Learning | Meredith Mansfield, Author

Posts Tagged ‘Learning’

Potpourri

Posted in writing, tagged characters, conflict, e-publishing, fantasy, first drafts, Learning, marketing, serialization, writing, Young Adult on May 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A little of this and a little of that, today.

Work progresses on the WIP, MAGIC AND POWER. It had slowed to a crawl for a couple of days as I had a really difficult scene to write. It’s one where my main character is assailed by doubts and is unprepared to make a difficult choice. I’m sure that it’s one that’s going to need plenty of work in the revisions to strengthen it. Sometimes int the first draft, you just have to put down what you can and move on. Now I’m on the scene where my characters can get really angry with each other. This one’s going to be a lot more fun to write.

In other news, Amazon made me really happy this morning when this turned up in my inbox.

Gotta love free advertising.

On the chain mail front, I know I haven’t posted anything recently. I finally ran down a new set of instructions for European Four-In-One. This is the standard pattern of actual chain mail used as armor back in the middle ages.

Sometimes, it just helps to try something a different way. That’s what finally worked for me with the helm pattern. The different perspective can just help it make sense. It works for writing, too, by the way. Stuck on something? Try writing it from a different point of view.

Also, as usual, new chapters of FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD WILL TELL are available on wattpad. You know, though, it’s going to take over a month to get to the end at two chapters a week. Both books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and other places.

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Print on Demand

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, Multiple Projects, publishing, serialization, writing, Young Adult on April 24, 2013| 4 Comments »

As part of publishing FIRE AND EARTH, I tried something new.

For the first time, I also made a print version available. Print on Demand services like Amazon’s CreateSpace make this possible, now. Nobody has to pay for a large print run. Copies are printed when ordered.

That’s not to say it’s just as easy as uploading a file. Neither is e-book publishing, come to that. There are various formatting issues that have to be solved with e-book publishing and those aren’t immediately obvious the first time or two. But then the learning curve kicks in and it gets easier.

Formatting for print, without having access to desktop publishing software, has its challenges. Certain quirks of MS Word made it more interesting. It wasn’t until I got the proof of FIRE AND EARTH that it finally became clear to me. What word showed as the left-hand page was reall, in print, the right-hand page. Ah. No wonder I hadn’t been able to make sense of the margins. (You see, you have to leave a larger margin on the inside so the print doesn’t run into the binding and disappear.)

Well, now that I’ve figure it out, I might as well capitalize on the learning curve. So, in the near future, I will be adding a print version of BLOOD WILL TELL and also probably a collection of the three shorter pieces I currently have available as e-books, “Heart of Oak”, “The Music Box”, and “Becoming Lioness”. In fact, BLOOD WILL TELL is almost ready to go. I just want to tweak the cover a bit. That dragon bothers me just a little when the cover is blown up to 6″ x 9″. The edges are a little rough.

In other news, new chapters of FIRE AND EARTH and BLOOD WILL TELL are available on wattpad.

Next post, back to work in progress, MAGIC AND POWER (which is likely going to need a new title). This one is now over 46,000 words, so, yeah, it’s going to be a novel.

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One Step Forward . . .

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, Multiple Projects, serialization, writing, Young Adult on March 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

You know the rest. I don’t even have to say it, do I?

Well, as for steps forward, the fourth chapter of BLOOD WILL TELL is now up on Wattpad:

BLOOD WILL TELL, Chapter 4

In addition, the first chaptr of FIRE AND EARTH is now up there, too, with this (provisional) cover. (I may tinker with it some more, but you get the general idea.)

My next task in figuring out this promotion thing is to gather myself together and explore audio books. For a long time, I was thinking I could do this myself. Well, maybe I can with one or more of the shorter works, but I simply don’t have a trained voice to do a full novel. Know your limitations. So, I need to go over to ACX and see what I can do there to find someone better equipped to do it for me. Now that FIRE AND EARTH is in the mix, maybe I’ll use that one. It only has two POV characters.

Meanwhile, I’m still writing on an (unplanned) project. When I picked this up, it was supposed to be something short that I could work on while choosing my next project. Like so many of my stories, it had a mind of its own. It’s going to be at least a novella–and quite possibly may want to grow up into a novel. The world, I think, is rich enough. I’m just starting a love triangle, which is something a little new for me.

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Step One

Posted in writing, tagged fantasy, first drafts, Learning, marketing, Multiple Projects, writing, Young Adult on March 6, 2013| 2 Comments »

And it’s a small one. Still, you’ve got to start somewhere. So, where I chose to start was by putting the first chapter of BLOOD WILL TELL up on Wattpad. Go check it out. It’s free. The current plan is to put up a chapter once or twice a week (there are 34 chapters) and then move on to BLOOD IS THICKER. It’s a start. I need to do a whole lot more.

In other news, I’ve sent out the first six queries for THE BARD’S GIFT. Fingers crossed, please. And, by this time next week, hopefully I’ll be in the Luck of the Irish Pitch Fest with this story, too. It’ll be a random drawing so, again, fingers crossed. I’ve got the pitch about as polished as I can get it in 200 words.

And I’m working on something new! “Magic and Power” will probably be a novella, at least on the first draft. (Early signs say it’ll come out around 40,000 words.) But I might decide to expand it into a full novel later. We’ll see.

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Read an E-Book

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, events, fantasy, Learning, marketing, Multiple Projects, short stories, writing, Young Adult on March 3, 2013| 2 Comments »

I’m participating in Read an E-Book Week this week over on Smashwords. Two of my e-books are half-price this week:

Blood Will Tell

And “The Music Box”

Are half-off this week, so go check them out.

Otherwise, things that I’ve learned I need to work on, coming mostly out of IndieReCon, are:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
I’m going to be looking into setting up my own mailing list of people who volunteer to learn about upcoming publications. There are a couple of details I need to take care of before I can proceed with this.
Audio books. I need to stop pretending I’m going to be able to record them myself. I don’t have the equipment, time, or a trained voice that will stand up to the strain. I might still manage one of the short stories. Otherwise, I need to start exploring some of the other options available.
I’m also going to explore serializing over on Wattpad to introduce more readers to my writing. What I still have to decide here is whether to start with BLOOD IS THICKER or go back and start with BLOOD WILL TELL. (BLOOD IS THICKER is the sequel to BLOOD WILL TELL.)

So, look forward to more posts as I explore these areas.

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Chain Mail and Maps

Posted in writing, tagged Alternate History, fantasy, inspiration, Learning, world building, writing, Young Adult on February 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday was my chain mail class. This was a first-time, experimental class for just about everyone, including the instructor. It was also a very small class–all of five of us, including the instructor and one participant who already does chain mail.

I did not come away with a chain mail bracelet–but I know how to make one, if I want to, now. I did come away with samples I made of three different weaves, hands-on experience (which is what I really went for), and an appreciation of the craft.

We worked with soft aluminum wire (which you can actually manipulate without recourse to pliers). I can only imagine trying to do the same thing with steel or iron rings–and then having to either rivet or forge-weld the links in order to strengthen the mail. I’ve decided if I ever do write a character who makes chain mail, he’s going to be an alcoholic. Straight from his workshop to the nearest alehouse. He’ll need a drink–or several–after a day of working on some of the more difficult weaves (which I haven’t even attempted yet).

Yes, I said yet. I do think this could be a fun craft to play around with. It turns out there are a lot of things you can do with chain mail techniques short of attempting a mail shirt. Bracelets. Chains. Pendants. Even Christmas ornaments and candle holders. There are even kits you can buy, which could be an effective way to learn some of the techniques. There was even a sample of a banner in European four-in-one pattern using different colored wires to depict a dragon. I do cross-stitch patterns. I could make my own chain mail patterns, too.

Mail (Photo credit: awrose)

But first, I’ve got to get back to finishing THE BARD’S GIFT. I want it ready to start querying next month. I only have the polishing edit to go. Oh, and I’m trying to draw a map of Greenland, Iceland, Baffin Island, Newfoundland, and part of the Saint Lawrence River. We’ll see how that goes. With my drawing skills, I’d probably be better off practicing chain mail.

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This Week is for Learning

Posted in writing, tagged Alternate History, Contests, e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, queries, writing, Young Adult on February 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’ll be over at IndieReCon most of today, trying to learn about this marketing thing that I still haven’t figured out. Pop on over. It’s free.

Meanwhile, I’m working on my query pitch over at the workshop preceding WriteOnCon’s Luck of the Irish Pitch Fest.

And Saturday, I’ll be taking a class on how to make a chain mail bracelet. Just in case, you know, I ever write a character who makes chain mail.

English: ChainMaille Dragon’s Back Bracelet or Roundmaille Weave Made from non-tarnish silver Artistic Wire Jump Rings from Beadalon. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All while still working on the revisions of THE BARD’S GIFT (so it will be ready for that pitch fest up above) and trying to keep up with my critiques.

My head may explode.

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Asking for Knowledgable Help

Posted in writing, tagged Alternate History, fantasy, Learning, research, revisions, world building, writing, Young Adult on February 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

In my last post, I blogged about asking on one of my writers’ groups for someone who knows about sailing to read excerpts from my current WIP, THE BARD’S GIFT, and give me feedback on the sailing stuff.

Even though I’d done a lot of research before starting this story, there are some things that are just hard to come by in book (or internet) research. My main concern when I asked for help was certain innovations one of my characters (whose main quality is his inventiveness) made. Were they believable? Or would they be embarrassingly stupid?

I got that, but I also got so much more. Some of the sensory details that I wouldn’t ever have thought of. There are a lot of things I can convincingly describe. The sounds of a wooden boat or ship in a storm aren’t among them. And those details will enrich the story so much.

Now, there are a lot of places I might have gone to ask those questions. But, probably only another writer would have realized the importance of the sounds and other sensory details that my character would be subjected to.

Glad I asked.

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Sailing Scenes and Traveling

Posted in writing, tagged Alternate History, fantasy, Learning, revisions, writing, Young Adult on February 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

Oops. Got busy on my revisions yesterday and forgot to blog.

I’m in the middle of the (hopefully) next-to-last revisions on THE BARD’S GIFT, based on feedback from readers. This will take probably two passes and then it will be time for the final polishing edit. The last couple of days I’ve had two particular issues in my revisions.

One chapter involved sailing and a storm. Well, I’ve never been in a wooden boat during a storm. In fact, I haven’t often been on a boat because, well, because I get sea sick so it’s not much fun. So, I asked for someone on one of my writer’s forums to read those sections and let me know what I’d gotten wrong. The feedback was very helpful, but it takes a lot of work to incorporate some of those suggestions.

Deep breath and move on to the next chapter, which was boring. Boring. Well, the problem with this chapter was not that nothing happened. It was that a large part of the chapter as originally written was wrapped up in the characters getting from point A to point B. A couple of things that will be important later happened, but they were buried in the travelogue.

Note to self: This story doesn’t take place in Middle Earth and I’m not J. R. R. Tolkien.

Hopefully, I’ve fixed that by deleting a lot of stuff that didn’t move the story along and substituting a little character development. It’s possible that development will get deleted in the next pass, too.

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The Role of Women

Posted in writing, tagged Alternate History, fantasy, History, inspiration, Learning, world building, writing, Young Adult on January 31, 2013| 4 Comments »

Day 4 of the World Building Blog Fest hosted by Sharon Bayliss is about Culture. Since the protagonist of THE BARD’S GIFT is Astrid, a sixteen-year-old girl with an unusual gift, I choose to blog about the position, treatment, and role of women.

Women did have different roles than men. Women’s work was generally done inside the longhouse (a norm that Astrid breaks routinely). Men did the heavier, dirtier work outside.

The Norse culture was extremely violent. However, there was at least one major exception: the treatment of women. Offering any kind of violence to a Norse woman was considered unmanly. Notice, I specified Norse women. The same consideration was not extended to captive women or women encountered on Viking raids. At home, though, a man or boy simply did not raise his hand to a woman. Even accidentally harming a woman was considered shameful.

Women oversaw the finances of the family and sometimes oversaw the farm as well. As widows, they could become wealthy landowners in their own right. Women could easily divorce their husbands and upon divorce, both the dowry and the bride price became her property.

Interestingly, about the only form of magic that was considered good (as opposed to evil) was prophecy–and prophecy was exclusively the province of women.

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