by Holly Lisle on June 19, 2009 · 14 comments
in Articles on Writing, Big Courses, Books, Dreaming the Dead, How To Think Sideways, Mind/Body, NONFICTION, ON SPEC, OneMoreWord Books, PARANORMAL, Rants & Observations, Thinking Sideways, Worldbuilding Clinic, Writing Life, Writing Neep
As noted elsewhere—I hauled ass like nobody’s business for eight months to create a way for me to write the novel I wanted to write without having to do it to anybody’s specifications but my own.
My mad plan worked, and for the first time since I was an RN, I had a regular, reasonable income that did not depend on me writing at a hard run in order to keep us all fed.
I got started on the Dreaming the Dead—the novel of my passion—and I was having a wonderful time with it, sitting down late at night every night and getting as many words as I got before I fell asleep. No pressure, no specific deadline (a vague one in the back of my mind only), and not even any dedication to the idea of writing to a market or marketing the book when it was done. I was writing for the sheer love of writing—to spend time with characters I could not find anywhere else, to explore a fascinating problem, to uncover mysteries and wonders.
Yes, I fully intended to send it to my agent. When it was done. When I was damn good and ready.
And then…
And then…
Brief aside here: You might have noticed, if you’ve been around here or in Think Sideways, that I … ah … am not a good relaxer. I am very good at deadlines, very good at pushing hard toward goals, very good at driving myself.
Taking my time? Taking it easy? Doing things just for fun? Not my best skill. I know this about me, but I sometimes forget it. End Brief Aside.
I forgot why I had worked so hard last year and part of this one. I forgot that THIS book was supposed to be special, different, NOT the same ferocious race to the finish line, doing the absolute best I could in the absolute least time humanly possible so that I could get paid and we could eat.
I forgot. And I set what seemed like a reasonable deadline for myself. 2000 words a day, more or less.
I also forgot that my life is different now. When writing fiction was all I had, writing fiction WAS all I had. I could put the rest of the world aside for long stretches and just push for the finish line.
I wrote, I got frustrated and guilty because I wasn’t getting other things done. When I got other things done, I got frustrated and guilty because I wasn’t writing. Over the last couple of days, I got hammered by headaches, stress, and guilt, my productivity on everything dropped to miserable levels, and I started hating life. In one week. From one change: the decision to write Dreaming the Dead to a “publish it” deadline.
I sat down this morning and took stock of what I have going on that is NOT the novel—stuff I love and am thrilled to be doing and want to complete.
You can look at the mindmap I did here, or the outline version here.
The fact is, my life is full of cool and wonderful work. And writing fiction is the cool and wonderful play I had planned for the end of each day.
I need to get back to my original plan.
by Holly Lisle on October 2, 2008 · 19 comments
in Big Courses, CRITICAL SKILLS SERIES, Cadence Drake Novels, Create A Character Clinic, Create A Plot Clinic, How To Find Your Writing Discipline, How To Think Sideways, Hunting the Corrigan's Blood, NONFICTION, Page-Turning Scenes, Personal, Slightly Loony, Thinking Sideways, WB1--Language Clinic, WB2--Culture Clinic, Worldbuilding Clinic, Writing Life
Yeah, my birthday is almost here, and I decided this year to celebrate by giving presents to other people. And not just on my actual birthday, either. I’m giving away presents every day next week, plus a couple of presents starting today.
So what are your presents?
- Day One (that’s today): Any two of my e-courses from the HollyShop, up to and including Page-Turning Scenes (but not the the writer’s block course.) I can’t give away other folks’ stuff, of course, so this is limited to just what I’ve written.
–Minimum value $15.95, max value $31.95–
Day Two (Friday 3): Any three of my e-courses from the HollyShop, up to and including Page-Turning Scenes (but not the the writer’s block course.)
–Minimum value $25.90, max value $41.90–
- Day Three (Saturday 4): Any four of my e-courses from the HollyShop, up to and including Page-Turning Scenes, OR the the writer’s block course.
–Minimum value $35.85, max value $59.95–
- Day Four (Sunday 5): Any five of my e-courses from the HollyShop, up to and including Page-Turning Scenes, OR the the writer’s block course.
–Minimum value $45.80, max value $61.80–
- Day Five (Monday 6): Any five of my e-courses from the HollyShop, up to and including Page-Turning Scenes, AND the the writer’s block course.
–Minimum value $105.70, max value $121.75–
- Day Six (Tuesday 7): All of my e-courses from the HollyShop.
–Value $151.64–
- Day Seven (Wednesday 8): Full scholarship to How To Think Sideways.
–Min value $282 (6-month course), max value $300 ($12-month course)—
- Day Eight (Thursday 9): Full scholarship to How To Think Sideways, and ANY two e-courses from the HollyShop.
–Min value $297.95, max value $376.95–
Day Nine (Friday 10): Full scholarship to How To Think Sideways, and any four courses from the HollyShop.
–Min value 307.90$, max value $386.85–
- Day Ten (Saturday 11): Full scholarship to How To Think Sideways, and ALL of my HollyShop courses.
–Value 451.64–
Total value of my birthday presents?
Absolute lowest value—$1720.33
Absolute highest value—$1987.43
But it’s more than that, really.
- Because today five people will win. ($79.95 minimum, $159.75 max in presents)
-
Friday four people will win. ($103.60 minimum, $167.80 max in presents)
- Saturday three people will win. ($107.55 minimum, $179.85 max in presents)
- Sunday, two people will win. ($91.60 minimum, $123.60 max in presents)
- Monday, two people will win. ($211.40 minimum, $243.50 max in presents)
- Tuesday, two people will win. ($303.28 in presents)
AND…
- Wednesday two people will win. ($564 minimum, $600 max in presents)
So the minimum total in presents I’m giving away for my birthday is…
$2518.87
And the maximum total in presents I’m giving away for my birthday is…
$2993.22
But that’s not all. EVERYONE who enters will receive one gift on Monday, October 13th.
The total value of my birthday bash giveaway including those gifts should be well over $5000. Could be a lot more. I’ll let you know once the confetti settles. :D
Who can enter?
Anyone but my immediate family.
And…
You could win twice, if you enter early. Here’s how:
Anyone who wins an e-book gift cannot win any further e-book presents, but will be re-entered for one of the full scholarships.
What if you win and you’re already a student in the Think Sideways course? Then I’ll refund the tuition you’ve paid to this point, and you are in free for the rest of the course.
Will I refund you for e-books you win but already own? No. Therein lies a madness of paperwork I will not even consider. HOWEVER… I’ll be very happy to send any prizes you win (INCLUDING a full scholarship if you want to be that generous) to someone you choose. If you win and this is an issue for you, contact me.
So…
Follow me on Twitter. Here’s my page: http://twitter.com/hollylisle
It’s free, it’s easy, and I’m already discovering that Twitter is a lot of fun.
If you’re already following me, you’re already entered. If you’re already a Twitter member, go to my page and click Follow and you’re entered. If you’re not already a member, it’s free and it only takes a minute to join. Then return to my page click Follow. The Follow button is right under my picture on the top left corner.
I’ll print off the complete list of my Twitter followers every day, and do a random drawing from those pages, PLUS the pages from every day’s pages before. Yes, this means that if you start following me today, you’ll get one new entry in the drawing every single day. Yes, this will improve your chances of winning, at least a little. I have no way of figuring odds. I have no idea how many people will enter. Today, right this minute, you’re odds would be about 5:32. I expect they’ll get a bit steeper over the next few days.
I’ll announce the winners at around noon my time every day. On Twitter. :D (Except today, when I’ll announce at around two, because I am SO behind schedule.)
And I’ll do a final listing of everyone who won here after it’s all over. Probably on Tuesday the 14th. Finally, EVERYONE who’s following me on Twitter will get a link to one gift on that day.
So. Does that count as a cool way to celebrate a birthday?
Have you had success with one of my courses? If you have, I really want to hear about it. Please tell me below.
by Holly Lisle on February 26, 2008 · 14 comments
in Administrivia, CRITICAL SKILLS SERIES, Create A Character Clinic, Create A Plot Clinic, How To Find Your Writing Discipline, NONFICTION, WB1--Language Clinic, WB2--Culture Clinic, WB3--World Clinic, Worldbuilding Clinic
If you’re on the Writers’ Updates newsletter and you have questions about or need help with the February Sucks sale, you can ask or post here. I’ll be checking the blog all day. And all day tomorrow. And by putting everything here, some questions might be answered that folks participating while I’m asleep might need.
If you’re not getting the newsletter, it’s not too late to join. Still about twenty minutes left on the countdown before things actually start.
Added.
Typing in the live countdown by hand. Four minutes left.
10:21
Gone In Seven Minutes
The Hawkspars and All the Talyn Hardcovers plus the Talyn ARC were actually gone in seven minutes.
Lots of stuff left. I’m doing a mad cut and paste just to keep people up with the book they got. Thank yous will go out when things slow down.
Holly
Last 13 Books
I can’t believe it, but I’m already out of all the books but the last thirteen, which are one-offs. I got caught up on the notifying folks of which book they got (check your PayPal email if you haven’t heard from me yet), but I haven’t had time to send out thank yous. This is the first time I’ve had a chance to breathe.
Corrected Hawkspars
Uploaded the correct versions of the Hawkspar First Draft Manuscript and the Hawkspar Revised Manuscript. Very sorry about the error. Weather here is unreal, but for now, power is still on.
Power Went Off, Came Back On
We’re through the first line of storms, but there’s another even bigger one behind in. Keep your fingers crossed that the hamster stays healthy.
Have Lost Internet Twice
And the next line of storms is almost to us. I’ve been answering e-mails in the meantime, but I’m not holding my breath on us having either internet OR power when the next storms come over.
If you tried to use your coupon earlier and it didn’t work, you can go ahead and order now. It’s fixed.
I apologize. I thoroughly tested the thing before I took it live; I don’t know what I managed to screw up afterward.
I’ve reclaimed the early morning hours for writing, which has done wonders for my mood. The rest of my day, however, has been split between homeschooling the kid (fifth-grade science is wonderful!) and doing an enormous amount of work on the site behind the scenes.
The day before yesterday I completely rebuilt the site templates, stripped out all the old code by hand, attached the pages to the new templates, and reloaded whole site. Now it works with a lot fewer errors.
Yesterday I got the Affiliates’ board working (thanks to Margaret for help on a weird PHP 5 bug) and got the Courses mailer set up.
Today I’m doing my best to create new ad campaigns for the rest of the lost ads for the affiliate program.
I’m also hoping to get the first couple of lessons for the affiliate program written.
Once the many ripples from last month’s exhausting double-move of the site have died down, I’m going to get back to work on the third Worldbuilding Clinic , Create A World. And do the first of a few free e-mail writing courses.
My to-do list is still pretty awful. But I’m getting there.
by Holly Lisle on September 27, 2007 · 1 comment
in Administrivia, Books, Cadence Drake Novels, Create A Character Clinic, Create A Plot Clinic, Hunting the Corrigan's Blood, NONFICTION, WB1--Language Clinic, WB2--Culture Clinic, Worldbuilding Clinic
Yesterday through the 30th, everything in the e-book shop is 10% off, to celebrate the fact that we’re up and running again.
My favorite (insert glyph of rolling eyes here) phrase when dealing with inescapable, interminable, utterly frustrating automated phone answering systems—”Please listen carefully, as your menu options have changed.”
This should be a whole lot less painful.
Look to the Works In Progress block to your right on the weblog. Two, and only two, books are now in progress. Moon and Sun II, currently and temporarily titled The Moonroads, and Holly Lisle’s Create A World Clinic. I finally figured out how to do the world-development book without burying everyone in way too many illustrations. And done this way, it should be as much fun to go through as Plot Clinic, and have as many useful tools.
ADDED LATER: Have posted this small version of the cover art, too. I was thinking “chocolate, chocolate, must have chocolate,” at the time.
In honor of the fever. I’m already tired of this. Drinking fluids, resting.
The sale is my sense of humor, such as it is when I’m sick, anyway. It runs through Monday so the folks who surf from work aren’t left out.
ALL CLINICS $2 OFF!
Sale Runs From Saturday July 28 through Monday July 30th.
I’ve put all three Clinic books on sale from today through Friday, each one $2.00 off.
Why? For karma. I’m struggling on the Ruby Key revisions, and the last time I put books on sale, the bad karma cleared. The line-for-scene is crawling, and most of the cards so far are red or orange. Not good. My stress level is rising, my confidence is falling.
I’d had some serious, bad stuff going on for a while the last time I put books on sale (also for karma), and everything got better. It may be New-Agey, it may seem crackpot. No matter. It worked last time, so I’m trying it again.
ADDED LATER:
Also put Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood on sale for a flat $3.00 (57% off). It’s not a clinic, but….
Anyway, I hope the discounts are a good thing for some of you, and provide good content and a useful service.
