Dragon-Riding Sky Vikings, And Not Burying Your Story's Lead

Several years ago I was contracted to help give a facelift to a fantasy RPG setting called Legends of Kralis. It was a project that had a lot of heart, but which needed a little extra polish to really bring out the unique aspects of it. While the creator had said he wanted it to have more of a sci-fantasy than straight fantasy feel to it, many aspects of the book, from the black and white line art, to the general world description, to the array of standard equipment, felt a lot like older editions of Dungeons and Dragons despite that intention.

I'd been on the project for months, removing things like number of soldiers under certain banners from nation descriptions, and trying to add more distinct flavors to countries that felt really similar in their execution, when I came across a line in the northern kingdoms that said there were airships who had to contend with raids by sky pirates riding frost drakes.

I distinctly recall exclaiming out loud, "There are sky Vikings riding ice dragons raiding airships, and you waited until page 347 to tell me that!?"

Most of what I'd come across in the project up to that point had been fairly standard for a fantasy RPG, and it had front-loaded the blander parts of the gameplay and world building. Once I finally slogged through all of that, though, I found cyborg despots holding their nations in iron fists, contingents of star knights wielding laser lances and riding robot horses, magi-tech thieves running high-speed heists, and dozens of other things that would have immediately drawn my interest. But all of them were buried so deep in the text that by the time you got there you were probably expecting another game entirely.

Speaking of, if you'd like to see a more refined version of the game with many of the leads thoroughly unburied, check out the Legend of Kralis quick start for free!

Seriously, if you have sky Vikings, LEAD with that!

Before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Don't Bury Your Lead

While this story deals with the particulars of roleplaying games and world building, this is something that I see a lot of writers of all stripes deal with. Because a lot of the time we'll focus on the safer, more normal aspects of our projects and stories, rather than going all-in on the parts that really stand out that are more likely to get an audience's attention.

In short, regardless of what kind of project you're working on, ask yourself what the unique selling point of your story, setting, etc., is. What makes it stand out among the competition?

Is this magical finishing school story about a character who doesn't have any skill with spells, so they have to resort to other means to come out ahead when it comes to magical challenges? Is this high fantasy story about a long-running cultural lie where elven overlords convinced orcs they were savage brutes who committed atrocities that never happened, using false flag operations to justify purging the orcs and taking their land? Or does this game allow you to tame an ice dragon, and then use that creature to raid sky ships so you can steal their cargo, sell the vessel, and live out the rest of your life as a legendary Jarl in the northlands?

People like stuff that's familiar, that's true. But if you have something that's sure to grab attention in your project, don't hope your potential readers care enough to get elbow-deep in the book before they find the good parts. Lead with that. Hell, put it on the cover if you absolutely can!

And while this may feel like it's primarily a marketing concern, it's also important to evaluate your setting, your story, and even your cast of characters while you're working on a project. Because too often we stay committed to only exploring the place where we originally had an idea, when there's something way more interesting shining over the next hill. So every now and again it's a good idea to take a step back, really take a look at what you're making, and asking if where you're focusing is really where the most interesting part of your story is taking place.

Speaking of Not Burying Your Lead...

Figured I'd share one of my older (but still fun) stories that I made for bringing attention to my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age RPG setting. I figured that a city built on a sky island ruled over by a cooperation of 5 dragons, one of whom enjoys sky racing, would be enough to get people to sit up and pay attention!

For folks who just want to do their part to help keep me making more content, as well as stuff like the little audio drama above, please subscribe/follow me in these locations:

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

- My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

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!

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 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!

Being a Creator Can Feel Like Being Stuck in an Unpaid Internship

Unpaid internships are bullshit. The very idea that you have to show up and work, providing your value to an employer in exchange for some vague idea of "experience" and "networking" is just another way for the people with all the money to squeeze something out of you in exchange for nothing. Because not only are they getting all your time, energy, and labor for free, but you still have to buy the right clothes, pay your commuting costs to get to the office, and in the mean time you still have rent, utilities, and food to pay for.

This makes these internships impossible to participate in unless you already have money in the bank, rich parents who can support you, or you're working another job to pay your bills.

For a lot of professional creatives, this is an experience we understand all too well. Because even if we have the skill, the drive, the vision, and the will to make things, what defeats us is often the long stretches of time where we aren't being paid even if we're working our asses off. And sure, there's a promise of payment down the line, maybe, if the market allows it, but it's not a guarantee in the slightest.

Starting to feel like the deck is stacked against us, huh?

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!

A Concrete Example of What I'm Talking About

I realize that intro paragraph can seem a little vague, so let me give you an example from my own experience.

For several years I've had people ask me why I wasn't making YouTube videos. It's a big platform, and it would be one more way for me to earn some extra income. While this is technically true, YouTube requires you to have 1,000 subscribers on your channel, as well as 4,000 hours of watched content in the past year before they'll even review you for monetization. That translates to 11.5 hours of watched content per day for 365 days, in case you were curious.

Now, if I already had a loyal following of thousands of people who would subscribe to my channel and watch my videos, that would be a speed bump I could easily deal with. However, I knew from experience that trying to reach those goal posts would mean I would be making hundreds of videos, potentially for years just for the platform to maybe allow me to monetize my traffic.

I did not have years of time and energy to put into something that sized (to say nothing of buying a good mic, buying a camera, learning the ins and outs of editing programs, lighting, etc.) when the problem was that I needed money in my hand before next month's utility statement came due.

So why am I making YouTube videos like the above audio drama Fine Print? Simple... someone actually funded me to make it happen.

Adrian Kennelly, the fellow behind Azukail Games, wanted more video content for the company's YouTube page. It had primarily been used for making preview videos for various tabletop RPG supplements, which would then be linked on their Drive Thru RPG sales page as a way to let browsers take a closer look at what they were thinking about spending their money on. Since he wanted more varied content, he offered me a fee for every video I could make to add to the channel.

If you go to the Azukail Games YouTube channel (which you should subscribe to while you're there), you'll see that over the past year or so I've been improving what I make. I've gotten a good mic, a better camera, I've gotten more comfortable with the editing process, and I like to fancy that the sound effects I add to the audio dramas really make them pop. But I was only able to justify the time, resources, learning, and effort because there was a fee attached to these projects. Not a big fee, mind you, but one that made it a viable project that would pay some of my bills.

If I'd been trying to do this all on my own, grinding away until I eventually got monetized, and then until I had $100 banked (the minimum payout for YouTube to send you a payment)? I never would have done any of this because the only people making a profit would have been YouTube.

A Promise of Future Payment Doesn't Help Right Now

That seems like a pretty specific example, but honestly, most of the publishing industry is run on shoestrings and spitballs when it comes to people getting paid. If you write short stories, you have to send them to an open call, hope they get picked out of the submission pile, and then you'll get paid when the collection is published (assuming there is a payment attached to the story, and that the book actually comes out instead of being cancelled before your check arrives). If you write a novel then you have to get it accepted by a publisher, wait till it comes out, and hope people buy copies of it. Writing the damn thing can take months to years, and publishing can add more months to another few years, and unless you got in tight with Penguin or Random House, you aren't getting an advance on your potential earnings. Making videos, as you see, can come with years of working for nothing, and making a podcast isn't much better in terms of earning potential.

You can opt to do all the publishing yourself, but that means you need the skills, the time, the energy, and then you have to also do all the marketing yourself. And it's possible you could spend several months to several years getting your book, show, etc. ready, only to have no one (or almost no one) actually buy the thing.

So how do writers make a living? Well, real talk, most of us don't.

There's no punchline here. Just facts.

Those of us who do make a living require luck, privilege, security, or some combination of all these things.

Most creators I know can't live off their earnings alone. These folks often depend on a spouse's income, health insurance, or sometimes both. A lot of creators also live with their parents, or with an extended network of friends and partners so they can afford to live off of what little they do make. Some have lucrative day jobs, choosing to write in their spare time. A surprising number have retired from other careers, giving them a foundation to build on. Some folks inherited money from family members who passed away, allowing them to keep the lights on while they get a project made, and build their audience.

Then there's the lucky folks. People who managed to get a book onto the market that just happened to hit the right nerve at the right time for whatever reason. Maybe they make a video that goes viral, their podcast hits an audience that can't get enough, or they gain notoriety because of something they do or say in their story. Maybe they get a cease and desist letter in a public way that causes a lot of curiosity about what their book is about.

And even if you get stuff out on the market? Well, like I said in If 90,000 People Read This Article I Can Pay My Bills This Month, we all require an absolutely ridiculous amount of backing from an audience just to make ends meet if there aren't sponsors covering our living costs while we make our art.

What You Can Do To Help

I felt the need to put this topic together today because I've reached a point, professionally, where I have a lot of publishers who are interested in bigger projects from me (novels mostly, but also TTRPG campaigns), in addition to struggling with some big ideas of my own (particularly a long-form serial in the form of a podcast). And while I want to work on all of these things, the reality is that I live in government-subsidized housing, and I need to have checks ready to go every month. Because when all of your energy is spent making things to help you survive, you simply don't have the luxury of doing bigger, longer pieces... no matter how much passion you might have for them.

If you made it this far and you'd like to help me, specifically, here's some things you can do!

- Follow My Facebook

- Check Out My LinkTree

- Subscribe to My Weekly Newsletter

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

- Subscribe to My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing!

If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!

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!

Not All Writing Advice is Going To Apply To You, And Your Work

There's a metaphor I've used several times since I started this blog most of a decade ago, which is comparing the writing process to going to the gym. However, while this comparison works on multiple levels, I feel that one aspect I haven't touched on is, quite simply, there's no such thing as universal exercise advice. Something that works perfectly for one person isn't going to work at all for someone else; it all depends on who you are, where you're starting, what your end goals are, and a thousand other factors.

So please, keep all of this in mind whenever you start looking for things to improve your writing regimen.

Not all exercises are for every regimen, after all.

Before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Different Sports, Different Bodies, Different Goals

For those who need a visualization.

Too often, people just assume that every kind of writing is the same sport. Not only that, but they assume that writers are all the same kind of athlete, and that what works for one person will just as easily work for another. If you've ever tried to write something, though, you'll quickly learn that is definitely not the case.

For example, some authors are long-distance runners. Their prose is a journey, and they focus on steady progress toward that eventual goal. Other authors are sprinters, and they focus on pieces that are economy of motion; all killer, no filler, as it were. Some authors are power lifters, focusing on heavy worldbuilding, and others are cage fighters, focusing on heavy-hitting action or deep emotional impact. And as you can see from the sample above, taken from Bored Panda, all of these sports and areas of focus require different kinds of peak physiques, different kinds of training, and different areas of focus.

It's useful to think of writing advice in this context. Because just like how there's some general advice for exercising that can be used by everyone, there's also some general writing advice that will work for all authors. But the more specific the advice gets, the higher the chance there is that it's not going to work for you and your style or project.

And just like how dieting advice meant for long-distance runners is going to be the opposite of what power lifters need, and how a regimen for a fencer isn't going to be great for a wrestler, there's a lot of advice out there (including the advice on this very blog) that isn't going to work for you.

The most important thing to remember is that you know yourself and your style better than anyone on the Internet. So while I generally recommend trying various methods, and listening to the different approaches other writers use, you're the final arbiter of what's good for you and your style. Just remember that when you open your ears to other folks' approaches and suggestions, and remember that they don't know you personally, so they can't tailor their advice/recommendations to you specifically.

It seems obvious, but I felt it needed to be said.

If You Want To Help Me Out, I'd Appreciate It!

And for folks who just want to do their part to help keep me making more content, as well as stuff like the little audio drama above, please subscribe/follow me in these locations:

- My Facebook

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

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

- My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

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!

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 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!

Don't Make The Mistake of Equating Popularity With Quality

Before we get into the meat of this week's update, I want to be clear that this is not about bashing popular fiction, or declaring that just because something has a diehard following that it's inherently of lesser quality. People are free to like what they like, and to enjoy what they enjoy, as long as they aren't hurting anyone. However, as authors we often equate earnings and popularity with our worth and skill as creators... and I think it's important to regularly remind ourselves that just isn't the case.

Your books mean nothing, I've seen what you cheer.

As usual, before we get into it this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Being Skilled and Being Famous Aren't The Same Thing

There is a question almost every author out there has asked themselves at some point in their career, and while it's usually a rhetorical question, it's one that I feel we should look at, and try to answer.

"Why is that author being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, and being read by millions of fans, but I'm not?"

Because there are all kinds of answers to this question.

A lot of authors will ask themselves this, and begin to fill in the blanks with their own perceived failings. Their story isn't good enough, their writing is flawed, their characters are derivative, and so on, and so forth.

And while that might be true, it's important to remember that it isn't necessarily the reason. After all, there are a lot of hacky stories, cliched characters, and predictable prose that's made its way onto the bestseller list over the years. And even if your writing isn't perfect, that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining, and that it doesn't speak to the hearts of your readers. No, what is more likely is that you haven't found your audience. The problem is that there's only so much you can do about that, and the deck is stacked against you.

Let me give you an example.

This is an audio adaptation of my short story Field Test from the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void. The story itself has just over 200 some odd reads in its original, text form, but if you check the view count on the YouTube channel it has 65,000 listens and counting!

That disparity is a perfect example of what I'm talking about this week.

While I wrote the original text of the story, I have maybe a couple dozen hardcore followers, and at best a hundred or so casual readers beyond that. A Vox in The Void, at time of writing, has over 43,000 subscribers, and it's growing every day. So the channel has a bigger platform, draws a bigger crowd, and presents a format that people can listen to while painting minis, cleaning the house, or doing other tasks that are impossible to do when reading. There's also the matter of that channel's name carrying more weight with the community, and feeling more legitimate to a lot of folks, who despite listening to the story may still have no idea who I am.

And, you know, the presentation is beautiful. That helps, too.

Why didn't I draw 65,000 reads when I first posted the story? Well, I don't have that kind of a fan base. Vocal, as a platform, doesn't draw the kind of audience a popular YouTuber can. The algorithm is more likely to draw eyes to said YouTube channel than it is to bring readers to the text version I posted. There's the name and brand recognition that I lack. The list goes on and on.

So the next time you start getting down on your work and questioning whether you're really good enough to do this, I want you to take a moment and think about all the famous people you've heard stories about that claim they got their big break from someone who opened a door for them. Whether it was Stephen King turning his audience on to the works of Clive Barker just as he was about to fade into obscurity, Dolph Lundgren getting early acting gigs through his association with Grace Jones, or anyone else who has had to seize opportunities as they come, remember, none of us are self-made successes.

Write the best stories you can, and work hard to master your craft. But remember that if you don't have a marketing budget measured in the thousands, a huge audience that means the algorithms automatically promote you, and a name big enough to get you radio, podcast, and talk show spots, people aren't going to psychically know that you wrote an amazing story that they've yet to discover.

I Could Also Use A Little Help (If You Can Spare It)

If you made it this far, and you'd like to help an author who's fighting the algorithm every day, please consider doing the following:

- Follow My Facebook

- Check Out My LinkTree

- Subscribe to My Weekly Newsletter

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

- Subscribe to My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're interested in even more free fiction, gaming articles, weird history, and more go give my Vocal archive a browse. It's got 263 entries at time of writing, and each read helps me earn a little bit of cash to pay my bills.

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 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!