Working as a freelance writer

I have taken the plunge to write freelance. It is a tad intimidating after a lifetime of writing for publications or institutions but now seems like a good time to give this a try. I have worked freelance before but it was usually with multiple clients in place. For the last 5 years, I have been writing for 'the man' doing marketing, editing, press releases and things of that nature. It was fine as it was varied but the whole virus and self-isolation excitement has made me realise I want to try something new. Sadly, all the publications I used to write for are now out of print.

I have started writing for Medium, which is fun but starting tomorrow, I will be branching out. I have been going solo since the 31st March, so am taking a couple of days to chill out and read books. If you want to check out my Medium profile click on this. Please check it out and feel free to clap or follow or whatever takes your fancy. My most recent article is The Most Famous Ghost in Thailand.

This blogger account gets a surprising number of readers but nothing like my main two. The plan to start a website solely for showing writing samples. I will add the website address here once it is set up, in case someone stumbles on this and wants me to write or edit something. Alternatively, for now, most of my info is on my main website, www.thewordofward.co.uk.

Wish me luck and if anyone has anything they want to know or just wants to get in touch, I can be contacted via thewordofward@gmail.com. No spam or offers of exposure (in any sense!) please. Good luck and stay safe from the pernicious virus.

Writing for the Medium Platform

I have been a member of Medium  for a while now. Initially because it had some interesting articles but then it soon became obvious that it can, theoretically, be a nice little earner. I have been reticent until now because I previously tried out some other sites and the pay was awful compared to normal freelancing for magazines.

Medium seems different and I am completely aware that this sounds like some kind of sponsored post. It isn't though, I promise, and can prove it in three ways. One - I don't think Medium even has an affiliate program. Two - I have had millions of quite well paid offers to host a sponsored post on my websites (mostly gambling) and have always said no. The final and most convincing is that I have never read a sponsored post that said fuck.

The main issue is that I can never think of anything to write that would match what they seem to publish most. My expertise is basically writing and science fiction. There are a million posts already about writing and even writing for Medium and how to be more productive when writing for Medium and so on.

So my plan is to write a wide variety of things and see what sticks. If it starts to make a bit of cash then I will devote more time to it. I am currently writing a novel and working a full time writing job, so time is of the essence and I occasionally might want to not be in front of a laptop.

I will see how things go and will mention how it pans out when something has actually panned out. Fingers crossed.

Haunted Thailand ebook is finally here!

I keep mentioning here and at www.scifiward.com and www.thewordofward.co.uk that I have writing like a man possessed of late. However, aside from a few banal (just kidding they're great) posts on the above sites, a bit of freelance work and my daytime writing job, it might seem to an outside that I am lazy bastard who talks a lot. Which, to be fair, I also am.

But I do occasionally finish something a little longer. Like this ebook on ghosts and spirits that live in Thailand. I could elaborate more and explain what this fascinating book is about (although the clue is in the title), but fortunately I have already done that. But before the blurb, some links.

For those in the US click on this.

For those in the UK, this is the bad boy you want to click on.

Ok, that is the housekeeping done. Thanks. Here is the blurb:

In sunny Thailand there are a lot of things that go bump in the night. Ranging from grotesque to seductive, disgusting to cute, malevolent to benevolent, in the ‘Land of Smiles’ ghosts and spirits are everywhere. Although predominantly Buddhist, Thais strongly believe in spirit worship and this, combined with the love of a good grisly tale means there are some fascinating undead wandering around. As a journalist based in Bangkok, Jason R Ward had been hired to write an article on Thai ghosts and hauntings but after a bit of research realized an 800 word piece was, frankly, not going to cut it.

Read about some of the more famous spirits such as the bloodthirsty Mae Nak, an undead woman who won’t take her death lying down and is willing to kill to keep her secret; a Krasue – a surprisingly attractive flying female head with dangling entrails and a truly disgusting diet; or a Praet, a twenty-foot tall invisible entity with colossal hands, a minuscule mouth, and a raging hunger. As if they weren’t enough, there are other stories, including hauntings at the international airport, pretty women who are actually seductive tree spirits and even a ghost who lives in the toilet that helps out with nightmares. Add to the mix spells, rituals, the occult and it is a wonder Thais leave the house at night.

Haunted Thailand brings together some of the better known tales of the region and a few that even the locals may not know. Dim the lights and enjoy…

Where has the time gone? A year of solid writing

I have a reminder to write here set up on an app and when it pops up I think, "Right, I'll do that next." Unfortunately, I then proceeded to forget. For a year! Apologies to anyone who may have toyed with following me here. That will change.

So what has happened over the past year?
Quite a lot, although if you look at my actual output, it would appear to be bugger all. Which is a shame. But great things are afoot! For previous books check out this link you are looking at right now. 

The Fantasy novel
I am still writing my epic fantasy story and am currently at around 500,000 words. I have identified a point where book one would end and am now well into book two. But I have had to pause. I have a couple of ebooks out but nowhere near the following or presence that would persuade many people to buy such a huge novel. Also, it is huge and not finished and will need almost a complete rewrite - well not complete as the world and characters and general events are good, it is just most of the words that will need altering.
So I decided that I would write some shorter books - scifi to start with -  and will then finish the fantasy and publish to international acclaim.

Shorter ebooks
I have mentioned before that I intend to write some non-fiction shorter ebooks. My background is journalism, so I thought I might as well publish something relating to previous writings. I have one ready to go called "Haunted Thailand - Ghosts and Spirits in the Land of Smiles". Pretty cool title right? The cover is done. I need to go over it once more, write the blurb and it is good to go. I will share it here imminently. I promise.

A scifi novel
I am also writing a light-hearted science fiction novel that will be a damn sight shorter than my fantasy one. I am currently about 9000 words in which doesn't sound like a lot, but it is a lot nearer the end than the fantasy. So that is relatively exciting. Potentially. Soonish.

Other websites
My other websites are doing well and I have been focusing more on them than this. My bad. If you're a bit bored, please check them out. www.scifiward.com is all about... well you can probably guess. My other is www.thewordofward.co.uk and is about everything in existence that is not science fiction.

I will be back soon with the exciting news of my new Thai ebook. Excitement!

Nanowrimo is upon us!

Every year I keep meaning to do the Nanowrimo event / challenge. In case you have never heard of it, the idea is to write 2000 words of a novel every day for the month of November. At the end of the month, you have a 60,000-word book! Good for you. It stands for 'National Novel Writing Month' and is a kind of mutual support online program and challenge for budding authors. It is now a global thing, so frankly it should be renamed.

Last year, I thought that I was definitely going to sign up for it and went to the website only to find that I had signed up several years previous and had logged in every year since. Good intentions and all that. Well, it starts today and although I have an idea for a scifi book that would be roughly that length, I haven't plotted it out yet and while I am not a strict plotter, in this case, I think it might be a good idea.

If you are hearing about all this for the first time, then I encourage you to get going. I know from bitter experience that if you fall behind a day, it is ridiculously difficult to catch up. The website is here. Good luck!

From short stories to epic fantasy

I think I have made a mistake in the way I am working toward writing fiction. I started with short stories, which is great. Some were published elsewhere and then I was able to bundle them all into a couple of small collections. I also wrote a longer short story called Cooperworld which I self-published. Unless you are famous, there really isn't much of a market for a 17000-word story.

So essentially I went from something which was a standard 2000-5000 words in length, to something 100,000 words and up. I am currently at 130,000 words and although the end is in sight, I am still having to squint to see it.

I keep feeling tempted to write a quick scifi novel but know that if I stop, I will never finish the epic fantasy book. If there is one thing I have read numerous times, it is that you should always plough on until you are done, otherwise you never will. This is good advice and I fully agree. So additional advice would be - start something shorter and finish that because there is a mild feeling of despair when you look ahead and see the story stretching away into the dim distance.

I'd better get back to it...

Plotting vs Pantsing debate. Do what you want.

If you have written, thought about writing, or are currently writing a novel, you have probably come across the slightly daft debate of whether to 'pants' or 'plot'. If you haven't then:

'Pantsing' is when you write 'by the seat of your pants'. In other words, you make shit up as you go along. Stephen King is a famous 'pantser'.

'Plotting' is when you plot everything out to a greater or lesser extent. You probably guessed that by its self-explanatory name. James Patterson is a famous 'plotter'.

To be honest, I think it just depends on the author and, to an extent, the genre. An epic fantasy novel could be 'pantsed' as could a lot of contemporary character-based fiction, with just a vague ending in mind. A thriller or ideas-based science fiction novel would be harder, as the ending pretty much has to be known so that it can be worked towards.

I also think, taking the above examples, that the effect can be noticeable. I like both King and Patterson. I think Stephen King has better ideas and explores them and his characters a bit more in-depth but I often find the endings a bit of a letdown. Like 'It', for example, had a bollocks ending. Whereas Patterson writes a more complete and satisfying story but the characters and writing are a bit more fixed and less appealing. Just my opinion and I will probably never sell as many books as either.

My background is in print journalism and that comes with its own structures and rules that can be learnt. I have yet to write a single book but am working on a fantasy novel right now. I had some vague ideas but it was only once I was 100,000 words in that I realised I needed to work out a bit more lore and background. Also, the central premise didn't quite work and the story ground to a stop. So I decided to plot the rest and it has worked out brilliantly. If I had plotted it all out from the start, however, I doubt the characters and mood of the book would have come across in the way they have. It would have been too structured and certain characters just wouldn't have happened.

So now I have the whole plot but basically, I need to rewrite the whole beginning section again. I have to insert characters and gods and backstory. But without having written 100,000 words by 'pantsing' I am not sure I would have been able to plot the story I have.

So what is the point of this post? I guess it is just that you don't have to be one or the other. I read something about Neil Gaiman who said he has a vague idea of where it is all going but that is all. Stephen King says he just 'pants' it but he has already written a ton of books and probably has an idea of where it is all going to go - a killer car or dog story for example, already has something of a structure built in. Patterson, on the other hand, writes such a detailed plot that he has essentially just 'pantsed' a short story which is then fleshed out. I don't think anyone is entirely in one camp or the other. At least, no one I like as a writer.

In summary then - do what works for you and keep doing it.

Another tendency I have is to procrastinate with other writing. So for now, that is all. Write on and good luck.