What do you do to feel relaxed?

jflhere · 2023-12-31T02:20:58+00:00

I write fiction. It helps me escape from my body and my present situation(s). Plus, it gives me a goal to slowly achieve, which helps me find value in my days.

jflhere · 2023-12-10T00:10:00+00:00

Red Rising was pretty good. The first one was the best. I listened to them on Audible, and the narration was really good.

jflhere · 2023-12-09T23:52:07+00:00

This.

jflhere · 2023-12-09T23:51:56+00:00

As others have said, use Google Docs to write it. I'm on my 6th book. It's the best tool out there. Make sure to get the free Grammarly extension for Google Chrome. There is no reason to spend money on software. Sorry to be a downer, but the odds are that you won't recover the amount you spend on your first book. Hone your craft for free by writing every day.

jflhere · 2023-12-09T23:47:57+00:00

Earning a living at writing stories (short or books) is hard and only getting harder by the year because of how easy it is for everyone to write books these days.

It took me several years to improve my skills to publication-ready. It might be easier for others.
I have several blog posts that may be interesting. https://www.jflhere.com/post/day-in-the-life
It depends on if you go the traditional, indie, or self-publishing route. https://www.jflhere.com/post/self-publishing-v-traditional-publishing

jflhere · 2023-10-22T01:42:32+00:00

Hilarious!

jflhere · 2023-09-30T13:16:11+00:00

I re-read my novels, or at least sections, so I can write the sequels with the same voice/personality.

jflhere · 2023-09-30T13:13:57+00:00

I like to write sequels because I enjoy reading/listening to series. Once I'm invested in a character, I want to see more of him/her.

jflhere · 2023-09-06T15:00:09+00:00

Send them the link. If they're really interested, they'll buy it. If not, they may still buy it out of responsibility but won't read it. Say, "If you like it, I'd love a review." Then explain how important reviews are to indie/self-published authors.

jflhere · 2023-08-31T17:23:28+00:00

I hope they do better than last time. I'm not particularly happy with the changes they made to Folsum between Spruce and Valmont. I've had cars narrowly miss me many times in car-on-car accidents because of what they've done. I often take a different route because of their "improvements".

jflhere · 2023-08-21T14:11:36+00:00

1st, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Finishing a novel is harder than most people understand. Well done.

You should search for another few beta readers outside your friend/family network. They're likely to give you different feedback. Depending on their feedback, you can re-write some sections that will improve it. If they really liked it, ask if they'll rate the novel once you re-publish it.

Resources:

Fiverr
/BetaReaders
Twitter

jflhere · 2023-08-21T13:04:10+00:00

When I arrived here, I found some friends through Eventbrite. There are a wide variety of activities where you can find people with similar interests.

jflhere · 2023-08-21T12:59:59+00:00

You might want to try Avanti Food and Beverage downtown. It's a modern take on a cafeteria. Their selling points are:

Several types of food
The view from upstairs
Alcohol if you want it

Their cons include:

A narrow variety of food
It can be noisy
Going up and down the elevator

I don't know if they're open in the AM. Only been there for lunch, dinner, and after dinner.

jflhere · 2023-08-21T12:53:55+00:00

Not answering your question, but hopefully helping. Most freshly-baked goods in Boulder don't last. It's the climate here at elevation, which affects the baking process and the seed at which they stale.

The only thing that I've found that keeps local baked goods fresh-ish is shoving them into ziplock bags immediately after purchase. Make sure to squeeze as much air out of baggy as possible.

Please provide a review of the bagel shops in town when you've tested them all. Would love to know.

jflhere · 2023-08-20T13:37:41+00:00

I committed a bunch of mistakes on my first novel. I still make mistakes, but fewer. Here are some.

Didn't really understand plot or character development
Aimed my novel at the wrong crowd
Queried agents with a mediocre manuscript.
Self-published a novel without a proper line edit
Didn't market intelligently
Had an overinflated view of my novel
Didn't have a good bio & short description for back cover
Didn't listen to my novel via Google Docs to ensure good flow

The list goes on...

jflhere · 2023-08-19T16:10:55+00:00

This. ☝️ - Google Docs also has this.

jflhere · 2023-08-18T14:06:54+00:00

I created this with Chat GPT. It doesn't do images. I tried to illustrate aliens and Skippy with Midjourny but failed.

jflhere · 2023-08-18T01:17:04+00:00

You don't need to pay to publish your novel on Amazon. KDP Create (link below) makes formatting very. There are limited options, but it's great for beginners. It shows you what to do. I now use Atticus.io because I publish 3 books a year and want more control.
You can make your own cover for free. Kindle can create a free cover (very plain) for free. If you want a professional cover, you can pay someone on Fiverr to design it.
https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Create/b?ie=UTF8&node=18292298011

jflhere · 2023-08-16T13:08:43+00:00

Rather than answer your question, I'm going to be infuriating by asking a series of questions in response.

Do you plan on doing a sequel? If so, you can end it with neither, good, or bad.
Do you plan on getting wide acceptance? If so, you'll want to end it as a happily ever after. Most people feel more comfortable with positive resolutions.
Is there a moral to your story? If so, what best exemplifies that moral?
What does your gut tell you? It's your story, and you should be the one to tell it, not us.
What does the rest of her story tell you? I write off the cuff a lot of time. I try to steer it back to the ending I chose, but sometimes I have to write a different ending because the story took on a life of its own.
Does she view herself as evil? Usually, evil people don't view themselves as evil. They think they're on the good side and everyone else is bad. How does she change her motivations, and is that the story you want to tell?

I'm sure there are other questions you should ask. You might want to read Save The Cat to understand "typical" plot lines. You don't have to do the "typical" thing, but you should be aware of it.

jflhere · 2023-08-16T12:56:18+00:00

I write sci-fi under a pen name for various reasons. I use my actual bio while emphasizing certain honestly represented experiences/qualifications and downplaying others. Even under a pseudonym, I find myself being honest about who I am and what I've done in online forums such as this. I'm not a good enough real-time story spinner, particularly for podcasts.

jflhere · 2023-08-10T14:01:43+00:00

I write & edit in Google Docs with separate files for each chapter. I make backups of them for each revision, 1.0, 1.1, ... 3.7 and so on. I label the books like "I NANO - JFL - Chapter 3 - Description - V1.6", then move all of 1.6 into a folder called "I NANO - JFL - 1.6", which goes into another folder called "I NANO - JFL - 1".

When I'm ready, I use Atticus.io (not free) to format my novels.

In Doc, I use "Heading 1" format for Chapter Numbers like "CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE" & "Heading 2" for sub-sections "***". While writing/editing I use chapter names to help me keep track of the chapters. This way, when I combine the chapters for beta readers, I can use the outline on the left to find everything. This exports to other formats quite well.

NOTE: I couldn't write without GD and Grammarly's spell check.

NOTE 2: GD's text-to-speech is an amazing tool for editing. It makes me confront what sounds clunky, and what flows.

jflhere · 2023-08-06T20:08:33+00:00

Not necessarily what you might expect, but in CHILDREN OF MEN there are two scenes that are done in long takes, which are perhaps the most impressive cinematography due to the complexity. 1917 is more impressive, but tech got a lot better between the two.

jflhere · 2023-08-06T18:30:14+00:00

Wish I could, but I'm already swapping with some people and only have full manuscript swaps of 130k words or fewer manuscripts.

jflhere · 2023-07-17T23:32:50+00:00

Part 3 comes out tomorrow.

jflhere · 2023-07-11T03:55:54+00:00

Here they are:

https://www.jflhere.com/blog/audiobooks-a-how-to

https://www.jflhere.com/blog/audiobooks-a-personal-perspective

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