Is Book Writing the Most Time Intensive Creative Endeavor?

I was listening to some of my favorite songs from the 80′s on YouTube… and I realized something that hit me years ago, but I did nothing with.

Writing a book is the most time intensive creative thing you can do. I think.

Book writing, when compared to other things creative – is definitely high on the list. I guess creating a building would be time intensive, but that’s a team of people. If you did it yourself I guess it could be a couple month project. Is putting rectangles and other shapes together – taking their physical properties into account – creative? I guess it is…

I guess a symphony composition would be tough – but who is doing that anymore?

Writing a book in the old style – for print, takes a long, long time. Hundreds of hours. Maybe thousands. If you work 8 hours a day for 5 days a week that works out to 21-2,000 hours in a year I think I remember from somewhere (too tired to do my figurin’). That’s a full year of work. Since some people take years to finish their books, you can see where I’m going with this.

How long does it take to write a song? I think I could write a great song in anywhere from 1-3 days. The music – someone else would have to handle. I’m no musician. A song has the potential to affect the entire world – to rev them up and get them dancing in the street. A song can affect our emotions intensely. Much more than a book I think. For most people anyway.

How long does it take to create a sculpture? Lets say a full human figure of marble… a couple weeks? A couple of months? Not longer than a couple of months I’m sure. I have no skills in that area either – but, someone that did could whip up a marble statue in a couple of months – surely.

What else is there?

Origami? Maybe it would take you a week to come up with something different.

Website post? Couple hours, day or two at the most for a good article of 500-1000 words.

Drawing a scene? I’ve seen people draw an entire detailed scene in minutes. Painting a portrait… couple weeks? Max.

Photographer? I can’t call a photographer creative – as hard as I try. I was a photographer. Sure there is some skill to it, but basically you’re pushing a button at the right time when the settings are correct. It does take some imagination to take great photos. I’ve seen some advertising photos that took a lot of thought. How much? Couple days. Week at most.

Directing a movie? Writing the movie took the effort and time. Is putting the movie on film really that creative? Nah. I don’t think so. You already have a script – like a book someone wrote… nahhh.

I must be missing about 90 things – but I can’t come up with anything else really creative – like an artist would do.

Pottery? A couple of minutes. Glass blowing? A day, couple days.

Book writing or script writing for a movie takes more thought than maybe anything else you can do creatively.

Can anyone think of anything that takes more time?

Independent Publishing Vs. Traditional

My friend Jess, over at JessCScott.wordpress.com had a great post that was actually a school assignment she shared with the world. She compares Indie vs. Traditional publishing – quite interesting info!

Independent Versus Traditional Book Publishing

Grading Myself Today: A-

I did about 29 things today, and yet the only two questions that really matter are:

How much did I write today?

How well did I write today?

How much? About average, which is maybe 4,000 words. If I write 4,000 words  I give myself an “A”. It matters not whether what I wrote is publishable, for this question the only thing that mattters is quantity. What matters is that I wrote 4,000 words.

So, my average day is an “A” level effort in my own opinion. If you’re shooting for a “C” then you’re not all that into what you’re doing and maybe writing isn’t for you. Maybe you should take up internet marketing like everyone else that can’t write. Format resumes or something. Be honest with yourself. You should be able to regularly come up with “A” grades.

How well did I write today? I wrote some blog posts, some comments, and some email. It’s 7:30 pm and I haven’t written anything for my books yet. So, right now I’m doing OK – but not awesome. I gave myself a “-”.

In my mind this A- isn’t acceptable and now I know I’m going to write some in the books tonight. It’s not OK to go to sleep knowing I’m at an A-. It’s not what I’ve allowed myself to do. I’ve got to put that grade in my Google Calendar if I don’t make it right tonight. I don’t like to see any A- days in the calendar.

If you grade yourself for the day well before you are ready to quit, then you’re able to salvage the day and make it not just a good day, but an awesome day.

Strive for awesome days. Give yourself the motivation to have awesome days. Give yourself the kick in the ass to have awesome days. (Did I use ass yet in this post?) It’s a frustrating obsessive compulsive practice, this getting the ass in every post. Call it a character fault.

How’d you do today – what is your grade based on these two easy questions?

New Writer Advice: Write Your Ass Numb

I could have said, “Write Your Fingers Numb”, “Write Your Butt Numb”, or something else less forceful, right? Would you be surprised to find out forceful works well most times?

Write what you know. Write how you know. Know what you know. Write like you know. And, like what you write.

If you are just now considering becoming a writer of books – whatever flavor, you have to write until your ass grows tired of sitting in a chair. Ideally you’ll be writing about things that might make a popular book topic – or one that tweaks your turtle.

If you just start writing books -that is the true ideal. Practice. You learn to write books by writing books. Get one or two under your belt and see whether you think you’ve got what it takes. Ask others if they think you’ve got what it takes.

I know people that think they can write a book that I think have deluded themselves. They’re not good book writers.

Am I going to tell them?

Nope. Is it possible they have a break-through and suddenly can write? Yes, it is possible, but of the 4 people I’m thinking about – a meteor hitting them in the thick of the skull is a much more likely occurrence.

There are book writers and there are… those that do everything else.

If you’re a book writer then start writing. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 15 years old or 55, just write. If you can’t force yourself to write exercises that will improve specific skills you’ll need to master, then forget it – just write. Write short stories about something you like. Challenge yourself to write the shortest story ever. Write a journal. Write comments at blogs you read and try to show you’re smart – or, try to piss everyone off.

A writer is a master of communicating something – some idea. The more you write, the more you’re going to understand how to use written words to spark neurons in a reader’s head, leading to reader enlightenment.

What ideas do you want to get across to the world?

Write! For god’s sakes write! Stop reading all these blog posts! lol…

Agents, Paper, Grammar – Blackholed

Like the newspaper industry, the book publishing industry is being turned sideways and twisted like a corkscrew – sucked into the whirly vortex of the digital publishing black hole.

Book publishers, agents, grammar rules, and books as we know them are going the way of newspapers which are going the way of magazines… all of it leaving a sparkling crystal white Pepsodent-clean taste in my mouth as I climb toward $100,00 earnings in the digital publishing market.

I was thinking the other day, as I was writing my 2nd fiction novel, Collecther, that I must write in a way that appeals to an agent and publisher.

I don’t know why, but I still had this idea I needed to cram my thoughts into a format that every other published writer was following and had followed for decades… scores of years.

And then it fell straight out of the sky hitting me squarely on my egg head…

I’m free to write as I wish.

Why it didn’t hit me before, and why for the last 8 months when I wrote, was I  writing for others – I’m not sure. Cognitively I know that the entire industry is going ass over noggin, but I hadn’t thought about everything that meant. I’d missed this crucial fact.

We’re free. Writers are free to write as they wish – whateverthefucktheywish. Whatever format you want to write in, you can write in.

Nobody has the final say on my work – but me. On your work? You.

Grammar rules, accepted for years – go right out the fucking door and freedom takes its place. How cool is that?

See, Mike Fook didn’t get a degree in English. In high school, university, grad school – the intricacies of English grammar did nothing for me. I could write master’s level papers, sure. My vocabulary? Uniquely bedecked.

Can I keep a proper tense throughout 120,000 words? Nope.

Can I tell you when to use commas – or hyphens – or these things -> (;:)?

Nope.

Can 98% of the US population explain even ten rules of grammar?

Nope.

Am I going to worry about it anymore? Nope.

I’m writing for an audience. You are too.

Who is your audience?

If you’re writing for PhD’s then you’ll want to continue to adhere to the same style of writing your audience is used to. You must if you want to communicate at the level that makes them all cheesy, warm and gushy.

My audience isn’t that same group. My audience is a group of intelligent dudes -ettes that could give a rat’s tiny hairy one whether I used the proper tense, as long as the point got across. My audience wants to read intelligent shit presented in a way that’s unstuffy, unpretentious, un-microedited, and that flows smoothly from my fingers not unlike dripping jasmine nectar off my pinky finger into their willing mouths.

Nobody     in     my     audience     gives      a    shite      if       I       space      wackily.

Nobody cares if I use shite instead of shit. Fark for fuck. My audience wants to see new words and phrases in new context. My audience wants to try to figure out what the hell I’m saying – sometimes at least. The written word has been dead for so long. That’s why people like Keroac, Hunter Thompson, found an audience… people were ready for something real.

Two thousand ten is a very important time for the written word. Here’s why…

Any jackass that can move his mouth can be on television.  Remember Morton Downey Jr’s guests? Some could barely be said to have been speaking English – but, it didn’t matter. They had a nationwide, and even worldwide, forum. They could communicate whatever they wanted and be recognized for it.

There is no grammar test for people that are speaking on television or radio. There is a DJ in Tampa, that, years ago spoke like a hillbilly from the sticks. Guess what? He killed radio there – to a sick degree. He was way ahead of every other DJ in listenership.

Why is that?

He had a message.

The message counts on TV – always has. Have you watched any popular YouTube videos lately? There are whole flocks of idiots telling their story, in whatever way they know how – that are making bank on top of bank.

Television, video, internet, radio, walkie-talkie and karaoke radios – nobody cares about grammar except the publishing industry.

That’s about to change because the paper publishing industry is being blackholed by digital publishing.

Digital publishing, though at first glance might seem like a panacea for only the tech-literate, is actually a game leveler for writers of all types. Writers that don’t have the slightest idea how to put together a book – will put together books because they aren’t constrained by the format anymore. There is no test to pass… no agent, no publisher to get through. You write a book. You get an editor if you want (I still want), and you publish your book digitally.

Right now I have 5 books on Amazon that are selling. They’re not selling gangbusters, but they’re selling. I’m making $5 per book sold. How much would I make if I went with a paper publisher? $1.30? Hmm.

Any day now my books will be sold at the Apple iBookstore and Sony ebook store. I have worldwide distribution, INSTANT distribution, without the paper publishing industry at all. Actually, nobody even had to edit my books – I can write one in a week, edit myself, upload, and bang – I’m live on Amazon.

Are you beginning to see now how much the good lord loves digital publishing over traditional publishing?

Sure you are.

While traditional writers are banging their heads against oak writing desks, crazy over whether one of the 300 agents they sent query letters to will respond, I’m banging my head against silk-covered feather pillows banking  extra sleep while my ebooks put cash in my electronic accounts.

Where do you want to be banging your head?

Writers, Where is the Best Place in the World to Write?

Chew on that question for a bit and let me present my case for Thailand being the best place in the world to write for a living.

I hadn’t thought much about it, though it’s quite obvious to me after five years in Thailand.

Thailand is, if not the ultimate, it’s one of the best places to come to live your life as a writer.

Cost of Living

Cheeeep. My wife and I, for one year, survived on $300 USD per month. Where can you do that in America? Canada? Mexico? You can’t. The cost of living in Thailand is freakishly low, and in fact, the per capita income is something like $200 per month. The flight here will cost $1,000 – 1,500. Once you’re here, if you just need to subsist and have basic internet and food – and you’re not a drinker or crack addict you’ll be able to live on $350-500 per month without resorting to eating silkworms, bamboo worms, scorpions, and crickets – but you could if you wanted to.

Income

Many writers just write for a living in Thailand. It’s quite possible. If you can make $500 per month from your various writing assignments, consistently, you can call yourself a full-time writer and be living the dream – doing nothing but writing.

Some take jobs teaching English. Teachers make, on average, about $1,000 per month. Of course it takes 8 hours of your day that you could be writing. If you have a Bachelor’s degree in anything you can teach English in Thailand. There are some more requirements, and I’ve written a book about teaching in Thailand. <- Click

Natural Beauty

I spent 6 years in Hawaii and 5 years in Thailand. Thailand compares very favorably with the beauty of Hawaii. It’s much more diverse – with amazing beaches, islands, and cool mountains in the north. Thailand is every bit as beautiful as Hawaii. Did I mention cheeeep?

Stress as a Writer in Thailand?

My stress levels moving from the pressure-cooker USA to Thailand have dropped by a factor of 25. I no longer worry about things that I used to. The food is absolutely amazing. The people – pure gold. Temperature? I thrive in warm climates so the heat isn’t bad for me, it does get cooler in the northeast if you want to go there to write. Car insurance? It’s $25 per year. Health insurance? You don’t need it. My friend had 2 brain surgeries after a motorbike accident – stayed in hospital a month. Bill? $2,200 USD.

Imagine a place where you can speed your vehicle at will and never worry about a speeding ticket. Yes, it’s paradise to live in Thailand as a writer. You can write daily without the little things bothering you. I have had a couple years of writing 1,000,000+ words. This year won’t be any different. This year I’ve already completed a couple ebooks and I’m 50 pages into “Collecther” – a thriller killer novel, and 30 pages into “Spicy Thai Diet“.

Thailand is the best place to write if you’re a full-time writer and need low stress, fun, and new experiences to fuel the fire of your creativity.

Any questions?

Should Writers Incorporate as LLC?

The subject of incorporation is one I’m familiar with. I first incorporated back in 1999 when my brother and I were starting online businesses right and left. I needed a cushion between myself and my assets. Without incorporating you and your business are one in the same. When your business gets sued, you get sued.

Incorporate as an LLC (Limited Liability Company) and you’ll put a layer of protection between yourself and your business. In effect you’re creating an entirely different tax entity. Now you have separate taxes to pay for your business and for you as an individual.

This is a good thing for a number of reasons. One, I’ve just mentioned – you have more protection in the case of litigation against your company – no longer can a court of law take your personal assets like bank account, car, boat, houses, etc. At least not very easily. There are exceptions. Here are some good points and exceptions about forming an LLC in Florida.

Other advantages to LLC formation:

• Profit and loss flow through to the individual tax returns of the owners of the company.
• Flexible management and organization of the business. Not as strict as other business entities.
• Limited Liability Companies don’t have the same ownership restrictions as some other corporate entity types.

Disadvantage of LLC’s:

• LLC’s often have a limited life (not to exceed 30 years in many states) Some states require at least 2 members to form an LLC, and LLC’s are not corporations and therefore do not have stock — and the benefits of stock ownership and sales.

There’s a whole couple hundred reasons you should incorporate when it comes to taxes. There are so many things you can deduct as a writer from your income before you get taxed on it.

And, get this. Say you’re writing a book on spec for someone. The company or individual pays your company, “Mike Fook, LLC.” $22,000 which you promptly put into your business checking account. You promptly write a check for $22,000 to pay your backrent for the office where you write. Guess what? You save a fortune on taxes because you didn’t pay yourself a salary out of the $22K, you paid a business expense.

If you hadn’t incorporated and deposited the $22K in your personal checking, how much of that do you think you’d pay in taxes? At least $7,000 – right?

Now, I leave it to you – should you incorporate as a writer?

What do you think?

Here is some good information on LLC incorporation in Florida at a good friend’s site – he’s helped over 10,000 people incorporate their businesses in Florida over the past decade. You need NOT live in Florida to incorporate in Florida and reap the benefits of this low tax state. Inc. in Florida – you won’t be disappointed.

Writing Books as a Small, Home-Based Business

A couple statements from Jim Blasingame of the SBA (Small Business Administration in the USA).

Small businesses make up more than 99.7% of all employers.

Home-based businesses account for 53 percent of all small businesses.

Writing books in a room in your house is a small business that many of you can do, are doing, or will do in the near future.

The year is 2010. A writer is someone that writes. Eventually the idea is to get paid for it, but, you can call yourself a writer well before you get paid for it. Just like a horse trainer that teaches her own horses tricks doesn’t get paid for it until she finds or creates a job for herself getting paid to teach horses tricks.

Van Gogh’s life was painting and yet for a long time he wasn’t paid for his work at all – he finally sold just one painting, the only one he ever sold. Would you call Van Gogh an artist?

This silly notion that you’re only a writer when you’ve sold something needs to be dismissed by anyone serious about the craft. My brother filled many notebooks with original songs, stories, and diary entries, and yet he wouldn’t consider himself a writer. He says he’s a software tester.

So, it’s not automatic… but, if you identify yourself as a writer – you can call yourself a writer to everyone you meet.

Writing books, ebooks, articles, or sales copy can be a small business you can start in your home – in a separate room and call yourself a writer. You can deduct the room for tax purposes if you don’t do anything else there (see IRS for specifics, it’s more involved than that). If you can’t write at home you can deduct hotel visits where you can write, uninterrupted with plenty of air conditioning and relative quiet.

The book world, like the newspaper world is changing dramatically. Paper-based books are going away and being replaced with something infinitely more flexible, more profitable, more instantaneous than waiting for half-a-year for your paperback book to be published with a printing press.

Ebook writers are a dime-a-dozen, but the cream of the crop will rise and make enough to live on.

If you love to write, and have something to say about a topic, or many topics, start writing now and producing ebooks as you go. The experience will help you figure out what topics you can write about successfully. It will teach you about editing. You’ll learn how to call on some force inside – determination – to help you finish each book you start. You’ll start interacting with other writers, authors, and those in the ebook publishing, audio publishing, and vook publishing world.

Start writing ebooks now as an education, preparing you for becoming part of the cream that is rising to the top.

If any of your books have Thailand as a subject, send them to www.ThailandeBooks.com to see if they’ll publish them digitally for you and sell them on their site.

If not, find another digital publisher that can help. I’ll write more about options for self-publishing, born-digital books in a future post. Stay tuned… there are many options to jump on while the jumping is good.

What’s Your Shit:Gold Ratio?

Advice to Writers recently had a post about Hemingway claiming to ‘try’ to throw away 90 pages of shit writing to 1 page of masterpiece. His shit:gold ratio is a claimed 90:1.

I was wondering what mine works out to. I think I must have something like 3:1 because in the course of rewrites and editing I must throw away 3 pages for every one decent. This includes not just whole pages or chapters, but all the words I trash in favor of better ones.

At 3:1 am I not critical enough of my writing? I figure when it goes through an editor there’s another 1 page thrown out per 1 that stays… so, maybe I’m at 4:1 after editing.

What is your shit:gold ratio – is it anything like 90:1?

Was Hemingway not just a brilliant writer, but a masterful bullshitter? I think I’d quit the profession after a 20 or 30:1 ratio! Was Hemingway like a monkey banging away on the typewriter keys? Can you imagine how much paper this guy wasted over the course of his lifetime? Holy shite…

Do you really think, while writing a 300 page book he threw away anywhere near the equivalent of 27,000 pages?

Come on now.

I’m calling BS.

Jesus Did I Edit “Cleansed”

That’s not a question. I edited the hell outta this book last night – flying through 45 pages in 2 hours.

Did you ever hear someone tell you that it’s best to write something and then go have a look at it later? I mean WAY later?

I wrote Cleansed in 2007. I shopped it around to some agents and directly to some publishers that OK with that contact. I got some responses – all of them – we don’t touch that subject.

The subject? Adults that like kids.

Nevermind that the entire book is written about perpetrating vigilante justice on this group. Nobody will touch it regardless.

So, it’s not a big problem – it was a disappointment at first as I realized that 124,000 words were just for my own enjoyment and learning experience. Well, not totally true – I have had some sales and I outright gave Cleansed away at one point. I had some great feedback – many readers enjoyed the hell out of it.

Anyway, so I opened it last night – thinking I’d just have a peek at it.

AUUUGH! I literally screamed out loud. By the 5th obvious error on at about the 2nd page I was horrified. I can’t believe I didn’t have someone seriously edit Cleansed before I sent it to agents. They must have been literally laughing at it! I’d have been too!

I learned a very valuable lesson last night, sure it was 2 years late – but at least I learned it! Not only do I have to read my work through 5-6 times looking for errors – like I did in 2007 with Cleansed. But, I must give it to at least one good editor to proof the first 3 chapters before I send it to anyone to read.

I brought the quality level up by a factor of 2 last night. I wonder what an editor could do…

Learn from my mistake. You need, you need, you need,  you need someone to proof your novel before sending to agents.

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