The Book Cover's the Thing, Part 1 (First Sketches)

I mentioned in an early post that the idea for my current novel, Sojourners, was inspired by the artwork of a great artist James Christopher Hill (you must check out his Web site: http://www.jameshillgallery.com/#/page/home-james-hill-gallery/). I learned through my son Chris talking to James that he did book covers, so I approached him and commissioned him to do my book cover.

So, some of you fellow wannabee authors are probably asking yourself - why go to all the trouble? After all, there are a variety of images available in the public domain - in fact, CreateSpace even offers a service to create your cover using one of those images. Now, I'm not disrepecting CreateSpace and I think they offer some good services (I may take advantage of them later - still undecided), but personally I felt was important to have a unique brand to my book.

By the way, the image that most closely inspired me was Mariparis City: (http://www.jameshillgallery.com/#/gallery/science-fiction-gallery/meraparis-city/) If you don't find that image inspiring, you should probably quit reading my blog.

Anyway, back to - why should the cover matter?

First, ask yourself - how many times were you perusing books in a book store or book section of a Target and decided to look at a book (by an author you hadn't recognized) because of one of two features:

The Title
The Cover Art

Then you read the description in the back or book jacket, then flip through it and then decided to read a little or just purchase the book?

My guess (if you're like me) is often. After all, we're bombarded by information and ads all the time. We have to be picky about how we want to spend our time. And the old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words" is very true. We are visual and the cover and title set the vibe.

I won't go into prices because they vary a great deal from artist to artist, but I find James very reasonable for what he is doing for me - namely, showing me step-by-step his process. There are others out there, but make sure you get these conditions:

1. Don't pay for the whole process in advance (but be prepared to pay half)
2. Make sure you get agreement on being able to to see the work in stages
3. Make sure you get the the right to use the image w/o royalties
4. Get a good sense of the artist, his reputation, and his work
5. As you discuss your project, make sure he understands and is excited about what you are trying to do creatively

I've now worked with two artists for this novel - once on a precursor to this novel that has since been rewritten so it is no longer relevant. That artist, an acquaintance / friend, showed me his final image with and without the print added. Later, when I requested a change, he refused to answer back. Not good, so I am not using him any more. James has written in to his contract that he will guarantee my satisfaction before he's finished. Wow! So you know I intend to use James in the future!

Anyway, the timing of this blog entry is because James just sent a series of rough sketches and agreed to let me show them off.

The book cover in question is based on an alien artifact called The Cathedral. I have put in my description from Sojourners:

Michael pushed the stick forward and aimed towards the Cathedral, its multihued glow outshining the surrounding high-rises and the iridescent white splash of galaxy and Fox moon above them. The triangular obelisk rose two hundred meters into the air, with a fifty-meter half-crescent cut taking a bite out of two of the three sides at the base, leaving a rounded triangle approximately ten meters on a side as the guarded entranceway, making its architecture so thin at the base that it seemed impossible to support the massive structure as it rose up. After the middle swelled up to a twenty-meter triangle, it eventually tapered to a two meter triangle at the top. During the day, its surface was a highly reflective mother of pearl, at night it became a seemingly transparent multihued crystal where it seemed you could look through it, though it didn’t allow a real view into its interiors.

I also gave James further description for context. Below is part of that visual treatment:

...
The prominent structure on the North Columbian continent is known as the Cathedral and one center of humans settled around the structure after it allowed human entry. The Cathedral is the three-sided obelisk I mentioned before. Its appearance during the day is a shifting pearlescence - opaque, but always changing its patterns of colors. At night, it appears more translucent, with shifting colors but grounded in a honey-like yellow. It doesn't actually let you see inside of its own internal structure, but it does let you see "through" it to the other side. At its base is a perfectly circular crystalline base made of the same material that goes out thirty meters from the center. It is perfectly smooth and looking down on it is almost as hypnotic as staring upward, since it seems to go on infinitely. Scientists have been unable to determine how for down the Cathedral and its base goes, so some speculate that it may be only the tip of a much larger structure. Invasive attempts to dig down have been met with hostile, active defenses, so it is illegal now to do more than scan.

People often come for days, weeks or even longer to simply spend time observing and meditating. For people who spend even a minute focusing on it, they swear it seems to "sing" to them. Many believe that it is is in communion or communications with us, but they can't fully decipher it. It inspires artists and musicians alike and is a focal tourist point for humans across all the leagues or varying human governments spread across North Columbia, the major continent of settlement.
...

One note that I made to James was that I was intentionally giving him more than he probably needed and trusted him to pick what he found relevant and develop that.

So, without further ado, here are a few of his images:

Seeing these first sketches shows me that James is really considering a variety of creative dimensions and that gets me very - no, freaking - excited!

To me, a book is not simply a manuscript, but something we create that has to communicate the idea of our book to our potential readers.

So I encourage any serious authors, whether your novel is ultimately going to be hard- or soft-published to find an artist who gets your muse and let him help you elevate your shared journey!

Great Critique and Editing Example from A Writer's Group

As I've stated in my earlier posts, I am a big believer in rewrites, but also think that is greatly aided by participating in a writers group. As of now, I'm actually involved in two groups because I felt I needed a different perspective on my current novel, Sojourners. It is from this second group that I got the following feedback.

Sojourners is an SF novel taking place in the future on an alien world full of abandoned alien technology, but now inhabited by humans who were forced to crash land on it and have since been stranded. The humans have several competing governments, but are also fighting against an enemy that is attacking in force when this novel takes place.

This is an edit on my 3rd draft. I'm not going to go through the entire draft, but let me start off with a critique of the first paragraph:

Michael looked up through the clear skylight at the daytime Milky Way from beneath Beta’s six massive metallic legs as Vivaldi’s “Spring” played over the speakers. The brilliant yellow sparks from nearby fabricating stations jumped joyfully with the music and played with the Milky Way nimbus covering half of the sky visible from the window, bringing light to the dim factory floor. The sparks also added a metallic tang to the air that, like the music, most of the workers had long since learned to ignore. He wondered if the pattern of the dancing sparks were his own imagination or the result of the worker’s subliminal associations with Vivaldi. Either way, how could the workers not appreciate the beauty they helped create? Michael suspected he was the only person who even noticed “The Four Seasons” in the background as he lay under the right forefoot of his MW-501 “Beta,” planting diagnostic sensors between each of the six flexible yolk yellow foot pads. (Maybe too many words, for example, three ‘separate feeling’ references to Vivaldi in one paragraph, or ‘flexibe yolk yellow foot pads’ You might use ‘landing jacks’ or ‘legs’ and then further describe them when – and if – it really becomes relevant to the story.)

Notice the portion in red shows where my wordiness is an issue and have to limit my choices.

After that were catches to missing words and misspellings, which are always good.

Now comes a big note:

...

“My engineers here at the head office just reviewed yesterday’s test results. They tell me it’s bad fiction,” Emilio growled.

(Suggestion, this is just a thought, but you might cut all the above, start the story here, and backfill all the relevant data as they speak.  Less is always more in writing.)

“It’s nice to hear your vote of confidence, Mr. Escalante,” Michael said with a wry smile.

He knew it was the worst thing he could’ve done; but it was their history. Ted, of course, continued to stand nearby, arms folded, watching the show.

There were several other notes about my wordiness and then here is the critique:

Critique.

Characters are good, believable.  There were some moments when I feared he was going to become ‘cartoonish’ (when be threw the phone) but after that outburst you seemed to dial it back.  Over all I have no suggestions on how to improve characterization.

I’m not sure you’ve used made a convincing timeline.  The tech seems to be from a few years in the future, but if they are still using big, clumsy robots like this, it’s it believable that they could have the interstellar travel chops to get wherever they are?  Those were just my thoughts – how did they get where they are and still have such primitive tech?

You use too many descriptors in your language.  I’ve marked a few, but there were others where I thought a better word choice would have helped.  When you have a image in your mind (Like a green tuber with white veins) that’s a lot of words to describe very little.  “The plant looked like a squash covered in white viens” is better, but still not great.  This is one of those situations where I would ask myself, does the reader really care enough about this plant to have the writing slowed down enough to read it.  If the answer is no (and I think in this case it would be) then even though I have a clear image I might not bother to describe it, at least at this point.  “The plant is squash-like”  No mention of the veins, but no denying they exist, so that later, if there is a more appropriate time to describe them, you can.

When writing, one thing to keep in mind is flow.  How smoothly the prose carries the reader from idea to idea.  A perfect book is like a smooth slide from beginning to end.  Things that are “bumps” on that slide are too many words that say too little (this is why too many descriptors are bad.  If you are trucking along reading and getting a new concept every sentence or so, and each sentence is 8 words long average, and suddenly you run into a noun with three descriptors, that’s 4 words.  You now have to express the rest of that sentences thought in 4 words or less or the reader will notice the ‘bump.’  It’s hard to explain, but read out loud and you will see what I mean.  Generally if there is one word that will describe something, you want to use it.  Too many modifiers is generally an indication you are using the wrong noun to begin with.

            You seem to have a good sense of mixing motion to describe a feeling with dialoge.  “He wiped his sleeve across his head” comes to mind. 

Now I could tell you why the tech period is what it is, but I won't be defensive. I think this is actually a great critique and it guided my edit of this first chapter.

So I hope this example shows the value of being a part of a writing group and letting it help you improve your writing in the next edit / rewrite.

When Do You Stop Rewriting...?

I'm a firm believer that writing is rewriting. I have to because I miss things - grammar, double-word, passive voice, homonymic misspellings, etc, so I need people to catch those. But there are also the deeper needs to rewrite - realizations about your character (consistency, motivations, voice, maybe even need to change out) as well as plot, pacing issues.

Every writer knows they need to rewrite several times, but doesn't it become a repetitive exercise? It can if what you are rewriting makes it different, not better.

I've been working on my novel now for over 18 months and it has changed in several significant ways:

1. I changed from first-person to third-person
2. I changed my character from immediate 3rd person to more expository, telling the story after a couple of years
3. I changed out my main character
4. I changed my title 3x
5. I changed out the plot elements - background, nature of the alien enemy, etc.
6. I changed the voice of the main characters to be more consistent

The list goes on and on. But to be clear, oftentimes these came out of critiques from fellow writers in my writers group and my own realizations.

I have friends who become very frustrated when I say, "well I was editing last night..."

The say, "When are you going to stop rewriting and just finish it?"

I realize I am a perfectionist, which can be dangerous in terms of procrastination.

However, I also believe better is better. But different is not always better. That some people aren't into your story doesn't mean you have to change it, either.

Now  I'm using two different writer's group - my first is more eclectic, my second more focused on SF - and getting good perspectives out of both, cross-pollinating my craft and my novel.

So, until it goes into the hands of the editor who publishes it or tells me, in the case of self-publishing, to move forward, I intend to unashamedly move forward with making it better. When it is only different and I feel "I've given it everything I've got," then I'll stop rewriting.

Dragons, Dogs, and Pens

For those of you into fantasy and SF, you know this is the weekend for Dragon-Con and have to be excited for the people who "made it". I don't mean the fans, but the artists, authors, actors and game creators who have found enough success to be present there. They have worked hard to make it there and I admire (and a little bit envy) their success.

But I realize that all of them, without exception, had to work like dogs to make it to that position. It's one thing to be a dreamer and think about what that must look like.

However, fellow Wannabe Author, I know you know that it takes much more to be a success than dreaming. It takes working like a dog, day in and day out, to be successful.

I hate telling most people that I write. I have so often heard "Oh, yeah, I wanted to write..." My blood boils. If you wanted to write, then write! Because you know what's coming next out of their mouths. "But I realized it was just too much work..." D'oh! Any success requires work. What these people are saying is, "I was dreaming of being a celebrity author, but I didn't want to make an effort to achieve it." And, of course, what is also implied is, "What makes you think you deserve to be a published author?"

The answer to that question is both simple and hard. Hard work writing most every day. Be willing to read about what it takes to be a better writer. Learning your craft from writers who have achieved success while working on the craft yourself. Putting your work out there to other wannabee authors so you can get thrashed (not trashed) and learn and do and redo and redo.

Until finally, at some point, you can put your work out there through self-publishing and see what people say. Or write a query letter and send it out to be rejected again and again. Maybe get an agent or an editor interested.

If you read the story of Stephen King or any author, it wasn't that success fell into their laps. They used their pens or their computers until their fingers were tired, their eyes were bleary, and their hearts were ragged. That is the only way you make it.

Afraid to hope, afraid to fail, afraid to stop, willing yourself to keep going.

Then maybe you to can be in front of a writer's panel or at a bookstore doing a reading and get a check and sign your autographed copy.

Maybe. But you have to put the work in. Work, fellow Wannabees, and show those dreamers what it takes to be a success.

Happy Labor Day!

A Saga of a Stray Dog

It's been a while, so I thought I'd add an entry about a recent "adventure" I had with a stray dog and how I think it will affect my writing. As a writer, all events that affect us emotionally ultimately affect our writing.

So, the short version is that, one night during a storm, my stepson let a dog into our garage that was crying and whining next to the garage. My own dog Ringo, who is a social whore, had to meet this wet little stray, so he was whining terribly until I let him into the garage. Since the garage was so hot from the weather, I decided I had to let them both into the living room. This wet, stinking, terrier mutt with matted hair, complete with dirt and feces, was so grateful, with big brown eyes and a constantly wagging tail, that he was ugly adorable. That was it - for a while.

Since it had no dog tag, we took it to our vet and didn't find a transmitter identifier, so we decided to adopt. After hundred of dollars in shots, we took it to Pet Smart and made an appointment to have it trimmed up and shampooed. In the line, a young woman say they thought they recognized the dog, but couldn't be sure. The next day, we took him in and, on the way to pick him up, the original owner brought in the police to Pet Smart! Yikes! But it turned out well, since the owner knew that the dog was not getting great care and essentially let it go to us, complete with a powerful, tearful departure.

This would have been a happy story except for my cat. Terriers are no good with cats, so my poor old cat was being chased throughout the house at all hours. So, after two months, we had to return our sweet stray back to our owners after much anguish and sadness.

So, as a writer, how do you process something like this? I think it depends on our own baggage / perspective. For me, it is a tragic, poignant story, but it does have an uplifting an angle in that I hope the original owners can see how sweet he could be.

 For me, it teaches me the value and pain of compassion and I think that is a good lesson for me to make sure I apply in my own novels.

Catching Back Up

Hey Everybody,

I know it's been a while, but I've been digging deep, working through some discouragement and also doing a lot of writing and reading.

So, discouragement - fairly common among new writers and probably established writers as well. For me, I feel so ignorant at times, like I have so much to learn. But the truth is - yes I do! But we all do. And a lot from each other.

And now for some good books:

Old Man's War, by John Scalzi - if you're an SF reader, hopefully you've at least heard of this one, but if not and you enjoy military SF or simply a good adventure, get this! I was very fortunate to have met and talked with John at the last ConCarolinas and asked him which of his books I should read first and this was his suggestion. And it was a great read! I finished the first part in a day and had to hold myself back so I could relish it. It takes place a couple of hundreds of years in the future and the human Confederate Defense Leagues (CDL) recruits 75-year-olds who want to be young again and start a new life to protect human colonist in a very hostile galaxy. It is told from a first-person-close perspective and has a nice mix of action, character description, and dialogue, maintaining a brisk pace.

I have just started on his second book in the series, Ghost Brigades.

Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction: How to Create Out-of-This-World Short Stories and Novels, by Orson Scott Card - still reading this one, but so far it has been very useful. If you don't read SF or fantasy, you can probably move on to other books EXCEPT Orson Scott Card is one of the more prolific and successful authors and uses a mix of good anecdotes and great practical advice, so you still might find a lot useful here.

I have been reading several others as well and I'll probably mention them in a future post, but didn't want to simply discuss books, though I hope you find them useful.

Beyond reading, I've been writing. I've been working on my main novel, Sojourners, but also been experimenting with some other stories. In fact, I've got one burning inside that wants to get out. However, I'm trying to take a more disciplined approach.

For example, I'm working on Our Best Selves, a novella / novel about human cloning in the near future. I tried to write this one out a few years ago, when I was working more on screenplays, but wanted to start again, but first, I forced myself to start out using Blake Snyder's Save the Cat approach to a Beat Sheet and it has helped. I've also picked up a book to research the topic of human cloning. I'll let you know if I like it enough to recommend.

Anyway, I wanted to give you a heads up on my writing group. First of all, let me reemphasize that I think writers' groups are absolutely essential for serious writers. We need to cross-pollinate each other and be able to hear critiques from fellow writers so we get a sense of what to apply. However, Sojourners has gone through several drafts and some of my fellow writers are starting to suffer cognitive dissonance. In other words, they keep thinking about earlier drafts instead of earlier chapters, causing them to see issues that are not really there. So I've been starting to send out copies to friends for their feedback. Of course, the risk there, if they are not authors or fellow wannabee writers like me, is that you often get feedback that is more variable in usefulness. So I had two feedback sessions last week and felt discouraged afterwards.

Here is the big challenge - how much criticism can you accept w/o throwing in the towel? Everyone has their own tipping point and, for me, I've not been tipped over yet, but I came close - at least with Sojourners. Part of the reason to move on to something(s) else. But I will give myself some time while my group continues to catch up to my chapters and I give myself some distance for perspective. Still, even that can be a dangerous game. I am determined to finish this draft.

So, I continue on the journey.

For you fellow wannabee authors, I say CONTINUE!

DPOV vs. Being "Description Blind" - Novel vs. Screenplay Example

I've recently discovered that I have been a bit "description blind" before from working on screenplays. And yet, the more room I'm given on my novel Sojourners to have more text for description has, ironically enough, sharpened me on a skill I developed from screenwriting - describing emotions through actions.

Here is another first paragraph from my second chapter exercise in 3rd person POV (notice I've also changed my paragraph from present to past tense for easier readability):

Michael Escalante, dressed in dirty jeans, a stained blue work shirt and steel-reinforced boots, was the only manager who ate in the plant commissary. The rest of the managers followed the lead of Ted Ortiz, who, as a reservist B.C.L. Army captain, didn't believe it was appropriate to “mix” with the workers. That asinine attitude was another reason he would've fired Ted, except Ted worked directly for Emilio, so he was obviously Emilio’s informant. As he munched on one of Tomas’s wrapped ‘gater carnitas, he could feel them upstairs glare into his back as he and the rest of the plant waited for Emilio’s call. The portable phone was by his right hand and his hand kept drifting towards it. He considered going up to Ted’s office and asking him to call his father on their behalf, since Ted witnessed the tests himself yesterday morning. Before he could scoot his chair out, he thought better of it. Ted was a political animal and such a request would smack of weakness. Michael was not one to give Ted more power over him.

Now, if I was to do this as a screenplay, here is how it would look:


INT. MANUFACTURING PLANT - COMMISSARY - MIDDAY

The commissary is only a few plastic tables and cracked plastic chairs, refrigerators and futuristic microwave ovens off to the left.

MICHAEL ESCALANTE (22), in a dirty shirt, jeans and boots, sits eating with several other workers, a phone beside his right hand which his right hand keeps trying to reach out for. Everyone looks tense and downcast.

Offscreen can be heard two reporters talking indistinctly.

Michael looks behind him and up the stairs at

INT. MANUFACTURING PLANT - UPSTAIRS OFFICES

A set of cubicles behind a glass wall, looking down on the plant floor.

TED ORTIZ (mid-40s), wearing a clean button-down white shirt, holding a steel cup of coffee, stands next to an ENGINEER, glaring down at Michael.


Notice what the screenplay is missing that's present in the novel. First, the screenplay doesn't care about what food he eats, though, if we kept in the dialogue from the last chapter about Tomas's wife packing food, we might note it. There is no way to "hear" or "read" thoughts, as can be done with a novel. In both cases, there are no words spoken. The exception, of course, would be if there was a narrator, but that is a very cliched device.

Notice the final line about the reporters. That is described in the next paragraph, but, since it's part of the auditory nature of the scene, I have to describe it now.

At one point, I had to use a device to get across the idea of the tension between Michael and Ted by cheating it. The novel doesn't say Michael turned around, but it's needed to see the tension. However, without other dialogue, we can't know as readers why that's the case for the screenplay. That's why screenplay adaptations of novels are so difficult - you can't show or hear thoughts, but only through action and dialogue can you hint at it. Screenplays are the art of making concise, of hinting at meanings and relationships.

Screenplays can be great fun because reading interior thoughts is definitely a bit of cheat in screenplays, but the novel opens up whole new dimensions I'm enjoying. But deep point of view (DPOV) is a very useful skill for both styles of writing.