CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

December has been a busy month. I’ve applied the lessons learned in my Back-on-Track Challenge pass-fail . Pass, because I’m back on track; fail because I learned I was being unrealistic in what I thought I could achieve, and realised I had to change what getting back on track meant. Pass, because I can actually achieve what I’ve set as publishing goals for next year. And, yes, it bothers me that I didn’t succeed in the goal as set, but I’ll get over it—too much else to get done to wallow in it. And speaking of December, and making changes, and setting goals for next year, it’s important to try and plan ahead. I’ve cut my study load by one subject, since I can’t finish my degree any faster by doing the extra one, and I could better use the time elsewhere. I also rejigged my publishing schedule so I am taking into account the fact I am a full-time student and I need to improve my grades by about 10 per cent, in order to keep a future option open. I also had to factor in the fact ...

Recently, Dean Wesley Smith blogged about Heinlein’s Rules and learning from them . He listed the rules , and I had to think about what they might mean for me, and for my writing. And this is also a very important part of learning, another point on which I agree with Dean—and another point on which he blogged recently . So, what did I think? Well, here are my initial responses: #1 You must write. Totally Agree. You must write. If you do not write, you have nothing to sell. #2 You must finish what you write. Absolutely: If you do not finish what you write, you have lots of writing, and still nothing to sell. #3 You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order. Not so sure about this. Yes, I write one draft and I tend not to redraft, so I agree here. No major rewrites. However, since I’m my own editor, it’s me who gives the orders—as well as any beta readers I’ve found… I have to be careful, or the edit-rewrite thing could get very circular. So, no, I don’t rewrit...

I need to develop a body of work: I learned this early on. Almost every short story Dean Wesley Smith wrote in the first week was connected to one of his writing worlds. The June 30 warm-up story titled The Library of Atlantis is linked to his Poker Boy world. The July 1 story, The Case of the Dead Lady Blues , was quickly identified as being a Pilgrim Hugh story. The July 2 story, The Bad Patch of Human Interest , and the July 6 story, A Matter for a Future Year , he discovered to be part of his Seeders universe. The July 3 story, They Were Divided by Cold Debt , he found to be part of his Bryant Street subdivision setting. The July 4 story, The Problem of Grapevine Springs , ended up being part of his time-travel western setting Thunder Mountain. The July 5 story , Best Eaten on a Slow Tuesday , seems to have been a stand-alone. So, I quickly realised that being able to draw on a universe, even a partially developed one was useful when writing under pressure. I...

One of the good things about learning from more experienced writers is exactly that—they are more experienced. They’ve done all the things you haven’t even thought of trying and then some, and they’ve learned from those experiences. And sometimes, if you’re very lucky, they share what they’ve learned and you can see if it applies to you. I write in isolation. I have no mentors I can go to, no experienced writer who is further down the independent-hybrid publishing path than I am, no more established writer anywhere near, that I am aware of, who even thinks the independent publishing path is more than a form of vanity publishing—and that makes things difficult. The only way I can learn is to do what I’m doing—experiment, copy the things successful independent writers do, and learn what works for me and why. I don’t even contact those writers I emulate, because I don’t want to infringe on their time, or to create a false impression of there being a connection beyond the one I...