THE INDY AUTHOR
  • Home
  • About & Contact
  • Podcast
    • 075 - Key Book Publishing Paths
    • 074 - Perspectives on Personal Branding
    • 073 - Author Websites
    • 072 - Mentoring and Collaborating with Interns
    • 071 - Provider Side of Author Services
    • 070 - Copyright for Authors
    • 069 - Writing Memoir
    • 068 - Handling Difficult Topics in YA Fiction
    • 067 - Mistakes Writers Make about the FBI
    • 066 - From Indy to Traditional
    • 065 - X-raying Your Plot
    • 064 - Children's Books
    • 063 - Wide for the Win
    • 062 - Point of View
    • 061 - Google Play
    • 060 - Mastering Action Sequences
    • 059 - Newsletter Swaps and StoryOrigin
    • 058 - Author Newsletters
    • 057 - The Pros and Cons of Pre-orders
    • 056 - Crowdfunding for Authors
    • 055 - Costs of Self-publishing a Book
    • 054 - Futurist Trends We Can Prepare for Now
    • 053 - Learn from TV and Movies
    • 052 - Building a Resilient Indy Business
    • 051 - Podcasting as Content Marketing
    • 050 - First Responders
    • 049 - Ruminations on Book Launches
    • 048 - Protagonist and Antagonist Voices
    • 047 - Backstory and Flashbacks
    • 046 - Writing Coroners
    • 045 - Exercise
    • 044 - Using Aggregators versus Direct
    • 043 - Killing Suspense
    • 042 - The Importance of Metadata
    • 041 - Writing Convincing Villains
    • 040 - Storytelling Lessons from Investigative Reporting
    • 039 Building a Writer Community
    • 038 - Graphic Novels
    • 037 - How Cozy is Cozy?
    • 036 - Frugal Tips for Writers
    • 035 - Police Procedures
    • 034 - Connecting through Video
    • 033 - Barriers to Creativity
    • 032 - Hybrid Publishing
    • 031 - ebook Pricing
    • 030 - Common Writer Wisdom: Is it Right for You?
    • 029 - Fostering Creativity through Digital Minimalism
    • 028 - Writing the Killer Query
    • 027 - Why to Stop Blogging
    • 026 - Weaving Your Day Job into Your Books
    • 025 - Mastering Book Descriptions
    • 024 - Three Hard Truths
    • 023 - Reaching New Readers through Translations
    • 022 - SEO for Authors
    • 021 - Building Communities in Podcasts and In Person
    • 020 - Working with Libraries & Bookstores
    • 019 - Judging a Book by Its Cover
    • 018 - The Importance of Masterworks
    • 017 - Story a Day
    • 016 - Drawing Back the Publishing Curtain
    • 015 - Five Things I Wish I Knew Before I Was Published
    • 014 - Collaborating on "Taking the Short Tack"
    • 013 - Writing in Time
    • 012 - Top Firearms Mistakes Writers Make ...
    • 011 - Making the Move to Full-Time Writer
    • 010 - Update from The Indy Author
    • 009 - Craft and Business of Short Fiction
    • 008 - Screenwriting
    • 007 - Faster Fiction
    • 006 - Importance of Storytelling
    • 005 - Image-intensive Books
    • 004 - Using Media Outlets
    • 003 - Small Press Publishing
    • 002 - Creativity Tips
    • 001 - Introducing The Indy Author
    • For Guests of The Indy Author Podcast
  • Podcasting for Authors
    • Podcasting Resources
    • Descript >
      • The Anatomy of Descript
      • Best Practices | Tips | Tricks
      • Descript Q&A
  • The Short Tack
  • Log
  • Resources
  • Tools
  • The Craft
    • Getting Past the Fear of (First Draft) Commitment
    • Scalability
    • Professionalism
    • From Dead in the Water to Favorable Winds
  • The Voyage
    • Reading Your Work Aloud
    • Preparing to Request an Author Blurb
    • Navigating Indy
  • For the Armchair Sailor
  • Editing Services
  • Events
  • For Libraries
  • Blog
  • William Kingsfield Publishers
  • Online Store
  • Press Kit

Keeping True to Your Vision

July 12, 2020
I have always had a dream of building a small wooden boat, especially once I discovered that every aspect of the writing craft and the publishing voyage seems to have a useful analog in the nautical world. When I had a full-time corporate job, I had the money but not the time to take a course in boat building. When I left my corporate job committed to making a career as a full-time writer, publisher, and podcaster, I had neither the time nor the money.

As an alternative, I have found two resources from which to draw nautical concepts that I can plumb to explore the worlds of writing and publishing. One is the Acorn to Arabella project, in which two young men, Stephen Denette and Alix Kreder, build a 38’ sailboat “from stump to ship”—a boat they plan to sail around the world. The other is a subscription to WoodenBoat magazine, whose photos of elegant and graceful boats is a balm to my creative soul.

Although I recognize that gaining my boatbuilding experience via a YouTube channel and a magazine does not have the same cachet as gaining it through the actual construction of a boat, it does have the benefit of enabling my fellow landlubbers to join me on my voyage. If you’d like to dip your toe in the water, check out Acorn to Arabella’s YouTube channel and WoodenBoat’s Facebook page.
​
In these articles, I share with you some of the concepts that I have benefited from considering in the context of my writing craft and publishing voyage, and invite you to join this journey with me.

I read the following in an article by Milo Stanley in the July / August 2020 issue of WoodenBoat magazine, where Stanley describes preparing his sailboat Promise for a single-handed trans-Atlantic crossing.
The first stage of the renovation involved removing every bit of equipment that didn’t have a place in my vision of the completed vessel … . Though this removal of old gear was one of the least-important stages of the project, the psychological value of making immediate and rapid (if destructive) progress, and creating a blank slate with which to work, cannot be <overstated>. Most of this material found its way into a dumpster, but some I was able to sell for a bit of cash or save for reuse later on.
“Rime of the Youthful Mariner” by Milo Stanley, WoodenBoat, July / August 2020
This passage offers several valuable lessons for the writer.

The first is the idea of having a vision for your work. What is it that you want the reader to experience from your story? What impact do you wish to have on them? What is the measure against which you can hold each part of the work to determine whether or not it serves your vision and therefore deserves a place in your vessel?

For one of my novels, my vision for the work was to explore how an ordinary person responds when faced with an extraordinary challenge. As I wrote, I needed to assess characters, their actions and motivations, the components of the plot, even the language I used to ensure that it supported this vision.

The second idea from Stanley’s article with a clear analogy in the writing world is stripping away unneeded material. As carefully as you have tried to assess the degree to which your material supports your vision for the work, some unneeded material will inevitably slip through … or your vision may change as you write. You must assess each component to ensure it supports the voyage you want your reader to take. If not, you must jettison it.

In a standalone novel I wrote after I completed the Lizzy Ballard Thriller Trilogy and before I returned to the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, I wanted to provide justification for why the protagonist, Faith, doesn’t contact the authorities when she encounters an alarming situation that could have an innocuous explanation. To address this, I wrote a flashback scene of a teenaged Faith babysitting a neighbor’s small son. She hears what she thinks is an intruder in the kitchen and calls 911. When the intruder turns out to be a pair of raccoons, she’s embarrassed, and angry at the amused and patronizing reactions of the police and her father. I worked hard on that scene, and was pleased with the result when I assessed the scene on its own, but I eventually decided that it was extraneous. In fact, I found a better way, a way more compatible with my vision, to achieve the result I was looking for.

The third idea from Stanley’s quote that is applicable to the writer as well as the sailor is the idea that not all of the material that you strip away is wasted. Like Stanley, you may be able to sell it “for a bit of cash.” For example, a sub-plot removed from a novel might be the perfect basis for a short story or novella that could be sold directly to readers or to a short fiction publication. (See my book Taking the Short Tack: Creating Income and Connecting with Readers Using Short Fiction for other ideas or making a bit of cash from such short fiction works.)
​

Similarly, a scene you remove may be material that you can “save for reuse later on.” Perhaps it’s the basis for a sequel, or the foundation for an entirely separate work. My decision to remove the scene of Faith’s babysitting experience from my novel was made easier by the fact that I knew I could use that deleted scene as an additional offering for subscribers to my email newsletter. The work wouldn’t be wasted, it would just be used in a different way than I had originally envisioned.

Stanley comments that “the psychological value of making immediate and rapid (if destructive) progress, and creating a blank slate with which to work, cannot be <overstated>.” He did his assessment of the contents of his vessel at the beginning of his efforts to prepare it for its journey, but no matter where in the process of creating your work you apply these lessons—determining your vision, removing the components of the work that don’t support that vision, and then assessing them for possible use elsewhere—you can gain the psychological value of knowing that the end result will be a smooth and engaging voyage for your reader.

Have you found this resource useful? Wish you could buy Matty Dalrymple, The Indy Author, a cup of coffee? Now, thanks to Buy Me a Coffee and PayPal you can!
Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee

Use the form below to sign up for Matty's email newsletters on topics of interest to independent authors and publishers, and to the readers who enjoy their work!

Subscribe

* indicates required
Email Format
Alliance of Independent Authors
© 2013-2021 William Kingsfield Publishers
  • Home
  • About & Contact
  • Podcast
    • 075 - Key Book Publishing Paths
    • 074 - Perspectives on Personal Branding
    • 073 - Author Websites
    • 072 - Mentoring and Collaborating with Interns
    • 071 - Provider Side of Author Services
    • 070 - Copyright for Authors
    • 069 - Writing Memoir
    • 068 - Handling Difficult Topics in YA Fiction
    • 067 - Mistakes Writers Make about the FBI
    • 066 - From Indy to Traditional
    • 065 - X-raying Your Plot
    • 064 - Children's Books
    • 063 - Wide for the Win
    • 062 - Point of View
    • 061 - Google Play
    • 060 - Mastering Action Sequences
    • 059 - Newsletter Swaps and StoryOrigin
    • 058 - Author Newsletters
    • 057 - The Pros and Cons of Pre-orders
    • 056 - Crowdfunding for Authors
    • 055 - Costs of Self-publishing a Book
    • 054 - Futurist Trends We Can Prepare for Now
    • 053 - Learn from TV and Movies
    • 052 - Building a Resilient Indy Business
    • 051 - Podcasting as Content Marketing
    • 050 - First Responders
    • 049 - Ruminations on Book Launches
    • 048 - Protagonist and Antagonist Voices
    • 047 - Backstory and Flashbacks
    • 046 - Writing Coroners
    • 045 - Exercise
    • 044 - Using Aggregators versus Direct
    • 043 - Killing Suspense
    • 042 - The Importance of Metadata
    • 041 - Writing Convincing Villains
    • 040 - Storytelling Lessons from Investigative Reporting
    • 039 Building a Writer Community
    • 038 - Graphic Novels
    • 037 - How Cozy is Cozy?
    • 036 - Frugal Tips for Writers
    • 035 - Police Procedures
    • 034 - Connecting through Video
    • 033 - Barriers to Creativity
    • 032 - Hybrid Publishing
    • 031 - ebook Pricing
    • 030 - Common Writer Wisdom: Is it Right for You?
    • 029 - Fostering Creativity through Digital Minimalism
    • 028 - Writing the Killer Query
    • 027 - Why to Stop Blogging
    • 026 - Weaving Your Day Job into Your Books
    • 025 - Mastering Book Descriptions
    • 024 - Three Hard Truths
    • 023 - Reaching New Readers through Translations
    • 022 - SEO for Authors
    • 021 - Building Communities in Podcasts and In Person
    • 020 - Working with Libraries & Bookstores
    • 019 - Judging a Book by Its Cover
    • 018 - The Importance of Masterworks
    • 017 - Story a Day
    • 016 - Drawing Back the Publishing Curtain
    • 015 - Five Things I Wish I Knew Before I Was Published
    • 014 - Collaborating on "Taking the Short Tack"
    • 013 - Writing in Time
    • 012 - Top Firearms Mistakes Writers Make ...
    • 011 - Making the Move to Full-Time Writer
    • 010 - Update from The Indy Author
    • 009 - Craft and Business of Short Fiction
    • 008 - Screenwriting
    • 007 - Faster Fiction
    • 006 - Importance of Storytelling
    • 005 - Image-intensive Books
    • 004 - Using Media Outlets
    • 003 - Small Press Publishing
    • 002 - Creativity Tips
    • 001 - Introducing The Indy Author
    • For Guests of The Indy Author Podcast
  • Podcasting for Authors
    • Podcasting Resources
    • Descript >
      • The Anatomy of Descript
      • Best Practices | Tips | Tricks
      • Descript Q&A
  • The Short Tack
  • Log
  • Resources
  • Tools
  • The Craft
    • Getting Past the Fear of (First Draft) Commitment
    • Scalability
    • Professionalism
    • From Dead in the Water to Favorable Winds
  • The Voyage
    • Reading Your Work Aloud
    • Preparing to Request an Author Blurb
    • Navigating Indy
  • For the Armchair Sailor
  • Editing Services
  • Events
  • For Libraries
  • Blog
  • William Kingsfield Publishers
  • Online Store
  • Press Kit