Back To The Writing-Chapter Endings...

After a few busy weeks, plus the nasty chest infection, I'm now getting back to the writing.

Yesterday I finally completed chapter 2 of my novella (admittedly it's only the first draft) but I found myself ending the chapter at a point I hadn't expected- though when I looked at my outline, I realised that I'd planned it that way-  I just hadn't noticed that was how my sub-conscious had seen it...

I know I used to worry (unnecessarily) about where to end my chapters when I started writing again- many years ago.

Now the characters always decide for me and refuse to co-operate if I try to go beyond their cut-off point. Of course it doesn't mean it's going to stay that way in the rewriting, but as a progress point, it works for me.

Like most other areas of writing, you read, you inwardly digest and improve by doing. Basically, I'm continually learning and adapting as I find what works best for me.

Then there are the boundaries for the chosen genre- final length, and any specific editorial requirements- beside a great story that the editor can't resist, obviously... :-)

So this year I decided I had to be flexible. But as you can see from the chapter 2 mention above, I'm still trying...

Self Publishing with Kindle...

I've lost count of how many e-mails I've had from Amazon promoting their latest Kindle e-reader in the past couple of months- you can't escape it. Admittedly their e-readers do seem to be popular Christmas gifts.

Whenever I check the stats for my blog there are regular hits for my Kindle posts, so I thought I'd add another one.

There is a great article (in the December 2011 edition of Writing Magazine) by Kindle author Lily Childs explaining how to format your book for uploading, what to do once it's ready and lots of other useful information.

Lily has just published her second Magenta Shaman book via Kindle and has started to build up a readership for her novels.

Now I'm not the most technically minded person, but I think even I could do it following Lily's instructions...

The December issue of Writing Magazine is worth getting hold of as it has a section solely related to self-publishing, including an article by Malcolm Welshman about generating publicity for your book- yes he did dress up as a rabbit, I saw the original video...

If your newsagent has run out of copies of the December issue, you can buy a copy at the Writers Online website, and a digital edition is available for a reasonable price here.

It will be some time before my work is ready for Kindle, so I better go and get on with writing it... :-)

If you've Kindled your book/s do let me know (in the comments box below) if you think it has been worthwhile...