I write because it’s relaxing. I feel like there is a lot of background noise in life and we all need something to focus on like a jobby to help clear our minds. Writing is that hobby for me besides video games, board games, card games... games. But writing is different. Not only is it relaxing but I’m also being productive on something. I’m creating this world and these characters. When I look at I’ve been working on and see the progress of my writing it gives me this sense of satisfaction that I can’t find elsewhere.
It’s a liberating experience. When I got back into writing I was experiencing a bit of stress from work. But with writing I have this place to return to and help me be creative. My work means a lot to me not just because it’s my creative product but also because it’s the product of my personal meditation. I want to continue to write to keep this meditation up and to keep creating.
Why do you write?
Hi, everybody!
Title of the thread asks it pretty straightforward.
I’ve been jamming to the same ambient nature-noise, sci-fi space music, and weird sweeping orchestral whatever-stuff for the past month or more while writing every night, and I’m in need of something new!
I find these things on youtube - typically full albums or curated playlists. I literally just search for ’sci fi fantasy writing music’ or something and wind up listening to Stellardrone’s collection - all ambient tracks.
Thing is, the other day, I was ’in the zone’ one moment, writing out a pretty snappy line of dialogue, and then I just fell right out of the zone as I suddenly became aware that I’d heard the current track that was playing before, and then I got sidetracked by the thought of how I wished I could find something else, and then I spent a few minutes finding something else, and then ultimately to my dismay I discovered I’d completely forgotten whatever the heck that character was supposed to say... Frustrating!
So what do you listen to when you’re writing?
Also, if you’re going to respond and got some good stuff, please indicate the genre of your work? For my own part, I’m in need of something that gets the creative fantasy-sci-fi juices flowing.
(I’m assuming we’re keeping it in the realm of ambient, atmospheric, instrumental also.... Who can possibly concentrate on stringing words together when there are lyrics pumped into your head?)
I suppose it also depends on how the formatting is in your book. For something like mine, I have six different narrators in a first person perspective across six different time periods, so I want to give a taste of each one. I settled on the whole prologue, then 1/3 to 1/2 of a chapter for each of the other characters.
However, I have read multiple times that the first five pages should be enough to hook someone into your world or not, so I guess anything more than that is really a bonus. If you’ve got a good cliffhanger 4 chapters in, end there if you want.
I’m having a fair amount of difficulty with this issue as well. My instinct is to play everything really close to the chest in terms of sharing the plot. I don’t really want the readers to know anything that happens after the first three chapters or so, because the plot of my book places an emphasis on exploration and discovery, and I want the audience to experience that organically as the characters do. There are some pretty significant plot twists throughout the story that I really don’t want to spoil for anyone.
But on the other hand...I kind of have to spoil some of them. I’m learning that you can’t drum up interest in a story without giving away some of its secrets. A plot summary with no twists is a plot summary with no hook.
There definitely needs to be a balance, but finding exactly where that balance should be is a tricky prospect. There are a few twists I know for a fact need to stay secret, and there are some I can probably give away. Too much plot and your readers think they’ve read the book already, not enough and they don’t see any reason to bother. It’d be great if there was a special formula to outline how much to reveal, but there doesn’t seem to be one way that works for every story.
I have to say I wrestled with that one myself, but it’s becoming a moot point since I have only two more weeks and I’m not even close to my sales goal. I think the answer comes down to how much you feel comfortable with and whether providing more chapters will generate more of a hook for potential backers. One strategy might be to leave off at a chapter with a suspenseful ending and to post regular updates on your writing progress to keep the story fresh in your followers’ minds.
I think that it’s best to share enough to demonstrate your writing chops, give a taste of your book’s tone, and to hook the reader, but no more.
Depending on your story and writing style, this could be anywhere from 1-5 chapters. Very few people want to read more than that before they have the entire book in their hands.
If you do want to share more, you can use it as an incentive/thank you for backers by emailing it directly to them.
I am debating with myself on how much of my book would be too much to reveal to potential Backers, or even to the people who Have made a Pre-Order?
I have the Prologue, and the first 3 chapters available to all to read right now. I have a bit over half the book currently done but not released on the books page here, I was just wondering, in you guys’s Opinion, How much of your book would you release to your Backers as a "Taste" and how much would you hold back ?
