Creating an Epic

Kimi’s Secret

On Creating an Epic

A guest post by John Hudspith

Define `epic` – ambitious, grand, classic, larger-than-life.

This is what I wanted to do - produce something big, ambitious, classic, larger-than-life, a stage as large as our own where my stories could be played out, with enough space to keep on growing and growing.

So how did it happen? I started with failure. My first attempt at a novel went prune-shaped about three quarters of the way through. I lost the plot. Too many holes. Ineffective opportunities to link the important plot points and bring conclusion or closure. I’d failed through lack of planning, wasted a whole lot of time. Turning this negative into a positive was a must.

So I started anew and got down to some serious planning.

Since early childhood, when my parents revealed to me the secrets of the movies, about how special effects and monsters and film ghosts were all just trickeries of makeup and clever filming, my interest in the paranormal world was instilled. Always a sceptic, I loved, over the years, looking into news reports of UFOs or poltergeists or strange, unexplained happenings. Knowing The Truth was Out There, I realised I had the means to create my stage – an otherworld where everything paranormal lives and works and can be accounted for. 

This world would exist in another dimension and be called Heart (an anagram of Earth) because Heart is the control centre of the mixed up Earth, its population of Balancers and Adepts forever striving to right Earth’s wrongs.

I made a list of the paranormal, supernatural, and mythical, and began slotting them into Heart’s physiology, inventing a plausible cause/history and a meaning for being, for each element, slowly realising that ghosts went well with aliens, and went well fairies and piskies, and things that go bump in the night.

This was taking shape, and I realised more layers could be added. Heroic balancers who had become adept at the art of mojo manipulation became just that – heroes of achievement, each in their own right yet each with fallible sides and promise of chaos.

Every edit and rewrite brought fresh ideas: I worked in the nods to my inspirations and to my family and friends. I worked in some symbolism for numbers freaks, worked in some history and some grins for older readers, worked in more ingredients that even Mary Berry would have been proud.

This plan, this supposed epic, was looking good, but I had to be careful not to copy or become cliché.

So my witches and wizards became balancers, magic became mojo, fairies became mice with wings and my stage was looking promising. It was time to add some props and some flesh to the world of Heart and I began with some four feet x three feet cardboard sheets, applying notes, sketches, clippings of the latest paranormal events happening in our real news, pictures of celebrities to help my story characters take shape. Stephen Fry played the part of Mr Purse, the Sky at Night’s Sir Patrick Moore took the part of Charlie Babbage, Billy Connolly played the giant: Big Sue, Christina Ricci fitted the part of Stella – the list goes on – pictures of these slebs were taped to my boards and my characters began to take shape.

Then I found Kimi - in the form of Farrell Smith from 2009’s Britain’s Got Talent. She fit the bill and got the starring role. My sketches and ideas grew. I wanted to use everything paranormal, wanted to link it all together, wanted to go one step further and bring aliens and dimensional time-travel into play, wanted to THINK BIG – ambitious, classic, larger than life.

One year later and my new world stood before me. Its history, culture, and science all firmly in place; its inhabitants bustling with their lives and traditions. The stage was set, and, by this time, I also had my story. Well, not a full story. I had a start and an end. It was time to write.

After a few false starts I unleashed the first two chapters on my peers. The critique was not what I’d hoped for: `nice idea, poor start` seemed to be the consensus.

I followed the steers of my peers and eventually found the right line, that line of believability where reader is willing to suspend belief because writer has convinced him to do so.

Another year to write the story, and while I was doing just that, something unexpected and wonderful happened. Anne Stormont had read the opening chapters on YouWriteOn. She said she was excited by the writing, could see potential, and invited me to be virtual resident author for her school’s writing groups. After handing Anne her hand back, we all got stuck in. The pupils pushed Kimi further than ever, made their demands on how the story should go, how Kimi should act. They told me what they loved and what they didn’t; helped give Kimi a better polish than I ever could have on my own. 

Another few months to chip and mould and polish.

And then I took a step back and looked at my epic. I was satisfied. It was a good production. Solid. I liked it, and my beta readers begged for more. It was time to submit.

After many rejections, one agent took a nibble. They loved the writing, and the story, but wanted it condensed, stripped by 40%. Production costs need to be kept down, they said, especially for a debut author.

I took this as good news, looked over the plot to see how I could take some things out and reduce page time to others. Yes, I thought, this is achievable. I went to work, stripping away from scenes, removing scenes, all the while with my eye on a heavily reduced word count.

After five chapters – I stopped. This was not my book, my way, my story, was not Kimi. So I slept on it for a day or two before declining to go any further. I wanted Kimi the way it was. It had to be that way. It was my classic. My epic. Vain and stupid? Maybe.

The opening chapters won one of youwriteon’s BOTY awards along with the offer of publication, so I decided to take their offer and get Kimi out there.

Then a second magical event. Nuance Words asked to get involved with Kimi, to help get Kimi seen by the many. After handing the wonderful Jill Marsh her hand back (I was becoming apt at hand snatching), she and her team got to work, and in two shakes of a dodo’s tail Kimi had a website, a Facebook page,  a podcast, a soundtrack, and the activity continues…school competitions are about to start, there’s a wee film being made, press-packs being put together, and Kimi is out there growing a fan base and making good sales. 

But not tremendous sales. I knew it wasn’t `commercially formed`, knew that I’d flushed instant gold down the pan by refusing to have vampire lust in my writing, knew that Kimi might, to me, be classic and epic, but that by her very nature it might take some time before Universal Studios pick up the phone. 

Kimi is not selling tons like the romance writers, nor is she selling truckloads like the blood writers, but she is selling, is being enjoyed, is bringing home great reviews, and her first Amazon pay check bought a slap up family meal from Mr Wongs and a few bottles of plonk. 

Kimi is being read, and that for me, is simply the best.

I’m now writing a second adventure for Kimi, and finding it to be a breeze. Having the stage and props already in place, the characters fleshed and still recovering from their previous escapades, all makes getting the story down so much easier. I’ll let you know how I get on.

      Read Kimi's Secret

   Paperback            Kindle

 

** 

Kimi’s very own website: http://kimissecret.wordpress.com/about/

Kimi on FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kimis-Secret/220003314735264

Kimi at Portree Primary School: http://www.portreeprimaryschool.com/index.asp?pageid=358078

On twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/John_Hudspith

Nuance Words: http://www.nuancewords.com/

Anne Stormont: http://www.annestormont.co.uk/index.html

Jill Marsh: http://jjmarsh.wordpress.com/about/

Critique Service for Writers
Flash 500 Flash Fiction Competition
Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition

Learn to Earn from your Writing

Making money from writing is not as difficult as it might seem, providing you target your work to fit the market. The Writer’s ABC Checklist Workshops, held on Saturday 19th May 2012, will help you to do exactly that, with a non-fiction session in the morning and a flash fiction session in the afternoon.

Cracking the County Magazine Market covers: analysing your market, finding unique ideas to fit your county, interviewing subjects, quotes and how to use them, the value of photographs, creating an arresting outline and writing a winning query letter.

That Elusive Flash of Success covers: the art of condensing a complete story into 500 words, tantalising titles, attention grabbing opening paragraphs, effective use of dialogue, characters to believe in, tiny touches to bring settings to life, satisfying endings and originality — old themes given a unique slant.

Places on the course are limited. The cost is £135 per person, which includes both workshops, hotel accommodation, lunch and a barbeque on Saturday, plus a full English breakfast on Sunday. Knowing how tight money is at this time of year, we have arranged an option to spread the cost over five months.

For more information, visit the website: http://writersabcworkshops.lorrainemace.com/

The Writer’s ABC Checklist
Critique Service for Writers
Flash 500 Flash Fiction Competition
Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition

Six Useful Articles for Writers

Today I have some links to articles I’ve had published in E-zee Writer, the e-zine for Writers Bureau students. Although the articles are aimed at beginner writers, the content is useful for more experienced writers as well.

Months Ahead of the Game

Do you know how to find out what editors from hundreds of publications will want throughout the year? Think of the forward planning you could do. Just imagine targeting several magazines, knowing the subject matter is exactly what each editor has in mind for a particular month. That information is available in an editorial calendar.

Finding an Expert

Why would you want to find an expert? Well, when it comes to articles, editors love pieces with expert quotes. If offered two articles of similar quality, the one containing references from an acknowledged authority on the subject will always be chosen over one without.

How Do You Do How-to?

How-to articles open up a wide range of freelance opportunities. Trade, craft, cooking, children’s, gardening, arts and many other markets are crying out for well-written articles which teach their readers new skills, or fresh ways to make use of existing ones.

Expert Advice

This article covers a range of online reference sites, all of which are useful for those of us who have limited access to English language libraries and museums.

Submitting a Non-fiction Proposal

We hear so much about what to include and how to submit novels to agents and publishers, that it’s almost a case of information overload. However, for writers of non-fiction books the information on what to include and when to submit it is much harder to find.

Say it Really Loud on the Radio

Anyone with a book to promote, especially if self-published, is constantly on the lookout for new ways to get the message across to the widest possible audience. So what do you do when you’ve sent review copies to everyone you can think of, attended book fairs, set up author signings and promotions anywhere some kind soul would give you an inch of space, joined websites, commented on the blogs of others and generally covered every aspect of self-promotion?

The Writer’s ABC Checklist
Critique Service for Writers
Flash 500 Flash Fiction Competition
Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition

How Much Are You Worth?

Another guest post from David Robinson - and one which all freelance writers should read and absorb to make sure they don't undersell their talents.

A couple of weeks back Lorraine advised a chap on a site that asked him to undergo a “writer’s test” after which they would keep and perhaps use the piece without paying him. He was dealing with a “content farm” and it reminded me of an incident just a few months ago.

To give you an idea where I’m coming from, I sold my first piece (500-600 words) to a newspaper almost 30 years ago for the princely sum of $15. I’ve sold a good many since then for varying amounts. I now concentrate on self-publishing book-length work. I don’t make a fortune and like any other writer I’m always keen to make a few pounds where I can. So I, too, looked at content farms.

The rates on offer were disgraceful. I found one site offering as little as $1-2 per 1,000 words. Even back in 1985, the newspaper rate was $25 per 1,000 words. Not only that but as this chap complained to Lo, you first have to submit a test piece, which they do not pay for but which they can use at their discretion.

Another writer, a friend of mine, working on a site paying by page views, admitted to me that he’d taken to clicking his own works on a particular site in order to improve his rankings in the hope that surfers would click on them, too (the site didn’t pay him for his own clicks, obviously). He spent four hours a day clicking all his pieces and his reward? $1 per day.

I pointed out to him that I make more than that when I sell a single book on the Kindle and although I’m nowhere near the bestseller charts, I average more than one book per day.

Crossing the content providers off my list, I next checked out the bid sites. Once again, let me give you some history to put matters into perspective.

In 1996 I pitched a 5-hour serial to the commissioning editors of a British TV production house. The director and I had jumped through all the early hoops and this was a face-to-face meeting. My fees as a TV newcomer were $6,500 PER HOUR of drama. That serial was worth almost $35,000 to me as the writer. Over and above that, there were the rights to consider since it was an adaptation of one of my novels. All up, it was worth about $50,000.

All right, we didn’t get the commission. We gave it our best shot, but it floundered on production costs. Reality TV was beginning to make its mark and five hours of drama would cost half a million to produce.

That’s the background.

Surfing the bid sites, I came across someone who required a 90-minute TV script. He would provide the story line, the writer had to produce the script. Budget? $250. I can write a 90-minute draft in three days. To bring it up to production standards would take no less than 6 months, and ideally, I would prefer a year. For $250? I’d earn $10,000 a year stocking shelves in supermarket.

Neither the content farms nor the bid sites are interested in quality. They’re concerned only with price. To prove my point, I wrote an article for the same pay-per-click site my friend was so keen on. It was a blatant plug for one of my books, 1,000 words long, it took less than an hour to write, correct and upload. It was trite, hackneyed dross which I wouldn’t even put up as a Flatcap blog post.

It was accepted without question, categorised incorrectly, and the last I heard, it had earned me the princely sum of 13¢.

I’m not in the business of advising other writers. I write from the seat of my pants and what I know about the process could fit on the back of a post-it note and still leave room for Hamlet’s soliloquy. But I reserve one piece of advice for writers when it comes to content farms and bid sites. Avoid them. They devalue the written word. Far better to invest your time and energy in one of the many fine writing communities on the Web, where others will help you along. Far better to put your money into a course like the Writer’s Bureau where they, too, will nurture your talent and help you hone it (and no, I am not on commission.)

And the pay-per-click piece I put up? I am notoriously outspoken and I told them exactly where they could stick the 13¢… penny by penny.

David Robinson is a freelance writer, novelist and humorist, who self-publishes his book-length titles on the Kindle and Smashwords. You can find him at http://www.dwrob.com while his alter-ego, Flatcap, grumbles insanely at http://flatcapfritters.wordpress.com/

The Writer’s ABC Checklist
Critique Service for Writers
Flash 500 Flash Fiction Competition
Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition

Pressing for publicity

Geoff from Carlisle says: I have self-published a novel and want to arrange some publicity. I got in touch with the local paper and the editor said to send in a press release. This is great, but I have no idea how to go about it.

A press release is an extremely effective way of garnering some free publicity. The main function of a press release from the newspaper’s point of view is slightly different to yours. You want it to promote your book; the newspaper is looking for newsworthy, interesting and pertinent information of benefit to its readers. So your press release won’t find favour if it comes across as a straightforward blatant advertisement for your book.

With a bit of luck, the editor will use your press release as the basis for a longer or shorter feature of their own. However, you need to bear in mind that it might get run it as it is – word for word. Because of this, you have to write your story as you would like to see it published. This means keeping it concise, pithy, but, above all, error-free.

Write in the third person, present it in double line spacing, use an acceptable font, such as Times New Roman or Arial and keep it to one page, if at all possible.

Write PRESS RELEASE in capitals and centre it at the top of the page. Below this, indicate when the release can be used. This will be the date when your book is available; if that is straight away, write ‘for immediate use’.

Under this comes the all-important headline which should describe the content of the press release in a nutshell. Sharp, concise, and amusing headlines are the most attention-grabbing. Type it in bold and centre it on the page.

The first paragraph contains a brief summary of what the press release is about and this is followed by more detail in consecutive paragraphs. Explain the book’s theme in a few words, what inspired you to write it, and your interests and experience in the field. Enliven the release by including a piece of information as a direct quote.

At the bottom of the page, write your contact details including a phone number and/or email address, so that you can be contacted immediately if the editor needs further information.

Include a picture of the book cover and a head and shoulders shot of yourself. Write a caption for each, and submit with the editorial.

It’s important to consider the timing of your press release. Magazines may not have space to include your editorial for several weeks, or longer, if it’s a monthly publication. Local press, on the other hand, might be persuaded to run the story to coincide with a book signing, an appearance on local radio, or a talk or demonstration held locally.

The Writer’s ABC Checklist