Well, it happened a little sooner than I thought, but I think I’m ready to start writing this novel. I only have a couple major decisions left to make, but I’m probably ready to start this effective Monday at the earliest.
I spent probably a dozen hours steeped into research again today, and I happened to stumble upon a website that pretty much answered almost all of the remaining questions I wanted to research. Seriously, it was THAT good. So good that I know I can bookmark it and refer to it throughout the entire series, actually.
This resource was so good that it also eliminated the need for most of the interviews I had planned, though I’ll still conduct a few in the new year because it’s important to talk to people. But that won’t stop me from starting—if anything, the interviews are really just for color and flavor because they’ll give me good anecdotes and unique insights. But I don’t need them to START.
I also have some books coming in the mail that will help me nail the accuracy of the subject matter I’m going for. So those are added insurance for me.
The second subject matter I need to know is less complicated, and I learned what I need to know to start writing that. I’ll learn more as I go.
The third subject matter is even less complicated, though it has a few tricky spots that I’ll have to learn as I go.
So, all signs point to me being ready to start. I said yesterday-ish that I’d know when it was time to start writing because I’d hear a bell ding in my head, telling me that it’s time to start writing. Before I wrote that, I didn’t have the breakthrough in research that I had this morning.
That bell starting a-ringing about 9:30PM, friends…
Anyhoo, my research is all cleaned up and organized and very easy for me to jump into when I need it after I start writing.
Research is always a delicate balance. You have to weigh how deep you research vs. practicality. You could take eighteen months to research your book, but at what point does your research stop being helpful? You can start writing right away, but what if you miss something critical that a couple more days of research would have taught you?
Another part of research is knowing WHAT to look for. And when I say “what,” I mean generally, not specifically. In the past, I just researched everything, hoping that it would be useful. The result was that I missed important details.
Some things that I’ve learned to pay attention to over the years:
- Ask: Can I use this in the novel? If not, skim and look for golden nuggets. Be ruthless. Focus your energy and attention on what you can use. “Hear” everything else and listen for clues, but don’t waste time. Move quickly so you can find the facts that matter (yes, I know…this is the law school side of me speaking, but it’s practical.)
- Ask: What is the golden nugget in this article/video/blog/book/etc? I might be reading a 20 page scientific journal that is full of technical jargon that I don’t understand, but my intuition brought me here. Why? Often, it’s one or two paragraphs tucked away on page 17. Once I find them, boy am I glad that I was patient!
- Ask: Is there anything in this source that will help me convey the five senses to the reader in a unique and original way?
- Ask: What can I research that will help me with convincing backstory, world-building, and magic system rules? In other words, when I’m not using the five senses, how can this source help me dazzle the reader?
- Ask: What traps will this source help me avoid? Put another way, what would an amateur writer who didn’t do their research do?
- Ask: What facts and opinions am I encountering more than once from different sources? Write them ALL down, even if it’s tedious, and list them. These are reader objections—put another way, landmines that you can avoid if you get them right. Better yet, turn these facts into rules for your world. That way, you can’t break them and readers will focus more on the story itself and not any failings in your research. I learned this the hard way…
- Ask: ABO. Always be organizing. How can I organize this source and synthesize it with whatever I have? Just like you clean your kitchen as you cook, clean your research, too. “Research into the Dark…” LOL. There’s nothing worse than cleaning up messy research notes. Please trust me on this…
Hope some folks find that useful.
SOME MAJOR DECISIONS LEFT
In case you’re interested, here are some of the major decisions I need to make:
Decision #1: (Right now) this story will have a prologue, which is the first I’ve ever done in the 30ish novels I’ve ever written. That poses a marketing problem. If Amazon Ads have taught me anything, it’s that your book description needs to fit your FIRST TWO-THREE PAGES like a glove. The prologue is told in the perspective one Character A and the first chapter is told through the perspective of Character B, who is the hero. If readers read the book description, they’ll expect Character B and may be thrown off by Character A. So what I may do is have TWO prologues so to speak—the first prologue told through Character B’s eyes, and then the “real” prologue, and then the rest of the story.
Ironically, I have ZERO idea what happens in either section—just a faint image of how each one starts. So I’m not messing with my creative voice—I know better than that. But knowing that my first chapter is critical to nailing the genre and keeping readers’ attention, I have to get it right. If I don’t, my work becomes 1000% harder.
And again, I’m making all of these decisions with respect to my creative voice. My creative voice is the one telling me what to do here—I’m not making the decision based on what the market is doing—only in service to readers enjoying the story. That’s where the creative voice shines.
Decision #2: Tentative title.
Decision #3: Comparable books based on the concept I have in my head right now. I don’t need the full list right now to start writing, but I’ll need it for the cover. I have about 2-3 right now which is pretty decent. One of them is a dead ringer.
Decision #4: A cover artist. I’m probably going to get this one illustrated. (If you’re an illustrator who does urban fantasy, reach out. Fair warning that I’m picky, but I’d love to talk to you).
Decision #5: Book description. I’m going to do something different with this book. I’m going to write the book description after I finish the third chapter. The book description will only “give away” the first page or two of the book anyway, so there’s nothing from stopping me from writing it now. Once I’ve finished the third chapter, I’ll have a good idea for the “feel” of the story, too.
Anyway, you’ll notice that these are mostly marketing decisions.
LESSON LEARNED & EXECUTED
We’re technically in the second-to-last day of Amnesia Mode, and it’s another doozy. Very profitable ad day today. Even sold another poetry collection (!).
Overall, my ad experiments were a crazy success.
ANOTHER LESSON FOR YOU
In my research, I came across a gentleman who is an expert in his field. Pest management. I was listening to a seminar he gave where he was talking about the top rules for pest management professionals. When I heard them, it was almost as if he was talking about self-publishing…I’ve taken the liberty of amending the rules for Indies.
- Stay up-to-date with research and methodologies
- No book has a formula; each one is different, and it’s up to you, the author, to figure out how to best 1) tell the story and 2) market it.
- Authors must be trained to see what others overlook (when it comes to storytelling).
- Use keywords based on publishing to help you write (this one’s a little complicated…I’m digesting it for a future blog/video)
- Telling a good story is better than trying to figure out how to market a bad one.
- Other successful books in your subgenre are full of clues on how YOU can be successful.
- Be a professional. Anyone can slap a book up for sale. Readers pay for professionalism, and it’s professionalism that brings more people into your gravitational field.
Anyway, get ready for a fun next few days, friends as I prepare to dictate my next novel into the dark in one draft while on an exercise bike!
