy answer would be to refer you to my post: Getting Published, the Basics…
Fortunately for you, I’m a notorious work-a-holic when it comes to writing (just ask my wife). Well in my previous post about getting published I went over the pros and cons. Though it sounds like you’ve already tried taking steps towards traditional publishing. You say you’ve sent your work out to them, I sincerely hope by that you mean that you sent out a literary query. If not, I suggest you start writing one.
For help writing literary queries, I’d suggest this link. They have some wonderful examples of successful queries.
If I seem blunt, It’s just because I’m saying this for your own good… LEARN TO BE MORE PATIENT! Getting published is an exacting task and it takes a long time and a lot of work not matter which route you take. Literary agents literally get bombarded with queries, and they can take 4-8 months to respond. If you email them queries, they may not respond at all. Also, just because they don’t like your work, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not publish-worthy, it simply means that it’s not the type of thing they’re looking for, so be sure to research whom you’re sending them to.
Honestly if you’re hoping that self publishing is a quicker and easier path, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Self publishing is a great way to get yourself out there if you have the time, money, and know-how to navigate the waters. The problem is that you are responsible for EVERYTHING, and when I say everything, I mean it.
You can’t simply type something up, publish it, and then sit back and watch the $$ and praise come rolling in. It doesn’t work that way. A few big things you need to remember…
1. You have to come up with a cover. I don’t care if it’s digital or hard copy, in my experience, without an attractive cover, a book rarely does well in this market. The absence of a cover or a poorly done one is indicative of a lack of pride in your workmanship, something someone who is shopping around for a new book to read will pick up on. Remember, people are looking for something to immerse themselves in. Time is money and people these days are pick on how it’s used. A good cover done by a professional artist can run from $200-500. The latter if you don’t have a working relationship with your artist.
2. Copyrighting… Now I’m not just talking about a copyright or an ISBN#. EVERYTHING is copyrighted right down to the type of font you use. Using images in your book? Make sure you have the rights to them. Fonts? Buy a copyright or make sure they’re public domain. Also, make sure NOTHING in your book is copyrighted elsewhere, including song lyrics, direct quotes, etc. Even things that are considered public domain may have their versions copyrighted, so be careful.
3. Editing. There is nothing more damaging to a writer’s reputation than a book that’s chock-full of errors (grammar, spelling, and plot holes). You’ll want to have someone do your editing for you… and your mom or a close friend who doesn’t want to offend you isn’t the right person for the job… and professional editors charge by the word they’re never cheap, especially for lengthy novels.
4. Advertising. You are responsible for your own advertising. This is insanely difficult because everyone is trying to advertise theirs as well. Personally, I do mine by blogging, and social media. Twitter, Facebook, etc. There are also several pay services, but given how little authors usually get for their books, I recommend against it.
So hopefully I haven’t scared you off of self publishing, it’s a fine way to get your work out there to people. Just be warned, you’re trading wait time for footwork. There are obvious advantages to self publishing, including have complete creative control over your work, just remember, it is by no means easier than the traditional route if you factor in the amount of effort you need to put in.
Be mindful of which route you take and research everything BEFORE agreeing to anything or you could wind up signing your hard work away.
Readers, what are your thoughts on self publishing?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+ advice, Epic, fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Writing

Fantasy Creatures

by Unknown's avatar

“Hi Jim,

I’m in the process of writing a fantasy novel and was wondering how you chose what species to focus on? Your writings seem to focus on Angels and Elves, what made you decide to go that route over say… dwarves or faeries?

Thanks,
Allison”

Hi Allison,

Good question. It honestly comes down to a couple of different things. For starters, what does your situation call for? In my stories, I needed a character that could fill the role of a noble yet oppressed people. Dwarves don’t really fill that as they are usually brash, abrasive, downright vulgar people who would not tolerate being oppressed. Orcs… you try oppressing an orc and see where it gets you.
Honestly, in much of the folklore and mythology I’ve studied, elves tend to be soft-spoken, mysterious, creatures that are known for being somewhere between realistic and mystical. However, they are also known for being used as slaves, beaten, tortured, massacred, etc. Elves seemed to be the right choice to go with to fit that role.

The reason I used angels in the other stories is because they suited the narrative I was going for with my historical fantasy. I basically sought to answer a question I came up with for my story; What would happen if a celestial being appeared in 16th Century Europe. An angel was really the only being I could go with.

So you really have a couple of choices, you can do some research and figure out where each species archetypes lie (they all seem to have similar traits from one story  to the next), or if you’re really creative, you can create your own species. One that no one else has in any of their stories. The challenge there is to establish their culture, collective personalities, and moral standing early on, or having one as a lead character won’t make much sense.

If you are going to go with one of the traditional fantasy characters, I would just say to do some research into their backgrounds first and then build off of those. You don’t want them to be exactly the same by any means, but you do want them to posses some familiarities that people are aware of.

Anyway, hope this helps.
Readers, do you agree? Do you think that characters should remain certain ways so that readers can easily recognize them or should there be free reign on defining what is/is not a trait of one of the fantasy species?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ Comics, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Marvel, superheroes

Basing Characters on Loved Ones

by Unknown's avatar

Writing characters based on loved ones is a mistake. A BIG mistake every time for a multitude of different reasons and it could not be any more clear why as with the recent Frank Cho vs. Robbi Rodriguez dispute.

Allow me to explain, Robbi Rodriguez is one of the brilliant people who created the now-extremely-popular series Spider Gwen. Recently, a known comic artist, Frank Cho, did a sketch cover of Spider Gwen that Robbi took issue with (pictured above).

His response was less than flattering…

Here’s my take on the frank cho sketch cover. Your drawing dirty pics of one of my kids. Be lucky your never around me. #spidergwen

— RobbiRodriguez (@RobbiRodriguez) April 7, 2015

The full controversy can be read about here if you’re so inclined.

Now you can say that the cover is distasteful and maybe even pornographic, and that’s fine. I’m not asking anyone to like it or hate it. Whether you do or not is your own personal opinion and you have every right to it.
That being said, Mr. Rodriguez is 100% in the wrong here. The comic book industry is no stranger to objectifying women in poses like this or with… physically impossibly large body parts. They do it with men as well, but it’s less sexual and more masculine steroid looks. In any case, this is a fantasy world with characters that have been around since the 60’s yet have somehow barely aged 10 years.
Put aside your view whether you’re okay with this or not and look at it from an objective viewpoint.
Robbi, you create a character based on your daughter, put her into a comic book… a medium known for… as you call it, creating pornographic images, which is something you were very well aware of, and you’re mad at someone who takes the character you created and builds their own rendition of that character in the way they see fit?
Is it really Frank Cho’s fault or your own that this happened?
Characters in the comic world have been drawn and redrawn in multiple forms by multiple artists, that’s the industry.
This is one of a million reasons why you don’t base a character on someone you know or care about, especially a main character. Things happen to characters in stories that may be less than flattering and if god-forbid the person you wrote about ever recognizes themselves, you can deny it all you want, but it’s still going to look sketchy.

Even if that is not a problem or hasn’t happened, or you’ve somehow managed to avoid that in your writing, let’s say your writing becomes popular and someone does a fanfic of it at some point and it gets posted online, or you sell the rights to you story to a publisher or movie company. Guess what can happen to that character once other creative eyes get a hold of them?

People, do yourselves a favor, DO NOT base characters on people you know. It’s not as flattering as it sounds and it is prone to causing problems as we’ve seen.

Trust me, you’ll be a lot happier.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ advice, Fiction, life, literature, non-fiction, Writing

Give Life to a Book about Life

by Unknown's avatar

“I am currently writing a book about my life experiences how do i give it life i currently have the bones (dates facts) but feel that it’s just a series of events how do i make it into a story? Thank you”
–lostgirl82

Hi Lostgirl82

Have you thought about writing it in the present tense in first person? If it’s something you experienced, then you should be able to write about what you were thinking at key points, how you felt, what was going on around you, etc.

Honestly, everyone has their own writing style, and you can certainly do it however you want, but in terms of writing about life experiences, this is one of the best ways: “So I’m here in the woods with my friends at the camp site. It’s beyond cold out as we sit on the snow-covered ground on the side of Mt. Jefferson. The chills running down my spine are like little needles jabbing me in the back as I begin to wonder how much more of this I can take. It’s at this moment that my friend hands me his bottle of Jim Bean, telling me it would keep me warm as they get the fire going. I take a sip. The hard liquid makes my throat clench and burns on the way down, but at least I don’t feel as cold anymore.”

Now I know that there are a lot of people who don’t want to name names and don’t feel comfortable doing something like this. So really your other option is to create a ‘you’ character and have that character deal with the same experiences. Granted, this would mean turning a work of non-fiction into fiction, but a lot of people prefer it this way.
Either way, be sure to add description and comparisons. Make people feel like they’re there with you. Describe your feelings at different times. The example of what the chills felt like is powerful because it’s something most people have felt at one time or another. Don’t be afraid to expand a little bit too.

There is no rule against adding a little fluff or interpretation to your writing. Put in how you think the people around you are feeling about the interactions you have with them. Once it’s done, be sure to reread it a few times and make sure that it makes sense to you. Remember, it’s not hard facts that people fall in love with when it comes to reading, it’s usually emotion.

I hope this helps.

Readers, what advice to you have to give? Is there anything you would recommend she do to give her story more life?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me. jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance. Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side! -Jim

+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, non-fiction, Science Fiction, Writing

Too Many Sequels?

by Unknown's avatar

“Hi Jim,

So I’ve been writing this book series for a few years now and have always gone the indie route publishing. I have about 8 books in the series, all of which have sold well, however everyone is telling me that I should move on and write something new instead of sticking with the same world and characters. Are they right? Should I abandon what I’m working on?

Thanks much,
Mike.”

Hi Mike,

Good question… so I’ve had people say the same thing to me before, but they were more saying that I should abandon the fantasy genre all together and write something… I’m quoting here… ‘people would actually read.’
Honestly, had anyone but this person said that to me, I’d probably be in jail for assault ;)… well probably not, but I wouldn’t have been happy. However this person is just unusually blunt to the point where they put you down without even knowing or intending to.
But I digress… Mike, do you have a solid reader base? Do you want to keep writing these characters? Are you enjoying it? If the answer is yes, then why is this even a question? Suffer the naysayers only as much as you have to. If your books are selling well, people enjoy reading them, and you enjoy writing them, I don’t see what the problem is. Keep on writing my friend! Keeping an audience hooked for 8 books is pretty impressive.
That said, I still think that everyone should breach their comfort zone at some point. Sooner or later, you’re going to get inspired to write new characters and a new story. When that happens, I really think you should pick up that torch and try it out, see where it goes. Who knows, you may have the same success, but for the time being, go ahead and keep writing.

Hope this helps!
What does everyone think? Should Mike stop and write something else or continue?

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ advice, art, fantasy, Fiction, literature, non-fiction, Photography, Science Fiction

Cover Inspiration

by Unknown's avatar

“Hi Jim,

I was just wondering, Divinity’s cover looks really cool! May I ask where you get the ideas for yours? Like what makes you choose one scene in your writings over another? I want to create an awesome cover for my story and was hoping that you could point me in the right direction.”
-Abby

Hi Abby,

I’m afraid that you caught me…

The truth of the matter is that I actually put very little thought into my covers. Put it this way, take a look at my first cover, Magnifica: The Last Enchanter. Then compare it to the next one and the one after that. See how things start to change and improve?
Now this isn’t a strike against my cover artist, so please don’t take it as such. When I first started out, I told my artists exactly what I wanted and how I wanted things. I left virtually no room for creativity on their part… that was a mistake. The artists I went with did exactly what I asked of them and did a very beautiful job, by the way, I’d rehire either of them in a heartbeat.
However, when we got to Magnifica: Gravestalker, a friend recommended an artist to me who had done many of his band’s posters.
When I approached him about doing the cover and told him what the book was about, he started coming up with ideas before I had a chance to lay down any real guidelines. I did get to tell him what I wanted, but in addition to that, he showed me a few other ideas he’d had on the side. Before I knew what was happening, my original idea was all but gone. I’m not complaining, mind you, he taught me a lesson that day.
From then on, whenever I hire an artist, be it for comic art, or the a fore mentioned cover artist I give them free reign. All my cover artist asks me to do is give him a few chapters with key plot points to work with. He does the rest.

This is perhaps the best advice I can give you; hire an artist, tell him what your book is about, let him read segments of it to get an idea for himself, but other than that LET THE MAN OR WOMAN DO HIS WORK! That’s what they’re being paid for. Creativity is a big part of being an artist and the more creative freedom you give them, the better the results. Divinity is a perfect example of this. I let Brett do whatever he wanted. We’d worked together, I knew and trusted him, and frankly, I was thrilled with the results.

I hope this helps.
Readers, do you have other experiences with artists that you would like to share to help Abby? (Good or bad) or any hurdles you’ve had to overcome? Please leave a comment below.

Abby- If you’re looking for a good artist, any of the ones who did my covers are awesome and any would probably love to take on your project. You can find more info about them here.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+

+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, non-fiction, Science Fiction

Getting Published… the basics…

by Unknown's avatar

So in the questions I’ve had asked, a few of the same came up:

“I have the desire to become a writer, a published writer. I just have no idea where to to start.”

–plasticfacesofdorothy

——————————————————-

Hey Jim,

I’ve come to the point where I’m revising a draft of a novel for mainly grammar and wording, no more major changes to the plot. My question is, when’s the time to start looking into publishing? And where to begin on that front? I’ve never had a work published before, so this is all very new to me. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Stephen Roddewig

plasticfacesofdorothy, I’ll start with you…
Well the first question is, have you written anything? Sorry, I know that sounds extremely condescending, but believe me that’s not my intention. I know a lot of people who have said that they’d like to be published, but don’t have their ideas down on paper yet.

So I’m going to say for your own good that if you don’t have a completed work, stop reading and go finish it before proceeding further.

Stephen, (and plasticfacesofdorothy if you’re continuing)
Well that’s the big thing every writer hopes for. Fortunately, you have several options at your disposal which we’ll get to in a few moments. The first thing I would say to do is work on getting your writers resume built. Write some essays and get them published in the local newspaper, or submit short stories to a small-time magazine. Keep any publications you may already have close, including old school newspapers (they count, believe me).

The next step is dependent on which way you want to go for publishing. There are two routes and each have their positives and negatives:

Traditional Publishing; Getting your book released through an established company.
PROS:
-Less work, expense, and risk.
-More exposure, distribution comes from the publishers relationships with retailers and book signings are handled by your agent or the publisher.
-Publisher is responsible for copyrighted material.
-Editing is done by publisher

CONS:
-Significantly harder field to break into.
-Depending on fiction or non-fiction, may require an agent (this puts an extra step).
-You pretty much surrender the rights to your story. The publisher may ask you to change things.
-Lower % of book profit.

Self-publishing; Getting your book written, printed, and distributed all by yourself.
PROS:
-Higher % of income
-You own the rights to everything.
-How your book is released, advertised, and it’s cover are completely under your control.
-You can still get picked up by a publishing company down the line.
-No agent
CONS:
-No filter… ANYONE can get self-published… and believe me, there is a lot of garbage out there that makes it hard to break out.
-More personal costs.
-You are responsible for copyrights, edits, and everything else that comes up.
-Far more work.

Decided which route to go?
For traditional publishing, I’d first write up a literary query, which is essentially an advertisement for your book. Establish your hook, your resume (like I told you earlier), and your knowledge of the literary agency and/or publisher you’re peddling your work to (that’s right, take the time to research your desired publishers and potential agents.)
So now we need to decide if you need a literary agent. Well for non-fiction, I’d say mostly no. Go ahead and submit your manuscript directly to the publisher. If it’s fiction, start looking at agencies.

One piece of advice on submission, SUBMIT A PAPER COPY! Emails take longer and are more prone to get lost and you’ll wind up waiting months for an agency to reply for no reason. (they tend to take a while).

Be prepared, you are GOING to get rejected. I’m not kidding. Your first 50 letters or so will be rejections. Make sure your skin is thick enough to handle it, because it only takes one YES in a massive sea of NO!

So now you have your agent, they want to sign a contract… get a lawyer and have them look it over before signing anything. Once you sign the contract, remember THE AGENT WORKS FOR YOU! If you don’t get paid, they don’t get paid. Be sure to avoid any agencies that ask for $$ up front. 9 times out of 10, they are scams.

At this point, sit back and wait to hear from the agent while they contact their connections in the publishing world. They’ll sell your book. Just be ready to make whatever edits the publisher asks for and be ready to pretty much sell your soul to the devil, because your writing is now going to be theirs. They will buy the rights and ask you to make any changes they feel are necessary to get the work on the market.

Okay… so that’s traditional publishing. Let’s move on to self publishing…
First thing I would say here is to find your biggest critic, someone who doesn’t hold punches and tells it like it is. Got a person in mind? Print out your book and drop it in their lap. Ask them to read it and give you their opinion. If they think it sucks, rewrite it. If not, you’re good to go. Now find someone competent in the written word and have them edit the book. English teachers are usually a good source for this if you know any.

So now your book is proofed. Next thing I would recommend is looking into where you can get it published. Kindle Direct and Nook are okay for ebooks, but if you want hard copies, I’d recommend looking into Lulu or Createspace. Don’t get me wrong, YOU DO WANT ELECTRONIC COPIES as that’s where most of your money will come from in this day and age. Either of these sites should be able to guide you through the next steps for getting an ISBN# and/or copyright, as well as the correct formatting.

Finally, the cover… the whole thing about not judging a book by its cover is true, but remember someone could be intrigued enough by an attractive cover and choose to read the book from that alone. (I’ve done it.)

DO NOT USE A GENERIC COVER! I’m serious. Find yourself a decent cover artist, someone with animation experience is preferable. They are worth every penny you’ll pay them.

So once you have everything squared away and now your book is ready to go, it’s time to market it. Fortunately, I’ve already covered marketing in a previous post. Please refer to it here. 

That’s pretty much it. Is your head rolling yet? I’d be surprised if it wasn’t. Mine was when I started. The best piece of advice I can give you is a piece that was given to me. Some may tell you that you’re going against the world as everyone and their mother wants to get something published. However, more than half of those people are incapable of writing full-length books, short stories, essays, or poetry. So eliminate them right off. That’s the majority of your competition. Next not everyone has a thick enough skin to persevere through all the hard work, determination, and tolerance it takes to get a book published. So there goes even more. In the end, your competition is one person and only one person; yourself. If you keep at it and keep pushing yourself, you can become a great writer. That is the best advice I can offer.

If you have any further questions or would like me to elaborate on anything a little more, don’t hesitate to send me an email.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim

+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Non Fiction, Writing

Writing Motivation

by Unknown's avatar

“how do we keep motivated on writing? I used to write, then stopped for months, then im starting again, bt how do i keep being motivated? 🙂 would really appreciate the advice :D”
-Senra

Hi Senra,

Great question. Motivation is very important in writing, if you’re not motivated to write and you just keep writing to finish what you’re working on and ‘just get it over with’ it reflects in what you’re writing. Readers pick up on a lot more than we often suspect… and in most cases, would prefer.

A lot of people have different ideas on how to keep yourself going and honestly, usually if you’re inspired to write, you’ve already got your motivation. If the ideas are flowing, putting them on paper should not feel like a chore. So many of them will give you different writing exercises, different things to do on the side while writing, and while those may work, they’re not what I recommend.

Personally Senra, I would say that if you’re not motivated to write, given what I said above, put your pen down, now. I’m not kidding, unless you’re under a strict dead-line from a publisher, there is no reason for you to keep writing. You’re not doing yourself or your readers any favors by writing when not inspired or motivated. It’s okay to put your pen down. Go do something else.

I would recommend going out and trying something new, something you’ve never done before that you’ve always wanted to. Maybe it’s time to dust off the old bucket list and pick something to cross off. Take some YOU time and go do something wild or out of the ordinary for you.

It may take a few days, or even a few months, but I can guarantee you that the new experience will get the creative juices flowing and absence from writing will make the heart grow fonder for it.

Hope this helps, good luck, and I hope to see what you’ve come up with real soon!

Everyone, do you agree, or do you have another method that Senra can utilize that works for you? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

+

+ books, Comics, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Writing

The ‘Alternate Universe’ Excuse

by Unknown's avatar

In one form or another be it Marvel, Star Trek, Star Wars or even many book series out there, we see writers wanting to change things and thus creates an alternate universe where they can explore things if they’d happen differently. Some do it better than others… Let me explain.

I’ve seen two ways of doing this:
1. Making one or two minor changes in an established plot and showing how those minor changes altered the destinies of those affected by them, if not everyone in general.

2. Drastically altering the universe with very little explanation, rhyme or reason, using the excuse that it’s an alternate universe so they can do whatever they want.

Quite obviously (to me anyway) #1 is the better way of doing this.
Let’s take two examples of this; Marvel’s ‘What if’ series explores what would have happened if one of two things that could have happened, actually had happened and explores the consequences. Maybe the X-Men were slaughtered in a mission they actually won. Who then carries on their legacy?

Star Wars Infinities is one of the most interesting series that I’ve ever read. It takes the established Star Wars Universe in the Lucas films and makes one little change, in the case of the Return of the Jedi issue, it was a very minor change, C3PO unable to get back up after being knocked over by Jabba. This set into motion events that played out quite differently from the original plot line. Is it a better plot, worse? That’s not for me to say. I won’t spoil these for anyone given how excellent a read they are, but the Infinities are extremely well done and are a shining example of how one small move, one little decision can shape the world and alter the destinies of everyone around.

Now… let’s look at the other example… if we must…

If it’s not obvious by now, it should be; I’m a comic book geek. Yeah, I admit it and I’m damn proud of it. Unfortunately, the second example above is the direction many comic books have been taking lately.
Ironically, given my first example, Marvel has become a serious perpetrator of this and for the most part, it’s been essentially tokenism and pandering to the PC crowd under the guise of becoming more diverse.
Let me preface what I’m about to say with this: I love diversity. I love hearing and/or reading about other peoples’ experiences in far off lands, or different walks of life and I like to try to understand how people come to different conclusions of what’s right and wrong, socially acceptable and not socially acceptable. However there is a far cry between this and what writers like those at Marvel are doing.
I still enjoy Captain America with someone else holding the shield and Thor being a woman, because it’s explained well. It works and it all comes together. However when you make one character gay with no explanation (Colossus), or randomly change a character’s race (Nick Fury, Psylocke, and Spider-man), and do so with little explanation simply using the ‘Alternate Universe’ defense for poor storytelling, that’s where problems arise. It’s at this point that the pandering and blatant tokenism becomes obvious. For me, it was when they took arguably the most diverse team in comic book history,  a team that has literally had members from almost everywhere on the planet and actually dealt with bigotry and hatred, and made that team all women. Essentially, they took the X-Men, THE most diverse team and made it less diverse in the name of diversity. How does that even make sense?

Well it doesn’t, but it’s an alternate universe. It doesn’t have to make sense because in an alternate reality, anything can happen!

Sigh… do you see the problem? I don’t care what universe we’re talking about, bad storytelling is bad storytelling and blatant pandering to the PC crowd is usually pretty easy to spot.

So I’m sure someone is going to ask, “How then would you create more diversity?”

To be honest, at the risk of going off on a tangent, I never really thought Marvel needed to create more. Dating back to the 1970s, I thought they were doing a pretty good job of it… but if I were forced…

Basically the story writers during the time of Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Marvel began taking a new direction. The Phoenix saga was meant to end the old X-Men as they were known. Angel and Iceman were off forming their own teams, Beast was an Avenger, Phoenix sacrificed herself to save the X-Men, and Cyclops retired, met a woman and married her. The idea was that, over time, they’d retire older members to occasional cameo appearances and bring all new ones. We see the beginnings of this with Kitty Pryde coming in to replace Phoenix. So instead of haplessly changing characters’ identities with no real explanation or creating alternate realities that stretch the suspension of disbelief (which for comic readers is hard to do) I’d green light this long-dead idea and bring in all new characters with all new stories from different walks of life instead of retelling old tales with slightly altered characters that are barely pale comparisons to the ones we know and love. Using the fact that it’s not the ‘prime’ universe to escape responsibility for poor story telling.

Anyway, do you agree or disagree? Let me know why!

Thanks friends,
Catch you on the flip side!
-Jim

+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, literature, Non Fiction, Science Fiction, Writing

Author’s Advice #19

by Unknown's avatar

Hi all,

Know it’s been a while and I apologize for that. However I hope that Damnation, once it’s published, will make up for this. Anyway, onto today’s advice piece.
Don’t be afraid to break out of your mold.
I hate the term ‘typecast.’ I really do. No one should be stuck into one category as a sci-fi or drama actor or writer or director. Granted, I’m a fan of doing what you know, love, and are good at, but that doesn’t mean that you should be restricted by that.

Are you a fantasy writer who wants to voice their political opinions? Do you have them brewing inside, waiting to burst free? Then you go ahead and write that manifesto. Get it all out on paper and once you’ve finished your Bible-length theories on how a government should run, reread it and see if you can work it into an interesting book, or if it just looks like the ramblings of a crazy person.

Are you a non-fiction writer who is tired of seeing book after book after book turning Vampires from awesome action heroes into… (Insert your own opinion here.) and you want to write them as they SHOULD BE? Then get started.

You’ll face hurdles that you never have in your writing and a little research and reading may be in order BEFORE editing. So I’d recommend following this step by step process:

1. Get the ideas down on paper.

2. Research what you’re writing about.

3. Read other works by people in the same field.

4. Commence editing.

5. Ask for help.

Number 5 especially, even if you don’t think you need it. Let someone else read it, someone impartial who isn’t going to pat you on the head and call whatever scribbling you write Shakespeare. Trust me, you’ll be better off for it.

Now let’s say you’ve done all that, and it still isn’t something you want the public getting anywhere near. Well don’t get discouraged. I know it may seem like you just wasted your time but remember these words from a previous post I wrote:

“Nothing a person does with their own two hands is ever a waste of time. It’s all building towards something.”

You may not have been able to write outside of your own comfort zone successfully, but maybe now you have the bare bones for another story within your chosen genre.

Consider it…

When I started, I wanted to write about religion, fact, fiction, blind faith and corruption. I wanted to write philosophy, but I write Historical Fiction and Fantasy. When I wrote my philosophy piece, upon a re-read, I couldn’t believe how bitter it sounded. That doesn’t reflect me or my beliefs, so I quickly scrapped that idea. However, then I started thinking in context, how can I get my point across while sticking to my respective genre? Then upon seeing the painting “The Wounded Angel,” the seeds for Divinity were planted.

So go ahead and give it a shot, write what you want to write and, success or fail, it’ll be worth it.

Thanks friends,
Catch you on the flip-side,
-Jim

PS – DAMNATION IN THE WORKS BABY!!!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

+ advice, Inspiration, literature, Music, Writing

More Inspiration…

by Unknown's avatar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix-MKn7H6YU

This one, from one of the greatest Metal collectives out there, was instramental when I was writing Divinity. It doesn’t end well as Tobias Sammet’s singing cannot match the power of Amanda Somerville, but it’s still a really great song to listen to if writing about a relationship that may not last.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

+

+ advice, fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, literature, Science Fiction, Writing

Damnation Status update!!!

by Unknown's avatar

Hi all,

I’m very thrilled to report that Damnation is going very well. The editing is underway and the cover design, care of Brett Warniers who did Divinity’s cover, already has ideas down on paper.

Another facet of the book’s cover that was recently completed was the inclusion of a representation of the main character on the cover. A very special thanks go out to the very talented Rick Chandler, the lovely Nicole Hailer, Jenny French, Nathan Prescott, and the Horrorwood FX team for all their hard work. This is going to be incredible.

Though everything is still being shaped and put into production, we are nearing setting a release date for the book. I thank everyone who has stuck it out this long and appreciate all of your patience with me as this work has caused me to be neglectful of my blog advice column.

Thanks all and catch you on the flip side.

-Jim

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

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