Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

How to Revitalize Old Content

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Not every draft is a winner. Much as we would all like them to be, sometimes it helps putting a pin in a project and shelving it for a bit for some perspective.

That being said, one should always return to the pile when it comes to time to put together a new project. Revitalizing old content isn’t only about remembering the fun of writing the work to begin with, but also about building up those editing muscles necessary to self-edit every project.

Revitalizing Old Content

It can be as simple as a tweak or a directional shift in the narrative to straighten it out. Other times it can be a complete rewrite. I’ve had the pleasure of both experiences.

The Medusa Coin was a complete rewrite. I had a draft that worked, functionally at least, but nothing sang to me. There were flaws, perspective shifts, absent character moments, and the like. About halfway through reading it prior to the edit I realized it was not up to snuff. At all.

A hard reset…

It’s not fun to do. Not fun to envision when it comes to this project you’ve slaved over for months if not years. However, it is a necessary evil in the business. So how do you start from scratch?

You don’t.

Pull out the pieces that fit. Plot beats that advance the story, character moments that propel the protagonist along their arc, whatever small speck of sanity in the chaos of your draft and put it in one pile.

Throw the rest in another. You won’t be needing them.

Read the work again. Think about what works and why. Keep the best and discard the rest.

When you’re through you have scraps of the story you originally told and hopefully some sense of the connective tissue necessary to rebuild the manuscript. Notecards are a great visual aid for this process. One color per event/sequence or one for each character tends to help loads in these situations.

Fill in the blanks. If you find separate events not meshing well with the overall map being built in your mind, rework them. Pull them apart and put them back together again. Mix up characters in situations.

For The Medusa Coin, the original draft called for Ruiz to be near death at the hands of the Charon. In the updated version it is Loren. Why? Twofold. I needed to show Soriya the consequence of her decisions. Secondly, Ruiz was hurt pretty bad and had a visit with the hospital in Signs of Portents. I definitely wanted to switch it up.

That little switch opened up small moments for the characters that didn’t exist in the previous draft. Tension builders for Loren scenes and fallout for Soriya’s arc in the novel. One that served as the foundation for a wider arc that could not have happened with the original draft.

Small tweaks. The better path.

Revitalizing old content doesn’t have to be a hard reset. It can be a small change, a shift in perspective, a switch in events and how they play out. Tossing out a draft for not working isn’t the answer – understanding the problems within the narrative and sussing them out is the key.

The project I am currently working on is one of those. The first book in the series deals with a character being sentenced for a crime committed. How those events played out is one of the items that made me shelve the project. So I pulled it out, figured out why I disliked the sequence and am currently drafting a new sequence that fits with the overall narrative as it has evolved in my head.

Will that be the end of my edits? Hell, no. There are six or seven more instances of this in the book that I’ve laid out in pretty pink and purple notecards to solve over the next few weeks.

It’s a good exercise for those fighting with structure, those that find editing to be a chore rather than another skill set to use in the writing process. (myself included…)

Never throw anything out! Everything can be used, everything has merit. Pull it out of the drawer and find it.

Thanks for reading.

Big Picture Pitfalls

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If you’ve been following along with me the last few weeks you know I am currently mired in plotting my next series of books. I absolutely love this part of the process. A clean slate with nothing to tempt you, no requirements for where the series has to land, nothing to stop you on any creative level.

Except yourself.

Big Picture Mechanics = Stalling Out

Plotting is great. Planning ahead for where a story can go (not always where it WILL go) opens doors. There are benefits to this but also a number of pitfalls.

Too many possibilities – Where do you go when you don’t have any road in front of you? Without the proper foundation, in this case, character arcs, antagonist, setting, and more, you tend to float rather than run with the ball. Too many open doors during this part of the process can lead to no answers.

Not enough rules – Rules center everything. They put your story firmly in the world where they belong so you can form somewhat important aspects like structure, genre, and more into the narrative. Without rules our stories tend to flop between realms at the whim of our creativity rather than the skill of our technique.

Focus breeds answers.

I’m not talking about gulping down six cups of coffee and then hoping for the mysteries of the universe to unfold before your eyes. That only happened once as far as I know…

No, I mean focus like a laser through the big picture right to the core of the story you want to tell. Pull out aspects you WANT to be there and weigh them against decisions that NEED to be there.

Take a week with all your notes and pull them together through the different lenses. Character based. Threat based. Theme. Genre.

Take the first step.

Don’t dawdle in the planning stage. Allowing the big picture to be the only window into your new project is a surefire way to keep it as a dream instead of a reality.

Instead, use those notes – refine that focus – and take the first step toward an actual outline. Even if it is just a single sentence for each narrative beat. There is no right or wrong here.

Don’t let fear of making the wrong choice stymie what might be your best project.

Push them aside and get to work.

Setting Goals and Sticking to Them

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A simple enough concept, right? Not so much when you have quite a few tasks piled up on the docket. Setting goals is essential to keeping pace with the business of writing. Sticking to them? Well, sometimes we all need a little help in that regard.

Scheduling

Setting goals is all about sitting down and scheduling your time. I try to make this a weekly routine. Every Sunday morning I figure out my week.

Social media calendar. Blogs to consider. E-mail newsletters to send. Drafts to edit, outline, write, publish. Wherever I am in the process. All get added to the list.

And then I set my goals.

Start small

I typically end the list with anywhere from ten to fifteen items. Some are long term. Some are as simple as clicking a button or updating a profile page.

Knocking off the small tasks is key to healthy goal setting. It scores you an early win and motivates you to keep pushing, keep working until every item is crossed off.

At least, that’s how I look at it.

Falling into traps…

Long term planning is crucial to your business, to writing in general, but it can be a detriment when trying to stick to your goals. Broad stroke thinking, higher order mapping, tends to be more about sketching out ideas for the future than actually working on something tangible.

I’m not judging at all. It needs to happen. Knowing where you MIGHT be in a year can be a great motivator. It can also overwhelm you and cause you to buckle under the pressure of something that is only a possibility and not set in stone.

I’ve been in this trap lately. With Greystone finished on my end, I’ve been looking ahead to 2019. The next series of books is much larger in scope than Portents. More characters. Conspiracies and twists around every plot. Deeper mysteries. More books, in general.

It has me locked in place. Thinking about each and every piece of this ever-growing puzzle. From conception to marketing. From drafting to publishing schedules. Each aspect demands more time leaving me precious little to focus on tangible goals.

And sticking to them.

Hit those goals.

How do you snap out of it? Start small.

For me, it was centering the new series on a single character. Who is he? Why does he matter to this story? Where does he start and end?

A small piece of a larger puzzle but one able to be solved in the now, rather than the nebulous future.

Maybe it isn’t that simple. Maybe you need to walk away for a bit. Set a different goal. A different mission for the week.

Last week I updated my Amazon Sales Pages and worked on keyword/category shifts. I’ve been telling myself to do it for months but never found the time or the motivation to accomplish the task. Now it’s done. A tangible goal achieved and I can get back to work on what I should be doing.

Getting ready for 2019 to be a kick ass year.

Set your goals and stick to them. Crossing them off the list is a pleasure unto itself and will lead you to the next great challenge.

Thanks for reading.

Reading Update

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I promised to get back to my reading pile and I’ve been doing just that! Check out some of my recent reads below…

Rustkiller by Dean F. Wilson

I love sci-fi westerns or steampunk novels. LOVE THEM. Throw in the mash up of technology with the attitude of the Old West and you’ve pretty much hooked me from page one. Dean Wilson goes further. He builds the world so deftly, layering the pieces behind the scenes you can’t help but feel it is a real place.

Nox is absolutely my favorite new character of the last year. No hyperbole here. He’s broken as a man yet can’t turn away from humanity. Not while there are bounties to collect and bad guys to put in the ground. Rustkiller cemented my love for the series and I highly recommend you check it out now. Book Three – Dustrunner was just released yesterday!

 

 

 

Helix Episode One by Nathan Farrugia

Genetically engineered killer kids? Super powers mixed with high octane espionage? Again, hooked from page one.

From there though things went a little dicey. Nathan Farrugia is a talented writer, applying fact paced kinetic action where necessary and dropping clues as to the overall story throughout. But the structure of the narrative is what kept me from loving this one. Episode One as it implies is merely a taste of the larger story to be told. There is no firm plot to distinguish this chapter with the others as it appears to be one long form novel broken up into smaller sections.

Not for me. I needed a little more meat in the story, a little more skin in the game before I reached the end of this one and it didn’t happen for me. I don’t like to poop on a storyteller’s choice. Not my place and the episodic structure definitely works for some readers. (I talk about it more next week…) My hope was simply to become more attached to the characters before being asked to commit to another episode.

Still, fans of action packed genetically altered humans kicking ass will definitely find something to enjoy here.

Infinity Lost by S. Harrison

The first book in the Infinity Trilogy, S. Harrison does a great job at opening up the world for the reader. A first person narrative, we follow Finn Blackstone as she uncovers secrets from her past while also unlocking doors to her present. It’s a great back and forth that kept me moving from chapter to chapter waiting for what comes next.

Some of the set up  is cliched and pulled me from the story. The love triangle element introduced as well as the mundane high school antics of some of the supporting cast grated me at times. I will say I am curious to see how things play out though after the reveal at the end of this book.

While it almost suffers from the same episodic nature of the previous book discussed, Harrison manages to keep the story focused on Finn and her search for the truth. Some great set up and cool visuals in this opening chapter.

Back to work!

Time to get some writing done! Happy Reading!

Pathways in the Dark Launch Offer Ends This Week

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This last week has been a whirlwind. Launching a book always feels that way, trying to get as many eyeballs on the series as possible in a short burst that hopefully attracts even more people down the line. I couldn’t do it alone. Thank you to everyone helping me out during this launch. Spreading the word is one of the toughest parts of this gig and the newsletter swaps from other authors, the online promo sites, the friends and family involved in making this a success is truly incredible.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Launch offer ends this week!

Pathways in the Dark is still only $0.99 but that ends this weekend! Be sure to grab your copy before it jumps to full price!

            

Already read the book?

Have you already enjoyed the hell out of the latest installment in the Greystone series? Be sure to leave a review! Reviews can be as simple as a “Great book” or as complex as a rundown of the contents story by story. It is completely up to you but each one helps provide social proof to potential readers that the series is one worth checking out!

Each review is greatly appreciated!

            

Let me know what you think!

Feel free to drop me a line at lou@loupaduano.com and let me know how I’m doing! I’d love to hear from you!

Stockpiling Content

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There are as many different publishing strategies out there as there are stars in the sky. All hold merit. All have benefits and pitfalls. Since closing out my time on Greystone I’ve been toying with a number of ideas on how to proceed. Not just what to write but how to present that content. One thought that crops up more often than not is stockpiling content.

What am I talking about exactly?

The kid in me, that enthusiastic pain in the ass that wants to write his little heart out day in and day out, is completely against this approach. He wants to jump from book to book, hitting the publish button as quickly and as often as possible.

Who wouldn’t want that? There’s a satisfaction in seeing your work out in the world that cannot be replicated in any other task we do as writers.

The problem with that model of production is that there is no lead time. One project ends and the next needs to get going right away to keep the trains moving.

I don’t mind the pressure of content creation. But it fails to take into account the marketing push, the social media aspects of the business. It’s purely creative.

Stockpiling content puts a hold on the publishing side. It’s strategy over quantity. To me, that’s appealing on a number of levels.

Benefits of stockpiling content

Better planning. If you’re working on a new series, this method allows you to take your time on the planning level to outline your narrative. Not just a single book but where everything leads – much like I mentioned during my ramblings on story bibles a few weeks ago.

More planning equals more connections for a fuller reading experience.

Lead time. If Greystone has taught me anything it’s that lead time is crucial. My goal has always been to be a year ahead of schedule when it comes to publishing. Due to some setbacks at the end of last year I’m down to about six months ahead and I can feel it every time I sit down to work. More lead time helps remove the stress, the crunch time of producing quality content.

Faster delivery. Let’s say you’ve written a trilogy. It’s taken a year to get all three parts completed but now they are ready to roll. Instead of offering one per year or even one every six months you can have them ready and waiting for your reader at a much faster pace. This increases interest for your narrative and doesn’t keep an impatient reader from turning to another series and completely forgetting about you.

Pitfalls

Taking too much time between projects. The lull between published works might hurt more than it helps in the long run. This is the point I keep getting stuck on with my post-Greystone projects. How do I stay in the game while also making sure I’m not sabotaging my next series by rushing it into the hands of my readers?

Driving readers away. Blasting out content at a rapid pace might force some readers away as their monthly book budget might not be able to handle the load. A steadier schedule might be more palatable but where is the happy medium?

Where do I stand?

This is the question I’ve been asking the last few weeks as I plan out 2019. (Insane, I know…)

Stockpiling content has a great appeal to me as someone who plans meticulously each step of the way. It puts more focus on the narrative and offers more strategic methods of publishing in the long run. But will readers be patient in the interim?

For another look at this topic, be sure to check out Nick Stephenson’s blog where guest author Peter Bartram discussed launching all three books of his trilogy at once.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Email me at lou@loupaduano.com. Can’t wait to hear from you!

Thanks for reading.

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