Writing Tools for the Modern Age: Vocal

Hello, readers. It’s been quite a busy year and a half for me–longer, actually. I’ve mostly been sticking to my freelance work–editing, beta reading, and writing–this whole time. I’ve also started using another tool to get my writing out there: Vocal. I want to share with you what I’ve discovered so far.

Vocal home page

On Vocal, you can share your writing and get paid for it. After you create an account, you create a post (similar to a blog post), publish it (with Vocal’s approval), and wait for people to read it. You then receive $3.80 for every 1,000 reads. If you’re a Vocal+ member, you also get the chance to enter challenges with cash prizes. I’ve seen at least one challenge with a $10,000 first-place prize. Once your balance is $35, or $20 for Vocal+ creators, you can withdraw. Vocal only uses Stripe, but that’s a minor obstacle to overcome if you don’t already have an account.

You can post pieces in any number of subjects. Right now, the communities include 01 (technology), Beat (music), Blush (beauty), Cleats (soccer), Confessions (for all confessions from romantic fails to childhood pranks and beyond), Criminal (true crime), Earth (pretty self-explanatory), Education (again, self-explanatory), Families, Feast (food), Fiction, Filthy (for the sexually curious), Futurism, FYI (obscure knowledge and facts), Gamers, Geeks (fanboys, movie franchises, and more), Horror, Humans (relationships), Interview, Journal (work), Lifehack (DIY), Longevity (healthy living), Marriage, Motivation, Petlife, Photography, Poets, Potent (marijuana lifestyle and cannabis culture), Pride (LGBTQIA+), Proof (alcohol), Psyche (mental health), Serve (soldiers, veterans), Styled (fashion), Chain (cryptocurrency), Swamp (politics), Trader (investing), Unbalanced (sports and the culture around them), Viva (being a woman), Wander (travel), and Wheel (cars). As you can see, Vocal lets writers explore virtually all subjects to their hearts’ content. Better yet, you can read other creators’ stories on virtually any subject you want.

So far, Vocal has been a lukewarm experience for me. Like with any other publishing outlet, it can be hard to get readers when you’re getting started. As a result, I haven’t raised too much money yet. I also have yet to win any of the challenges, but a lot of people enter those. It’s just a matter of perseverance, constantly improving on your writing, and continuing to enter all the challenges that you can. The process for withdrawing can be a pain with how long it takes, but if it means that the transaction is secure, I don’t see too much to complain about. Most people will also probably prefer to use the free Vocal membership rather than Vocal+ since Vocal+ is $9.99/month.

One of my Top Stories, based on a blog post from The Writer’s Scrap Bin

There are pros to this experience. When you submit a story, you have the chance of being chosen for a Top Story. Top Stories get featured on the home page, the main page of the community they’re posted to, and the Top Stories page. This generates more readers. You also get an extra $5 if your story becomes a Top Story. I’ve recently discovered that you get extra money for reaching certain milestones, such as publishing a total of ten stories.

As of the writing of this post, I have had two Top Stories, both of which are based on posts from this blog. One of them is a modified version of “Writers on Writing: Anne Rice,” updated to honor the author in light of her death. The other is a modified version of “Disney’s Grown Up: Frozen Through the Eyes of GAD,” also updated to reflect recent issues with the Walt Disney Corporation. They are my best-read pieces on Vocal. Oddly enough, an updated version of “Academic/Essay Writing: A Creative Act” has been my worst-read piece. Of course, not many people are interested in academic and essay writing, so it makes sense.

Overall, I think Vocal is worth trying. It might take a while to make money, and you will need to invest a lot of self-promotion. Regardless, the site can help get your writing out there. You can also support other writers by reading their pieces.

To check out the site and join, follow this link. You can also read what I’ve posted to Vocal by visiting my profile.

Sick Cruising Anthology

What a year 2020 has been, readers and writers. A pandemic, exposure of violent racism, riots, political unrest…I can’t even begin to describe how surreal it’s felt. Of course, we all have a baseline understanding to work with, so I don’t really need to. Suffice to say, I’d love for whoever wished to live in an apocalyptic novel to get us out of it already. I suppose that it hasn’t been all bad for writers, though. It’s provided ample inspiration for stories. That brings me to the point for today’s post: my story, “Beautiful Dreamer,” in the Sick Cruising anthology from Notch Publishing House.

In the Sick Cruising anthology, the stories are united by a shared concept inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death.” Each writer was given a character and prompt based on that concept and then left to their own devices, within reason. In the end, the stories come together to tell the larger story of the doomed cruise ship the All Powerful as it takes its owner, Mitch Winters, and five hundred guests out to sea, far away from the COVID-21, or Red Lungs, outbreak–or so everyone thinks.

Image retrieved from Amazon

My story, “Beautiful Dreamer,” follows Ava Nelson, daughter of modern Midas and close friend of Mitch Winters, Gregor Nelson, as she accompanies her father and his nurse, Jayden Casseus, aboard the All Powerful. After living through her mother’s death, COVID-19, Gregor’s leukemia, and now Red Lungs, Ava sees this cruise as the escape that she and her father have been looking for. (Not to mention the chance to get to know Jayden more personally.) Then she spies Red Lungs symptoms in herself and other passengers. Suddenly, a pale, scrawny figure appears in her dreams, stalking her father. With no authority figure in sight, Ava fears they will never leave the ship.

Other writers from the anthology include my fellow writers from the Darkness Wired anthology, Henry Snider, R.C. Mulhare, and Junior Sokolov.

“Beautiful Dreamer” is my second published story with Sick Cruising being my second fiction anthology. (“Postmortem” was long-listed in a contest but never published, and I had an essay published in an anthology before Darkness Wired, but that was an academic anthology.) So, as with “Patient Zero,” this is an exciting time for me. A light in the darkness, you could say.

For more information on the Sick Cruising anthology and to look out for future anthologies and contests, check out Notch Publishing House’s website. You can also find ways to read Sick Cruising there, including buying a Kindle or paperback copy on Amazon.


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Darkness Wired Anthology

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! It’s certainly been a busy few weeks. I went on vacation the week of Halloween, and almost as soon as I got back, I fell really ill. I was definitely not a happy camper for a while there. Fortunately, I’m doing much better. Busy as always, but not feeling like I’m going to die from being sick anymore. I also have some pretty exciting news: one of my short stories, “Patient Zero”, was published in the Darkness Wired Anthology from Notch Publishing House.

For this anthology, writers were given the pick of several prompts involving a mixture of modern technology, old gods, and Lovecraftian mythos. With each story covering a different year, Darkness Wired spans fifty years from 2020 to 2070–a future that’s just around the corner. The result: a collection of ten dark science fiction/horror stories that will entertain you and make you think.

Image retrieved from Notch Publishing House’s website

In “Patient Zero”, the first known sufferer of a new disease called Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Agressiva, Maria Labeouf-Garcia, is slowly driven mad by hallucinations. At least, she thinks they are hallucinations. The truth is far beyond her comprehension, but will Maria discover it before it’s too late?

Other authors in the Darkness Wired Anthology are Wren Cavanagh from The Last Flag and Junior Sokolov from Honeycomb: Revelations (co-author).

“Patient Zero” is my first short story to be published–“Postmortem” was long-listed for a contest but never published–so this is both an exciting and nerve-racking development for me. Hopefully, though, it will not be my last.

For more information on the Darkness Wired Anthology and to look out for future anthologies and contests, be sure to check out Notch Publishing House’s website. If you want to support some fellow writers and read the anthology for yourself, you can borrow it on Kindle Unlimited or buy it for $4.99 on Amazon.


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Book Review/Announcement: Hidden from Our Eyes by James Fisher

Update 12/18/2019: At the time that I was working on this announcement/review for Hidden from Our Eyes by James Fisher, the book’s Amazon page said it was 370 pages long. However, it now shows 272 pages, so that is the correct length.

Happy Friday, readers and writers! Today I want to bring you a combination book announcement and review for a unique kind of speculative fiction—or at least one that we don’t hear about very often anymore. Instead of taking its readers far into a dystopian future or back into a foreign-yet-somehow-familiar past, this book journeys into an almost unrecognizable alternate timeline, one in which Native Americans still control North America, English as we know it never came to exist, and by the 1970s, cars just barely exist in Europe and planes are but a madman’s dream. For this post, I want to talk about Hidden from Our Eyes by James Fisher.

June 21, 1976 – Tom Winchester is a student pilot living with his widowed mother in Virginia Beach. On the summer solstice, as he is leaving for his flying lessons, a voice calls out to him from near a hickory tree in his front yard. Convinced it’s one of his old track-and-field buddies playing a prank on him, Tom investigates. Instead of finding a mischievous friend—or any other source for the voice—he stumbles through a mysterious and mystical stone arch into a world plucked straight out of the history books: Vinlandia, a North America void of all Europeans but for a few Christian priests and Vikings.

No English. No America. No family or friends or any connection to those around him. Abandoned by a trickster voice in a land that is so familiar and yet so incredibly strange, Tom must learn and adapt if he is to survive long enough to find his way home. From wartime scouting missions and brushes with pirates to landmark inventions and an unlikely romance, this Virginian is in for the adventure of a lifetime. With the source and purpose behind his journey still a mystery, the real adventure has only just begun.

Image retrieved from Amazon

Now, I want to be upfront about my history with this book. I actually started off beta reading it for Fisher as part of a Fiverr gig, and I have seen in it through many iterations of thorough and honest feedback. Most recently, I served as the work’s editor, making sure to polish the writing as best as I can while still maintaining Fisher’s unique voice. I felt it only fair to disclose this to you, my readers, so you will have it in mind as you read through my review.

However, remember this: I always speak my mind. I’m nice about it, but I still do it. If I don’t like something, I will be honest and say so. Fortunately, that’s not the case here. I have seen Hidden from Our Eyes grow from a strong concept into a captivating story, and fans of alternate universes/timelines, historical fiction, and supernatural fiction are in for an exciting ride.

Hidden from Our Eyes by James Fisher is a quick and engaging read despite being 370 pages long. In part, this is due to Fisher’s straightforward, easy-to-follow writing style coupled with carefully selected descriptions. For me, though, it’s more due to the multiple layers of mystery driving the novel. Where exactly has Tom landed? Who called him through the archway, and why? Why is this timeline so different from ours? Will Tom ever be able to get home? With these just being some of the more major questions this book generates, the reader will keep going until the very end just to get them answered—and then impatiently wait for the sequel as more questions are raised in the last few pages.

As with most speculative fiction, the most compelling aspect of this novel is the world-building. Fisher has clearly put a lot of thought, historical research, and imaginative energy into constructing an alternative timeline that could have realistically branched from a minor divergence in the path to our reality. While it seems on the surface to be absurd or outlandish, thinking it through, much like Tom himself does, reveals just how much sense Fisher’s alternate timeline/universe makes. For a nerd like me—one who is both a history nerd and loves to contemplate what would have happened if just one thing had happened differently—this is as exhilarating as a well-defined magic system in epic fantasy or accurate technological leaps in science fiction.

Hidden from Our Eyes also contains a diverse cast of characters in which readers are bound to find someone that they can at least become attached to if not feel an affinity for. Each character has their own unique personality and history, even if the latter is never really explored or hinted at. Some are likeable, others are not, and still others manage to be both at the same time. (Womocco made me both smirk in amusement and groan in frustration, sometimes within the same scene.) Fisher has even developed the most minor characters well enough to make them stick in the reader’s mind for the rest of the novel. The characters of Aethelstan and Valgard, while very minor, made a particular strong impression with me, and Valgard ended up being one of my favorite characters. When minor characters turn out to be so well developed, the author has clearly put a lot of time and effort into making all of them.

Of course, this novel isn’t for everyone. The plot isn’t the same sort of on-the-edge, character’s-world-is-about-to-end kind of plot that many fantasy, science fiction, and other speculative fiction novels we have become accustomed to. The main antagonist is not some wicked ruler utilizing black magic or an evil corporation and/or alien race controlling our every move but a mysterious force akin to fate keeping Tom trapped in this new world. There is action involved in the scouting and ship scenes as well as plenty of emotional tension, but the story isn’t for action-lovers. Instead, it’s speculative fiction more aimed at thinkers and those focused on character and world development. It’s not a flaw in the work; it’s just not every reader’s cup of tea.

Overall, Hidden from Our Eyes by James Fisher is great for anyone who has ever wondered what it would have been like if Europeans hadn’t established colonies in America. It explores not only how that would have changed the socio-politico-cultural landscape of America itself but of the world at large, looking for the most likely event that would have prevented it and following the ripples that it would have sent throughout all of Europe and the Americas. On that front, the only way it could have been better is if we could have seen how it affected more of Asia, the Middle East, and that part of the world. However, the book is more than just an exploration of what if. It’s a journey into something that is both a secret fear and desire shared among most, if not all, humans: being given a completely new start, all by ourselves, with no connection to our pasts whatsoever to mold our destinies into whatever we want. This book invites the reader’s intellectual engagement, and for those who prefer more action, the potential for plenty of that in the second book is teased at by the end of this one. I personally can’t wait to see what becomes of Tom in both of the lives he has made for himself.

You can buy Hidden from Our Eyes by James Fisher as a Kindle book on Amazon.


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

The Curious Case of Depression and Anxiety

Happy October, readers and writers. It has been quite a long time since I’ve updated this blog. I’ve been neck-deep in work, including a few projects that I can’t talk about just yet. Rest assured, though, that they are fairly interesting, two of them being editing jobs for other writers and one involving some writing of my own. (I know, it’s hard to believe!) Unfortunately, it’s not just been good news that’s kept me out of commission since I last posted here. Heck, it’s not even the biggest reason. Rather, the most prominent reason for my absence is something I’ve discussed many times before: depression and anxiety.

I almost didn’t put this post up. For more than a week, I constantly came to it, wrote it, rewrote it, edited it, and left it, wondering if I should just ditch it for one of my typical “mea culpa” kind of updates. I kept asking myself if anyone would really care to hear about my depression and anxiety, if it’s something I should really discuss in this depth. Why drive it into the ground when I’ve talked about it before?

I know, though, that there are people who read this blog who do not feel that they can talk to anyone about their mental illness. They worry that they’ll be seen as incompetent, lazy, less of a person, even crazy. If anyone connected to work found out, they could miss out on promotions, much-needed overtime, new gigs or contracts, or lose their job altogether. Worse yet, what if people thought they were lying to get out of something or for the attention?

These are the people who need to see someone else talk openly about depression, anxiety, and other mental illness. Someone like me. They might be a regular reader or they might have just come across this one post by random, but if I can help someone else start to talk by discussing my own problems, then it’s worth whatever other people will think of me. Considering last week was #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, it seems appropriate that I finally get around to letting you all know more of what’s going on with me.

I’ve made it no secret that I suffer from depression and anxiety. Why hide it? Like I’ve said in previous posts, depression and other mental illness are not uncommon among writers and other artists. It almost seems to be a prerequisite. That’s why it makes no sense for us to suffer through it alone. We already expect it of each other, why don’t we just own up to it and work through it together?

It’s not always so obvious to tell when someone’s struggling because mental illness doesn’t manifest in everyone the same way nor is it present 24/7. There are times when I am happy, when I can laugh, when I can feel, when I am just like everybody else, but there are also many, many times when thoughts creep in, especially when I’m alone, that other people would be disturbed by. I know I get disturbed by them if I look back on them in my better moments.

Image retrieved from To Save a Life

These thoughts are self-deprecating, needlessly guilt-ridden, and make me feel down, hopeless, and, often, worthless. I have to force myself to do even the things I enjoy and normally want to do. My fear of not completing projects sustains me through my work, and my fear of falling short of my own standards maintains the quality. Regardless, every little thing feels like dragging myself through quicksand while carrying fifty-pound weights. I have panic attacks, cry for no reason, and want crawl into a dark hole and never come out. No matter how often people praise me, something tells me that I’m no good. If I’m proud of myself for something, it usually doesn’t take long for that part of me to start saying that it doesn’t matter, that no one cares, that I need to stop because I’ll get a big head and get sloppy.

Suffice to say, it has gotten worse lately, to the point that I’ve had to admit it to my mother, the one person who knows when something’s going on with me. Of course, she could already tell that something was up. I’ve talked about it with my doctor, and we are adjusting my medication while I also look into a counselor.

While I’m doing better now, each day is still a struggle. Hopefully you’ll be hearing from me more often. There will be at least one more post this week about a recent release from a new author. I also have some articles and books that I’d love to share with you, so watch for more updates! I might even be able to share that news about one of my own short stories soon.

And please, if you’re wrestling with any issues from depression or other mental illnesses, seek help. I know how hard it is. For all that I say about mental illness, it took me a while to reveal how bad things had gotten. I was embarrassed and afraid and didn’t want anyone to worry about me. Trust me, I know how hard it is to work up the nerve, but please do. That is the only way you will get better.

And if you suspect that someone you know is going through a hard time, don’t wait for them to reach out first; check in on them. If nothing else, they will want to see that you care enough to ask if they are OK.

For a thorough list of mental health resources, including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line, please go to the National Institute of Mental Health.


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Rotten Reviews from Rotten Writers

Happy Saturday, everyone! As my regular readers know, I started this blog as a way to provide support to fellow writers, whether they are aspiring or well established, and build a community of writers that build each other up, not tear each other down. I’ve just never understood why we can’t help each other. We all have our own genres, styles, and niches, so why can’t we share readers and rejoice in each other’s success? Unfortunately, not all writers think that way, and not just in modern times. We’ve been jerks to each other for quite a while. The proof is in Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews & Rejections.

I’ve discussed this book once before. Essentially, it’s a collection of famous writers’ worst–and most hilarious–reviews and rejections. It’s meant to show writers that even the best in our trade get rejected and reviewed poorly so that they don’t get discouraged. To me, it’s actually quite an entertaining read. Among the reviews from famous publications and rejections from well-known publishers are remarks on certain works and their authors from an unexpected source: fellow writers. Whether in letters, diary entries, or published reviews, it seems that writers have always loved to take the opportunity to tear each other down. A few stuck out to me strongly, and you’d be surprised as to the perpetrators of these rather scathing comments:

A cliché anthologist…and maker of ragamuffin manikins.

Aristophanes on Euripides in The Thesmophoriazusae, circa 411 B.C.E.

First, I want to point out the date of that quote: 411 B.C.E. Yes, writers were ripping into each other even in Classical Greece. In this case, it was a younger playwright accusing one of his older contemporaries of being a “maker of ragamuffin manikins.” (That’s too funny, I just can’t get past it.) But where did such critiques get Aristophanes? Well, both are arguably still well known with Aristophanes called “The Father of Comedy” and “The Ancient Prince of Comedy” and Euripides considered one of the most prominent Ancient Greek tragedians who influenced the likes of William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. Still, it’s worth noting that I had at least heard of Euripides before reading this book.

Whitman, like a large shaggy dog, just unchained, scouring the beaches of the world and baying at the moon.

Robert Louis Stevenson on Walt Whitman in Familiar Studies, 1882

Walt Whitman certainly took it in the shorts, even from fellow writers. Frankly, I’m not sure what to make of him being compared to an unleashed dog gone wild. Personally, I would take it as a compliment considering dogs are among some of the best animals in the world, but I severely doubt that Robert Louis Stevenson meant it like that. In case you don’t recognize the name, Robert Louis Stevenson was the author of both Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde–an odd combination if I’ve ever seen one. He was also a poet with one of his most favorite collections being A Children’s Garden of Verses. Still, odds are that more people have heard of Whitman’s poetry than Stevenson’s.

Image retrieved from Amazon

It’s a shame you never knew her before she went to pot. You know a funny thing, she never could write dialogue. It was terrible. She learned how to do it from my stuff…She could never forgive learning that and she was afraid people would notice it, where she’d learned it, so she had to attack me. It’s a funny racket, really. But I swear she was damned nice before she got ambitions.

Ernest Hemingway on Gertrude Stein in Green Hills of Africa, 1935

Ernest Hemingway, he was…quite the character. I won’t lie, my feelings about him are mixed at best. Was he a great writer? Absolutely. His mastery of minimalism and subtext is beyond compare. In fact, he’s my go-to for examples on how to utilize subtext in dialogue. He was also courageous and a real man’s man. Still, there is a strong argument–accompanied by a strong counterargument–that he was misogynistic. There’s no clear-cut answer to that, especially when you look at both his works and his personal life. His remarks on Gertrude Stein here really do not help the argument against him being misogynistic. To me, it seems like the knee-jerk reaction of someone who was butt-hurt that someone–a woman, no less–dared to criticize him. Writers aren’t the best when it comes to handling criticism, so it’s not surprising–it’s just rather unprofessional to attack another writer personally and in their art as a result.

It is of course a commonplace that Hemingway lacks the serene confidence that he is a full-sized man.

Max Eastman on Ernest Hemingway in New Republic, 1933

For all that Hemingway dished out, he took more than a few gut-punches himself. Even when it’s not about a legendary “macho” man like Hemingway, comments like this one are both hilarious and incredibly cringe-worthy. Max Eastman was a lot of things–prominent political activist, poet, writer on literature, philosophy, and society–but he’s nowhere near as well known today as Ernest Hemingway. Still, such a personal attack on a fellow writer seems rather unnecessary. Of course, Eastman was also a staunch supporter of the Women’s Rights Movement and a founding member of Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage, so perhaps Hemingway’s possible-but-not-proven misogyny caused some tension between them.

It’s a sad truth: writers have always attacked each other, and it will continue for the foreseeable future. Sometimes, the cause will be a dislike or disapproval of each other’s work. Other times, it’ll result from political, theological, philosophical, social, or economic disagreements. Real and imagined slights, jealousy, misunderstandings–a lot of things, both major and minor, could make writers lash out at each other. Then there are those jerks that just can’t keep their opinions to themselves when they hate each other.

Whatever the reason, tearing each other down does not help anyone. At best, you’ll go down in history as one of the literary world’s biggest a-holes. At worst, it could destroy your own career. As funny as many of these rotten reviews from rotten writers are, they are still toxic. Read them, laugh at them, but also learn from them. Do you want to be featured in one of Pushcart’s future editions of this book as the rotten reviewer? Or would you rather build up fellow writers and, maybe, grow your friend circle and fan base along the way?

What have your experiences been with fellow writers? Supportive? Destructive? A little bit of each? Leave your stories in the comments below!

Update 11/25/2022: This article and other pieces of my writing, from The Writer’s Scrap Bin articles to original stories and poetry, can be found on Vocal.


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Plotting vs. Pantsing vs. Plantsing

Happy Tuesday, fellow writers! I hope that you all had a fun and safe weekend (three-day weekend for Americans). I spent most of my weekend recovering from a huge surge in work plus the hand-in of my dissertation portfolio. I officially turned in my creative writing portfolio for my master’s program last Wednesday, and now I wait impatiently for the results. In the meantime, I’ve been continuing with my freelance orders and plugging away at my novel, a chunk of which became my creative writing portfolio. I have also been keeping my ear out for any writing-related news, and one piece in particular has brought me to today’s topic: plotting, pantsing, and plantsing.

Before I get into what these are and the debate about them, I want to discuss what got me thinking about this subject in the first place. You’ve probably noticed a fair amount of discussion regarding Game of Thrones floating around social media lately. It’s hard to ignore. Even if you don’t watch the show or read the books–I’m ashamed to say that I am such a person–the conversation has been interesting to follow, especially from a writer’s perspective. In particular, a Twitter thread from a writer explaining why this season feels so different has caught my attention.

In this thread, the author, Daniel Silvermint, pins the difference on a shift from pantsing to plotting. Silver mint makes some very compelling points, so I suggest you go to the thread and read it for yourself. However, it does lend itself to the question, can your writing really change when you’re plotting versus when you’re pantsing?

To answer this question, we need to know what these terms mean. Essentially, they are two different ways of writing a story. The first, plotting, is pretty self-explanatory. If you’re a plotter, you plot out your entire story before you start writing. You could probably argue that J.K. Rowling is a plotter. Conversely, panters figure things out as they go, letting their characters organically develop the plot based on their actions, reactions, and the consequences of these. Such writing is called pantsing because you’re said to be writing by the seat of your pants. George R.R. Martin is a notorious pantser. A third way of writing, called plantsing, is also acknowledged. When you’re a plantser, you fall somewhere in the middle. You plan some things, you fly by the seat of your pants with others. I am personally a plantser.

Image retrieved from Foxy Writer Chick

Each method has its pros and cons, and no one method is considered superior to the others. However, they are three distinctly different ways of approaching your writing with often distinctly different results. As you might imagine, plotting usually results in a story which is more focused on the plot, pantsing begets a story more reliant on character development, and plantsing is somewhere in the middle. As with most things, these results are not guaranteed, but they are generally how the different kinds of writing tend to go.

So, in the case of Game of Thrones, the first few seasons felt more focused on character development because the writing more closely mimicked George R.R. Martin’s pantsing style. The final season, on the other hand, required the screenwriters to wrap things up on their own because Martin has not finished writing the book series. As they had a limited time in which to wrap everything up, they became more focused on plotting out what needed to happen to tie up all loose ends. The result is not necessarily a worse story than if they had continued pantsing but a different story. Maybe it is actually worse than the rest, maybe not; I really won’t know until I watch the show. What I do know from Silvermint and other fans is that the story is different in the plotted seasons than in the pantsed ones.

But does the way you approach your writing really change it so much that readers notice? If you look at Game of Thrones, then the answer is a resounding YES. The whole truth, though, is much deeper than character-focused vs. plot-focused. Your approach can, in fact, change the quality of your writing. The fact is that one approach might come more naturally to you than the others. If you hit on the one which more organically fits with you, your writing will be much smoother, more eloquent, and more enjoyable overall. If you’re working with an approach that does not fall in line with your nature, your writing will feel forced, artificial, and hard to read. As with everything in writing, it depends on finding what works for you, not what is considered “right” by the general populace.

Plotting, pantsing, and plantsing are equally valid approaches to writing. They might result in different focuses, but that does not mean that one approach should be held in higher regard than the others. The only problem comes when you try and force yourself to use a method which does not make sense for you and for the story. You might even have times when you’ve used one method with success in the past and it just does not work for your current WIP. The key is figuring out when a writing/planning style feels unnatural to you. If it does, try another way and see if it works better. Each approach might be valid, but only one is valid for both you and your story simultaneously.


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Rotten Reviews and Rejections

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you’re all having a great weekend so far. As usual, I’m spending mine working. (I’m still trying to find work/life balance as a freelancer.) However, I have also been spending it reading a book I got a couple weeks ago called Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews & Rejections, edited by Bill Henderson and Andre Bernard. I’ve been getting such a kick out of it that I had to share it with all of you, yet I don’t want to do one of my typical book reviews. Instead, I want to go through a couple of these “rotten” reviews and rejections which I think that struggling writers would get a kick out of and find encouragement in.

First, I’ll explain what Rotten Reviews & Rejections is about. As the title suggests, it’s a collection of some of the harsher rejections and reviews of popular works–some of the “reviews” are of the writers themselves! This book takes reviews and rejections from as far back as 411 B.C.E. (seriously) to its publication in 1998. There also notes on famous writers’ rejections and struggles, commentary on the art of reviewing, and writers’ remarks on negative reviews and rejections.

Now that you know roughly what the book contains, I want to dive into the first rotten review/rejection. I’ll start with what I consider to be the most absurd:

…a copyeditor’s despair, a propounder of endless riddles.

Atlantic Monthly on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (1962)

I want you to take a careful look at the subject of the Atlantic Monthly‘s critique, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language. I have never paid attention to reviews of dictionaries before unless I had an odd experience with that dictionary. Even then, the negative reviews have more pertained to incorrect spelling or definitions, missing words, etc. To find such a negative review of a dictionary which does not have to do with egregious errors took me by complete surprise. The lesson? All books get negative reviews, even ones as commonplace as dictionaries.

The next review really does not pull any punches:

…unmanly, sickening, vicious (though not exactly what is called ‘improper’), and tedious.

Athenaeum on The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Well, at least they called it “not exactly what is called ‘improper'”. That’s something, right? It’s not the most negative or vicious review I have seen, but it’s not exactly rosy, either. The Picture of Dorian Gray is counted among Oscar Wilde’s best works. This clash between the review and the novel’s future success proves that no matter how bad a review seems when you read it, it won’t necessarily dictate the fate of your work. There are many, many other readers out there, and if they like your writing, they’ll make sure that you succeed. (Fun fact: the editor of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, in which The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published, feared so much that the story was indecent that he deleted roughly five hundred words from it before publication without Oscar Wilde’s knowledge. British book reviewers still took offense with the novel.)

Image retrieved from Amazon

Of course, before we get to the rotten reviews, we have to get through the rotten rejections. I’ve shown you some rotten rejections of famous works before, but those are only the tip of the iceberg. Fortunately, rejections nowadays are usually just generic form letters, so the personal insults are limited. Just be glad that you haven’t received a rejection like this one:

You’re welcome to le Carre–he hasn’t got any future.

Rejection for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre

Ouch. I have to admit, I’m not sure if this would make me want to crawl into a hole and never come out or prove the publisher/editor wrong. As you might have guessed, le Carre seems to have gone with the latter. It doesn’t seem likely that rejections will get so personal as to be this painful in the modern age, but the next time that you feel the sting of a rejection form letter, remember that le Carre didn’t these harsh words get in his way, so you shouldn’t let one or even one hundred rejection letters get in your way, either.

I get a little too much of a giggle from the last rotten rejection/review I’ll be discussing in this post, although it might have to do more with the novel than the actual rejection:

We regret to say that our united opinion is entirely against the book as we do not think it would be at all suitable for the Juvenile Market in [England.] It is very long, rather old-fashioned, and in our opinion not deserving of the reputation which is seems to enjoy.

Rejection of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

I am not a big fan of Moby-Dick. It’s ironic since my own published essay was written on a chapter of Moby-Dick, but the novel just never caught my interest or kept me engaged. Perhaps it was the excessive talk of whaling. (While this wasn’t the reason why I originally disliked the book, I now cringe at the mention of the title because I had ancestors on the Essex, which served as inspiration for Moby-Dick. If you don’t know why that makes me cringe, check out the Wikipedia article.)

Regardless of my own opinions of the novel, it is still considered a classic and a Great American Novel. Its origins, however, include a rather rotten rejection and mixed reception when it finally was published. How novels become “classics” is a great mystery to most. That’s why you can’t just let a rejection–or a thousand–tear you down. Revisit your work, improve it however you can, and try again. Eventually, you’ll find that editor, publisher, or agent who has just been waiting for work like yours. Who knows, your multi-rejection novel or poetry collection might just become a modern classic.

The best way to handle rejections and negative reviews is to take them in, digest them, and determine if you can use the feedback to improve upon that or future works. However, sometimes you will come across rejections and reviews which are just spiteful and unproductive–in one word, rotten. You need to remember that every writer gets them at some point in their career. All you can do is take a deep breath, put the rejection or review aside, and move on with your life. Don’t feed the trolls; feed your writing.

You can get a paperback copy of Rotten Reviews & Rejections on Amazon. I will also be discussing more of these reviews and rejections in future posts, so keep an eye out!

Have you ever received a particularly painful rejection or review? Know of one for a famous writer/work? Leave your stories in the comments below!


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Five Ways Fiverr Lets Down Freelance Writers

Let me start by saying that, for the most part, I have had a pretty positive experience on Fiverr. I’ve made some good connections with repeat clients, I’ve built up my portfolio some, and I’ve only run into one problem while getting my money from them. However, after almost two years on the platform, I’ve learned quite a lot about not only Fiverr but freelance writing and editing in general. Mostly, I’ve learned what not do.

I’ve learned to not take on projects you’re not excited about, especially ones which flat out conflict with your values and interests. I’ve learned that however long you think it will take you to complete a project, you should multiply that number by at least 1.5 and use that as your timeline. I’ve learned that sometimes you just have to put your well-being before making money, especially if you’re stressed or are having health issues. Most importantly, though, I have learned that you should not price your freelance services too low, no matter what the client might try to convince you is the “right” or “fair” price. Trust your own research when it comes to pricing, not theirs.

The problem is that the experience writers–and other creative freelancers–have on Fiverr directly contradicts some of the most important lessons of freelancing, especially pricing. It’s just not built to accommodate career freelance writers, editors, artists, graphic designers, etc., if they want to be paid what’s considered fair in their respective industries.


Image retrieved from Scam Detector

In particular, there are five prominent ways in which Fiverr lets down freelance writers:

  1. Fixed rates only. Freelance writers and editors both usually rate their services per word, per page, per hour. Fiverr has none of these options. Instead, you must somehow figure out a way to price your services using a fixed rate. The three package options can help to a degree by allowing you to have different prices based on word count or something similar, but there’s no way to work per hour or by the exact word or page count. You could end up writing 1,000 words for the same price as 100 if you can’t find the right way to group the packages.
  2. Buyers expect scab wages. Not all buyers on Fiverr are like this. Most of my Fiverr customers have been fairly reasonable about following industry standards rather than “Fiverr standards”. Still, a good number of them expect you to work for what would be pennies compared to those offering their services on a platform other than Fiverr. They think that just because you’re getting work through Fiverr, you should work for significantly less than the average writer. I had an experience with this very recently. I had been ghostwriting for someone on Fiverr at a rate of $250 per book, which was then raised to $300 per book as it went from novelization of a screenplay to writing a novel based on an outline. When I had first agreed to this, I didn’t know what was considered fair pricing for ghostwriting in the writing/publishing industry. I eventually learned the truth while researching a post for this blog on ghostwriting. According to a guide from Writer’s Market, I should’ve been charging at least $25/hour. Huffington Post says that anyone charging under $15,000 per project for ghostwriting books is either really new and looking to build their portfolio or very low quality, even suspicious or a scam. This Fiverr buyer was only paying me at best one-tenth of what I should have been paid, and that isn’t including the work for supplemental research and revisions I put in. When I told him that he either had to accommodate a raise to the entry-level rate of $25/hour or we’d have to part ways, he essentially said we’d have to part ways and questioned this new rate for no reason other than the fact that my services are provided through Fiverr. This is someone who had been very happy with my work before, and yet he thought that I shouldn’t charge the industry standard solely because of the platform; my effort and skills meant nothing when it came to price. Perhaps if we had connected elsewhere he would have thought this rate was fair, or he might have just tried to force me into something much lower anyway. The difference is that on Fiverr, it’s more acceptable to expect unfairly low prices.
  3. There’s a maximum amount for custom offers based on seller level. Services like writing, editing, graphic design, commissioned art, website design, etc. are high-paying for a reason. We are experts in highly-specialized fields that require a combination of education in that field and natural talent. Even the cheapest of fair rates aren’t going to be what the average person considers “cheap”, not even if they “just” freelance. That’s why it’s so easy for people in those fields to get ripped off when working through a platform like Fiverr. One of the biggest issues is that there is a maximum amount which you can charge for custom offers–which are much easier to work with than flat-out orders–based on your seller level. For new sellers and level one sellers, that maximum is $5,000. For level two and top sellers, it’s $10,000. If you charge the lowest of the acceptable rates in the writing/publishing industry, this might not be a problem. If you have any experience and self-worth, though, it’ll be a challenge to get your fair pay all in one order for anything longer than, say, articles or novellas.
  4. The already-low rates get cut by 20%. Fiverr takes a 20% cut of every order as a fee for using their site. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. After all, they have to make money somehow. However, the rates are low enough that 20% can feel like a sizeable slice, especially in comparison to places like Guru, which only takes about 8.95% as a transaction fee.
  5. Harder to show your portfolio. Let’s face it, no one wants to hire a writer or editor if they don’t have a good sense of their work. The most highly-respected examples are usually those which have been published, and the best way to show them off is to provide a link to where they can be purchased or your own site. Fiverr, however, loves to flag any external link as a problem. There are options to show off your work if your freelance work is more visual, such as graphic design and painting. You can just upload an image to the related gig. For writers, though, it doesn’t work that way. You can upload a PDF of sample work and hope that the potential customers will have PDF readers available, but there are no options to upload a Word doc or anything like that. That means the portfolio options for writers and editors are limited. No portfolio, fewer jobs, less money.

Image retrieved from Millo

Fiverr is not necessarily a bad site. You can optimize it by offering services you can do very quickly for low prices. For example, I’ve had a fair amount of success with my one-liner gig and writing/editing short online articles. Even beta reading and query writing has gone well for me on there.

However, it is a horrible place to offer larger freelance services. I do not recommend offering writing or editing services for anything larger than novellas on Fiverr. Instead, the best move you can make is to create your own website where you can have a portfolio and links to your work, post reviews from former clients, and set your own rates in any format that you like. WordPress and Blogger are probably the best places to consider if you’re new to website building and/or don’t have a lot of money to spend on it. Another safe move would be to consider places like Guru, iFreelance, Freelancer, and Reedsy (if you’re experienced enough). I haven’t tried out these sites fully yet so I cannot recommend one in particular, but they are consistently offered as good sites for writers, editors, and other freelancers to offer their services.

Have you had experience as a seller of freelance writing/editing services on Fiverr? Was it positive or negative? Do you think writers and editors should offer novel-sized services on there long-term? Or is it better as a gateway for making some contacts and potential client relationships? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!


Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011

Self-Care: A Story of Neglecting Personal Care

Happy Thursday, everyone, and happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! Today I want to focus on a very personal matter which has greatly affected my life lately: self-care. Writers and other artists are notorious perfectionists with a tendency to work themselves to the bone. While such dedication means we produce top-notch work, it also means that we don’t do a lot to take care of ourselves. Neglecting ourselves for our work might seem like a worthwhile sacrifice at first–after all, we are trying to build our careers and build better lives for ourselves–but it is the worst move we could possibly make as freelancers.

I’m going to tell you a little story. I’m a perfectionist obsessed with always doing my best and pleasing everyone but myself. It’s how I’ve been for as long as I can remember. For most of my formative years, this didn’t cause too many problems. Yes, I was incredibly shy and had stage fright. However, I was studious, had near-perfect grades, and had a bright future ahead of me. I was the good, polite, overachieving child that every parent wants–unless you want an athletic kid. That was never going to happen. (I trip over myself for no reason, bruise by just looking at something, and hit my head far more often than I’d like to admit.)

Then came my senior year of high school. I was all set to overachieve once again, but guess what? It’s a hell of a lot harder to keep up with over-achievement by that stage in one’s academic career. I was senior editor for the school yearbook, staff liaison and secretary for the student government, and my high school’s liaison to the school board and the city counsel. In addition to the required history and English classes, I took drama, leadership, yearbook, AP calculus, and zero-period (meaning more than an hour before the rest of school started) physics. That’s not to mention that the AP calculus and physics classes were shared with another school in our district, so I had to go to that school for zero and first period and then go to my high school for the rest of the day. On top of all that, there was a lot of family drama at home that stressed out everyone.

Needless to say, I didn’t have time for self-care. I was miserable. I had a meltdown in the bathroom after a decent presentation. I was sick most days and kept having horrible back pain. I threw up constantly and could hardly eat, quickly developing a stomach condition for which I still have take medication to this day. Honestly, my mind started blocking out most of the year from my memory almost immediately. Even now I can only remember bits and pieces and feeling as though I let everyone down.

I graduated top of my class, was valedictorian, and heard about my teachers still gushing over me for a couple of years after I went off to university, but my health and mental state suffered. I had no concept of self-care, and I paid for it.


Image retrieved from Healthy Place

Surely after all of that I learned to pay more attention to self-care, right? After all, my senior year resulted in me having numerous stress-induced medical conditions, being a permanent bundle of anxiety and nerves, and (unjustifiably) feeling too embarrassed to visit my high school whenever I returned to my hometown. I must have learned the importance of self-care.

Apparently, I don’t learn well from my mistakes.

For the past few months, I have been involved in a project I hate ghostwriting stories I hate for a price which isn’t even a tenth of what it should be. The client has been nice enough and understanding about the need for flexible deadlines, but it’s been too much work for too little pay. I’ve burned myself out. For the past several days, I have had a relapse in my stress-induced stomach condition that has caused severe intestinal issues and vomiting. Additionally, I have also had stress- and dehydration-induced migraines that aggravated the stomach problems. Only now I am realizing how much I need to focus on self-care and putting my personal needs over this underpaying project.

The point of my story is this: don’t be like me. Put yourself first. Don’t settle. Ask for a fair rate and if they can’t afford it or just won’t give it to you, don’t stay only for the “experience” or because you think that even a little money can help. You might be able to pad your pockets for a while but in the long run, it’ll just ruin you for other, better-paying projects. Whether you’re just starting or you’re a seasoned veteran, it’s important for your health and sanity for you to take on projects that you are excited about and which will pay you fairly.

Most importantly, pay attention to self-care. It is so easy to forget to exercise, eat right, and make time for yourself when you work a regular nine-to-five job; when you write, freelance, and/or work from home, it’s almost impossible to fit self-care into your schedule. The line between your personal life and your business blurs beyond recognition. However, if you don’t take care of yourself, you will suffer and so will your work ethic. You are your most valuable asset.

What has been your experience with self-care as a writer? Have you ever reached rock-bottom from too much work? Any advice to keep this from happening to others? Leave your thoughts and words of wisdom in the comments below!



Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011