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A Cautionary Tale - by KT Chen

2/25/2019

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Last week I gave a presentation in my Publishing Workshop about self-publishing.

Basically, I did everything wrong that a person could probably do wrong when I self-published my first two books.  That isn't to say the books were bad (they weren't).  It is just to say that I was impatient.  And proud.  And excited.

Which reminds me of a scene in the movie Cast Away.  In the scene, Tom Hank's character makes fire for the first time.  He knew the mechanics of making fire, but the actual execution took more time and effort than he expected.  So when he did, in fact, make fire that first time, he built a huge bonfire, beat his chest, and made loud proclamations about making fire.

I get it.  Finishing a book is a lot like that.  Writers know the mechanics, but the execution take a while.  And once the book is written, writers want to beat their chests and announce it to everyone as loudly as possible.

Self-publishing allows a writer to ... yell louder?  yell, so more people hear?

That was one of my problems.  I got so wrapped up in the excitement of finishing a book that I didn't slow down enough to really work through what I wanted to do with the story.  Hence, why I did so many things wrong.

I called my presentation:  Self-Publishing, A Cautionary Tale.

It was aptly named.

I've learned a lot since then.  Maybe not enough.

I'm very close to finishing my third book.  At a guess, I would say I have maybe 50 to 60 pages left to write.  It has been workshopped so much, I'm ready to light it on fire out of sheer exasperation of the re-writes.  However, each workshop has solved problems I didn't realize I had and made the story so much better than it would have been otherwise.  I can't get too upset about the fact that workshops have improved my story.

I hope that I will finish the novel and use my prior experiences to do a better job self-publishing the third book.

And for the curious among you:  this book is a sequel to Ring of the Tax Collector.  Since I self-published RotTC, I have to self-publish this one as well.  -- Agents and Publishers don't want previously published work, and won't pick up a series mid-stride.

More lessons learned from self-publishing.

Still, I will press forward.  I have a lot of stories in me.

Go forth and write!
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Write It Anyway - by KT Chen

2/18/2019

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I can go to some really dark places in my mind.  Really.  Dark.  Places.

For the past year and a half, I have been writing a series where Death is the narrator.  In doing so, I had to think up ways for people to die, and not all of them could be pretty, neat, or convenient.  Which meant I had to go to some very dark places and dig out some extremely gruesome things.  -- And sometimes it scared me, to know I was capable of thinking such thoughts.

I decided to write the dark stuff anyway.

In person, I'm pretty even-keel, pragmatic, and polite.

In my head, it's a chaotic hot mess.  And lots of it isn't polite or fit for human company.

I had to embrace all that, as a writer.  Great stories have to be more than just vanilla, and the best flavoring comes from the dark places in our minds and our souls.  So, despite the fear, write it anyway.  Whatever it is.  Even if it is never use it in a story.  You'll be a better writer for having explored the depths of the darkness within.

Go forth and write!
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Presentations - by KT Chen

2/11/2019

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I realize that for a large number of people, presentations are scary.  

I'm not one of them.

My fifth grade teacher made us all research and do a report on a randomly assigned U.S. state.  (Mine was Indiana, for the curious among you).  I was absolutely terrified of getting up in front of my classmates to speak.  My mom told me presentations were just to prove what I knew, and I was going to have to do it all my life, so I'd better practice.  My dad told me he knew I could do anything I set my mind to, and he expected me to do well.  Armed with those two things, I practiced for days until I could recite my entire report from memory with zero notes (driving my parents and sister nuts in the process).  I got a perfect score.

My mom was right, I have had to present things all my life, first as a student, then as a teacher.  And not long into my teaching career, I got tapped to do presentations to other teachers and administrators and education professionals.  At first it was small groups, and then larger and larger.  When I became an administrator, I continued to give presentations, usually to parents, but sometimes to other teachers and administrators as well.  In all the presentations I've given, my smallest crowd was two.  My largest was well over a thousand.

And you know what?  I still don't get nervous.  Presentations are just telling what you know.  The way to prepare for them is to know a lot.

Last week, I had a presentation to give in my Melville class.  Stakes were high:  the professor of the class will also be part of the team who decides if I am accepted into the PhD program at my University next year.  I did have some extra time to prepare, thanks to the Polar Vortex.  I used the extra days to re-read everything, pour over cross-references on the internet, and outline (and practice!) my discussion notes.

All said and done, the presentation went well.  My classmates participated, I got a "good job" from my professor, and I can honestly say I gave it my best go.

Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do my Melville research paper on ...

Go forth and write!



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Polar Vortex 2019 - by KT Chen

2/4/2019

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My senior year of college, a blizzard hit right after New Years.  It shut down the western half of the state.  The governor declared it an emergency and sent the National Guard to clear roads and deliver food door-to-door.  We started classes almost three weeks late because that's how long it took to dig out the quad-state area.  

That experience prompted me to leave (at the earliest opportunity) for warmer climates, where I spent the next 25+ years in (mostly) snowless bliss.

Job and school opportunities brought my wife and I to Chicago.  A city with which, admittedly, I have fallen in love.

The polar vortex?  Not so much love.

It snowed almost a foot in our area, before the temperature climbed down to -25 and the wind chill to -54 Fahrenheit.  We bundled up, broke out the electric blankets, and settled in for a cold couple of days.  Thankfully, my classes were canceled and my wife's work put them on half days.  We both used the extra time to catch up.

Our dog, however, still had to go outside to do his business at regular intervals.  Which reminded me of that blizzard I had in college.  And how much I dislike really cold weather.  Especially as I was melting the ice off of my glasses when I came back indoors.

On Saturday, the temps crept up to positive numbers and my wife and I went downtown to enjoy the beauty that is unique to Chicago in the winter.

Go forth and write!
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    I write about writing, working out, my dog, being deaf, and anything else I find of interest.

    I post on Mondays, before 9 AM.

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