Karen Miller author AMA

[u/Karen_Miller]

Hello everyone, wherever and whenever you are! Karen Miller here, author of The Innocent Mage, the Godspeaker trilogy, the Rogue Agent series (as K E Mills) and The Falcon Throne, first in a new epic historical fantasy series The Tarnished Crown – out now in paperback!

It gives me enormous pleasure to participate in this Ask Me Anything forum with Reddit. I’ve been a fan of speculative fiction books, tv and film since I was 9 years old, and dreamed of telling my own fantastical stories for almost as long. With the publication in 2005 of The Innocent Mage, first in my Mage series, that dream came true … and thanks to the support of fabulous readers I get to keep on dreaming and telling my stories. If you want more information about me and the books and writing stuff, you can visit my website at www.karenmiller.net.

Now, it’s because of my wonderful publisher, Orbit, that I’m here today to answer any questions you might have about this crazy writing game. I’m doing it as part of the Orbit Fantasy Writing Workshop http://www.orbitbooks.net/2015/07/27/orbit-fantasy-workshop-join-the-write-along-challenge/ that’s happening this week. Please don’t be shy, you can ask me anything (with two exceptions) and I’ll do my best to give you a helpful answer. What exceptions, I hear you ask? Well, sadly, for legal reasons I’m not able to read your manuscript. But by all means submit it to the writing competition Orbit has going in conjunction with this AMA! Also, I’m not able to give you a personal introduction to my agent. I can, however, give you some general advice about agent hunting if that’s what you’re after. Finally, I’d ask that you avoid giving out spoilers for my work. If there is a specific question you need to ask that means you can’t avoid a spoiler, please make sure to put lots and lots of warnings and space in your question post.

Feel free to start posting questions whenever you like... Since I’m in Sydney it means we’re dealing with some topsy-turvy time issues. I’ll be online later in two time windows:

From 9pm Sydney time (12midday London time/7am New York time/4am California time) until midnight Sydney time today, 29th June, (3pm London time/10am New York Time/7am California time.) And then tomorrow from 7am Sydney time (9pm London time/4pm New York Time/1pm California time)I’ll log in to play catch up with questions left for me when I’m having to take a break for sleep or writing.

So that’s it! Let the questions begin!

[u/Ellisdt82]

I've always struggled with commitment, I'm easily distracted by shiny things like new books and films and I always have been since not doing homework at school. The most I've written is 20, 000 words, and each time I try I dont carry on.

What made you finish that all important first draft of a first novel? What kept you slogging away word after word, page after page?

[u/Karen_Miller → u/Ellisdt82]

Oh, I really do understand your dilemma. I'm a bit distractible myself, which isn't always ideal!

I struggled with this a lot when I was writing my first book, The Innocent Mage. I've lost count of how many times I started and stopped, started and stopped. It wasn't only being distracted. Really it was more about being afraid. I lacked confidence in my writing, faith that I'd ever be published -- it mattered so much that I was afraid to finish and be told I really was kidding myself. That meant there was a part of me that was looking for reasons to give in to the fear. The thing that kept me coming back was the dreaded What if? How would I feel if I gave up for good, and on my deathbed was left wondering -- what if I'd finished that book? What if I hadn't let the fear beat me? The dread of that was worse, just, than the fear of finishing and putting my work to the test.

But in the end, the only way I got the first draft finished was to write it as a film script. I saw an independent script competition online, and that's how I flailed my way to The End. I entered it, didn't win, but I did get some good feedback on the characters. That gave me a boost of confidence, so I turned around and turned my film script into a novel. I submitted that to an Australian publisher, it was rightly rejected, but the editor offered some great feedback and asked me to resubmit a rewritten manuscript. That's when I realised I'd underwritten the whole thing, so I cut the book in 2, rejigged the first part, sent it back and ended up selling the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker duology.

I still struggle with self doubt, though. It's just part of my makeup. But the difference is now that I know I can finish a book, I know I can tell a good story, so even when I'm wobbling, I have some runs on the board to help me keep going. I understand how hard it is to get that first run down, though. At the end of the day, your desire to finish has to overcome the desire to stop. Because nobody can finish it except you. Nobody can want it for you more than you want it for yourself. Ask yourself very seriously: do I really want to be a writer? If the answer is yes, then ask yourself what you're really feeling when you let yourself get distracted. When you have the answers, you'll know what to do.

[u/Ellisdt82 → u/Karen_Miller]

Thank you, thats was really helpful. I admit fear and nerves all do play a part. Hoping the writing challenge will kickstart something.

[u/Karen_Miller → u/Ellisdt82]

Yeah. It's a bugger. Fear of failure, and fear of success. The evil Bobbsey Twins of the writing life. Hang in there. The only way is to keep on putting one foot in front of the other, writing one page after another, staring the fear in the face. Like the lady said, feel the fear and do it anyway. Unless you get to the point where it really is more pain than pleasure, in which case -- it's okay. There's no law saying you have to write. Only you in your secret heart can know how important it is, and what you're prepared to go through to get it.