One of the best columns by Kristine Kathryn Rusch ever, and that’s saying a lot, since most of her…
One of the best columns by Kristine Kathryn Rusch ever, and that’s saying a lot, since most of her…
Another great business-of-writing post by award-winning, bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She posts a new business column every Thursday…
Long, long ago, back when I’d been rewriting the same novel for EIGHT YEARS, I took a class from bestselling and award-winning writers Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
And when they talked about writing multiple books a year–sometimes four books a year, sometimes double that–the scales fell from my eyes. No one had ever told me you could write more than one book a year, or that you could stop endlessly reworking the one novel you had and move on to something else.
I was cured. And thereafter became a happy writer.
Since then I’ve found my own personal pace and figured out how many novels my body and my brain like me to write every year. I’m not going to tell you, because as Dean says in this wonderful post about finding your own speed, people sometimes get mad when you talk about your method and your output, and it’s best to keep it to yourself.
If you’re currently stuck in the endless whirlpool of rewriting your one book, I encourage you to try the same experiment I did when I got home from that seminar: Just sit down and write a novel (or a short story, or whatever your favorite medium is) from start to finish, no stopping to rewrite those first three chapters again and again, and just see how quickly you can do it. For me that first time it was five weeks for a complete novel. I know a lot of people love to participate in NaNoWriMo every November because they have to finish a novel in one month.
Find your pace, but first be willing to see that it could be much, much faster than what you’ve always thought. Writing is fun. Fast writing is SUPERfun.
Onward!
Oh, that Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, always thinking, those two.
Thank goodness, because this one’s a doozy.
It’s a new world, and the old rules are rapidly falling away. This latest post by bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch is so timely and succinct–well, just read it and you’ll see!
From best-selling writers turning down traditional publishing deals and going indie, to best-selling indie writers going traditional, to copyright rulings and other business issues that affect all us writers–
Here’s a great recap from best-selling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch of what’s been going on, and what it might all mean. Read and learn and enjoy!
Love this recent post by award-winning author Kristine Kathryn Rusch about the many, many changes in publishing, and the skills writers would do well to develop if we want to make the most of this exciting new world.
Read, think, and enjoy!
I love it when I have time to sit down and read some of the business-of-writing blog posts by award-winning author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I’ve just caught up on a few more, and wanted to pass them along to you, just in case you, too, have gotten a little behind.
Here’s the first part of her latest installment about the skills a modern writer will need to prosper in this new age of publishing, and here’s the continuation. I especially like her take on fast writing–both in terms of learning our craft and getting more of our work out there.
Speaking of which, I’ve just turned in one revised manuscript this week, and I’m already working on the next new one. Why not? When your work is play and your play is work, there’s not really a reason to keep yourself from doing it. That is my hope for all of you writers out there, that you will be able to make this your day job, your night job, and your hobby, all rolled into one. That’s one of the reasons I keep posting all these business-of-writing blogs–I want you to be informed.
And now, off to work!
I can’t emphasize this enough. If you want to make a living out of writing–not just have it as a hobby you love, but as something that will eventually support you and your family–then it pays to be as well-informed about the business side as you can. The days of being “taken care of” by others or having the attitude “I can’t handle the business side–I’m an artist!” are over, and have been for a long time.
So as part of that education, take the time to read this latest post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on how the changes in the publishing industry will affect beginning writers. This is the first in a 3-parter, and I’ll try to remember to link all three parts as the weeks come up, but this is a first step for you anyway in taking care of yourselves: bookmark the blog and keep checking back, and also reread all the business posts you’ve missed. I promise you, this is an important part of your education. I link to these because I care about you!
Okay, back to my own work now. Later!
Hey! Yes, I’m here! Working on a big hairy deadline at the moment, but this new blog post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is so important, I’m taking a break to give it to you.
No matter where you are in your writing career–hoping for it, working on it, already have it–it always pays to keep yourself educated about the business side. Writing is your business, whether or not you’re making any money at it yet. Take yourself seriously and treat yourself like the business owner you are.
So read Kris’s current post, then take the time to read some of her earlier posts in this series–knowledge is power!
Okay, back to the book. Bye!
I hope that you, my fellow published and aspiring writers, really do see your writing life as a business. You are the president, the CEO, the principal player, the monarch (in some of your cases)–call yourself what you will. You could choose to just let things happen. To not take yourselves seriously. To [...]
Excellent new installment in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s continuing series, the Freelancer’s Survival Guide. This week, it’s more on negotiation–including understanding the basics of the contracts you sign. Remember, as Kris Rusch and her husband Dean Wesley Smith drill into our heads at the workshops they teach: “No one will ever care about your career [...]
Hi! You thought I was in the wilderness, didn’t you? I’m in between wildernesses at the moment–we’re hiking and driving our way northward so it’s not just endless days in the car. But we’ve finally passed into Wyoming, where bigger wilderness awaits. Anyway. Wanted to take a moment to give you all [...]
Another excellent post from multiple award-winning novelist and short story author Kristine Kathryn Rusch about the business side of writing. This week’s installment, how to get paid. And if you haven’t read the previous installments yet, take the time to catch up on the whole collection. For those of you who want to making [...]
Here’s another great post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, this time on that dreaded word, discipline. I recognize quite a few of the ways she mentions to avoid my work. How about you? But I agree that deadlines really help–and by the way, mine just got pushed up a day to next Thursday, so that’s [...]
Here’s the newest installment in best-selling, award-winning author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Freelancer’s Survival Guide. This week’s topic is about staying positive. If you haven’t yet, cruise through all of her posts so far. Some really, really valuable and inspiring information for all you writers out there. Enjoy! Technorati Tags: Freelancer's Guide to Survival, Kris Rusch, Kristine [...]
Thanks… I’m in the whirlpool. Needed to hear this again.
Good. Glad to pass along this valuable service to other writers. We all need to hear it sometimes!
Thank you for saying this!! I feel exactly the same way. My last novel got written in four weeks and very little has had to be changed. It can be done!
Yes! It’s so easy to forget that we’re storytellers, and that it’s not that different from sitting around a campfire with people and telling them a great story from start to finish. You don’t keep going back and saying, “Wait, in that first five minutes? I meant to say ‘whispering like a willow,’ not ‘creeping like a vine.’” Whatever! Move on! Tell us the rest of the story!