Sharing Your Light

I've been blogging about how to make your writing more literary, regardless of genre.  The main thing that sets literary works apart from writing that just tell a story is to instill it with meaning.  For many people, these can just be general themes such as the importance of love or being true to yourself.  Some people want to share more specific truths they have learned through experience or creed.  A Christian writer this time of year may want to share something about the Christmas season this time of year.  A Jewish writer may want to share their thoughts on something like Hanukkah.  A disillusioned writer may want to share about the blahs they feel this time of year or their frustrations with commercialism or with some aspect of that same Christmas season.  Someone who is in mourning may want to share their pain and struggles of dealing with people's expectations that they smile and be happy this time of year.  Many people have Truths with a capital T they want to share about their inner life with people who understand or who want to understand.  Regardless of the truths one wants to share, writing is a great way to do it. 

In nonfiction, this is simply a matter of stating and explaining the truths you wish to share or illustrating them with experiences or anecdotes.  It's rather more complicated in fiction because the moment you start overtly preaching with no prior emotional investment is the moment many readers put the book down and walk away.

[source]

So what do you do instead?  You create a context in which the reader cares about your message.  You create an emotional investment, characters who suffer and know what's at stake if they fail.  You shape characters that will make choices within the world of your novel, and those choices or their consequences may be influenced by whatever truths you want to share.  For instance, To Kill a Mockingbird has very specific truths to share about prejudice and hatred and their consequences for society and for individuals within it.  These can be considered themes or specific truths the writer wants to share.  What happens when law supports ignorance and hatred?  Innocents are hurt and even die.  There isn't a lot of preaching in the book, but the truths come through loudly and clearly through the harmful actions of the antagonist and their consequences.  What happens when good people stand up for those who are persecuted by such a system?  People learn, especially the next generation, who can carry that message forward and spread it. The reader cares about the little girl named Scout and her brother and, through their eyes, start to care about others within the fictional world, which can also start the reader thinking about issues and people outside of the fictional world.  This is a strong and resonant way to share truths. 

If you want to teach truth, make sure your reader cares about your main character.  Make sure that what he or she learns, does, suffers, etc. help the reader broaden their mind without a lot of unnecessary preaching.  Share what you want to share implicitly as much as possible.  Have you done this yet?  If not, carefully consider how to make it happen. 

Know Your Audience

[source]

I've been blogging about how to make any kind of writing more literary.  I had a chat with a fellow writer this week that made me start thinking about the importance of knowing your audience.  Some readers/audiences--like children and Marvel fans--like adventure with a side of humor.  Some readers/audiences like a focus on romance, no matter what the genre.  Some readers/audiences--such as DC and horror fans--may have a tendency to see anything with a heavy emphasis on humor or romance as trivial or weak.  It's so important to know your audience in order to write something that appeals to them. 

[source]

Some writers say that the most important thing is to be true to your own voice.  There is definitely validity to this.  If you aren't true to your voice, what's the point of writing?  Your voice is what makes your writing unique.  Hemingway became famous through writing in a minimal fashion, using no extra words.  Mark Twain became famous for his folksy writing and American frontier themes.  Poe's voice excels at its dark themes and voice.  They wrote in a way that was true to themselves and their voice. 

[source]

At the same time, in order to get published and popular within your genre, you have to know the conventions of the genre.  What attracts readers to that genre?  What gives them fulfillment when they read a piece?  This is the part that is critical in order to fit into a genre.  Your voice is what makes you stand out in that same genre.  Effective writing walks the line between being true to your voice and your audience.  Read other pieces in your genre as well as anything you can find on what makes your genre tick.  Know your genre well.  Then, figure out how your writing will stand out.  What themes do you want to emphasize?  What voice are your going for?  Once you figure this out, you're ready to excel. 

Dramatic Structure

[source]

I've been blogging about what makes a piece of writing more literary. I recently went to listen to an experienced novelist, Chris Heimerdinger, talk about the rules for dramatic structure. Recently, I watched the recent "Godzilla" movie, not expecting much.  But I was still disappointed.  I realized what went wrong with that movie had everything to do the story structure Heimerdinger described.  Dramatic structure has everything to do with what goes wrong with a lot of movies and novels. 

[source]

According to Heimerdinger, a properly-structured story features a human or humanized protagonist, someone with a consciousness and speech.  This character must have a noble goal and a tragic flaw, like Luke Skywalker sought to overturn the evil empire but was held back by his own ignorance.  The character's noble goal cannot be overcoming their tragic flaw. 

[source]

The story also must have an antagonist, someone whose goal is in direct opposition to the protagonist's goal, just as the Emperor's goal is to extend the power of the empire.  Heimerdinger said that the antagonist could not be redeemed.  I'd say there are exceptions to this, but he was most firm any exceptions to these rules mess with the strength of the story.  He suggested Darth Vader's redemption could actually make him a protagonist, though an argument could be made that he was merely a sub-antagonist.  One way or another, if one views Darth as a non-antagonist, the movie still follows the dramatic structure.  Another major point Heimerdinger was that the antagonist also can't be a storm, an animal-like animal, or anything else without a consciousness.  He gave the example of "Jaws."  The shark is not the antagonist.  According to Heimerdinger, the antagonists tag team: first, the mayor, then, the boat captain.  They take turns countering the goals of the protagonist in stopping his attempts to defeat the shark. 

[source]

The climax is the point at which the protagonist, him or herself and no one else, defeats/overcomes the antagonist.  No one else can do it.  And he/she achieves victory by overcoming/accepting/coming to terms with the tragic flaw.  He points out that muddying these major points will make your story unsatisfying and will mess up your reader's emotional connection with the character. 

[source]

I mentioned before the recent "Godzilla: King of the Monsters."  This movie felt incredibly unsatisfying to me.  The movie makers started out right by making an emotional connection between the seeming protagonist, the juvenile star, and her mother, but the movie fell apart quickly after.  I asked myself why?  It took no more than reflecting on the dramatic structure to identify the deep flaws in this story.  The "protagonist," the juvenile female, is on the screen a very few minutes, and her "antagonist," the military type who is supposed to be fighting her objective to defeat or befriend the monsters, gives up about 2/3 of the way through the movie and walks away.  She does so little that she can't really be the protagonist, just as he can't be the antagonist.  So who is the real protagonist?  Who is the real antagonist?  Who fights whom?  In the end, the only possible protagonist is Godzilla, himself, and his antagonist is the dragon.  Theirs is the dramatic tussle at the end, yet the fail in he fundamental test of a good protagonist/antagonist...neither is remotely human or humanized.  They can't bring heart into the story because we don't know or care about their characters or motivation.  They fight because they're big and they can.  Because it makes for a cool poster moment.  The movie totally lacked heart because the story isn't about someone with a heart and motivation we can understand.  It's about a monster whose job it is to bash the other monster.   

[source]

Avoid these pitfalls.  Figure out who your protagonist is.  What is his/her tragic flaw?  Does your character come to terms with/overcome the flaw?  Does your protagonist have a noble goal?  Does your antagonist have a goal that somehow counteracts or conflicts with that goal?  Does your protagonist him/herself defeat or somehow overcome the antagonist?  If you answered no to any of these questions, it's time to reassess.  How can you adjust your story to give your reader the maximum satisfaction and fulfillment? 

Text and Subtext

[source]

I've been blogging about how to make your writing more literary.  By literary, I mean full of meaning, often beneath the surface.  One way to do that is to build more than one level of meaning into a scene.  Most scenes you see in television or read in a book has one level of meaning.  Two characters greet each other then talk about the weather, bad news, sports, or events of the story past, present, or future.  A truly skilled writer can make  dialogue about two things at once. 

[source]

Watch for text and subtext dialogue.  You'll find it everywhere.  If you can spell out two topics on which characters are speaking at once, you're watching or reading a scene rich in text and subtext.   In Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, the two romantic leads speak of friendship when they really want to speak of love.  That's a common one.   Let's say you're using dramatic irony.  One of your characters knows the world is about to end.  The other character is blissfully ignorant.  An example of this is in a recent Netflix series, "Umbrella Academy."  One character asks his beloved what she would do if they only had one left to live.  She thinks of this question as romantic because she supposes they have all the time in the world to spend together, and he's only asking because he wants to get to know her better.  What does she prioritize?  For a less skilled writer, that's exactly what the intent of the line of questioning would be.  However, both viewer and the male character understand the world will end in one day, and the main characters are trying to stop this apocalypse.  He really is asking her how she wants to spend her last day alive and, thereby, asking the viewer the same question.  How would you spend your last day alive?  Because the world could end at any time. 

[source]

There are several scenes in books and movies with two levels of dialogue.  There may be characters keeping it polite by discussing the weather when it's clear they are fighting over custody of the kids who are sitting around the dinner table with them.  Two characters may be speaking in code--understood by the reader--while the third is trying to figure out what the other two are talking about.  A pair dripping with sexual tension may be arguing about a sports team when what they want to do is kiss, but they don't want to want that for whatever reason.  You can use symbolism, metaphor, or simply weighted words, words that say two things at once.  Truly good dialogue will often say two things at once. 

Now, look through your dialogue.  Are there places where the readers are speaking of just one thing, but you can make that scene mean more by having them speak of two?  Are there places you can add humor, intrigue, or tension by adding another layer of dialogue?  If so, then carefully weigh each word.  What line of benign questioning or explanation can cover a deeper, more intense meaning?  Go to it. 

Need not Want

[The quest: source]

I've been blogging on writing in a more literary fashion.  Recently, I've been hearing youtubers talk about what does and what does not work about certain recently released movies.  One point that stuck out to me was something I'll need to watch in my own writing.  It's that a good story needs to be driven by needs, not wants.  It's not enough for your character to want to win a contest, find love, or whatever other goal your character might have.  Not only that, but if your story is just a series of happenstances in which your character is just there, just happens to be where the plot needs him/her for the story to happen, your reader won't be sufficiently engaged.  If your character is not truly invested in the quest for whatever it is, not truly driven by their need, your reader won't be, either.

[source]

For instance, think of MacBeth.  The protagonist feels a driving need to become king, to kill whomever he needs to kill to gain power.  Whenever he flags in his commitment, his wife is there to push him through the sheer force of her need.  The reader may not love MacBeth or his wife, but audiences and readers for centuries have found the story compelling because of this all-consuming need.

Hamlet is pushed along by his late father's need for vengeance.  Because of his equal need to be sure of every step before he takes it, his story becomes a study in what not to do.  He's torn by two equal and opposite needs.  A character with a clear motivation, a driving need, fascinates and compels the reader forward.

[source]

Meanwhile, a weakly written book or movie might just feature a character who is and always feels like a puppet of the narrative.  He makes no choices, feels no real motivation, but moves forward because the story--not any internal drive, fear, passion, etc.--pushes him forward.  Such stories are forgotten as quickly as they appear because we feel no connection to a character that, himself, is not connected to the story.  It doesn't spring from his need, his fear, his loss, or anything reflecting the human condition.

Readers want clear motivation.  They identify with strong passions.  If your character's passions and weaknesses push and pull the story, answered by their mirror or foil in an opponent, your story will hold together and stay strong.

Out of Time

I've been mostly blogging about writing in a more literary fashion.  One literary device that should only be used intentionally is anachronism.  This is when something appears at the wrong time, as in a medieval prince wearing sneakers or an ancient Greek using a flashlight.  When you use it in such a way that both reader and you understand you're using it intentionally for humor or for such plot devices as time or space travel, the reader understands the clever twist and sees how it fits into your story, highlighting the differences between the anachronistic character, symbol, setting, etc. and what is going on around it. 

[source]

Many stories use anachronism for humor and/or meaning.  For example, Genie in Disney's "Aladdin" is so funny because he appears in a Medieval world, yet he becomes or references modern figures.  He is so charming because we as the audience and the readers all know everything he says or does is out of time.  His world becomes relevant and relatable for a modern reader because his behaviors tie our worlds together.  Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is all about a character that travels from the modern world  to the time of King Arthur.  The protagonist's knowledge and thought processes that reflect modern times make him our entry point to discover and understand the Dark Ages. 

[source]

Anachronism becomes a problem when it's unintentional.  Scholars or even people who know a fair amount about a time period, diagnosis, cultural phenomenon, etc. will lose interest in your piece fairly quickly if an anachronism (or similar issue) is clearly and obviously unintentional.  My husband was thrown out of Braveheart the novel, mentally, when a character struck a match long before matches were invented.  Similarly, he'll watch a movie with an eye toward cars, guns, and fashion.  If something is out of place, it frustrates him on every level. The story loses its pull and magic.

[source]

 
How do you avoid unintentional anachronism?  Know the material.  Study far more than you're ever going to use.  Know the time period, the culture, whatever it is you're writing about.  If possible, find an expert on the topic and have him/her look over your piece.  And if you're going to use intentional anachronism, make sure it's clear that you're using it and that there is a clear reason for using it. 

Balancing Light and Dark

[Balancing light and darkness; source.]

I've been blogging about writing in a more literary fashion.  One thing authors have struggled with is finding the right balance between light and darkness.  Some authors intentionally keep their pieces light.  Modern versions of fairy tales often have almost all light with very little darkness.  Yet the human experience rarely reflects this kind of existence.  If it's a book specifically for children, this makes sense.  But if it's for an older readership, there ought to be some kind of real challenge, some kind of difficulty or experience grappling with the darkness of this world.  If there's no real challenge/struggle/drama, there's no story.  However, a story that is unremittingly dark can overwhelm and turn off many readers.  Part of the point of writing is to entertain and to bring enjoyment to someone's life.  Most people don't find enjoyment when a piece is either all dark or all light. 

[source.]

So where can a writer find that balance?  Part of it is in the genre.  How much light or darkness is appropriate for the genre you're pursuing?  To find this, it's a great idea to read a lot of that genre.  Familiarize yourself with how others balance light and darkness.  Read materials about writing that genre.  You can push the envelope one way or another, but most people have certain expectations for the level of light or darkness and will find the experience of reading your book unpleasant if you stray too far outside the norm. 

[Hamlet]

Shakespeare is a good model for balancing light and darkness.  He writes characters with both light and dark aspects and tends to alternate dark scenes with light scenes.  A good model for this is "Hamlet" with the porter scenes.  We get a heavy, dark scene of Hamlet learning his father was murdered by his uncle, who now inhabits the throne and is married to his mother.  That is immediately followed by the porter scene, the source of the knock knock joke, full of whimsy and humor.  Another source for light would be love, hope, and joy.  However, I once read a book that went predictably back and forth like a wavelength, joy then sadness then joy then sadness then joy then sadness.  It got a little old and redundant. 

[Map your balance; source]

When you have a draft, I would recommend mapping out your areas of light vs darkness.  If it feels like there is too wide a span where it's one or the other, it may be a good idea to lighten the dark scenes with a bit of humor/hope or darken the light scenes with foreshadowing of hardship to come.  This doesn't mean undercut the emotional depth with humor.  It helps when the darkness and light can appear together, one enhancing the other as in a painting. 

[source]

The story needs to be balanced, but the first step is often to balance your characters, particularly hero and villain.  If you have a character who is just too dark with no redeeming characteristics, think of a way to help the reader see their point of view, even if the point of view is not one the reader can condone.  Show his/her humanity.  If you have a character that is so light that he/she becomes a Mary Sue, perfect without flaw, it's time to consider flaws that work within the context of the story.  Snow White is only a perfect Mary Sue in Disney.  In the Grimm Brothers' version, the evil queen reflects Snow White's own vanity, selfishness, and other dark traits back at her.  In destroying the queen, she's symbolically destroying the darkness from her own soul.  It's best when you plan these flaws from the beginning, so the story actually works as a way to help them work through those flaws, so the darkness springs somehow from or relates to the character him/herself.  Jane Austen's Emma highlights a character whose drama and exploits spring out of her own selfishness and ego.  Dr. Jeckyll self destructs--taking many people with him--because of his hubris and his drive to create a perfect world, instead, turning himself into a serial killing creature born of nightmares. 


It's important to figure out what balance would work for your story.  Are your characters a mix of dark and light?  Does this balance keep them intriguing?  Does your story balance dark and light in a way that works in your genre and with your plot line?  If not, it's time to work on it. 

Hero's Journey: A Review

["Jungle Book" source]

I've been blogging about how to write in a more literary fashion.  As I did my recent review a couple of weeks ago, I realized it's been years since I talked about the importance of the hero's journey in writing.  Early Disney movie makers had never heard of the hero's journey, so their stories tended to meander a bit, sing a bunch of songs, throw in some humor, and hope for the best. For the most part, people still loved their movies.  However, to the modern mind, they seem to be lacking.  A lot of people remember "Jungle Book" and "Aristocats" and the like fondly, but if you watch, say, the modern live action "Jungle Book," you'll see a striking difference.  That difference between a meandering narrative without clear purpose or plot and a tightly-written story people look at as brilliant and meaningful is often the hero's journey.  

["Star Wars" source]

Many decades ago, Joseph Campbell studied classic tales and songs of heroism like Greek myths, fairy tales, sagas, and found the commonality he laid out as the hero's journey.  It's hard to find any writer, especially writer of adventure stories whether on movies or in books, who has not studied the hero's journey since it has become such a staple in Disney/Pixar movies and elsewhere in Hollywood.  Lucas even had Campbell on the set of Star Wars: New Hope to make sure he got the format right.  

[Harry Potter source]

The hero's journey starts in the character's normal world.  Think Luke Skywalker, Jane Eyre, Harry Potter with their respective oppressive aunts and uncles.  They're at home, and things are as they have always been.  He/she receives a call to adventure like Harry's or Jane's call to go school or Luke's invitation to train with Obi Wan, which they often refuse.  They often some kind of supernatural aid such as Obi Wan or the Hogswarts professors.  They, then, accept the call and step past the threshold into the underworld and go into school/training/whatever.  Their mentors/trainers (the Obi Wans/Ms. Temples/Professor Dumbledores of their respective worlds) help them through challenges and temptations in the underworld until they reach a place of abyss/death/rebirth and revelation (think Harry Potter's death/train station scene, though it takes several forms).  He/she is transformed, undergoes some kind of atonement, and becomes the master of both worlds.  He then returns home with a "gift of the goddess," a gift he/she gained from the supernatural.  This is the basic hero's journey, though this same journey takes countless forms.  

[source]

There's also a variant specifically for heroines, called the heroine's journey.  It essentially follows many of the same pathways but involves a separation from the masculine, a journey that involves sorting out the feminine identity from masculine expectations and roles, reconnecting with the feminine, and then the reintegration back into the masculine world having undergone a healing transformation into one's true self.  Here is a discussion in some depth on the subject and its importance.  

This is just a quick thumbnail sketch of what the hero's journey involves.  If you haven't made a study of it and its beats, I highly recommend all writers do so.  Readers (at least subconsciously) walk into an adventure story expecting it.  If you'd like to know more, The Story Grid is a great place to start.  I highly recommend studying up and learning what the hero's/heroine's journey can do for your stories.

Poetic Word Choice

[source]

I've been blogging about how to write in a more literary fashion.  The difference between a good piece of writing  and a truly polished piece of writing is careful attention to the individual words.  This is not something to worry about the first draft or even the second.  This is what you worry about when you're on your final or almost final draft, when you've done everything else you can think to do.  Consider each word, each connotation, the rhythm and rhyme of each poem and polish it some more. 

  [source]    

One thing to consider is sounds.  Consider whether assonance (similar vowel sounds often at the beginning of a word) or alliteration (same thing but with consonants) can help.  In other words, are there places where the same consonant or vowel slipped into multiple places in a sentence helps its unity of sound?  Take note of the alliteration in the last sentence.  A lot of poets use this technique, especially with children's poetry.  Children often like rhythm and rhyme in their stories, and similar sounds like this are a sort of rhyme.  I'd caution that too much of this can make a line seem cheesy, especially in adult pieces.  But a little can create unity and poetic beauty without the overuse of obvious rhyme, adverbs, or adjectives. 

[source]

Another thing to consider is poetic use of imagery.  Prose will often speak in a straightforward fashion, sometimes using adverbs or adjectives.  To turn the language into something more poetic is to use metaphors, similes, and word plays.  We can say, "She went into the room," and it gets the job done.  We can even say, "She swept into the large chamber," and we get a better visual with a stronger verb and an occasional adjective (as long as we don't get overly purple or ornate to the point that no action happens).  But if "She twirled like a dancer in her first ballet into her new bedchamber," the simile achieves several things at once, including showing insights into her character, giving the reader a powerful visual, and setting the stage just a little better.  If your first draft looks like the first example, your second looks like the second example, and your third looks like the third example, you're moving in the right direction. If possible, consider using rhythm, emphasizing certain syllables as in a song or Shakespeare. 

[source]

Another thing to consider is tight language.  Every word should have power and do several things at once when possible.  Every verb should be potent, the adverbs minimal, and the adjectives creative and fresh.  Beware of overwriting such as "She rode her old horse into the middle part of the central region of her favorite town in the world and searched the surrounding roads for the man she was targeting."  This is bland and wordy.  You can say the very same thing with "She clopped Rosie, her second-hand nag, through her favorite town to Main to hunt her target."  Seek and destroy words that aren't necessary and search for more powerful/descriptive versions of what remains. Any repetition that remains should be intentional language play that adds to the meaning rather than increasing verbal clutter. 

There is much more to poetry.  Turning prose more poetic can enhance the beauty of your writing and make it more literary in so many meaningful ways. 

Top Tips

[source]

I've been blogging for over four years, most of them on how to write in a more literary fashion.  I thought this week I'd do a round up on the most helpful techniques on which I've written when it comes to writing in a literary fashion.  Writing in a literary fashion is all about taking a simple story (about life, in poetic form, or in fiction form) and adding deeper meaning. 

[source]

1. Find your passion.  Before you can write, you need to find what genre, what style, what characters, what meaning excites you.  Literary greats like Shakespeare, Austen, and Dickens start with what excites them and makes them love to write.  Dickens had a passion to give insights about the plight of the poor.  Austen and the Brontes had a passion for writing romance.  Shakespeare loved history, comedy, and tragedy.  What drives you to read?  What drives you to write?  Whatever it is, read that.  Write that. 

[source]

2. Plot at a deeper level, with meaning in mind.  Consider what motivates or drives your story.  This is where you can push past cliches to use outlining, types of conflict, balancing light and darkness, hero's journey principles (or the female version, if that works better with your character, base your story on a fairy tale or piece of classical literature (Austen, Dickens, Shakespeare, etc), and/or consider themes as a foundation for your storyline (religious themes, social commentary, etc.). 

[source]

3. Characterize main characters and antagonists at a deeper level, which can include intensive backstory planning, loss and tragedy, basing characters on a well-researched characterization system such as the Meyers-Briggs system or the enneagram (either of which can give a strong and deep basis for character relationships, so you don't have to do the work yourself), foils, archetypes such as the everyman, or on classical characters  (as in placing Darcy- and Lizzy-like characters in a Shakespeare yarn set in medieval France, the present, or a dystopic future), or on one of several interviews you can find online. 

[source]

4. Consider perspective and the use of irony, personification, referencing literary material with shakespearean, biblical or allusion, foreshadowing in multiple ways, flashbacks, symbolism, themes, and any of a plethora of literary devices that can enhance the meaning that you plan for your story.  Decide how you will keep rule number one in writing, which is to help the reader feel. 

[source]

5. Polish with meaning in mind.  Consider any writing devices you haven't already used such as polishing your voice, similes and metaphors, enhancing sensory imagery, deepening dialogue, enhancing emotional depth, unreliable narrators, and a balance of showing vs telling.  Examine and weigh words--and especially the working title--for depth, word play, poetic devices, etc. 

[source]

6.  Send it out in the world to get help with revision from writer's groups, friends, beta readers, freelance editors. 

7.  Seek out an agent, publisher, or consider self-publication and research the process. 

Start over with a new piece.  You can do this. 

Step by Step Indie Publication

Next week, I will return to blogging about how to make each piece you write more literary.  This week, I will give you the boiled-down, simple steps to self-publication.  If you want more detail and further instructions on this process, you can look up online classes like https://thewritepractice.com/ and https://www.childrensbookformula.com/.  They have been amazing.  But here are the steps I followed just recently to break into print.  As I said last time, you're welcome to pursue an agent and regular publication.  But if you know your pieces don't follow a regular formula, if you don't want to be tied down with contracts, if you're tired of getting refusals, this may be the route for you. 

Here are the steps and(and some of them can be done in any order--the first two should really simultaneous):

1. Write, polish, get feedback from alpha and beta readers, polish again, send to a freelance editor, polish again.  Basically make the best piece(s) you possibly can.  If it's a kids' book, Fivrr and similar websites can direct you to an illustrator and cover designer for which you need to pay very little.  If you want to illustrate it yourself, that's fine, though keep in mind that a cover may do better if it's professionally done.  If you're just writing a short story or other short piece, you could find a picture you like from Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels, or other free-for-commercial use image.  It's great to cite your source, but you don't need to pay for it.  Make sure to read carefully all legal issues involved. 

2. Set up a writer's platform and make friends among the writing community, so they can share your stuff even as they share yours.  This includes a blog, a web page (it can be free, though it looks better if it is paid and has your name as the domain, for which you have to pay) on which you allow (through mailchimp, mailerlite, etc) the opportunity for readers to subscribe to an email list, Pinterest (which gives you permanent and free advertising), Twitter (get followers by following those eager to follow back, especially fellow writers), a FaceBook page, and any other social media you can find, with special emphasis on getting an email list. 

[Source]

3. Publish your story to KDP (Amazon's indie publication branch) and/or Draft2Digital (publishes to everything, including Amazon, though that requires extra steps) in order to get it into the hands of readers everywhere.  If you want to read your own piece or hire someone This is really the easy part and really only takes a few minutes. 

4. Invite your writer and other influencer friends to read your piece and write reviews, the more the better.  Send out messages to all of your social media, email lists, etc. that you're going to launch.  Launch.  Send out messages that the piece is available.  Get everyone you can giving reviews because anything fewer than about 25 reviews means you're not very visible on Amazon.  The more you can get, the better. 

Those are the bare-bones steps.  After that, it's just a matter of finding people to come and read your piece.  There really is a lot more to getting your piece known about and read.  Just doing this doesn't necessarily make you a lot of money.  But it will get you published.  If the goal is to be published, the only thing holding you back from publication is you. 

The hard part I'm still working on--as are many writers--is getting attention to the piece.  For that, you can think about media, ads, paying a PR firm, etc.  There are many classes and webinars out there to help you figure out the advertising end of things.  But if just seeing your name in print is the goal, it's easy.  I just don't want you to fall into the trap I did and pay someone to do this for you.  I let a company publish my academic theses, and they've been making all the money I haven't for my hard work.  I haven't seen a dime, yet I could have done all of this myself.  Don't let someone tell you that you have to pay for this.

You can do this for yourself.  You don't have to wait for someone to publish you.  Publishing firms do have PR for themselves and will get you read if all of this sounds like too much.  The drawback is that you are then, as I said, under contract, signing your work away for someone else to make money, and you're only seeing something like 10%.  On the other hand, 100% (minus Amazon's 30% or 70% fee, taken off the price people spend per book) of nothing is nothing if you can't get it read.  And once it's published any way, many publishers won't look at it.  Consider carefully.  Research.  Listen to some free webinars.  Figure out which is the best way for you, and just do it.  I sat on pages of writing for years.  I'm just now actually getting it out there.  I wish you the best. 

A Guide to Publishing Categories

[source] 

I've been blogging about writing in a more literary fashion; however, this post is going to be more of a summary of what I've learned about the publishing world from recent webinars, podcasts, and courses.  If you know this from other resources, this post may not be useful for you.  For those who have just started thinking you may want to get published one day, possibly one day soon, this is for you.  Once, traditional publication was pretty much the only racket in town if you didn't want to foot the bill for every step.  Now, you have traditional publication, indie publication, and everything in between. Now is really the time to publish if you haven't yet because there are so many options.  Step one is, of course, to write a book/story/poem/etc., unless you want to find a publisher/category/contest and write what they want, starting with what they're looking for. 

The first kind of publication is, of course, traditional publication.  From what I understand, they once had a stranglehold on what did and did not come into the spotlight.  In order to come to the attention of a conventional publisher, you first research through Writer's Market , Google, or some similar resource for specific publishers and their requirements.  Writer's Market (online) is a wonderful resource full of the most recent information, including the name of agents and publishers.  For a lot of publishers, they only accept agented manuscripts, but there are some smaller or lesser known presses that will accept you without an agent.  Know your genre.  Know the publisher, including specific names, and how to submit before you just start sending your manuscript everywhere.  The drawback of traditional publication is that they can be incredibly picky.  It's wonderful if your piece fits squarely into a niche that they're looking for.  If not, you need to send it to one right after another, researching and obeying their rules exactly, or you will get nowhere.  If you find a publisher, your standard cut is about 10%, give or take, often split with that agent, but you pay nothing up front.  My pieces are a little more niche than most, so I haven't had a lot of luck going this way.  If, however, you've just written something that squarely fits in one of these markets, this is a great way to go.  They do usually gain the rights to your book, unlike all the others on this list. 

[source]

The second kind of publication is vanity press.  Vanity presses are eager to find your manuscript.  They will take just about anyone and will, indeed, help you get your piece published.  But you pay for everything, piecemeal, to do it.  They get their income from you and often charge a high premium in the thousands of dollars and beyond to produce something you may or may not be happy with.  Many of them are predatory, so you'll want to be sure to do your research in advance.  They often do little to nothing to market your piece without more money from you.  It's easy to get published here, but then you'll often be in the same boat as you would have been indie publishing and for a lot more money. Sometimes, getting published with one of these presses does nothing or something negative with your reputation as a writer.  Do a lot of research before you go forward with one of these.  I've periodically bumped into one of these and researched it, but I hesitated because they said I had to pretty much market myself unless I wanted to pay thousands on top of their base price. 

[source]

Hybrid presses can, at first blush, look like a vanity press.  They do charge up front but not nearly as much and often take a much smaller cut of sales than a traditional publisher, if they take one at all.  They are more selective than vanity presses because they want to protect their reputation, which means they also want to protect yours.  They often include marketing in the fees you do pay.  They may limit their services but are clear about what they will and will not do for you, which may include marketing as part of the original fee.  I have found a hybrid publisher with which I will be working to produce my chapter book series.  Chapter book series are a very niche market simply because a lot of publishers don't want to occupy their space on short, cheap books on short paperback books.  My hybrid publisher will charge up front and will help me with marketing as part of the fee, but they will not take a percentage out of my sales.  I will be publishing my chapter books, at first, anyway, because producing one short chapter book would involve the same costs as publishing a set of books, so it makes a lot more sense to publish them in collections.  If you're looking at niche markets, this may be a good way to go if you can afford the up front fee and find one particular publisher that works for you. 

[source]

My latest experience has been with indie publishing.  You keep all the rights and make all the money, above and beyond the fees that, say, Amazon might charge (30-70%, depending on the option you choose).  What you will pay up front here is the individual aspects of producing the books, including editing, marketing ads, covers, illustrations, etc.  It can be hard to get a lot of sales this way because you are your own marketer.  It is easy and fairly quick to publish your piece on KDP (Amazon's self-publishing wing) and Draft2Digital, which can make your book available worldwide, but getting reviews, readers, etc. can be a challenge.  It helps when you do have a writer's platform, an email list, etc.  Next time, I will spend longer on what I have learned and the classes in which I have learned this information, so you can consider pursuing a course like this to walk you through all of the steps of going from writer to indie published and (hopefully) successful writer.  If you're interested, you can look at my indie published short story to see what it looks like.  You can even publish paperbacks through the route I will talk about next time. 

Regardless of the route you elect, you will need to do research and make sure you have selected the publishing method, which is right for you.  A lot of people have found success through all of these routes.  Just know what you're doing before you pursue any of these routes.