Author: Kyle A. Massa (Page 15 of 29)

Research Tips for Writers: Lessons from Jackie Chan’s Uncle

May 6, 2019 /

Research books

When I was a kid, Jackie Chan Adventures was one of my favorite shows. No, this series didn’t actually offer research tips for writers (at least not that I remember). But it did have Jackie Chan’s uncle, Uncle.

Uncle had a lot of catch phrases. One of the best was this: “You must do reee-search!”

…Listen, I promise it’s better when you hear him say it. Anyway, Uncle’s message still rings true today, especially for writers. We must do research!

Full disclosure: I do not like research. It might be one of my least favorite aspects of writing. It’s time intensive, sometimes not so interesting, and isn’t actually writing. Nonetheless, whether we like it or not, research is essential to writing a good book. Here are some research tips that would make Uncle proud.

Ask Others for Help

Just to be clear, I’m not suggesting that you hurl a dusty tome at your friend and say, “Tell me what it means!” Instead, try learning from people who’ve already done the research you need.

For example, I recently completed a short story entitled Virus/Affliction/Condition/Curse. I very much hope to share it with you soon. Without giving too much away, it’s a story that relies on legal procedure. And since I’m not a lawyer, I knew I’d have to do research.

Fortunately for me, I got lucky. A member of my writer’s group is married to a lawyer, and she very kindly offered to read my story. Afterward, she provided excellent feedback on the legal aspects of my piece. This allowed me to add legitimate experience to my writing without doing the research myself.

So my first research tip for writers is this: talk to people who know what they’re talking about.

Avoid Researching Too Much

Research sharpens the details of your story. But in and of itself, research doesn’t make a good book. We still need strong characters, compelling plots, rich settings, and more.

Instead of dropping sick beats of knowledge on every page, focus on details that are actually relevant to your story. If your book takes place during the Civil War, for example, yet the entire thing is about one specific battle, you might not need to research the entire war for months on end. That time might be better spent actually writing the book.

A good rule of thumb is to begin with enough research to feel comfortable. Then write! When questions come up along the way, delve further into the details.

Accept Common Historical Misunderstandings

During an interview on Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (my favorite podcast), author Mary Robinette Kowal offered an interesting anecdote about research for writers. Her latest novel of the time took place in Victorian England. And in this novel, she used the word “dude.” Yes. Dude.

Her beta readers challenged her on that, and for good reason. Dude is the proper title of Jeffrey Lebowski, not some old English term. Right?

You might be surprised. Through research, Kowal found that the word “dude” did indeed originate from Victorian England. So even though she was correct in using it for her book, she still couldn’t. That one word disrupted readers too often.

Yes, I suppose this is a fairly niche example. But I think it’s worth discussing. If you’ve researched an established norm in pop culture and concluded it isn’t technically correct, you might as well use it anyway. It’ll be cleaner than explaining the truth.

In the words of Uncle, we writers must do research. I hope these tips help.

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now.

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Zombies, Storytelling, and Why Dead Ideas Don’t Die

April 29, 2019 /

Zombie

If someone tells you a genre, subgenre, or story trope is dead, they’re probably wrong. Like a good old rancid zombie, stories never die.

Speaking of zombies, consider zombie stories. They’ve made regular appearances in American cinema (both big screens and small) for decades. Some zombie stories work, some don’t, but one thing remains the same: they just keep on coming back. Kind of like, well, zombies.

Take, for example, the latest star-studded zombie movie. It’s called The Dead Don’t Die. It’s written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and it stars Adam Driver, Bill Murray, Chloë Sevigny, Selena Gomez, and Steve Buscemi. (Also, for some reason Tilda Swinton plays what appears to be an albino mortician wielding a samurai sword.)

You’d think stories about local law enforcement battling zombies with makeshift weapons would’ve fallen out of favor. I’d guess if you wrote this screenplay, some might say something to the effect of, “The world doesn’t need another zombie movie.” And yet here it is. Another one.

No matter how many times a story’s been told, it can always be told again. In today’s blog post, I’ll do my best to convince you.

Consider Station Eleven

In 2014, you’d probably guess readers had had their fill of post-apocalyptic fiction. Within ten years of its release, we had The Road (and a film adaptation), World War Z (with a film adaptation), The Left Behind series (plus many adaptations), The Host (adapted), The Passage (adapted), and The Water Knife (no adaptation yet). And if we expand this list to include original films, consider After Earth, WALL-E, The Book of Eli, This Is the End, and my personal favorite of the bunch, The Happening. Oh, and let’s not forget one of the most popular shows of all time: The Walking Dead.

So, as you can see, there was no shortage of post-apocalyptic fiction around the time the book was published. Some, in fact, complained there was too much of it. Yet that year Emily St. John Mandel released a novel called Station Eleven. It received all kinds of acclaim, such as nominations for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, and the National Book Award. In 2015, the novel won the Arthur C. Clarke Award.

(By the way, if you haven’t read Station Eleven, you really should. It’s an amazing novel with an unusual narrative style, interesting characters, and a rich story.)

So why did this work? Why did Station Eleven succeed when it seemed we’d hit a saturation point on post-apocalyptic fiction?

Nobody Cares About Subgenre as Long as It’s Good

Station Eleven works because it’s an excellent book. It’s that simple.

Of course, for writers, it’s not really that simple. Writing greats stories takes years, even decades of dedication and practice. And even books of great quality aren’t always commercially successful.

Yet I feel many writers (and for that matter, publishers) get too concerned about what’s been overdone. The truth is, you really can’t overdo any subject. We saw this with Station Eleven, and who knows? We may see it with The Dead Don’t Die, too.

Look to vampire fiction for another example. I’ve submitted my short fiction to many online publications, and there’s one guideline I notice over and over: they don’t want vampire fiction! We all know who’s to blame for that. But I think it’s a mistake to proclaim vampire fiction off limits. After all, vampires are cool (so long as they don’t sparkle). They’re embedded in folklore across centuries and cultures, so clearly we have a fascination with them. All we need is a great vampire book or movie, sort of like the Station Eleven of vampires, to reignite our interest in the subgenre.

What Does This Mean for Writers?

I’m a writer, so I like writing about whatever I want. I’m also a reader, so I like reading good books. It would sadden me if I or anyone else abandoned a book they were passionate about simply because they thought their subject matter was “dead” to audiences.

Well guess what, friends. The dead don’t die. No genre, subgenre, or subject is dead. As long as we write good stories that mean something to us and our readers, our work will have a pulse.

So go read Station Eleven. If you see The Dead Don’t Die, let me know what you think of it. And, if you have a story you want to write, write it. I can’t wait to read it.

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now.

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The Question of Simplistic Morals in Epic Fantasy

April 16, 2019 /

What’s one of the key differences between J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire?

Nope, I don’t mean the treatment of dragons. I’m not thinking of dwarves. And no, I’m not referring to uses of the word “fucking.” I think the key difference between these two giants of the genre is their treatment of morals.

The Lord of the Rings has clearly defined sides: The Fellowship is good. Sauron is evil. Though some characters switch sides (most notably Saruman), it’s mostly obvious who you should root for and against. A Song of Ice and Fire is far less clear. The series was more or less written in response to LOTR, and one can see how: The characters in this series are morally dynamic, all of them ending up somewhere in the middle.

I’ve heard a lot of readers suggest George R.R. Martin’s approach is the better one. ASOIAF is more realistic, making Tolkien’s LOTR simplistic by comparison.

Yes, I agree. Lord of the Rings’s morals are simplistic. But I don’t think simplistic morals make for a worse story. Quite the opposite, actually.

Listen, I love both of these series. I ranked them in the top two of my fantasy power rankings. But I think there’s something to be said for Tolkien’s clearly-defined good and evil.

First of all, fiction is often about wish fulfillment. One of the most satisfying elements of a story is seeing an event reconcile itself within a truncated timeframe. Oftentimes, these are huge problems which realistically can’t be solved, at least not in the way presented. For example: a character reconciles the death of a loved one. Though this process would likely take years, fiction allows us to view this process within a few hundred pages. Wish granted.

Let’s bring this conversation back to Lord of the Rings. The wish fulfilled by the end of the novel is that all evil is vanquished. The One Ring melts into the lava, and boom. World saved. That’s a wish everyone can get behind.

Of course, we’ll likely never see a reality without evil. But fiction need not reflect the possible. Rather, it’s satisfying because it shows the impossible coming to life.

While I love A Song of Ice and Fire, it’s all too often a reminder of the world’s nastiness. If that’s what you’re into, I can see why you love it. I love it, too. But since the world is already a place filled with atrocities and death and violence, sometimes it’s nice to get away from all that in a book, rather than be reminded of it.

Sometimes the very best fiction is transportive rather than reflective. When we step into Middle-Earth, we can’t help but feel that we are elsewhere. We’re in a world where there are good people who fight for justice, where the seemingly insignificant become heroes. We get a little bit of that in Westeros, but mostly we get Red Weddings. Listen, I’m getting married soon. I don’t want to read about Red Weddings right now.

So yes, The Lord of the Rings is kind of simplistic. But sometimes, that’s what we need most.

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now.

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3 Reasons to Join a Writers’ Group

April 8, 2019 /

When I say “writer,” what image comes to mind?

You might picture a veteran wordsmith hunched over a desk, scribbling away at the last pages of a swollen manuscript. You might picture a twenty-something at Starbuck’s equipped with coffee and a laptop, earbuds blasting something by Radiohead. Or you might picture a guy with an axe chopping a hole in a bathroom door.

Anyway, there’s a common thread among all these hypothetical writers: they write alone. And though writing is often an individual activity, being a writer should be collaborative.

One of the best ways to collaborate on your writing is to join a writers’ group. Here are three reasons why you might want to try it.

They Encourage You to Write

For me, the next project is always more exciting than the current one. When I’ve been working on the same characters for three months, sometimes it’s difficult to muster the same enthusiasm I once had.

That’s where writing group members come in. If you’ve got a good group, they’ll encourage you to keep working on your projects. In my group, for example, we always start our critiques with compliments. This often gives me the confidence to proceed with projects I might’ve otherwise tired of.

They Provide Deadlines

Deadlines are powerful. And when you join a writer’s group, deadlines come free.

In my group, we always send submissions one week before meeting times. It’s not a hard deadline, per se, but we all respect each other, so we stick to those deadlines.

Though they might seem intimidating, deadlines are actually awesome. They force us to finish our work rather than return for the hundredth rewrite.

They Give You Great Book Recommendations

This one might not be obvious, but it’s true. The best writers are great readers. So, odds are your fellow writers will recommend great books you’ve never heard of. They might be fiction or they might be about writing itself. Whatever the recommendations are, you can be sure you’ll enjoy them.

I’ve found that since everyone in our group shares more or less the same interests and goals in writing, I’ve gotten some great book recommendations from them.

I’m Convinced! Now How Do I Join?

I discovered my writers’ group on Meetup. There are also numerous online groups one might join, such as Codex and WritersCafe. And, of course, Googling “writers’ groups near me” could work. Join a group today!

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now.

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Announcing Wee Stories: 1,001 One-Word Tales

April 1, 2019 /

You know that second between chewing a Cheez-It and swallowing it? Or the moment it takes to flush a toilet? What about those 10 idle seconds spent waiting for the light to turn green?

For the voracious reader, these moments are opportunities. All you need is a story of the proper length.

With that thought in mind, I’d like to introduce you to my latest book. It’s called Wee Stories: 1,001 One-Word Tales.

Wee Stories Cover

If you maximize your screen by about 200 percent, you might be able to read the text on this cover. This is an intentional artistic decision, one that reflects the minuscule size of the stories within. At one word each, they’re the shortest short stories you’ll ever read. They’re so short, in fact, that I call them microstories.

Novels take months to read. Short stories take hours. Even flash fiction stories take a few minutes. But microstories? They take mere seconds.

Consider this one. I call it Crossing at Dawn. Here it is, in its entirety.

Turtles.

It took me six months to write that piece. I tried to imagine what animal would be most likely to cross a road at dawn. A squirrel felt unremarkable, a chicken too cliche. Finally I settled upon the present form. I’m thrilled with the results.

There are 1,000 more microstories in the book but I’d rather not spoil them for you. Instead, I ask you to purchase Wee Stories when it goes on sale in June.

Until then, I encourage you to think about how many microstories you could’ve read in the time it took to read the blog post. By my count, it should be about 200 or so. Now that’s efficiency!

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now.

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The Anatomy of a Line Break

March 25, 2019 /

Writers can do a lot with a line break.

Whether it looks like the one above or the one below…

#

…the line break is a fantastic tool for writers. I’ll admit, I think I have more fondness for it than the average person does. Truth be told, I might use it too much. But no matter—today, I’d like to share my love of the line break with you. Let’s get started.

Line Breaks Suggest A Narrative Shift

In my fiction, some of my weakest writing comes when I’m trying to get my characters from one setting to another. I often find myself over-describing their form of transit, or what they saw during their journey, however brief. It’s rarely important to the story I’m trying to tell and often ends up feeling boring.

That’s why I love the line break. It’s an elegant way to suggest this idea: “Hey reader. We’ve shifted settings.” It cuts down on extraneous words and boring scenes. If a transition scene is a long, windy road through the mountains, think of a line break as a shortcut.

In addition, line breaks are an excellent way to signal point of view shifts, particularly within a chapter of a novel. There’s no better way to write from multiple characters’ points of view without cutting your chapters short.

Line Breaks Suggest a Passage of Time

When jumping from one scene to the next, adding a line break is an excellent way to show that there’s been a slight passage of time since the last event. Just make sure it’s slight.

Are you jumping ahead a few minutes into the next scene? By all means, use a line break. Are you jumping ten years into the future? You probably need something a bit more obvious.

In other words, line breaks are excellent for signaling relatively brief shifts into the future. Less so when we’re talking dramatic leaps forward.

Line Breaks Provide Heavier Meaning to Parting Words

Let’s say you’ve got a profound piece of dialogue floating around in your head. Where should you place it for the optimal impact? I’d suggest just before a line break.

Words often gain greater emphasis when they come at the conclusion of a paragraph, scene, or chapter. Recency plays a huge part in memory, so it makes sense that the last thing we read would be the most memorable.

I hope you now share my love of the line break. Try using it in your writing!

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now on Amazon Kindle.

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The Grand “Finish It!” Initiative

March 18, 2019 /

Finish It!

I’ve noticed a trend in my short stories. Many of my drafts have no endings!

Let’s back up a moment. I’m releasing a short story collection in June called Monsters at Dusk (more details coming soon). As part of the collection process, I scoured my hard drive for on-theme stories. I found a bunch. Problem is, many are unfinished.

I doubt I’m the only writer with this issue. When a story’s not working, it’s tempting to abandon it and start fresh with another. Therefore, I’ve assigned myself a new task. I call it “The Grand ‘Finish It!’ Initiative.”

The initiative is simple: I won’t allow myself to move on from a draft unless I’ve completed it first. Here’s why I’m doing it (and why you might want to do it, too).

We Need a Structure

Completed first drafts provide structure for later drafts. They’re ugly, but they’re essential.

I tend to forget this. Midway through the writing process, I sometimes think, This story isn’t that good. Truth is, I’m probably not wrong about that—detail is almost always lacking in a first draft. But first drafts aren’t final drafts. First drafts are structure. We sometimes worry too much about setting, character, and specificity in early drafts when we should focus on the underlying structure. This leads to abandonment.

That’s not to say we should blindly accept everything we write. Some pieces are experiments. Others are educational experiences. We might finish a draft and decide it doesn’t work, and that’s okay. However, it must be a finished draft before we can fairly make that determination. After all, you wouldn’t look at a sketch of a painting and decide the painting’s unworthy of your time. You can’t decide until you see the final product!

We’ll Become More Selective About What We Write

Writers often have more ideas than they’ll ever be able to write. By committing to completing every story, we’ll become more selective about the projects we take on.

This comes down to mindset. Imagine writing with this notion: If it’s not working, I’ll quit on it and move to the next project. What’s the point of being picky? You can explore any old idea just to see where it takes you.

Now imagine this mindset: I’m going to finish what I start. This approach speaks of discipline and careful selection. If we don’t allow ourselves to abandon half-finished projects, we’ll prioritize our best ideas. Doing so focuses our work and ensures we use our limited time in the best way.

Of course, there’s always room for experimentation. Furthermore, for some writers it’s impossible to tell which ideas have the greatest potential without writing them first. However, the point remains: Focus your efforts on your most powerful ideas. They’re the ones you’ll be happiest to complete.

We Need to Practice the Entire Form

Finishing a draft from start to finish allows us to practice the entire process. If we proceed to the next project without finishing the present one, we’re not getting enough practice on endings.

I consider this in terms of sports. Let’s take basketball as an example. Between dribbling, rebounding, shooting, passing, defending, and more, there are numerous skills a basketball player needs. Depending on their position, a player might excel at one skill or another. However, in order to play at a high level, a basketball player needs competency at every skill. Shaq was a bad shooter, but he at least knew the proper technique.

Likewise, an author must practice every step of a story. Sure, some authors might excel at establishing a world or surprising readers with second act twists. But if we don’t finish our work, we’ll never develop our ending skills. That’s like a modern basketball player shooting with two hands.

For an example from the literary world, look no further than fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. He wrote somewhere around 10 complete novel manuscripts before he published his first. Those 10 were full practices. If he’d decided to move on to the next before finishing the last, he might never have developed a talent for writing entire books.

Conclusion

As part of the Grand Finish-It Initiative, I’ll do my best to never proceed from a project until I’ve finished my current one. I hope you do the same!

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now on Amazon Kindle.

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3 Signs Your Novel Has Too Many POV Characters

March 11, 2019 /

Writing a novel from multiple points of view is tempting. It’s especially tempting, I find, for those writing fantasy. George R.R. Martin does it. Why can’t we?

Well, what works for Mr. Martin won’t necessarily work for us. And truth be told, what works for Mr. Martin doesn’t always actually work for Mr. Martin, if you know what I mean. Because even the most diehard Song of Ice and Fire fans will admit that the series might have too many POVs.

Let’s back up a moment. A point of view character is pretty much what it sounds like—the character whose thoughts and feelings are described to us. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has one point of view character: Nick Carraway. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, on the other hand, has multiple point of view characters, indicated by the character name at the beginning of the chapter.

To be fair, you know your novel best. Maybe you really do need ten or twenty POV characters. But if you fear you’ve got too many, these are three telltale signs.

Your POV Characters Have “Check In” Chapters

When you read certain books, do you ever get the sense that we’re returning to a POV character not for any story reason, but just to remind you they’re still alive? I call these check in chapters.

Avoid them. They slow your story and add unnecessary chunkiness to your page count. Plus, nothing bothers readers more than pointless tangents. Readers give their time to our stories. We shouldn’t waste it!

I’ve certainly had check in chapters infect my manuscripts. For example, I had five POV characters in one story, each with a complete and satisfying character arc. Yet for my fifth POV character, a multi-talented scoundrel by the name of Trast, his story resolved itself about a hundred pages sooner than expected. The rest of his chapters seemed to say the same thing: “Remember Trast? He’s still here.” Clearly, I had too many POVs. Poor Trast was demoted to an auxiliary character in the next draft.

Your Readers Skip POVs

One of the most fun (and sometimes frustrating) aspects of writing is this: Your conception of your story never quite aligns with the finished product. When you brainstorm, you might guess that you need that additional POV. But once you start writing, you might find those extra chapters don’t add much to your story.

Though some characters might not attain POV status, you needn’t necessarily cut them entirely. You might work them into other spots or just lessen their role in the story. Just because a character isn’t a POV doesn’t mean they’re not important. We never get Dumbledore’s perspective in Harry Potter, yet he’s undeniably vital to the story.

You’ve Added POVs Only to Show More of Your World

Adding POV characters just to show new settings is like using the Death Star to destroy an ant hill. That is, there are better ways to accomplish the same goal.

Books are often better when they leave some things unsaid. Exploring every crevice of a world just for the sake of exploration produces aimless chapters. Settings and characters should serve the story whenever possible. If they don’t, they’re likely unnecessary.

If you’ve got essential action going on “offscreen,” it’s often better to devise an alternate way to show it. Can another POV character reach that other region so they experience the event first-hand? If not, can you suggest the action without showing it? Maybe a courier relays the action to your main character.

I hope these suggestions prove useful to you. If you’ve got too many POV characters, don’t worry! You’re creative. I know you’ll think of a better solution.

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now on Amazon Kindle.

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For Writers, Distractions Are Essential

March 4, 2019 /

Writing with Distractions

Distractions. They’re impossible to avoid.

This is a fact I’ve learned to live with—especially for writing time. Whether it’s my cats getting into a fight, a fantasy football injury update, or even getting up for the bathroom, it’s all the same thing: distraction. It happens to the best of us. It happens to all of us.

If you’re a writer, you might fear distraction. You might wish you could sit down and write and not be bothered until you’re done. But distraction really isn’t that bad. In fact, it can actually be helpful. Here’s why:

Imagine you’ve sat down in your favorite chair in front of your computer, your notebook, or whatever it is that you write in or on. Imagine that between your butt and that seat, there’s a layer of super glue. And between the legs of the chair and the floor, there’s more superglue. You’re literally stuck there for the day. (I suppose you could keep pulling until your pants tear, but in this hypothetical situation, you’re wearing your favorite pair of pants. Would you really do that to your favorite pair of pants?)

Doesn’t this sound horrible? I think so. But it’s what we’re doing when we vow never to be distracted—we’re gluing ourselves to our chairs, and therefore stifling our creativity without even knowing it.

Distractions boost creativity because they give us distance from our writing. We need that. When we work on the same project for too long, we eventually get tired of it. For writers, that’s especially bad because it’ll come through in our writing. If we’re bored by our own work, why should anyone else be excited by it?

Furthermore, when we step away from our writing, our unconscious mind works on it for us. That plot hole we just discovered might be filled by the time we return, without us consciously thinking about it. The mind is a powerful thing—especially when given a little rest.

But not too much rest, of course. Distractions must be used sparingly. Unless you’re a dedicated multitasker, it’s probably best not to listen to music while checking your Twitter feed while cooking dinner while also trying to write. Something bad is likely to happen.

So for writers, distractions aren’t that bad. Let’s concentrate on our work, but let’s not be afraid to step away from it every once in a while. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now on Amazon Kindle.

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Patreon, Crowdfunding, and the Future of Writers’ Revenue

February 11, 2019 /

“Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.”

That’s a line from Pink Floyd’s “Money.” A great song, but certainly not the only one to address its titular subject. In fact, there are tons of songs about money.

It’s an understandable fixation. For songwriters, authors, or any artist, money is a big deal. Most don’t expect to get rich from their work, but many strive to make their art their living. (I know I do!)

As an author, I consider cash in terms of writing. Book sales, advances, and signings have been around for years. But are there newer ways for authors to make money from their work?

Absolutely! The one we’ll discuss today is Patreon. In today’s post, we’ll learn what it is, how it works, and how it can help us start and sustain a writing career. Let’s get to it!

What is Patreon?

Patreon is a website where fans give back to creators they love. Patrons sign up to contribute any amount they’d like, either in onetime or monthly donations. In return, creators usually offer fans exclusive content depending on how much they’ve donated. One dollar each month might not sound like much, but with enough patrons, the revenue adds up.

When most people hear about Patreon, their first reaction is usually something like this: Really? Yes, really! If people like what you create, they’ll donate so you can create more. Plus, giving them extra for their contributions can’t hurt.

Why Should You Try It?

Think of all your favorite services: Netflix, Hulu, HBO, The New York Times. They’re all based on subscriptions. You pay a little each month to access something you love.

Patreon operates on the same principle. Patrons are essentially subscribing to your monthly rewards, contributing as much as they feel comfortable with. That’s the nice thing about the service—you can pay anything, even just a dollar a month.

Imagery and Headline

Start with the headline.

Patreon 1

Every profile has a name, then the phrase “is creating” or “are creating” (your choice), followed by whatever it is you’re creating. This is usually just one or two words. I was originally going to write “Stories” for mine, but I wrote “Outlandish Stories” because I thought it would stand out more. Also, I like the word “Outlandish.”

You’ll also want a picture. If you’ve read my book, the above image will look familiar. Try to find one where you’re smiling. And don’t use a blurry Facebook profile pic, please. 

You’ll also need a cover image, which might be a bit trickier. Many Patreon authors create cover images out of their book covers, but if you’re like me and you’ve only published one book so far, that might not be an option. I used a free sharing photo website called  Unsplash for mine.

My stack of books is perhaps not the most striking thing in the world, but it’s a professional image that clearly shows what I’m creating. That’s the cover image’s only job: show people what you’re creating at a glance. If you’re an author and your cover image is, say, a field of cows, you might confuse your patrons.

The Overview

This is the pitch. Introduce yourself, discuss your rewards, and encourage patrons to contribute to your cause.

Most authors I’ve seen use headings to break up their text, because these Overviews can (and probably should) get pretty lengthy. For many authors who already have huge established fan bases, kicking off with a simple “This is me” statement works just fine. For example, here’s the first line of author Tobias Buckell’s Patreon page:

Or author Saladin Ahmed:

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Or author N.K. Jemisin:

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(Note: Jemisin’s Patreon page is now closed, so please look to the part after the italics.)

Though my cats might think I’m famous, I’m not. Therefore, I opted for an intro about my stories instead of one about myself.

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Write something that will convince prospective patrons to keep reading. Fair warning: That can be harder than it sounds. And it can be even harder if you haven’t written the whole overview yet. So feel free to start elsewhere. Flesh out your ideas. Once you have the entire thing written, revisit that first paragraph.

Next, tell your fans why you chose Patreon. Almost every creator on the site does it. “Because I want money” is not enough. Everybody wants money!

For me (and for most other writers), Patreon is a step toward a full-time writing income. Even if you write a book a year, those spurts of income likely aren’t enough to last you all 12 months. Patreon presents a unique opportunity for writers because you can build a consistent income each month. For some, that’s all we need.

Now that patrons know who you are and why you need their help, tell them about your work. What have you written and what are you writing? Again, if you’re like me and you don’t yet have much published work, elaborate on all the writing you will do with enough donations.

Throughout the Overview, include your personality. I tried to do that in numerous places. For example, I mentioned authors whose work has influenced my own. I also threw in a picture of my cats. I think people are more likely to contribute to you if you seem like a likeable person. And I bet you are a likeable person. Show it!

Finally, our moms taught us the value of saying “thank you.” I believe that goes double on Patreon. Patrons make our writing possible, so we really can’t say thanks enough.

The Tiers

This is, in my opinion, the hardest part of the whole process. Creating rewards and adequately charging for them is challenging. Hell, some companies hire other companies just to do their pricing for them. It’s a pain!

Look to other authors’ Patreon pages and see how they do it. My donation tiers are very similar to those of the authors I mentioned above. If it works for them, why change it?

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Almost all writers offer a huge range of donation. Always start at $1 and provide good value there. Most writers give their patrons a new short story each month for that price. Then scale up to a massive tier—one you wouldn’t believe anyone would ever contribute to. Doing so makes your work appear valuable while also making your lower-priced tiers appear affordable. And there’s always the chance a patron will like you enough to join that tier. You never know!

Setting a Goal

This is a fun section where all your patrons can work together. The creator sets a goal of total patrons or total revenue. If the goal is met by a certain date, all patrons get a sweet prize.

I’ve set a goal of getting 50 patrons by the end of 2019. If we reach it, every patron receives a terrible short story I wrote a long time ago. So bad it’s good. Or at least I think so…

Try Patreon!

I hope this post was helpful. If you’ve always wanted to make a living from your writing, consider using Patreon. And if you become one of my first patrons, I’ll be eternally grateful.

Grab that cash and make your stash, authors. Use it to write more. The world needs your work!

Kyle A. Massa is a speculative fiction author living somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. His debut novel, Gerald Barkley Rocks, is available now on Amazon Kindle.

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