Know What Your Ending Is Before You Start Writing

For folks who didn't know, Pixar has a list of writing rules that people are expected to follow when crafting storylines for the company. Most of them are good things to keep in mind, but today I wanted to refer to writing rule #7, which (according to No Film School) reads:

Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously, endings are hard, get yours working up front.

This might not feel natural for a lot of writers, but trust me, botching the ending is a very real issue. Hell, if Stephen King can get lambasted for his endings falling on their faces often enough that it was a serious problem with his body of work, then the rest of us need to take time to make sure we don't suffer from the same problem.

Seriously... know where you're going before you start.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

You Can't Plan A Road Trip If You Don't Know The Destination

If writing a book is a journey, then the ending of that book is your destination. And while general destinations can work (We're going to California!), the more specific your end point is, the easier it becomes to plot your trip (We're heading to the Holiday Inn in Pasadena).

Take two examples of this. You're writing a spy thriller, and you know that your secret agent's handler is actually a mole who has been manipulating things from the inside, and he's responsible for the game of cat and mouse going on throughout the book. A general ending is, "And then Agent Carter unmasks Gerald, and defeats him." Sure, that works, but it's still pretty vague as to what actually happens. What form does this unmasking take? What does defeated mean in this context? It's still a destination, but it's vague with the details, and that could become a problem for you as the writer.

A more specific ending would be something like, "Carter fakes his death, and then breaks into Gerald's safe house, knowing he'll be going there to meet his contact. He confronts him, recording the incident in question, and getting his confession. Gerald is shot dead by a sniper, and in the final report Carter gives, we find out that Gerald was selling out the agency to a far more dangerous terrorist organization that's set up as the villain in the sequel."

Sorry, Gerald, but you're no longer useful to us.

It's one thing to know you're going to a particular town, but it's another thing to know exactly where you're going to end your story because you can then work backwards from there to figure out the plot, important story beats, and so on. Writing a novel is hard enough, there's no reason to just wing it, throw as hard as you can, and hope you hit the target instead of launching your story so far out to sea there's no way to recover it.

Don't drive your plot endlessly around in circles just looking for a place to park. The story will suffer, and more than that, you're going to bore your audience. However, it's also important to remember that your ending isn't set in stone. If it turns out you think of a better ending along the way, or you need to make changes to your plan, you can still do that. However, it's a lot easier to change your destination when you actually know what it is, instead of just depending on instinct and intuition to tell you when it's time to start winding down your narrative.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (a channel full of short stories, many of which are mine)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Why Would You Want Creatives To Work A Day Job?

"There's too much talent trapped by poverty."

- Anonymous

The economy has been doing barrel rolls in the middle of its swan dive over the past year, and as an elder millennial who was living on my own back during the crash that came after the housing bubble burst 15 or so years back, this feels like very familiar territory. People are losing jobs left and right, and it seems like every day I scroll social media and see Go Fund Me campaigns for people who are trying to keep their homes, trying to pay their medical bills, and just trying to keep food on the table.

That said, though, there is another phenomenon that I've seen rear its hideous head over the past year. It's been present, swimming just beneath the surface, but it's been in full-throated roar the past several months; it is people who, in response to the struggles or requests of artists, have responded with vitriol and mockery. And the most common refrain is, of course, that we should all go and get real jobs.

Leaving aside the stupidity of that statement for just a moment... why do you want to take someone who can write, sing, perform, paint, animate, or entertain, and force them to stand behind a cash register, stare at security cameras, or deliver pizza? Why don't you want people with skill, vision, and drive to make things that could entertain you, and add value to your life?

A question that is really worth pondering. Especially if it's uncomfortable for you.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

Seriously, Though... Why?

If someone has a skill, and a desire to put that skill to use, the most logical thing is to let that person do the thing they're made to do. If someone likes to work on cars, we let them become a mechanic. If someone is satisfied hanging drywall, framing walls, etc., we get them onto construction crews. If someone can fix computers and set up networks, we get them into device repair or some form of IT. If someone is good at cooking, they work in a restaurant, if they're a good driver they might work in a cab or driving a bus route, and so on, and so forth.

Because, for some reason, we understand that in these examples you should pair a person's skillset with the job that best utilizes said skillset. However, when the person is a singer, a videographer, a writer, a painter, or really anything artistic, all of a sudden we start looking for reasons they shouldn't be able to make a living using those skills.

To be clear, all the naysayers will still encourage (and in some cases demand) that the creative folks keep making things. They just don't want said creative people to be paid for utilizing their skills.

Yeah... I don't get it either.

Here's a bottom line for folks. People who create, whatever form that takes, generally enjoy the act of creation. And yes, there are always going to be folks who are willing or able to just do things for the love of the game. But if you've ever wondered, "Why don't people make art like they used to anymore?" the answer is always money.

Because if you look at those classic sculptures, the amazing paintings, and so on that fill our museums? If you read books by a lot of classic authors? You're going to rapidly notice that a majority of them either came from money (and their family supported them so they could just be an art goblin without worrying about bills and food), or they had patrons (old-timey sugar daddies who threw money at their art goblins who wanted them to keep making great art instead of getting up to adult fun time when they were in town).

That's it. Period. End of story.

Money is necessary for artists to make art in the world we live in. Because it takes time to write novels. It takes energy to make audio dramas. It takes skill to paint, sculpt, and illustrate. And if someone is spending 8+ hours a day at a job that doesn't engage them (or worse, makes them want to chew their arm off to escape), they aren't going to have those necessary resources when they finally manage to get home.

This leads to the current issue. If you want creatives to be able to keep being creative and making art, they need to be able to focus their skills on doing that. However, if they don't come from a wealthy family, or have rich patrons backing them, how are they supposed to make it happen?

You. The answer is you, the person reading this right now.

We Literally Depend On You

I've said this before, but for anyone who hasn't been present for the sermon, creatives depend on our audiences to support us. And that audience is made up of individuals who are all doing their part to help raise the artist's profile, boost the signal, and to make sure that their pet creatives have the necessary resources they need to buy tacos and pay rent so they can spend their days producing more of the art that their audience wants to see.

And sure, maybe that means you just give an artist you like money. Whether it's as a tip on Ko-Fi, or you have a regular subscription through Patreon, just giving creators money is a great way to just grease the wheels so they can make more stuff. My Patreon and Ko-Fi are here, since we're on the topic.

If you don't want to just give an artist money, however, the next best thing you can do is buy their creations. Whether it's novels, paintings, prints, or just merch for their YouTube channel, this is the second best way to make sure their bills stay paid. After all, haven't you ever wondered why every concert you go to has a merch table at it? It's because the concert itself essentially makes no money once all the costs and ticket sales are tallied.

Seriously... bands make more money off your tee shirt than they do your ticket.

But what if you don't have any money? Well, you can actually make sure that your pet artist gets paid with nothing more than just your time and attention!

Do you like to watch YouTube videos? If you want to support that creator, then watching those videos without your ad block on means that you are actively making sure they get paid by advertisers, which allows them to keep making videos. And if you subscribe to the channel, and leave a comment of at least 7 words, you're also increasing their momentum in the algorithm, and helping more people find them! You can add a similar amount of weight for authors by following them on social media, leaving reviews for their books on places like Amazon and Goodreads, and actually requesting your library to buy copies of their books. This lets you read them for free, but the author still gets paid for the sale, in case you were curious. Hell, even leaving 5-star reviews on a podcast you like will make it more likely to show up in other people's searches and random mixes!

As I've said before, if you don't like a particular artist or a particular creator, you are under no obligation to support them in any way. However, if you do like a given artist, and you want to help them keep creating, then that burden is on you to help in whatever way you can. If you want them to make more art, then you (and everyone else in the potential audience) needs to help turn the crank to make sure they get their needs met.

Because the spark of creativity dies in the wet, grinding misery of being forced to spend all the resources you need to make art on scanning items, bagging groceries, or making phone calls when that isn't what you were called to do. And if you genuinely want your pet artist to keep making art, then do what you can to make sure they can nurture and grow that spark into many, many future projects!

Actually, Speaking of Future Projects (That Are Free)

The A.L.I.C.E. Files is a YouTube channel I launched in partnership with Alice Liddell, and it's an ongoing audio drama narrative that will also have other dramatized stories from both our bodies of work, as well as various other authors over time. So if you want to support a free project that takes just the click of a button, as well as your eyes and ears, then please watch this trailer, give it an upvote, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel to help us out!

YouTube requires you to get 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours before they share ad revenue with you... and we definitely need all the help we can get on this one.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (where many dramatized versions of my stories can be heard for free)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.

The A.L.I.C.E. Files Is Launching Soon (A Sci Fi Reimagining of Alice in Wonderland on YouTube)

It was just another day at the office... or at least she'd thought it was, until she got that mysterious note at her desk. She probably should have just ignored it. Or better yet, called HR and reported it. It was probably just a prank anyway, and at the very best she was wasting her time. Still, there was something about it she just couldn't shake. A curiosity she just had to follow.

What she finds waiting for her sounds like something out of a dream. Hidden doors, mysterious voices, a subterranean warren of secrets... and an offer of a position, if she had the courage to accept it.

This is the premise for the new narrative YouTube channel that I'm launching with Alice Liddell called The A.L.I.C.E. Files... and if you haven't subscribed yet, I'd like to take a moment to ask you to do so. If you're still on the fence, though, keep reading, because there's more where this came from!

Seriously, though... every subscriber makes a big difference at this point!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

What Are You Going To See On This Channel?

As a small spoiler for folks who aren't all-in on the project just yet, our protagonist finds herself joining the mysterious Carroll Institute as a Witness Cataloger. The organization has discovered ways to access parallel dimensions, and her job is to witness the reports submitted by agents who have gone through the Rabbit Hole, and found themselves Somewhere Else.

In material terms, that means that viewers are going to get a couple of different kinds of content right off the jump. The first few episodes (which are already done and ready to go up on schedule) are going to give you the backstory of "Alice" and how she joins the Institute. There will also be other meta-episodes that expand on the story of the Institute, its doings, and those who can be found caught in the tangled web it's woven. But as Alice begins viewing and cataloging reports, viewers will get separate audio dramas that take place in a variety of other settings. Some of these will be short stories by yours truly, and will be taken from previously published books like my collection The Rejects. Others may be public domain works, such as the original Alice in Wonderland (read in chapters), as well as works by Lovecraft and other authors.

My hope is that this format will provide an ongoing story for the Institute that develops a little more with every video that goes out, but viewers will also get to explore various settings and works by different authors, brought to life from one week to another.

And while this is pretty bold, as far as concepts go, we aren't going to be able to make it go without your help.

What We Need From You (As An Audience Member)

This is a brand new channel, and the trailer episode doesn't even debut until the 17th. As such, I don't want to overpromise what we can deliver. However, with that said, we have material for at least the first 10 or so episodes, and it's possible we'll get between 15 and 20 videos in before we really start sweating and hitting crunch time.

With that said, if this looks like the sort of project you want to get behind, then we definitely need your help. Because, as I've said before on this very blog, YouTube requires a channel to have 1,000 subscribers, and 4,000 hours of watch time in a single year before that channel gets monetized. Now, this isn't impossible, but it is very definitely going to be a serious uphill battle.

So if you want to help, take a few minutes out of your day today to do the following:

- Subscribe to The A.L.I.C.E. Files, and hit the bell to make sure you never miss our updates.

- Follow The A.L.I.C.E. Files on Facebook and Instagram to get all our announcements and content.

- Watch our videos when they start releasing, and share them on your own social media pages

- Leave comments of 7 words or more on our videos, and upvote the ones you like to please the algorithm!

If we can get at least 1,000 people to do those things over the next few months, well, we'll have our monetization on lock from YouTube, and once that happens we'll be able to expand to do even more (and more ambitious) things! At the moment we've got plans for expanding our cast, for providing merch for upcoming plotlines, and even for convention appearances... but all of that is going to depend on you all!

Right now we're only asking for folks to do free things that will help us get established. So please, if you've got a few minutes, consider helping us reach some early milestones!

Some Other Channels You Should Also Check Out

While the A.L.I.C.E. Files is still 6 days away from our debut video, I do want to suggest some other channels I and Alice Liddell have done work on before so you can get a good idea of the kinds of things we've done, and whether you think our new endeavor is going to be up your alley. I highly recommend subscribing to the following channels, as well, as there's plenty of content to go around!

#1: Azukail Games

Azukail Games is a location that's hosted a lot of my work, and there are dozens upon dozens of audio dramas of mine over there. While many of them are stand-alone tales, others are small series of vignettes that make up larger, interconnected stories. Anyway, I highly recommend checking it out and giving it a listen!

#2: Alice The Author

Alice The Author is Alice Liddell's channel where she talks about being an author, shares behind-the-scenes information about the profession, and of course where she does readings of her own work! Scroll through her channel, and if you really like some of her stories (or even her novels) we may be able to do an episode or two about them on The A.L.I.C.E. Files!

#3: A Vox in The Void

Whether you're a fan of dark scifi, dark fantasy, or just gripping fiction, A Vox in The Void is a channel you shouldn't miss. I've penned several stories for the channel over the years (including the one linked above, which also feature's Alice's voice), and I highly recommend folks go through the archive!

#4: Altered State Adventures

Another channel full of dark fiction and shadowy scifi, Altered State Adventures has featured fiction from myself, and voice work from Alice (in particular the story linked above). I highly recommend going through their backlog, and help them get just a little bit bigger this year!

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Demanding What You're Worth is Hard When No One Can Afford You (Reality For Writers)

When I started writing professionally a decade and a half ago, the going semi-pro rate for writers was 3 cents per-word. The pro rate was 6 cents per word. Between then and now the professional rate has gone up (last time I looked it was somewhere around 8 cents per word), and the semi-pro rate had increased to at least 4 cents.

The problem with these rates is that, while they're a lovely thing to know, it's sort of like being told that pristine Pokemon card you have is worth $40,000. It's nice that's what it's been valued at, but you aren't going to get that if you can't find someone willing to pay it. It's the same shit when you're a writer.

Yeah... I can pay $20 for this. I could maybe do $25?

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

They Can't Pay What They Don't Have

I've been a professional writer since I was 28 years old or so. That was the last time I worked a clock-in, clock-out job, and ever since then I've been making my living writing books, blogs, RPGs, and any other kind of job I can get my hands on. I've worked for a variety of clients of all shapes and sizes, scraping together everything I can to make sure my bills stay paid and there's food in my fridge.

And you know what? I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've received a "professional" rate for my work. If you're curious, it was the Leagues of Votann story Pyramid Scheme for Warhammer 40K, the short story The Irregulars written for Paizo, one of the adventures in the Dreadful Tales collection for the RPG Victorian Gothic, and Night Horrors: Primordial Peerage for Beast: The Primordial.

So why is that? Why have I published so many pieces of work over the years, and carved out my niche as at least a semi-pro individual, and yet I've almost never been paid even the semi-pro rate from 15 years ago? The short answer is that it's because most people who hire me can't afford it. Period.

They can't give you what they don't have, after all.

This is where authors run into that rock and a hard place. Because on the one hand, professional writers should be able to ask for professional rates for the work they're doing. However, if all the companies and clients that would employ you are only offering below-professional-standard rates, and they simply cannot afford to pay you that much, then you don't have the ability to get what you're worth.

You might be a pristine, first-edition Charizard card, but if there's not a collector on the market willing to pay $40,000 for you, your option is either wait, or sell yourself for a lower rate... and most of us don't have the ability to wait.

So, if you ever wondered why it is that authors are working 12+ hours a day, but we're still using food banks and need multiple roommates, it's because most us aren't being paid what our work is actually worth... but we can't force customers and clients to pony up money they don't have. All we end up doing is pricing ourselves out of the market.

You All Have The Ability To Help

Everything I've been talking about so far is about writers who are working for clients and companies on a per-word basis. However, that isn't the only way most of us get paid these days. If you have an author whose work you enjoy, then you have the ability to help them make a living.

So whether this is for me, or for another author you want to see succeed, consider taking the following actions to help:

- Watch/Read All Their Free Content (in addition to my blogs, you can find my work on Vocal.media, as well as on the Azukail Games YouTube channel)

- Subscribe To Their Social Media (you can find me on Facebook, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and Pinterest)

- Buy Their Merch (tee shirts, buttons, stickers, and books... like my noir cat novels Marked Territory and Painted Cats)

- Tip Them (you can find me on Patreon, as well as on Ko-fi)

When you buy an author's merch, they get a portion of the proceeds. When you watch their YouTube videos, listen to their podcast, or read their free work on a site with ads, they still earn some money because of your interest. When you follow them on social media, and interact with their posts, that tells the algorithm to push them up higher, and to give them more attention.

Again, no single individual is going to completely bankroll an author whose work they like. But if 50, 100, or 1,000 people all choose to do something small for a particular author over time, then those snowflakes are going to become a snowdrift. And eventually that avalanche is going to bear down on them, and wipe away bills, debts, and the things holding them back from making even more of the stuff you want to see.

Because if you have a loyal following that's supporting your work, well, you suddenly have the ability to tell a company that isn't paying enough for a job no. You have that ability to just wait it out until someone who wants to hire you can pay your minimum rate. And if they can't afford it, you can tell them that you'll still be here when they have a bigger budget to work with (or when they're willing to allocate part of that budget to you).

You, the audience, are the ones who have the power to lift and support creators. And if you really want to make a creator's day, you should exercise that free will to the fullest extent you can!

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.