Kindle Short Reads - Let's Write!

  Did you know you can write and publish short stories for Amazon Kindle? 

I've been hearing about the Kindle Short Reads for a while but finally investigated. And tested. 

As far as my research took me, these can be a few different lengths, needs to be approved, and just like every other Kindle book has to have a cover. 

Word count categories: 

15 min read: 11 pages
30 min read: 12 - 21 pages
45 min read: 22 to 32 pages
60 min read: 33 to 43 pages
120+ min read: 65 - 100 pages 

To test this I went through a few of my dozens of short stories. (All saved and filed all over my computers - someday I have to get organized.) 

I picked a creepy old story I wrote about a year ago. Went to Canva and did a quickie book cover, and popped it up on Kindle Short Reads. Took maybe twenty minutes to a half hour.  

Two things I wish I had done; 

Picked a better background picture. Done better font. 

This cover was done in five minutes. I should have slept on it. 😝  

Escaping Pigwell was 14 pages in a Word doc, double spaced, Courier New. (Yes, I should have used Times New Roman - the standard) On Amazon this story came up as 10 pages/1964 KB. I did put it through as a word doc and not a pdf. Keywords I used the basic read tags like Horror, murder, etc but also added "short read" so Amazon would tag it appropriately. 

Pricing is your choice, of course, but I opted for .99 cents. 

Since this went up so easy and went live just a couple hours later, I'm going to put up more. Sometimes I have an idea and it never makes it to book length. Now there is an place for all our stories and people who look to read them. 

In my search of these short stories I saw some shorts by Dean Koontz, Debbie Macomber, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult. So know, if you decide to publish a short, you'll be in good company. 

So if you want a dark creepy read check out Escaping Pigwell on Amazon

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Editing without Screaming

That dreaded "E" word. The BIG YUCKO  of writing our brains out. 

Edit. 

Truthfully, I have multiple novels written, but not edited. They sit on a shelf, in a box or wasting away on the hard drive. Happy little stories, scary little stories, weird little stories. All just hanging out awaiting the edit. Every now and then I stumble across it and think it this was a good story. I should finish it. 

And yet it still sits in the drawer collecting dust. 

So, I recently made a deal with another writer to edit each other. We have a phone session every Saturday morning and beat each other up...er... I mean, talk about what the story needs. She reads my 3 or so chapters, I read hers and we do a basic spelling/grammar check but more importantly we talk about story structure and plot points. The building blocks of  fiction. 

Those structure/plot issues are the biggest. Did this make sense? Does the timing work? How could the MC not have seen that clue?  Some of this frustrates and we gently argue our points but mostly, in the end, the editing partner points out the weak points I didn't see in my head while writing. This is a big help. 

Got an editing partner?  How's it working for you? 

Using a Planner for Writing?

 Last time I bought a planner was 2020 and we all know how that worked out! Yikes! But that was for my business, separate from writing. A business covid crushed. 

I was almost afraid to purchase a new planner, but it's always best to look forward, right? 

Here's to 2023! 

Sending positive wishes 

for a great year to the Universe. 

What to use a planner for in writing? 

   Starting in January, one of my resolutions was to get 2 to 3 more books published on Amazon. Writing everyday. 

   Hard part?  Getting the time alone to write - yes, I need to be alone. (There's a reason King wrote in the laundry room with a typewriter on his knees in those early years -Recommending Stephen King's On Writing if you want to learn more)

Is this planner to set a schedule? No. 

Keep notes about the story? No. 

This planner is maybe 5 x 3" and would not fit the notes. 

I'm using this planner to track writing/editing days. Once I finish writing for the day, I print it and edit those pages. This is for two reasons. Editing the pages a day or two after writing them, and before going back to story creation, keeps the details fresh in my mind. 

With the planner I can see where creativity flows and how to keep it going. Its a bird's eye view of the writing process. 

 I have 3 printed chapters sitting her now and I've got to get to the editing process. 

Time to get to work (No matter what the cat on my keyboard says) 

Oh NANOWRIMO! Will I make it?

 Our beloved NANAOWRIMO is almost over. Eleven days and counting. Will you make it? 

Will I make it? eh, not sure. But I do have some good bones of a story to continue on with. 

I always thought NANO should be in January. I mean, half the country is snowed in and there is much more down time than in November, the month where the big holidays begin. 

But what do I know? It's kind of like dry December. If you are even a social drinker, that's when you drink the most. parties, get togethers, heck! I've worked in offices where they break out the wine and beer at lunch in December. People can't wait to start the party. Crazy month. 

Yet, here we are in November struggling to write that breakout novel. I did start on November 1st. I went to one of those plot generator aps and it gave me Mermaids and a person hunting. Hmmm, In my mind I made that a man who hunts mermaids. But the "why" question had me thinking he has to believe in mermaids before he can hunt them, right? So my opening scene had Paul discovering a fish-like woman caught in the sand on a beach in New Jersey in March. If you know New Jersey you know it's chilly at the beach in March, not swimming weather and beaches are pretty deserted.  So Paul sees this vision of beauty and scales on the beach just minutes before it sees him and flips back into the water. Now he might be a believer. Or headed to the nearest psychiatrist's couch? 

Okay, that went for about 500 words before I lost interest. Bah!

On my computer I have dozen's of story premises. When an idea come into my head I jot down the blurb. Those 2 or 3 paragraphs that give the idea some light then I just hit save into the abyss that is the "Ideas" folder.  It was to this folder I went next to find Soul of the Painting. I must have written the blurb over a year ago. 

I hit 3756 words this morning. Nowhere near where I need to be to complete NANO but it's moving along. I actually like this story so it might get completed. I can see the future scenes in my head which is something the Mermaid Hunter didn't give me.  

Let's do the math; To hit 50,000 words in the next 11 days I'd have to write 

4204 words a day. 

I laugh so hard I cry. Challenge or an unreachable goal? 

So how is your NANO coming? Share your word count and your challenges and on November 30th we'll pour the wine whether we make it or not. Because we tried and we have a great story still inside us that will someday make it out. 

Types of NANO Books to Write

Most talked about subject leading up to NANOWRIMO is probably; What will you write? Do you have a story idea? Subject? Is there an adventure inside you? 

Well, it doesn't really matter which direction you write in, it's all good. You can write any type of book. Just write. 

 Fiction. All those genres are yours for the taking. Write a romance, horror, drama, paranormal. Whatever's inside you is a great idea for a book. Write it. 

Non fiction. Could be a cookbook, how to book, memoir, expert advice subject, etc.

Kid's books. From fiction stories to picture books, this could be the most fun genre to write. Tell tall tales about child wizards, kids with the ability to morph into animals or anything your imagination can cook up. 

No rules for NANOWRIMO,  just write!

Most of all, don't worry if it's bad or good, if someone might be offended by it, or think you're weird, just write it down. You can edit or decide to publish later. Some NANOs leave my desk, some end up in the files. They might come forward later, but for now, for tomorrow when NANO starts, just write. 

May the NANO be with you as you start the journey tomorrow, November 1st. 

It's Almost NANO Time

 November brings NANOWRIMO; National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to write everyday & try to complete a novel in 30 days. Can you do 50,000 words in a month? Yes, it is possible. 

Of course, writing it down isn't the hard part. It's after that they my finished novels just sit in the drawer (or hard drive) and wait for the editing to start. 

So, now with another NANO starting in less than a week it's time to start thinking about what to write.  There are plenty of writing prompts on the internet. (Thank you, Google) And there are our own ideas. 

I was talking to another writer yesterday and she suggested shutting off those audio books I listen to while driving. That my head should be in building the world of my novel and not living in the works of others. 

What do you think? 

Writing, Research & Making it Happen

 Novels, short stories, bloggy blurbs. All writing is intertwined with our society. Sometimes it's a good thing to share our lives so that others can see they're not alone. Stuff happens, experiences may be unique to you but someone, somewhere has probably faced something like that, too. Seeing that can help.

How does this relate to writing? 

It's said there are no new story lines and that everything has been done before. That's probably true but since I haven't read every single book/writing in the universe, I can only guess.  What does that mean? 

Nothing. 

Your story is unique and will be only yours. So string those words together, share those ideas & stories in your head and know that putting it out there in the world is a good thing. Fear not. 

In the beginning I was afraid if I wrote a certain scene the people I know would think less of me? Think I was weird? Deranged?  It was fear of what others think. Where does that fear come from? The all present Ego. 

Here's an example. The other day I was at the rescue where I work and we had to weigh the puppies coming in. Some puppies fit on the little scale. Others were too big. So the team turns to the smallest, skinniest woman there and asked if she'd get on the big scale. See, they asked her because to do this she would have to be weighed, then pick up the puppy and we weigh her again and do the math, we have the puppy's weight.  

Then the girl left. Oh no! There were still more puppies to weigh. Now I'm not at an ideal weight but I stepped up. "I don't care if you know how much I weigh." And I stepped on the scale. They announced my weight, I got off, picked up that puppy and got back on the scale. Math was done and we had the puppy's weight. 

Why didn't I care? Because I took a lesson from Popeye (remember him?) Popeye walked around singing "I am what I am and that's all that I am." Popeye knew. He put himself out there without that ego block. Ego is the thing that makes us aware of the opinions of others. Ego blocks our actions especially in matters of art, writing and any creative matter. 

A wise friend once told me, "Put your ego in the backseat and go forward." 

Best advice I ever got. I pull up those words when faced with the ego. 

So go ahead and write your story. Truthfully? I see people who do that as brave souls. They know who they are and aren't afraid to show it. 

Sneak Peek at the Midnight Brain

 Short stories? 

Check out The Midnight Brain.  Short stories & sneak peeks at upcoming novels. 

Share, comment, enjoy! 

Basic Story Structure

 If you look at all the famous stories they usually follow the Hero's Journey. This tracks your character's experiences from beginning to end. This outline was created by Joseph Campbell and later reworked/explained by Christopher Vogler.  Both these men had a big part in creating better stories & better writers. 

You can fit Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz, Iron Man all into the format of the Hero's Journey. 

The basics of the Hero's Journey are better explained but here's a simplified version of the basics; 

• The Ordinary World - Where the MC (main character) is now.
• The Call to Adventure - Event that makes the MC alerted to the challenge ahead.
• Refusing the Call to Adventure - Might not want or be able to join the adventure.
• Meeting the Mentor - Someone who imparts advice & encouragement for the journey. 
• Crossing the Threshold - It's happening, the MC is part of this now.
• Test, Allies, and Enemies - Things start happening, this shit's getting real. 
• Approach to the Inmost Cave - Almost there, approaching the climax of the story
• The Ordeal - The big event/goal is reached. 
• The Reward - Achieves the goal and gets what the MC was seeking
• The Road Back - MC head for home, thinking it's over. Is it? 
• Resurrection - One final test. 
• Return With the Elixir - MC returns home a hero. 

What more details? Check out this link from Grand Valley State University

Just Google the Hero's Journey and you'll find some easy to use graphics that map out the most popular stories. 

Gearing Up for NANOWRIMO

 Here comes National Novel Writing Month! Are you ready for November and to get that novel written? 

Write that 50,000 word novel by putting the fingers to the keyboard every day to crank out the next great novel. 

I've done NANO several times and even published one of my NANO's. Getting that first draft down was the easy part. Editing it for publication was hard!  But that's beside the point. Now it's time to start thinking about what kind of novel you have inside you. 

There are several ways you can come up with ideas. Head over to Pinterest and type in "Writing prompts" or "Story Ideas" and pull up a treasure trove of ideas. 

Another way is to pick a genre. Romance, RomCom, Mystery, Horror, or Fantasy. 

I was reading one of my emails about writing (yes, I'm signed up for quite a few) and saw one publishing company looking for Dark Academia. Hmmm, what exactly is that?  Confession; I had to look it up. Of course the words Dark and Academia give us a pretty good clue but I had to seek out that exact meaning. And I'm intrigued. Now may mind is churning with ideas.... 

Check out NANOWRIMO here; https://nanowrimo.org/about-nano to find out more.