Writing 101: Why You Need Bad Writing

It's one of the easiest pieces of advice in the world to tell an author to read great books. Want to learn how to be a better writer? Read great books! Read authors in your genre, read the bestsellers, read, read, read. I'm not going to tell you to do that. I want you to do something else. I want you to seek out bad writing. You need it. You just might not know it.

Bad Writing is Good

Have you ever come across a really old piece of your own writing? Exactly how long did you stare at it in bug-eyed horror before you quickly thrust it away from yourself and make an attempt to disassociate? 

Mozart was a musical prodigy; he composed "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" at age 5. Bobby Fischer was a chess prodigy; he competed in the Game of the Century at age 13. As far as I've ever known, there are no writing prodigies. Nobody sits down at age 11 and writes an epic novel that becomes an instant hit -- not even the likes of Mark Twain. Many authors, even the most well-known, received many rejections before getting themselves into a position to be known to you. So chances are pretty good that your earliest writing is fairly horrible in some area or another. My early writing is weak on spelling, grammar, punctuation, plot, character creation, character development...you get the point. 

I want you to make an effort to read your own bad writing, and read it more than once. Reading good writing will make you a better writer. Reading bad writing can help make you great. I've learned a whole lot more from reading indie books to review than I ever did catching the odd copy error in my collection of James Patterson. I started thinking about that recently, and wondering about it.

Spotting mistakes in other people's bad writing, and in your own old bad writing, puts you in the right frame of mind to find your own. It's not always easy to be objective when you're editing that book you just worked on for the last 6 months. The project is still new and fresh, and you've got all sorts of feelings wrapped up in it. It's much easier to be objective when you stumble across your own terrible writing from years and years ago, projects you've long since discarded and stopped loving. That's when you're grimacing at your mistakes, and groaning out loud at your poor structure. But you might also see some stuff you're still doing the wrong way. You might notice your own bad patterns. And you might go back to that new project that you're romanticizing, and see it with brand-new eyes. 

And all of that is going to help make you a whole lot better. So, go. Look for bad writing, and look for errors. Then go back to your current projects, and keep all those mistakes in mind while you're getting swept up in the story. You need bad writing to make yours better. Keep reading -- but don't be so quick to put the bad stuff down next time.

Writing 101: All About DRM

If you've self-published on Amazon, you know you have the option for checking a little box that allows you to add DRM protection to your books. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, and many authors read Amazon's brief description and decide to check the box. After all, it protects your rights as the author. What you may not realize is that it also makes things difficult for your readers. As a self-published author, that might be something you just can't afford. 

Why Use DRM? 

Digital Rights Management is included in most movies and music you download online -- at least, the stuff you download legally (like through iTunes and such). It's a sort of encryption that's embedded into the file, and it makes it exceedingly difficult for you to copy these digital files -- like in case you want to give them to your friends or re-sell them. And DRM is commonly used in ebooks as well, to prevent ebook piracy. There's no question that ebook piracy happens...but this might not be enough reason for you to add DRM to your ebooks. 

What's Wrong With It? 

You worked really hard on all your books, and you definitely don't want someone to get ahold of them and start re-selling them, or begin marketing them as their own, or take to giving a whole lot of them away for free. You don't deserve that, and plus you won't be able to keep a reasonable count on your book sales if this is happening. 

So DRM is totally great, right? Wrong. Visit the Amazon Kindle forums sometime, and you'll find people complaining about DRM. The program isn't perfect, and sometimes bugs appear. Many readers are forced to delete books because they cannot open them, or they lose their books because they can't be transferred when they upgrade their Kindles.

Bugs in the system create a lot of frustration. Suppose one of your books is buggy for your buyers? If they can't read it, they aren't going to review it. They aren't going to buy more of your books. They're going to move on, and forget all about you and your damned buggy books. 

Maybe your DRM-protected books work perfectly. Maybe there's nothing wrong with them at all. But even when DRM works perfectly, it frustrates readers. I like to read books on my Kindle sometimes, and on my phone sometimes. Maybe I'll even pull one up on my laptop, because I need to double-check something or make notes for a review. But if I bought a book with DRM protection, I might not be able to do that. DRM also creates sharing problems between devices, meaning I might find it impossible to open up the same book on my phone, my ereader, my tablet (in this scenario, I have a tablet) and my laptop. If I can't access your book whenever I want, I'm going to get frustrated. I'm going to read a book I can access anytime, anywhere. I'm going to forget about reading you.

I also can't turn your book into an audio book if you added DRM, or back it up to prevent loss and safeguard against hardware crashes. I can't print it out, and put it on paper if that's how I'd rather read it.

And to make matters worse, DRM doesn't really work, anyway. 

Picking Your Battles

Book piracy happens, and it happens in spite of DRM. You could be frustrating your readers for no reason whatsoever. DRM does make it a little bit more difficult for people to illegally acquire books, but people who have the skills can remove the protection when they want. Chances are very high that no one is pirating your book even when you don't have DRM protection in place. And when you do have it in place, you're taking a chance on pissing off your readers and even turning some away. Some book buyers so passionately hate DRM, they won't even buy books that have it.

You chose self-publishing so you could make the decisions, and now you've got one to make. Are you going to use DRM, or aren't you?

Personal Reflections, and the Year Ahead

I've been thinking a lot about 2012, and wondering what the new year will hold. I was a little surprised when I thought about everything that happened in 2012.

A Look Back

On this day one year ago, I was anxious, unhealthy, and didn't really want to leave my apartment. One year ago, I didn't have much reason to. But things are different now, because I made some things happen over the past 12 months: 

• I published four books in 2012.

True, they are not long books, but the page counts are respectable. Accomplishing this was a big deal for me because I had to overcome my writer's block to do it. I spent two years being literally unable to write any fiction whatsoever, and in 2012 I decided it wasn't going to beat me.

It didn't. I finished the Deck of Lies series, and now I've started something new. In 2013, I hope to publish FIVE books!

• I lost 50 pounds.

It's true. In February, I noticed that I could no longer wear any of my clothing, not even my "fat girl" jeans. I was frightened. I went to the doctor, thinking I might be ill.

I was not. I was just eating too much. So I followed his advice and started paying attention to what I was eating. I got serious (some would say compulsive) about exercising. I lost the weight, and now I'm quite small.

In 2013, I'm going to wear a bikini...in public!  

• I bought a house.

It's my first home! It is a small house on a big lot with absolutely luscious, REAL hardwood floors. Fabulous, I know.

But because it was lived in for a very long time by a little old lady who did her own canning, it definitely wasn't my style. So the entire thing is being remodeled. I do own it and I'm paying the bills, but I've yet to sleep there. I WILL get moved into it in 2013! 

• I discovered the indie community and the book blogger community.

What a nice surprise it was to find Goodreads, a site dedicated to my true love: words. Here I met many other authors and bloggers, and started regularly participating in forums for the first time.

I'm going to spend even more time in the community in 2013. I've joined three more forums for writers and loaded up my Google Reader, so I'm ready!

• I learned that I am a terrible book reviewer.

I started out strong, and loaded up on review commitments.  Then I got bold. I started to solicit review copies, instead of just waiting for requests. I ended up getting mired in an impossibly long story that really went nowhere, and honestly I haven't been the same since. Poor formatting, lackluster editing and zero narrative creativity I can handle, but that really long book sucked something out of me in 2012. I can't even force myself to read the books and indie authors I actually enjoy. 

I will finish my TBR list in 2013, and apologize to every author who has so patiently waited for me. But in the future I will only accept review requests on an extremely limited basis, because I frankly stink at doing it. I can't promise I'll shake off the aftereffects of that altogether way too long book. Right now, I'm not really enjoying reading. This is bad news for an author, so I'll try to tackle this in 2013.

• I'm going to be less aloof.

In the past, I've mainly used my blog to talk writing and books. Meanwhile, I've been secretly envying blogger/author Annalisa Crawford. She writes wonderfully descriptive posts all about her life, personal stuff that draws me in every time. I always wish that I could do the same, but I seem to be a naturally aloof person when I'm online.

In 2013, I'll try to be more open and blog more about my personal life, too. I'll write about my book projects instead of keeping things as quiet as I have in the past. My goal is write at least one personal post a week, starting with this one, to be posted during the weekend. It's hard for me. This post was originally scheduled to go live Saturday, but I couldn't do it. So we'll see how this one goes.

 A New Year...

I got a lot done in 2012, and I want to keep that momentum going. This is my main goal for the year ahead. What about everyone else? What did you learn in 2012, and what do you hope to learn in 2013? 

Books on Film: Memoirs of a Geisha

Much of the eastern world is still shrouded by a curtain of mystery. It's a world steeped in traditions and culture that only one born to it can hope to understand. It's a world that an American named Arthur Golden revealed in his 1997 book Memoirs of a Geisha. Hidden inside this tale of tradition and uncontrollable circumstance, there's a really beautiful love story.

The Book

The reader meets young Chiyo Saramoto at the beginning of the book. She lives in a poor family, in a poor fishing village near the Sea of Japan. Along with her older sister Satsu, she's sold to an okiya in the large city of Kyoto. The okiya she's sold to is located in Gion, the best-known geisha district in the city. Chiyo is taken into the okiya; Satsu is not. She is taken away to parts unknown instead, and Chiyo is left alone at age 9.

There is a girl her age, nicknamed Pumpkin, already living there. In the okiya, Chiyo is surrounded by Granny, an old woman who complains about everything; Mother, who cares more about money than anything else; and Auntie, a failed geisha. The beautiful and bad-tempered geisha Hatsumomo also lives in the okiya, and she hates Chiyo upon first sight.

Chiyo doesn't care. She's not going to stay in the okiya anyway. She makes plans to leave the okiya, the district and all of Kyoto with Satsu, who has been forced into prostitution in the pleasure district. Chiyo ends up falling off the roof and breaking her arm in the escape attempt instead, an act which enrages Mother. Chiyo's geisha training is immediately halted. She will live in okiya and work as a slave instead, until she works off the debt she's created.

Years pass as Chiyo works in the okiya. Pumpkin continues with her geisha training, and Hatsumomo continues behaving badly. Chiyo is unhappy, and overworked, and completely without hope...until she has a chance encounter on the street one day. A kind and handsome man, the Chairman, gives her a handkerchief and some money. She gives the money back in prayer at the Yasaka Shrine. Her prayer?

To be a geisha, so she may one day see the Chairman again. While she gives the money to the shrine, Chiyo keeps the handkerchief for herself. She develops envy and resentment for Pumpkin, who is still training to be a geisha under Hatsumomo. But during Granny's funeral, Chiyo is taken in by Hatsumomo's rival Mameha. She owns a kimono that Chiyo destroyed years ago under Hatsumomo's direction. Mameha talks Mother into paying for Chiyo's training again, and soon she, too, is learning to be a geisha.

This is when the little girl known as Chiyo dies. Born in her place is Sayuri the geisha. Hatsumomo is popular, but technically she is not a good geisha because she made the mistress of her tea house angry once, long ago. Because of this, Hatsumomo could never find a sponsor (a danna) to become independent. This is why Hatsumomo still lives in Mother's okiya. Mother does not name Hatsumomo as her successor because she knows it would be the ruination of the okiya.

Hatsumomo's hatred of Sayuri is still strong, and she does her best to ruin the young geisha's reputation all around Gion. Mameha must come up with a new plan, and get Hatsumomo out of the way. She begins finding bidders for Sayuri's mizuage, an event which is portrayed in the book as a sort of deflowering ceremony. Nobu Toshikazu is among those Mameha wants Sayuri to entice. He's a prominent businessman and the president of an electric company...not to mention, a friend of the Chairman's. At last Sayuri sees him again, but cannot talk to him because she must try to woo Nobu. Another man, whom Sayuri calls Dr. Crab, is also interested in Sayuri. It is he who wins the bidding war for the mizuage. Sayuri uses this money to pay back all her debt.

This is when Mother chooses to adopt Sayuri as her successor, though she'd been considering Pumpkin before. It ruins all remaining friendship between the two girls, and angers Hatsumomo. She becomes even more shrewish than usual, and is eventually thrown out of the okiya. Pumpkin voluntarily leaves shortly after that.

None of it will matter soon, for Japan will soon be involved in World War II. Many of the geishas are being evacuated, and Nobu manages to get Sayuri to the north. Here, she works for a kimono maker while the war rages. After the war ends, Nobu finds her again and asks her to return to Gion. Here, he wants her to entertain Deputy Minister Sato, a man who can help re-build the electric company. Both the Chairman and Nobu are involved with the company, and she will do anything to help the Chairman.

Together with Pumpkin and Mameha, Sayuri entertains the men regularly. Nobu begins proceedings to become Sayuri's danna. It is the worst of all fates. If Nobu becomes her danna, she will be near the Chairman...but never to have him, only to be tortured by his nearness. She forms her own plan to sleep with the Minister, and subsequently get caught by Nobu. This will lower her reputation in his eyes so badly, he would never want to be her danna. Pumpkin is tasked with bringing Nobu to the right place and time.

She doesn't realize how very much Pumpkin still hates her. Instead, Pumpkin makes sure it is the Chairman, not Nobu, who catches Sayuri with the Minister. Eventually, Sayuri ends up in New York running her own tea house...but not before she resolves things with the Chairman.

The Film

A feature-length film was created in 2005 based on the book. Zhang Ziyi, a Chinese actress, stars as Sayuri. This caused considerable controversy, since Sayuri is a Japanese girl. However, the movie is a very faithful adaptation, copying the plot of the novel almost exactly.

There are some slight differences an exaggerations, mostly done for dramatic effect. On film, Hatsumomo leaves the okiya much more dramatically by setting it on fire before fleeing. Much of the backstory of the novel, revolving around young Chiyo's life, is cut from film -- probably, this is done for time's sake. The book is very long, and so is the movie. Her geisha training is also shortened on film, and shown in less detail.

The movie also adds a little story of its own, giving Hatsumomo a secret lover whom she's not allowed to have as a geisha. We see a love-stricken and trapped Hatsumomo on film, not the hell-on-wheels witch from the novel. The book delves deeply into geisha tradition and their hidden world, heady stuff, while the movie swims briefly along the shallow end.

That said, it's a beautiful story in both mediums. It's filled with mystery, drama, tradition, love and emotion. Read the book, watch the movie, and compare them for yourself.

Dirt and Death

"Everything gets more complicated in this book...but I LOVED IT!"

"It was like a story book version of Desperate Housewives or a very tense soap drama filled with dirty family secrets."

Death (Deck of Lies #3) has been reviewed at BookAThon Freak. It's pretty spoiler-free, so feel free to read the whole review and see if you agree with the reviewer!

Writing 101: So is it Burned, or Burnt?

I'm convinced that irregular verbs exist only to annoy writers. They always show up at the most inopportune times, right when you're in the zone and your fingers are flying. One moment, your creativity is pouring out of you. The next, you're staring at the word burned and wondering if it ought to be burnt instead.

Verbs, Adjectives, Words That Don't Make Sense

The verb to burn is irregular. It has two past tenses: burned, and burnt. When something is burned, it's been scorched by heat and/or flame. Your skin may get burned by the sun or even hot water.  Burned is easy to use, because it's an example of classic past tense. Just add ed to burn, and you're ready to go.

You could always add a t instead. Then, the word becomes burnt. When something is burnt, it's been scorched by heat and/or flame. Your skin may get burnt by the sun or even hot water.

No need to check that twice. Burned and burnt mean exactly the same thing, and they are often used interchangeably. Burned is a bit more common in North American writing, while burnt appears a bit more frequently on the other side of the pond. Burnt can also be used as an adjective, for example: 

"What color is that?"

"Burnt orange." 

It sounds a little more cumbersome to say burned orange, so burnt is more commonly used. But when you're using verbs, burned or burnt will do just as well.

Writing 101: The Merits of Simple English

Listen, I can get as flowery as the next guy. I'll wax poetic about the sky if you want me to, and I'll bet I could come up with some adjectives you've never even imagined before. But really, what's the point? The most beloved books aren't necessarily the most thrilling, the most frightening or the funniest stories ever written...but they are easy to read. Want to be a writer? You need to understand the merits of simple English. 

Verbosity

He strolled forward with the night wind on his shoulder, propelled by a steady tread that squeaked just so with each new stride. The dead foliage on the trees made crackling sounds, shivering with the frigid mistral that came sweeping down the mountain. The refuse storage loomed in front of him like a spectre, a hungry maw waiting to swallow his offering whole.

Do you know what I was describing with the above? I'm talking about a guy taking out the trash on a chilly fall evening. If you didn't get that right away, it's because the above is an example of over-done writing. Every single sentence doesn't need to be an event -- and frankly, shouldn't be. One of the merits of using simple English is that it's easy to understand. I shouldn't have to second-guess every word and read every paragraph twice over just to know what the heck is going on. 

Make me do all of that as a reader, and I'm just going to end up getting exhausted. Flowery language is nice, sometimes, but being inundated with it through page after page is tiresome. It's okay to simply say what you mean. You can still be wonderfully descriptive without using all the lesser-known adjectives in the thesaurus. Let's take the example above and strip it down to simple English: 

He could feel the cold night air on his shoulders as he walked in his squeaking shoes. A cold wind from the mountain made the dead leaves on the trees rustle, creating crackling noises overhead. The garbage area seemed to come from nowhere, casting shadows over him as it stood ready to receive his trash bags.

Easier to read, right? Totally understandable, and yet still descriptive? These are the merits of simple English. Use plain, everyday language to get your point across, because plain, everyday language is what most readers understand. Don't ever make it difficult to read your book. Simplify, and make it easy instead.

Writing 101: Starting Fresh

Writers pour their very souls onto the page. They sweat, they bleed, they cry, they laugh right out loud...they scare their family members, frankly. When you put all of that into your work, it's hard to take that work and destroy it. But sometimes, that's just what you've got to do. Starting fresh is scary, but sometimes that's the only option.

Starting Fresh

It's a New Year, and everyone's thinking about fresh starts. You know who doesn't like starting over from scratch? Writers. Nothing is more horrifying than a blank page. It sits there, and it stares at you...and it knows exactly where you are weakest. 

Erasing text is even more horrifying. Many writers will attempt to endlessly edit their past book projects, no matter how error-stuffed or poorly-written. A good idea is a good idea, and bad writing can always be fixed...right? 

No. Sometimes, starting fresh is your only option -- and incidentally, today is the perfect day to make that leap of faith in yourself.  

How to Do It

Lots of writers start out young. Personally, I began with short stories and poetry. Most of it is unreadable. But some of those early ideas are still good, even if I didn't have the skills to properly execute them back then. It's not at all unusual for a writer to grimace and groan when they go back and re-read something they wrote years ago. It's also not unusual for that same writer to look for ways to make it useable again. 

Sometimes, no amount of editing is going to help. If a story is good, and your characters are good and the idea is something you want to pursue, there's one thing you have to do first: erase. Get rid of all that bad text that's cramping your style. Editing isn't always the right answer if something's really out-of-whack. Just get rid of it, keep the ideas that were good to begin with, and start fresh with that blank page.

It's scary, but in a way it's also wonderful. It's a New Year, a new page, and anything is possible.