(If this topic doesn't belong here, I apologize. I seem to have a knack for creating topics in the wrong places, even when I'm not new to a forum. Sorry if this topic is taboo or insulting or something, but the opportunity to communicate directly with the creator of Jack...it's more than I can take!)

This is directed mostly at you, FPW, and to any published authors in this forum.

FPW, I know you're a working physician and yet you're still able to write lots of unique, tightly-plotted, detailed books, and do research for them, etc, and that amazes me. Would you be willing to give some tips about getting a full story out on paper? (or on the computer screen?) Do you run with a beginning and see where that leads, or plan out the entire plot before you begin writing?

Becoming a published author's one of my dreams, and it seems dauntingly difficult to become one by a major publishing house unless you already have connections or lots of money. Or both. A key example is the new fad Eragon, a fantasy book by a 19 year-old which was no better or worse than any other fantasy I've read. But it's the Big Thing with the tweenagers... mostly because the author's parents have their own publishing company. Is it impossible for an unknown person to catch the eye of a publisher? What's it like going through the publishing-house machinery out there? I read Stephen King's autobiography, and I think it was him who said that when he was first trying to get published, he had enough rejection slips to wallpaper his bedroom. Was it also hard for you to get published? How'd you get started writing in the first place?

I appreciate anything you'd or anyone else would like to share.

Becoming a published author's one of my dreams...

Right away I see a problem. That attitude is only going to bring you grief. If you're going to make it as a writer, the attitude you need is, "I want to write." Not even "I want to be a writer." I WANT TO WRITE.

You mentioned King. Our early careers ran parallel courses: we were born a year apart; we both started writing short fiction and collected lots of rejection slips before that first check came in the mail. Then we moved on to novels. We expected rejection. It's part of the writing life. But if writing is more important than getting publsihed, you'll keep on writing.

...and it seems dauntingly difficult to become one by a major publishing house unless you already have connections or lots of money.

Happens every day. You just don't hear about it. They aren't 6- or 7-figure deals. They run 10-25k. It may not be enough to support a family, but it is the start of a career.

How'd you get started writing in the first place?

Started in second grade. Sporadically at first. More regular in college. Now I can't imagine life without it.

Thanks for the reality check. That's right, I should've phrased it: I want to write. I don't fool myself that writing will be a career for me, though in the back of my mind it's a pleasant hope, but my drive isn't to land a huge deal and live off the dough of the written word. It's to tell stories, good, quality ones, and to share them and bring others enjoyment. I've been on writing sprees during middle school, and even managed to finish a terrible 200 page story, which at least improved my typing, but I never seem to have enough time now to come even close.

I can tell from the Jack novels writing's a lot of work, and lots of research too. I'm just starting college, and feeling the urge to write more (weird how I always thought you had less free in college than in high school...) and have been looking lately at how successful authors write and get the time to sit down and create in the midst of their daily lives.

Thanks for your input!

Early on I found the prospect of writing a 500-page novel daunting. It seemed impossible. No way I can write 500 pages.

But I can write three.

And tomorrow I can write three more.

In operant terms, writing a book is a long task with the reward not only distant, but not even assured. So we must find incremental rewards along the way. Writing a few good pages a day can be their own reward. And if they're not so good, well, tomorrow's will be.

***

As for part-time writing, here's what works for me:

I've found a minimum of 3 first-draft double-spaced pages per day does the trick. That's 21/week. At that rate you've got over 540 pages in 6 months. That's a decent-sized novel.

In writing those 3 pages per day, avoid tinkering with them. This stalls you by fooling you into thinking you're still writing. You're not. And you're losing momentum. Get them down and then leave them alone and go on to the next 3. The time to fix and hone them is after you've finished that all-important first draft. You'll know your characters better then and can go back and make meaningful edits and additions.

When I was practicing full time I'd use commuting time to mentally compose my next pages so that I'd be primed when I sat down at the keyboard. That’s a key point: TURN OFF THE DAMN RADIO AND TAKE OFF THE DAMN HEADPHONES. Stop wasting valuable time listening to other people's words. You're a writer. When you're driving or walking around you should be working on YOUR words -- the words you want to tell other people.

The key is writing every day -- EVERY day -- to maintain the narrative flow. Often if you leave days in between, you lose momentum and it's hard to bring your writing up to speed again.

I start at Chapter one and go from there. That works best for me. I have key scenes visualized ahead of time but I like to see events unfold in sequence because I can monitor motivation and causality as I go along, and make sure each scene builds from the last and reaches for the next. (And avoid run-on sentences like that one.) That way I often find that what worked well in outline doesn't hold up in fully fleshed text.

If I wrote scenes out of sequence and connected them later (as do some writers I know) I'd miss this, or find I can't use a scene I'd spent a lot of time on.

I work from an outline -- mostly to make sure I can end the novel satisfactorily – catharsis -- but I usually deviate from it. Right now I'm 240+ pages into the new book and far, far from the outline. I will end up where I originally intended, but along the way I found a better road to take me there.

That's it. As I said, it worked for me.

Increments. Keep moving those grains of sand.

^^^ Woah, that's awesome.

I would suggest starting by writing short stories and submitting to webzines. There are so many places you can publish your work online for every genre imaginable. Most of it is unpaid, but every once in a while you will get anywhere from 1/2 a penny to 5 cents a word! AWESOME! Seriously though, it feels really good to get that first check in the mail for writing something, no matter how small it is.

Here's a quick resource to get you started...

http://www.ralan.com/

Thank you! That's exactly what I needed to hear, to get me off my lazy butt, stop thinking about what-ifs and just write.

I appreciate the link, Splatterpunk. Yeah, it's cool to get that check in the mail for something I enjoy doing. I'm rereading Hosts, and I feel a bit like Sandy. I'm freelancing for the local newspaper, which started from my volunteering to write for its teen page. Funny, I've never liked the press, and now I find myself doing a journalism thing. But writing for yourself rather than a deadline is a lot different; I've got to start moving myself along!

Thanks so much, FPW!