Staring at the blank screen? Can't quite force your... paws... to start tapping out words? Maybe even getting to the laptop was a challenge?

We're not talking about writer's block here: you've got a story you're eager to write, the characters are screaming in your head to be released onto the page... so what's holding you back?

LMS - Lazy Muse Syndrome - has paid you a call, and she's brought along her BFF, Procrastination. Procrastination will present you with something you'd rather do - and it has to be now, because today's the last day that movie will be showing, for example - or with just this one thing that you should do first - that phone call, maybe, which leads to another thing and another...  

When or if you get through Procrastination, and bring up the page, and type "Chapter One", Lazy Muse jumps in. She'll spit out two sentences, or three paragraphs... and suddenly you find you're thirsty, or hungry, or need to pee. When you get back, there stands Procrastination, just waiting for you again.

I don't need to go on. If you're reading this, you get it. The question is, how do you get rid of it?

You tell yourself the problem is will-power, or time, or too many other commitments, but the real problem is: SIZE. Let's face it, a novel is huge: 90,000 words, 300 pages, a WHOLE BOOK - gasp! It doesn't matter if you've already written a dozen of them - or in my case eight - the very thought of starting something that size makes me hyperventilate. What if I can't do it again? What if it takes forever? Shouldn't I just do this one little thing first? If I'm going to be writing this book for the rest of my life, do I really have to start today? Why not tomorrow?

Really, the issue behind all our fears is size. Would you jump off a step stool? Would you jump off the Empire State Building? Would you talk to two people about your book? Would you like to talk in front of two thousand? Would you walk through a shadow? Would you walk through a long dark tunnel? Would you climb a hill? Would you climb Mt. Everest? It's all about proportion.

The trick is convincing yourself that this MAMMOTH, LIFE-LONG COMMITMENT is really not that big a deal. Telling yourself? Nope, convincing yourself. It has to be believable. Your inner muse isn't stupid. And if you want to convince yourself, it has to be true. So how do you turn this mountain into a series of mole-hills?

Big Business uses the mnemonic acronym SMART to reach goals. But we don't want big, right? We want SMALL. So that's the acronym I use.

S - specific. Going to a movie is specific; making a phone call is specific; writing a novel? Not so much. In order to make a task specific, you have to know exactly what it looks like, what's involved. For a writer, that means plotting. I know, some authors hate to plot. But you can't build anything without some kind of blueprint, and the clearer the blueprint, the more manageable it will seem. Remember, you're trying to convince yourself this is doable. So whether you plot a lot or a little, you need to have some idea of where this novel starts, where it's going, and where it will end. Who are the characters, what are the main plot points, how  will it conclude? The more you know, the smaller the actual task of writing it will seem. Having trouble with this? Just pretend that plotting out your novel is a way of delaying writing it, and you will have Procrastination on your side!

Once you know what your novel specifically looks like, you can turn writing it into convincingly bite-sized pieces. We already do this for the readers, so they won't be daunted by the prospect of reading it - we call them chapters. So now do it for yourself. The right size of each writing chunk is very individual; you need to consider the rest of this acronym to determine what will work for you.

M - measurable. Your lazy little muse might not want a big task, but she wants a big reward, and she's not very patient, either. She needs constant affirmation. That feeling of success, of accomplishment? She's addicted. Making her wait till the whole bloody novel is written just won't work - she'll go somewhere else, where they understand her better. You have to give her a day's pay for a day's work. How will you measure a day's work? Some people say, "I'll write for this long every day." I've never found time to be a good measure of writing. I mean, does it start when you sit down, or when you actually start typing? If you take a washroom break, is that time out, or is it part of your daily hour? There are a hundred ways Procrastination can still operate while you're sitting in front of your laptop. How can your muse leave with a sense of accomplishment if she cheated? 

Chapters are an option, and you can feel legitimately good about completing a chapter, but chapters differ in length. Writing is slower than reading, so writing an entire chapter (especially if you write, say, 8,000 word long chapters) every day may be unrealistic. I prefer word count or page count as a measure. It's quick and clear.

A - achievable. Here's where you take into account your personal circumstances. How much time a day can you realistically devote to this? What are your other daily obligations? Are you a fast or a slow writer? Your muse won't be happy if you never achieve your daily goal, so be honest about this. Better to aim low and feel wildly successful than to aim high and constantly fail. Remember, you're trying to convince yourself this is a SMALL doable task, not confirm your fear that it isn't.

L - length. How long will you do this for? Everything looks smaller when there's an end in sight. So when you're setting your daily rate, consider how long it'll take you to finish at that rate. Is there a deadline for completing this novel? How serious is that deadline(is it a 'like to' or a 'must'?) You might want to adjust your daily goal after considering this, but you still have to be realistic. Don't worry if the end is 10 months away - if you'd started it ten months ago, you'd be done NOW. And there will be a now. Until then, focus on each day.

L - life. Will this schedule allow you to enjoy your life? There are still movies to see and phone calls to make. The goal is not to avoid all temptation. Temptation is great - I succumb to it regularly. The most important trait that creative people share is a sense of playfulness.
That fun thing you want to do? That half-hour of daydreaming you feel guilty about? I guarantee you, you won't write anything if you don't make time for them.

There you have it. A SMALL task awaits you. You can get today's chunk done before that movie begins, and still have time to make the phone call!  So go to your laptop right now and type in: CHAPTER ONE.

With the stigma against self-publishing fading and traditional publishers being increasingly unwilling to take a chance on a new book, emerging authors are faced with the question: which route should I take?
There are success stories - and statistics of failures - for both routes, so deciding which route will lead YOU to success may seem like a high stakes crap shoot.

In January I began an experiment. I sent my completed historical fiction novel to my NY agent, Carrie Prostritto, whom I had recently signed with, and I self-published a  science fiction novel. I decided to analyze the results of both routes to publication for timing, personal satisfaction and financial gain. To learn more about how I set up this experiment  read my original post, An Experiment in Publishing.

The early results of this experiment are given in the three posts under the category 'publishing experiment'. It's now been a full year, so here are the comparative advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing and traditional publishing after a year.

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING MODEL - My agent has received several positive comments about my historical novel, The Sorrow Stone (SS), but no purchase yet. She suggested I write another more typical historical fiction novel, and sell SS as my second book. We discussed a couple of ideas, and I began detailed research on one. I am now writing, and excited about it, while she continues to send out my first novel.

SELF-PUBLISHING MODEL - Meanwhile my self-published science fiction novel, Walls of Wind (WoW), is steadily increasing in sales each month. I am now selling 40+ e-books a month and receiving 4- and 5-star reviews from readers all over the world. In order to build on this base I wrote a second science fiction novel, called The Occasional Diamond Thief. The most exciting development here is that while at I was speaking at a conference (part of marketing WoW) a publisher became interested and bought the print rights to The Occasional Diamond Thief.
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Timing: Still no sale on the traditional route, despite my agent's efforts. And I will be writing another book with no guarantee that it will be published, either. This is not, I believe, reflective of my agent, who is excellent, or my book, which continues to receive favorable comments, but of the current conservative attitude of publishing houses.
As for the self-published route, sales are increasing as I learn more about marketing, and I know my second SF
book, The Occasional Diamond Thief, will be published electronically by me and in print April 15 (Canada) and May 15 (USA).

Personal Satisfaction: Two or three publishers my agent sent SS to let her know they loved the story, or loved my writing style, but their marketing department had reservations - they would like to see something else by me. This makes me feel a bit like a kid in school trying to guess the answer the teacher wants. But working with an agent to determine my next project was satisfying, and I am optimistic that this next one will sell.

As for self-publishing, well it did lead to an offer by a traditional publisher - EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. Although this is the goal of some self-published authors, I find so many aspects of self-publishing satisfying that I chose to retain the e-rights and self-publish the e-book. By doing so I have unintentionally added a third twist to this experiment: the hybrid book, which is jointly self- and traditionally-published. It will be interesting to see whether that is the best route of all.

Financial Gain: While there is a financial gain in selling 40 e-books a month, marketing, especially live marketing such as speaking at conferences and book tours, (which is necessary to stop being an unknown author), more than wipes out any financial gain.  But whatever route you take, you will have to invest in your future if you are serious about writing as a profession. The advantage to self-publishing is that it gives you a book, proof that you have something to speak about when you offer to speak. It's a door-opener now, not a door closer, thanks to those self-published authors who have really made it.

In conclusion, both models have a lot to teach an aspiring author. The years I spent honing my writing and story-telling skills while I was receiving feedback and rejections from agents and traditional publishers made me a better writer. Self-publishing required me to learn all I could about marketing my books - there's no one else to do it for you when you self-publish - so I gained the marketing skills that are, in fact, essential no matter which route you take. And that combination of writing AND marketing skills led to the sale of the print rights of my third book in this experiment. The publisher bought me, not my book: an author who can get 5-star reviews on her self-published book AND who knows something about how to sell the books she writes.

Success? We shall see. I certainly haven't hit the big-time (or even the middle rung on the ladder to success), but I feel like I'm definitely going in the right direction, and I'm much closer to reaching at least moderate success than I would be right now if I was still only following the traditional route. But who knows? My third book, a hybrid outcome of self-publishing, may take off. Or it might not. My next historical fiction, developed with suggestions from my agent in the traditional route, may be the object of a publisher bidding war. Or it might not. We'll have to wait to see which route is successful.

But I can say for sure right now that I am much happier juggling three balls in the air, and far less frustrated, than I was when I was only pursuing the traditional route. And it's likely that success in any route will increase the chance of success in the other routes.