I know last week I stated I was planning on delving into short stories in order to practice my writing and to get more examples of my work in circulation, possible increasing website traffic. I still am keenly interested in doing this, but to be honest, it hasn't happened yet. For once, this isn't due to any laziness or distraction on my part (hey, I write science fiction because playing video games becomes "research"). Actually, I haven't been able to do any short story work because my second book is coming along at a staggering pace--10,000 words a week, minimum! There are several reasons for this rate of progress, so I wanted to share the primary drivers.


Firstly, writing is just like any other skill. The more you do it, and the more frequently you work on, the better you will be at it. If you have an idea for a story, don't waste time mulling it over in your head. The sooner you start actually writing, the faster you'll gain the skills you need to write effectively. More to the point: when you first start writing you'll waste a lot of time figuring out how you want to say things. Getting over that hump and filling a toolbox with expressions, adjectives, and turns of phrase will greatly increase the effectiveness and speed of your writing.

Another point I didn't appreciate until recently was my focus. This actually comes in two forms: my focus within a certain time period, and the overall focus of the book. Because I've worked on a schedule and pushed myself to write for longer periods, I'm able to settle in and focus on the work at hand, minimizing distractions and enjoying the process as I develop my craft. In dealing with the focus of the book, this comes from the benefit of now being on my second novel. Going into my first story, I only had a general idea of what I wanted the book to be about, and who the characters were. It was sort of a drifting gas cloud, that you could see and comprehend, but couldn't really fill in. In writing that book, I learned to look ahead, planning upcoming portions of the book as I was writing, as opposed to early on when I had to write, stop, think, write, stop, etc. The plot, characters, and details of the second book come much more naturally, and so writing sessions are almost non-stop writing, with occasional Scotch breaks to read over a particularly good line.

Lastly, planning was a factor in my progress as well. As I was nearing the end of my first manuscript, I was already brainstorming ideas for my second, and had an overall theme and direction to go with. When my first book was done, I was able to take those concepts and spend a relatively short time outlining the book itself (in loose terms), after which I just fell into the writing. This will be even more interesting to explore in my third book, which is currently an idea and a paragraph, but comparatively is being started on earlier than any of my other works.

In other news, my second novel now has a title, "Unto Persephone." I'll be taking time this week to build out the portion of the site that will house a blurb on it, and I'm currently picking out some excerpts to post. I think everyone will find it an interesting and enjoyable read.

A.C. Harrison
Support indie authors! Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Over the weekend I clocked in about 16 hours remodeling my house, so I'm lucky enough to be pulling off this blog post, though I can't promise much in terms of length and cohesion (ladies...).

I was having a think about writing, marketing, the use of this blog, and other independent author-esque things. I want to have more opportunities to showcase my writing, but that is difficult due to the fact that my first manuscript is 100,000+ words and my second novel is already 30,000+ words, and neither one is completely ready to be published. As such, I recalled that some of the best works that I read while growing up were short stories, an artwork in and of themselves.

In my mind, short stories make a lot of sense to the emerging author. Yes, they require a different style of writing and they could potentially take time away from your primary work (assuming your primary work is in full length novels). However, there is a great appeal in this challenge, and not a lot to lose. Learning to write short stories helps a writer to form a tighter narrative, to develop characters quickly, and to be as descriptive as possible in as little space as possible. It boils down to the core details; being able to leave everything in is easy, but paring down a work is hard.

My thought is that I (or anyone else who would give it a go) would work on short stories whenever the opportunity presented itself, such as those evenings where I'm banging my head against the wall, unable to work on my larger manuscript, stuck in a rut without advancing the plot. The change of pace and freedom to try new things would shake things up, and likely only help me when I turn back to work on my full length stuff. Moreover, I think it would be rather nice to post the short stories on my site, allowing interested readers to get an idea of my writing style and genre, scoring marketing points as well. And any stories I don't like are just as easily wadded up and thrown out, no damage done to my larger novels.

As with anything new, I'll need to set some time aside to give it a go, and that's always a challenge with everything else going on, but I'm rather keen on this one, and hopefully over the next couple weeks, I'll get some snippets posted and see where things go from there.

A.C. Harrison
Support indie authors! Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

The book title. Good book titles pull you in. "Snow Crash," "Neuromancer," "Starship Troopers." As it turns out, good book titles are a huge pain to come up with. In my academic writing, I always came up with the title of the paper once I had finished writing it. Retrospection allowed me to come up with a fitting descriptor to apply; a name that would encapsulate the main point of the text. I always thought I would do the same with my first novel, "Jupiter Symphony." Then I found out that coming up with a title after writing 120,000+ words about multiple topics and characters is a monumental challenge. Should an author be expected to have a title for their work before they've finished it? What about before they begin it?

My second manuscript, currently rolling past the 30,000 word mark and growing, was a little different. I had a more unified theme, and a clearer picture of where the book would go. The novel also has a more narrow scope in both plot and characters. It's not less of a book, just more laser focused on a specific niche: military power armor pilots, and what war does to a person. That being said, early on I already had a few ideas of what I wanted for the title, but I haven't settled on anything yet. Once I do, I'll be putting up a new page on my website to start sharing information about this new book that I am excited for.

Interestingly, my third book is a rough concept and a single paragraph, but I already have the title. Perhaps that is progress on my part, but I think it has more to do with the fact that the more you create your own written universe, the easier it is to expand further into it and explore it further. I was nearly done with my first novel when I came up with a concept for the second. I had just started the second when I knew what the third one would be. Ideas beget ideas, if you work at growing them.

Titles are a challenge. I don't think I'll ever like one of my book titles, but to not have one would just make things confusing (oh, and also make sales practically impossible). As I said in my previous blog post on best practices, it's important to identify areas where you struggle and work to improve upon them. Turns out I didn't realize coming up with titles was a weakness until I thought about it.

In other news, "Jupiter Symphony" is on track to be published this winter. If you're thinking of giving someone an interesting holiday gift, keep in mind affordable novels by emerging authors. Cover art will be developed in the coming weeks, and I will have it up on the website immediately thereafter, replacing the bland, default header atop each page. Because I am writing my second novel concurrently, I'm shooting for a 2014 spring or summer release. I'll be sure to keep things posted on acharrison.com.

A.C. Harrison
Support indie authors! Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

This week I have less of a rambling posting about writing concepts, and more of a concrete list of some of the best practices I adopted over the course of writing my fist manuscript. It's an ever evolving list, as well it should be. I urge any aspiring writer to develop their own toolbox, and to regularly clean it out and update it. Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my fiction writer's best practices:

1. Find a system to track your progress - I admit, it's a challenge to stay motivated and on task with your writing. This is why I previously recommended hosting your manuscript online so you can access it at any time. For me, I found that if I marked off my progress for each calendar day, I would start to build a streak that I wouldn't want to break. There's a very simple and easy site called "Don't Break the Chain!" specifically designed for this purpose. There's even a plugin for Google Chrome (and I'm sure other browsers) that let's you update your daily chain without even navigating away from your work. Start modest and count any writing you do each day, even if it's just a few words. As you start to build momentum, you can start to set time goals, and eventually word goals (1,000 words a night, etc.). The motivation to see the chain grow will, hopefully, keep you going.

2. Identify the worst aspect of your writing - I freely admit, I write crappy dialogue. It's sometimes awkward, and usually stiff. But that doesn't mean it has to stay that way, and nor should it. Being able to recognize your shortcomings will let you improve upon and overcome them. Make it a focus point, and dedicate some time and effort towards improving. You could even make a new chain just to work on your weak side. I'll never write banter like Tarantino, but I've most certainly improved through studying, reading guides by other authors, and paying attention to dialogue I enjoyed in books I appreciate. Shore up your weakest point, and you will make large strides in improving your writing.

3. Likewise, identify the best aspect - Your writing should give you the opportunity to emphasize what it is you do best in prose. I feel I write excellent descriptions, especially of highly technical items and mechanical objects. As a science fiction author, this is a beneficial skill to have. Embrace what you do well and showcase it. It's important to have an ability that you can use to rope in readership and get people excited about your writing. As you leverage this skill more, not only will you improve it, but you will also find ways to integrate it into other aspects of your writing, improving on your complete authorship package. My technical descriptions have led me to start focusing more on describing natural settings and environments, boosting my prose.

4. Expand your vocabulary - This one I had to sneak it because it's a stickler for me. Outside of basic linguistic functions, I can't use the same word I just used in the previous sentence, God forbid if it's in the same one. Modern writing has seen composition in the vernacular, incorporating slang and new formats for dialogue and paragraphs. This is fine. However, it's too easy to give in and use this Internet accessibility to publishing as an excuse for poor writing. Take time to benefit yourself, and you will see it benefit your readership. Your vocabulary will help you no matter what kind of writing you are doing. Do you want to read about a "dark room in a dark building," or a "ink black room contained within a shadow consumed structure?"

5. Find something that gets you in the mood to write - Many times I don't want to write. It's hard to work creatively, especially on a regular basis. I think this is true whether you're being expressive in prose or in mathematics. Find something that jazzes you up, and puts your mind in association with the subject you're writing about. I love hopping online, hitting up YouTube, and blasting my favorite cyberpunk playlists. It never fails to paint pictures in my mind of all the things I love of the genre, and since I'm already right there at the keyboard...

6. Regularly revisit and revise your best practices - As with all things in life, the needs of your writing will change. This list I have is not the end all. I will write other genres. My tastes will change. I will need new things to motivate me. My abilities will grow and diversify. I would be doing an injustice to myself if I did not go forward by coming back, by reexamining my needs and reapplying myself to discovering what needs to change in my best practices so that my prose can continue to develop. Remember, amateurs practice until they get it write, professionals practice until they get it wrong. Find your failure point, then push past it.

A.C. Harrison
Support indie authors! Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.