Perhaps you have a problem similar to one I have. I have so much on my plate that I can actually forget within a few days some sincere commitment I have made. I should have the fourth book in my Millerville Mystery series done by now. But it isn’t.

I did read through the first three or four chapters and could have moved on, but I began to wonder if I had begun the book at the right place. The first time I began the book I was about 60 pages into it before I realized all I had accomplish was to write 60 pages of back story. It was interesting and I enjoyed what those pages had covered, but it was just backstory; nothing more!

And then, once again, I moved on with other things that were screaming at me.

I now have a new set of things making up my writing priorities. I made a new list of books to complete and get into print. Rather than move on with this Millerville Mystery series in an effort to get the series moving forward again (recommended to book marketing experts–the more books that are in print in a series, the sooner Amazon will promote the books–all on their own) which would be good, I am going to put my efforts into the books I am convinced will bring in the most money, the soonest.

Now that that is settled, I will work on the first of those books.

An interesting even took place yesterday. I have been asked to help build a(eventually) quite lucrative business. It has nothing to do with writing, music, or illustrating. But I believe in the concept. It will cost me nothing but time to be a part of it.

All of a sudden I have a totally different attitude about books, music, etc. I can now explore them without the pressure of being totally productive and making money. I can follow these activities out of prospects of fun and enjoyment.

We’ll see.

12

When I was in junior high school, I liked to draw my own cars. I remember well when the latest model Plymouth came out and it resembled one of mine. I didn’t grasp what that meant until years later.

Then I developed an interest in writing my own melodies. I hadn’t thought about one melody in particular that I wrote many, many years ago until about two o’clock this morning. I even puzzled over whether or not I could recall the melody. What I remembered most of all was that a few years after I wrote the melody, a song came out with the exact same first two measures. And after those measures our songs were totally different. There was a message there, but I didn’t get it then either.

I have a lot of friends who are authors. Yesterday I was reading the manuscript of a soon-to-be-published book. I mentioned to the author that one of the concepts in it was also used in a very popular movie. The response was that she had had this idea for over twenty years and just now wrote the book.

By now, I was finally getting it. Oh, the first time someone mentioned that once an idea has been verbalized it goes out and belongs to the universe. That put me on my guard and shaped a new philosophy of creativity.

I have had a few block-buster book ideas. One in particular is so good that I have feared since the day I had the idea that someone would beat me to getting in to print.

Immediately I jumped into the first draft and had it done within a few months. Then I got busy on the second draft. A month later I had completed about 75% of this first revision. That was a year and a half ago. I work a little on it once in awhile, now–in between huge blocks of time devoted to music.

I have a book that is virtually finished and another that needs just a little revising. No one will ever come up with the ideas behind these two, so I rationalize that there is no rush to get them into print.

But it really isn’t okay, is it? I know I have wasted enough time in the last two years to polish off all three of these books, get the covers designed, and into print. So, as of this morning I am going to waste less time and finish all three of these books–by the end of 2016!

11

When I first decided to spotlight my older sister, June, I intended later on to spotlight my younger sister, Connie. But as I sat down to write this blog, I realized that you can get to know Connie and her accomplishments easiest by simply clicking on http://connieawalker.com and the click on ABOUT. I hope you take the time to get acquainted with her. Her books are incredible–much better than mine, but then, we write for different audiences.

What I do want to share with you is the influence Connie has had on my writing.

My older sister, June, died in an automobile accident in 1966. At that time, I had no idea that my younger sister, Connie, was also a writer. Nor did I know of all she had accomplished as such.

It was nine years later that I had my first book idea, which eventually was published as Tivoli’s Christmas. If it hadn’t have been for Connie taking a writing course in 1989 I believe I would never written a book at all. And once I was taking this same correspondence course, had it not been changed to allow for the writing of a short children’s book, I still would not have ended up in print.

And then there are the four other books I wrote, which are in print. And then again, there are the books I’ve written, or just started which would never have begun, had it not been for observing Connie’s drive to write.

Connie has always encouraged me in my writing endeavors. In fact, one of the books I hope to get into print within the next several months is a book she told me she would pay $20 for the first copy.

She has also proofread and edited each of my books, and as a result my books are much better than they otherwise would be.

So, I say thank you to Connie for helping make so many of my dreams come true.

9

My first training as a writer came by means of a correspondence course. I remember back then, almost thirty years ago, that I also read dozens of books covering a myriad of writing topics. Of the many concepts presented in these books was this: choose a genre and stick with it. And there were many good reasons to do so.

• Those readers who like your books will look forward to the next one, which should become available in about one year.
• It takes about a year to go from plot idea to finished product.
• Each book in a second series would also need to be published yearly. Thus, you would need to be completing a new book for one or the other series each six months.
• You can see the complications of starting a third series. You would work yourself half to death.

Things are quite different today. I know of at least one author who is putting out a completed book every six weeks. How does he do this? Well, I don’t know, but I can guess:

• He probably writes like crazy for a few weeks.
• Then he turns his current draft over to an editor who tweaks the plot, flushes out characters, checks for continuity, etc. and then returns his/her final draft to the author who does his final check.
• One more check by the editor and the book is turned over to someone who formats the book for paperback and ebooks.
• Submitting a manuscript and book cover is a piece of cake from here.

My first book was a fantasy written for young children. My next three books were mysteries for early readers. (By this time I realized the power of a series as far as maximizing sales.) My fifth book was science fiction and was written for young adults and adults. My sixth book (I will get back to it when I have piano performance and composing under control) is a non-fiction reference book. My seventh book is the first in a trilogy and is fantasy geared for early readers. My eighth book will be the fourth mystery in the early reader series I mentioned above. And my ninth book is one of two that deals with betting a book published.

And in the past year, I have co-composed three 100+ page books of piano music.

There seems to be a place for it all, especially with the power of publishing via print-on-demand and marketing by means of the internet.

What a great time to be a writer.

8

Just a little over two weeks ago, I made a firm commitment to post a blog on this website each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (I would then post a blog on http://pianos5th.com each Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.)

And for two weeks I did just that. But today, things changed, as seems to happen all too often in my life. Actually, the change began last Saturday when I was Googling and checking out YouTube videos about blogging. I found a great video that got me all excited about using blogs to find followers, subscribers, and ultimately customers.

Then I had to realize that what I wanted to sell (my books) is no longer ready to be sold.

It happened this way. I wrote a book entitled Tivoli’s Christmas back in the late 1980s. I sent it out to lots of publishers but only received standard, pre-printed rejection notices. Then, in 2007, a friend of mine decided to start his own independent publishing company. For his first project, he published Tivoli’s Christmas. It came out in 2008. Then, for 2009 and 2010 he published The Mystery of the Grinning Buddha and The Mystery of the Ugly Bottle, respectively.

It was really exciting – except for one thing. I soon learned that it was my responsibility to market my own books. Barnes & Noble and Borders wouldn’t carry it. They only carried books distributed by Baker and Taylor or Ingrams. A few local bookstores did carry them on consignment, but they had no apparent motivation to move them. Eventually I gave up on them and retrieved the books I had placed. In the end, I marketed my books to my friends and family.

Several years later, my publisher friend concluded that even after publishing around 20 books he still had not figured out how to make money as an independent publisher. He stopped publishing and broke his ties with Amazon as far as carrying my books.

Meanwhile, another friend of mine helped me publish my first three books as Kindle books. Two more books and I now have five books available through Kindle. But, my paperback versions of my first four books are not available as paperbacks. My fifth book is.

So, I am going to stop blogging three times a week and put that time, plus lots more, into re-editing all five books and making sure they are available as paperback books through Amazon and others.

It doesn’t make sense for me to search out followers. subscribers, and customers when the products I want to have available are not – available.

From time to time I will publish a post, if for no other reason than to let anyone who finds my website know what is going on at my end of things.

Beforehand, thanks for your patience.

7

Okay! I admit it! I was not trained to write a book any more so than I was trained to compose a piece of music.

I remember once addressing a group of aspiring writers. In retrospect, I should have left explaining the process of writing a book to better trained writers, but then, I was president of a local book-writing club and I was seen as being somewhat of an expert in book writing. Well, the following ideas came from–well, frankly, I don’t know where. But, it went like this.

“It is quite simple to write a book. Here are the steps you need to take:

1. Come up with and idea.
2. Develop it into a plot.
3. Define your protagonist.
4. Define your antagonist.
5. Set up a situation of conflict.
6. Place some of your characters in it.
7. And they will write the book for you.”

I actually believed it, since that was precisely how I had written my first five books. It turns out that I am an anomaly, which is a formal way of saying I am an oddity.

The writer who informed me that my approach to writing a book was on the unusual side explained to me, and those who had been listening to me in a bewildered way, that generally an author first conceives of a powerful plot. Also, several subplots may be planned.

In addition to the antagonist and protagonist, several minor characters are planned and defined. In depth descriptions of each character are determined: height, weight, body build, hair and eye color, for example. Then there are personality characteristics, emotional quirks, psychological limitations, physical weaknesses and strengths, etc. There are hobbies, likes and dislikes, food and drink preferences, etc.

There are family and friend relationships, educational backgrounds,site locations, etc.

And I might add, etc., etc., and etc. The above is by no means and exhaustive  list.

Then there is the generation of chapter outlines, etc.

I have tried to prepare to write a book through the use of the just mentioned approach. It did not work for me. So, for now, I will continue to write the way I did at first. It works for me. And, what is most important is that you find what works best for you.

And I have a little confession to make. The last two books I wrote, in addition to the first draft, took over thirty revisions. That’s a lot. I have a hunch if I could organize my books prior to the beginning of writing, I just might reduce the number or revisions.

But on the other hand, I’m not quite sure.

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