Day 60 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

How Have I Done On My New Year's Resolutions?

Or

No, That Really Isn't Where I Want To Go Tonight.

 

Yes the top part is tonight's prompt. Let me give you the synopsis. I'M WRITING MY ASS OFF!  Short fiction, the novel project (Outline, major characters and scene list finalized, first draft underway), poetry...a constant as it has always been...This blogging challenge, The Ventura County Writer's Club, Google + Poetry Community's Weekly Post-a-Thon....My studies with the Center for Buddhist Education in Berkley...40 hours plus on the day job...Yup, that about damn well covers it.

 

Now then, on the topic of finding ideas to write about. What, was that too abrupt?...Come on now...You're really going to have to keep up or I'll have to institute quizzes....Finding topics.

The poetry part of my mind is strange that way. I've never really paid much attention to where the ideas come from. Sometimes it's something overheard on the radio or in a conversation I've eavesdropped on...(See the picture of me in the upper left? Memorize it! If you see me in public you might end up in a poem.)...or a phrase in a book or the newspaper. I also have the ethics of a blues musician...If it sounds good, I'll steal it!

 

Fiction is another story...(I know, but I never said I was above a pun!). I am a list writer. I will sit down and intentionally write out lists of ideas. Simple things like, dog bites man/man bites back...girl falls in love with priest...obsessed guitarist...whatever. Sometimes it can be words. I'll intentionally list colors, or words that invoke temperature, or words that are linked to water...Then I'll go outside and wait for the ambulance from the home to come pick me up and take me back to that well upholstered room. Sorry, I wasn't supposed to tell you about that.

 

I put the lists aside and let them marinate for...however long it takes, no recipes or formulas here. In the meantime, I return to the present hot project. Down the road I pull these lists out and review them. What I'm looking for is something that raises an emotional response. Does something strike me as funny...odd...sad...scary? If that happens I try to expand the feeling. What about the girl attracted to the priest? Does he show a complementary reaction? Is he non-plussed? Does she press her point or try to hide it because of shame?

 

I'm testing my own emotional reaction to the thoughts. Is it just interesting? Does it make me really uncomfortable? Does it revolt or anger me? The stronger my feeling the better because it is strength of emotion that your reader is looking for. If I feel lukewarm about something going in, how am I going to get the reader to want to come along? Does the emotional investment intensify as the story progresses? Then maybe I want to get rid of that opening and start where my emotions got really involved?

 

That's what story telling is about...hooking your audiences heart and getting them to laugh, cry, cheer or shout in triumph. Not everything that hits the lists I make becomes a tale. As a matter of fact the vast majority just goes back in the drawer. If I find one thing in twenty that starts the emotional kettle boiling I'm doing good. The key is that I take the time to do lists at least once or twice a week. Right now I have a backlog of ideas that have been expanded in to rough outlines that have some real potential. Enough to keep me going long past considerations of writer's block.

 

 

Accepting short fiction to 1200 words, poetry to 25 lines, and carefully crafted essays for the Your Work/Your Love page. Nope, still no pay, just glorious exposure! You can send your work to me via e-mail at dbaylis805@gmail.com. Authors retain all rights. You can also follow or subscribe to this blog. There are gadgets for that on the right side of this page. I love the company and it helps with the search engine ranking. Comments, critiques, and questions are always answered in as timely a manner as I can manage between my day job, writing, studies, blah, blah, blah. There's a form at the bottom of the page for your use.

In the meantime, remember...live, love, write.

Dane F. Baylis

Day 59 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

End of the Second Month, How Do I Feel About Blogging 365?

Well I could compare it to the one about the man in the asylum who is constantly banging his head against the wall. When one of the staff asks why he keeps repeating such painful behavior he responds, "Because it feels so good when I stop!" I imagine that might be how I'll feel on the 366th day with no prompts and no challenge...Or not!

 

Not that this is the easiest thing in the world to get going on but now it's become a habit. I actually worry about what time I'll get the next post out because I know there are some readers out there who look for this daily. When I first started I stressed over the tone and language and whether I should approach this in a...Well, put simply, I STRESSED! (Over what? Hell, I'm a writer! I don't need what, just a deadline does it. Even a self imposed one.) I also wondered if anyone besides my long suffering mate would read what I had to say? Thank-you to all of you who have. Would anyone seriously consider responding? Again, to each of you who has made the contribution of your time and effort to ask, state, or simply say hello, my thanks.

 

I have watched my statistics move up in slow but real increments. I have seen readership in the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, France, China (though they might be stealing the secret plotline to my next short story), the Phillipines, Brazil and Italy. I have made acquaintances and friends and am grateful for all of it.

 

So, am I going to continue? It's kind of like talking to yourself...Once you start doing it, you just sort of embrace it as part of your persona. That, in the long form was...Yes. As far as talking to myself...Come on...How else am I supposed to have an intelligent conversation?

 

That said, here comes the next month's worth of prompts...Whether I stay on script is always up to the stars. But whatever else, I hope you've enjoyed it so far and have the stamina and tolerance to hang around. (Yeah, it is kind of like a bad fraternity movie, isn't it?)

 

 

Accepting short fiction to 1200 words, poetry to 25 lines, and carefully crafted essays for the Your Work/Your Love page. Nope, still no pay, just glorious exposure! You can send your work to me via e-mail at dbaylis805@gmail.com. Authors retain all rights. You can also follow or subscribe to this blog. There are gadgets for that on the right side of this page. I love the company and it helps with the search engine ranking. Comments, critiques, and questions are always answered in as timely a manner as I can manage between my day job, writing, studies, blah, blah, blah. There's a form at the bottom of the page for your use.

In the meantime, remember...live, love, write.

Dane F. Baylis

 

 



Day 58 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

Month Over Month Comparison Of My Blog Stats.

(Or, Oh What A Long Strange Trip It's Been,

To Steal A Little Jerry)

 

Truthfully? This last month has accounted for nearly forty-five percent of this blog's traffic, total. Ever!This has to be viewed in the proper light. (Soon as I pay the bill we'll have them turned back on.) I just started blogging last October. That came about as part of the whole brave new world thing. Your an author?  "WHERE'S YOUR F***ING PLATFORM!" So having my ass out that far I was offered the chance to take part in this challenge and a little voice said, "Aw go on. It might be fun." What was I thinking? It's a good thing Kharisma supplied a list of prompts or I'd never have gotten off the ground.

 

Having accepted the invitation I was immediately seized by my OCD side. "You must post, you can't even think of not posting, you have the list...FOLLOW IT!" As time went by though, I realized that there was another voice I was suppressing. That's the one that, over the last few weeks has started to come out. This is the same voice I use in my writing.

 

At first I wasn't really completely convinced that should be happening. (Tell me that's not totally damned neurotic.) Recently however, I have actually read on a couple of other blogs about blogging and platform building that this is exactly the direction I should be heading. So I started letting the manic bastard who runs the circuit between my conceptualization and my sorry typing skills have more air time. See, never offer a borderline psychotic any kind of encouragement or validation. It just leads to trouble.

 

Have I attracted a throng of followers? Throng? No. But I am grateful for anyone who has opted in to that. Am I consistently posting incredible numbers of page views? Hey, day before yesterday I had one hundred and forty in a 24 hour period and that was all damned right at this desk! Next day was twenty-five...but you don't always knock it out of the park.

 

What would I do different? This assumes I actually know what I've done up to now! No, seriously, I would have started out in this tone and mood right away. This is me, take it or leave it...there are days I'd like to walk out on me...and there are days like Sunday when I think I'm all damned right. What to expect down the line? That depends...more of this for sure, but if I start seeing questions and comments that want to explore different avenues or dive a little deeper in a particular rant, (Hello? Anybody? Helloooooo?), then we'll see where that takes us. For now, thanks for everyone who stops by, whether you have the time to talk or not!

 

Accepting short fiction to 1200 words, poetry to 25 lines, and carefully crafted essays for the Your Work/Your Love page. Nope, still no pay, just glorious exposure! You can send your work to me via e-mail at dbaylis805@gmail.com. Authors retain all rights. You can also follow or subscribe to this blog. There are gadgets for that on the right side of this page. I love the company and it helps with the search engine ranking. Comments, critiques, and questions are always answered in as timely a manner as I can manage between my day job, writing, studies, blah, blah, blah. There's a form at the bottom of the page for your use.

 

In the meantime, remember...live, love, write.

Dane F. Baylis

Day 57 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

Do I Feel Book Giveaways Help Or Hurt?

 

I have strong feelings in this, having been in business for myself more than once. Its a fact of life that if people can get something for free this time then they balk at having to pay for something the next. It's the old free milk and the cow thing.

 

I constantly contended with the approach that ran to, "If you give me a break on the cost this time then we can do more business later." I'm afraid I'm from the , "Why don't you pay what I'm asking this time and if this relationship works I'll make you a good deal on REPEAT business," school! Why do you think Kindle Buffet and the several other sites like it exist? They know that if they generate enough traffic then they'll make a living! That doesn't mean the authors whose books are on the Kindle Freebie list are making a living.

 

Even at 70-80 percent to the author, how much do you make on a ninety-nine cent book? Now how about the math of 25-30 percent on an eight dollar and ninety-five cent book? Seems like simple arithmetic to me. Even with the, "But it's the exposure!", argument, how much do you think the buyer values your work compared to the higher priced item? It's the perceived quality trap.

 

Yup, it's a definite uphill slog to get those more lucrative positions and deals. Then, just maybe, on the way up the hill your craft might get polished brighter, your voice might become more distinct and original, and your stories more memorable. Or not, but then again this is just an observation. I've had the pleasure to read and participate in several venues (a number of which actually paid for the privilege), I've sold poetry and short fiction, and I've sat on editorial staffs, and there's one thing that always held true...If I hadn't valued my art and craft, no one else would!

 

 

Accepting short fiction to 1200 words, poetry to 25 lines, and carefully crafted essays for the Your Work/Your Love page. Nope, still no pay, just glorious exposure! You can send your work to me via e-mail at dbaylis805@gmail.com. Authors retain all rights. You can also follow or subscribe to this blog. There are gadgets for that on the right side of this page. I love the company and it helps with the search engine ranking. Comments, critiques, and questions are always answered in as timely a manner as I can manage between my day job, writing, studies, blah, blah, blah. There's a form at the bottom of the page for your use.

In the meantime, remember...live, love, write.

Dane F. Baylis

Day 56 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

What Are My Feelings On Blog Hops?

All righty then...Here's another one where the old guy (see the picture on the left) gets to admit he's still catching up with the terminology never mind the technology. My first feeling was, "So what the hell's a blog hop?" Then I did what anyone with opposable thumbs and a passing acquaintance with personal computers would do, I Googled the term. That done my revised feeling is now, "Just thrilled...I guess?"

 

So let's talk about character development. Very often I find myself fishing around for something to write about, or I have an idea...in the broadest sense of the word...but no characters to populate it.Or perhaps I see someone on the street, in a movie, or somewhere in the little television I watch, and they strike a chord. Maybe it's even someone in the background, almost, but not quite, lost.For that brief moment there's something about their appearance or mannerisms that catches the artist in me. What is this person's demeanor? How would their speech patterns reflect that? Where would someone who spoke like that come from or live now? Who are that persons peers?

 

As the last question comes in it becomes a matter of deciding alliances and conflicts. Who does the first character relate to and why? Is he/she a leader or follower? What is the price of admission to that person's confidence? By now my character notebook is out and I am trying to put flesh to this skeleton. What are the idiosyncracies this person displays? What kind of environment would this person inhabit? Is it safe or is it a constant challenge to survive? If it is the first, what would shift it in to the second and how would that person handle it? If it is the second, what survival mechanisms had to be adopted to make it through the day to day?

 

By now I have started to get emotionally invested in the construct. This is good because it is emotion that drives any story and gets the reader to come along for the ride and there lies the next question. Do I actually care about this character? If not, what will get me over that barrier? If I do will a reader feel the same way or have I taken off down a road that is so hyper-personal that, like it or not, it's going to be just me and the character in the end? Before I know it this hologram is walking around in my mind, inhabiting my thoughts in a near tangible form.

 

What I'm driving at here is simple. You can have the greatest plot, setting and mood ever, but it is still going to be your characters and how much you truly understand what makes them tick that's going to make the story. It is going to be your ability to get the reader to actually invest emotional worth that is going to lift your writing above the mass. Yup, action will keep it moving but the characters are what make it moving.

 

 

Accepting short fiction to 1200 words, poetry to 25 lines, and carefully crafted essays for the Your Work/Your Love page. Nope, still no pay, just glorious exposure! You can send your work to me via e-mail at dbaylis805@gmail.com. Authors retain all rights. You can also follow or subscribe to this blog. There are gadgets for that on the right side of this page. I love the company and it helps with the search engine ranking. Comments, critiques, and questions are always answered in as timely a manner as I can manage between my day job, writing, studies, blah, blah, blah. There's a form at the bottom of the page for your use.

In the meantime, remember...live, love, write.

Dane F. Baylis

Day 55 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

Do I Prefer Twitter Or Facebook?

Reality is, I don't know. First of all I don't have a Twitter feed yet (Horror of horrors! Did you hear what he said, Madge?). No,I haven't caught up with the twenty-first century and the truth is I have enough online distractions already.

 

Yes, however long ago, I did set up a Facebook account at the insistence of my daughter who touted it as a way for us to "Stay In Touch". Immediately after that we both realized we were too busy to really take advantage of it, and anyway, we both have phones and are still physically capable of dialing them. Conversation, what a concept! Also, and I know how "snarky" this is going to sound, there is an incredible amount of juvenile crap on that thing. That might have something to do with the incredible number of juveniles on it. Go figure. Sort of, "My Space v.2". (Really not THAT surprising though when you get to understand the boy billionaire behind it.)

 

I actually do spend a fair amount of time on Google+. There are a number of creative communities there dedicated strictly to writers and their craft. As I spend the bulk of my time conceptualizing, developing, writing, rewriting, submitting, resubmitting and wondering where my life has gone so terribly wrong, I don't have the time to devote to trying to dupe an unsuspecting public into accepting sub par drivel. Oops, did that come off a bit edgy?

 

No, really, I'm working as hard and fast as I can. If you've read enough of these posts you're all too familiar with my litany. Day job at forty hours plus, studies, home life, writing, researching markets, honing craft. I'll see you on Twitter or LinkedIn or Pinterest when I get there. Have a nice day!

 

 

Accepting short fiction to 1200 words, poetry to 25 lines, and carefully crafted essays for the Your Work/Your Love page. Nope, still no pay, just glorious exposure! You can send your work to me via e-mail at dbaylis805@gmail.com. Authors retain all rights. You can also follow or subscribe to this blog. There are gadgets for that on the right side of this page. I love the company and it helps with the search engine ranking. Comments, critiques, and questions are always answered in as timely a manner as I can manage between my day job, writing, studies, blah, blah, blah. There's a form at the bottom of the page for your use.

In the meantime, remember...live, love, write.

Dane F. Baylis

Day 54 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis

 

Share A Winter Image And What Thoughts Come To Mind As I Look At It.

 

Here it is. Late night snow in the city. Those who might have been out forego the venture for the comfort of their cozy homes and apartments. There is hardly a soul about and even the tracks of those who might have passed this way have been covered. There is the occasional taxi, maybe a patrol car, but the night is mine.

 

Perhaps it's the Back Bay in Boston or across the Charles River in Cambridge, maybe near Harvard or Kendall Squares? It's the end of a night of discussion and debate with good friends sharing food and drink. The crisp, muffled quiet makes a walk a thing of solitude and deep contemplation.

 

As you walk into the streetlight's glow you become aware of how the snow seems to limit the dimension of the city to a block, two at the most. As if you are encased in some dark sided snow globe. You wonder if enough snow will accumulate in the park to warrant cleaning up the runners on that old sled in the basement? It would be a lark to call everyone early and see if they wanted to get together in the morning. How many of them would actually take up the challenge.

 

Funny how it never really seems that cold in these heavy nightime snowfalls! You feel as if you could walk all the way back to Dorchester accompanied by the soft crunch of your footsteps and wandering thoughts. The trains and busses will still be running for another hour or so. Why not hoof it on over to Central or maybe the Mass. Avenue station before grabbing a train? What was that poem Jerry was quoting earlier? Oh yeah, Frost's, An Old Man's Winter Night, but he always loves the dramatic.

 

Accepting short fiction to 1200 words, poetry to 25 lines, and carefully crafted essays for the Your Work/Your Love page. Nope, still no pay, just glorious exposure! You can send your work to me via e-mail at dbaylis805@gmail.com. Authors retain all rights. You can also follow or subscribe to this blog. There are gadgets for that on the right side of this page. I love the company and it helps with the search engine ranking. Comments, critiques, and questions are always answered in as timely a manner as I can manage between my day job, writing, studies, blah, blah, blah. There's a form at the bottom of the page for your use.

In the meantime, remember...live, love, write.

 Dane F. Baylis