My suspicion was that in a digital era where self-publishing is taking an increasingly larger piece of the traditional publishing’s pie, writers are valuing the worth of their intellectual property a bit more than they were twenty years ago. Or, to be more precise, writers have more and easier options to independently extract value from their intellectual property (e.g., online self-publishing).

But, unless you have the means to extract that value on your own (i.e., the time and knowledge to successfully self-publish, which includes marketing, technical, and other considerations), money may still be the priority. Someone’s got to make the cheese sandwiches, right?

Responses on twitter were mixed: @HoppingFun and @vforvoice came down on the rights/it depends side, while @davisac1 and @jchutchins opted for more money.

So, writers, I put it to you: which do you prefer? More money or more rights? More importantly, why or under what conditions?

UPDATE!

I moved some of the twitter responses over here so they wouldn’t be lost. Reviews are mixed, but “depends” seems to be the front runner so far…

@jchutchins: More money, less rights.

@vforvoice: More rights, less money. Media is too expansive to not retain rights for derivatives of original material.

@davisac1: I’d totally sell more rights for more money. That’s what I’d be trying to do with them anyway.

@HoppingFun: Depends on the biz plan and people involved. If I have creative freedom, I’d likely go for a split.

@BFree63: It’s a short term vs long term choice. With more rights comes more money down the road. I call it “investing in yourself”.

@chrisw10: With regards to writing, I think it depends entirely on the long tail. For my 1st story, I want more rights, less money for it, cause I think its too good to let someone tie up rights to it. But for anything I’m doing career-wise, more money, less rights.

[I then asked @chrisw10: "So, career/professional project= money, personal project = rights?"]

@chrisw10: For me, that’s probably how it breaks down. Though any commerical book that I think may be big I’d want to keep e-book rights. Unless giving them up will get me more in the long-run. It’s all about the long run. :)

@JolleySezStuff: Depends — is this a project I’m passionate about? Or did my car just die?

@gmskarka: For most writers, that’s a false dichotomy — More RIghts EQUALS More Money (in the long run).

@floerianthebard: Depends on the piece of work. If I want to do more with it b/c I see potential, I’d take less pay. If it’s a one-off, more pay.

@andrhia: More money, less rights.

@simon_staffans: Best of worlds? More $ first with a buy-back-in-option in the future. Likelihood of happening? Will there ever be world peace?

It didn’t help that I started last week with a long-overdue trip back to east to visit family I haven’t seen in seven years. And it definitely didn’t help that I changed my novel the morning of day one (I was sketching out a rough plot and creating characters well into the afternoon).

Initially, my plan was to write a sequel to last year’s NaNo novel (a story set in Runes of Gallidon). But, last year’s novel is still very much in rough shape, and I didn’t want to hem myself in by committing to too much in the sequel. I was also itching to write about completely different characters and a different region in Gallidon.

I’m hopeful that I can dig myself out of this massive hole and successfully complete the novel by November 30th, but given my upcoming commitments, the only way I can see that happening is by trading my addiction to the Interwebz for shovels. A lot of shovels.

UPDATE: On November 11th, I was hit by a car while crossing the street. Amazingly, I suffered no serious injuries, though I was sufficiently bruised, battered, and banged up to be fairly unproductive during the month of November (reading and working on the computer quickly caused headaches). With that unexpected turn of events, my hopes for avoiding a sophomore slump at NaNo this year were tossed out the window.

Happily, I got far enough into the novel to get a feel for the characters and the story possibilities. And after recently stumbling on The Virgin’s Promise (a female response to the typically male-oriented Hero’s Journey), it radically altered my thoughts about what kind of story the female protagonist should have. Less action, more introspection.

Hoping to revisit it in 2011 and see where the story takes me…

There are plenty of posts out there about how to make sure you ‘win’ and get yourself across the 50,000 word finish line by November 30th. There aren’t many that tackle the question of whether you should even attempt NaNo in the first place, or, if you do, what you should do afterwards.

So, at the risk of alienating fellow NaNo writers, I’m going to suggest that you genuinely consider what you’re proposing to do. Does NaNo fit nicely with your plans and goals as a writer? Will that very rough first draft put you closer to your goal? Is this the best way for you to write effectively and efficiently?

In other words, is NaNo right for you?

Here are three posts to consider before you attempt NaNo (one of them is by a non-published author, so take his ramblings with a grain of salt…and a shot of tequila):

• Chuck Wendig: NaNoWriMo: The Debbil’s Adbocate (the good, the bad, and what the #$^% where you thinking?)
• Mur Lafferty: NaNoWriMo Reality Check (why you aren’t finished when you finish)
• My own thoughts after my first NaNoWriMo

And, yes, I’m planning on a sophomore swing at NaNo this year. And, yes, the first draft will be utter garbage.

And, yes, I’m totally fine with that.

Two types of choice make up the storytelling world of today: The first is the creator’s choice: the choices that we as content creators make to build the world of the story we’re telling. The second is the audience’s choice: limitless, and changeable at the click of a mouse or swipe of a finger.

Everyone is a storyteller. What separates the clicked on from the clicked away is how we build a symphony of story and choose to perform it.

The tools of expression are everywhere. In every device we hold. In every screen we look at. Whereas previously it was enough to look at a big screen, or a small screen, or the light pages of a bunch of pieces of paper bound by staples and glue, today’s world is a different place. We are now faced with something none of us (save novelists) have experienced: Near limitless potential.

As a former composer, the symphony was the holy grail of the compositional world. To write one signaled you either had too much time on your hands or had reached “the big time.” Or both.

What symphony implies in the digital storytelling world is the complete convergence of all members of the orchestra into one coherent being capable of giving pleasure to a group of people for the duration of the event. In the new digital age of filmmaking (a title I’ve long abandoned), symphony is the new world order.

A feature film, once thought to be the symphony of the visual storytelling world, is now a section in the orchestra of convergence. Comic books, once the bastard stepchildren of everything, are now regarded as viable storytelling platforms (and indispensable in my current project, Whiz!Bam!Pow!). Mobile. Games. Shorts. ARG. Twitter. Facebook. Blog. Book. Short story. Social networks. MMORPG. It’s unending.

What separated the great composers from the mediocre was not what they used in their symphony but what they left out. Great works are created within chains, so now the trick is not to use everything at our disposal, but to select each piece carefully and methodically, embracing its nuance and capabilities to best reach the intended end goal: Symphony.

We have to not only be composers in this transmedia world, but disciplined and gifted conductors, knowing those nuances inside and out, molding and shaping them into the pinnacle of story symphony for the venues we choose.

Each and every instrument we choose to play, each and every medium we choose to implement, must compliment and build within the chains we have to mold around each work. In the digital world, where our greatest enemy is not lack of choice, but too much, it’s only through discipline and organic story creation – being the sharpest tool in the shed – that we cut through the surfaces that the dull instruments can’t reach.

The unlimited potential of digital creativity is a wonderful thing – but not because of its unlimited potential. What makes it great is how we choose to utilize the tools at our disposal – through a disciplined (and highly creative) exploration of their nuances to build each and every one of our digital symphonies.

If we successfully do that, we place ourselves in an infinitely better place for the audience to make their choice – and not click away.

TYLER WEAVER is a storyteller whose chosen medium happens to be that expensive form called film. He’s made some stuff, like THE FOURTEEN MINUTE GAP, IL MIO CANTO LIBERO, and GATHER ‘ROUND THE MIC. He lets the world knows what he thinks as the founder and EIC of Multi-Hyphenate and takes great joy in helping other people get their stories told as a marketing strategist. He’s currently developing a transmedia project called WHIZ!BAM!POW! that pays tribute to his lifelong love of comic books. Because he’s slightly insane, he’s simultaneously developing a new documentary. He yaks about that and more on Twitter under the creative guise of @tylerweaver.

The day I saw “10191987″ spelled out in my bowl of Cheerios, however, was the day I knew I was different.

Okay, to be accurate, October 19, 1987 was the day I knew I was different. I saw “10191987″ about a week or so before Black Monday, but it wasn’t until the crash that I realized what it meant.

Other numbers followed. Could be dates, could be just numbers. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Always important. Never actionable.

11091989
5335
08021990
12251990
07252000
2

I’ve seen these numbers in rain drops on windows, in fields, in Christmas tree lights.

Once I figured out what I was seeing, I spent a lot of years trying to predict the importance of the numbers. I built spreadsheets and maps, read about numerology and cryptography, scoured every news source I could find. I never did come close to predicting anything.

After a while, I gave up. Too many possibilities, too many moving pieces.

And there’s the problem: I know ahead of time some key piece to a world-changing event, but I never know what the event will be. I can’t help avoid catastrophes; I can only verify my prediction after the fact. Hardly something to write home about.

I started ignoring the numbers. I avoided news in any format I could. No TV, no web, no print. I was happier living in ignorance and denial. Things got better for a while.

So, why I am writing about all of this now? Because recently I started seeing the same number, over and over: 10102010.

This is the first number that keeps repeating itself. I believe it’s important, perhaps the most important number I’ve ever seen. And I have no idea what’s going to happen on that date.

But maybe you do…

Adding to the challenges was the fact that November included two back-to-back long weekend trips and a long weekend holiday. The timing could not have been worse.

How did it turn out? Pretty well, surprisingly, but not how you might think.

Yes, I now have a complete first draft of a fantasy novel. I didn’t have that 34 days ago. I can also honestly make the claim, “I wrote a novel.” I couldn’t claim that 34 days ago. And I can say that I did it in 29 days. That’s something I never thought I’d be able to say.

And make no mistake, the draft is what you would expect from an amateur’s first attempt. It’s crap, it’s utterly unusable in its current form, and it ended up taking so many twists and turns, I’m not even sure the ending has anything resembling a logical connection with the beginning. The real hard, dirty work – editing, polishing, wordsmithing – spreads out before me.

But the draft was, in many ways, just the by-product of something else. The process of writing the novel was a huge learning experience for me. The lessons I take with me are the real treasures from my NaNoWriMo experiment. Below are a few.

[Disclaimer: The observations below are unique to me and are not meant as anything resembling guidelines, advice, or suggestions for how to go about courting your own muse. Each writer's path is unique and must, in the end, be walked alone.]

1) When pressed, I actually had what it took to write a novel. Success in this case is measured by completing at least a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. The simple act of completion and closure during NaNoWriMo was a surprising confidence booster.

2) For me, writing during NaNoWriMo is a labor of labor. Love doesn’t much enter into the equation. Mostly due to time constraints, the process was a genuine struggle. Certainly, there were fleeting moments of what might be called bliss (say, when a new idea popped out of nowhere that worked really well at taking the story in a new, more exciting direction), but the whole thing felt more like a cross between nailing Jello to the wall and trying to hammer a lump of mud into something functional, if not attractive. My walls are now permanently stained green, and I believe I tossed my hammer through a window somewhere around 35,000 words.

3)  I read a lot of “how to” books and articles before attempting to write the novel. I thought they were going to be more helpful than they were. Looking back on it, I think their value is more downstream rather than up-front. In other words, I understand a lot more about planning and plotting now that I’ve slogged through a novel than I did before. When I revisit those how to resources, they will take on a new, deeper meaning.

4) Writing was both easier and harder than I thought. I tripped over the smallest of challenges and easily vaulted the largest of hurdles. Where NaNoWriMo really helped was in preventing me from stewing over problems. Big or small, hard or easy, I had to keep writing if I was going to win.

5) Despite all the dire warnings to never get bogged down during the first draft, I still found myself correcting spelling, grammar, and even going back to previous passages to retroactively bring in a new idea or better integrate earlier work with later developments in the narrative. I’m no where near skilled enough to say whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing for me, but it definitely made the NaNoWriMo challenge a lot harder.

6) I completely underestimated the frequency with which new ideas would emerge from my writing. This was both boone and burden, as it greatly extended the scope of the plot. I ended up with a lot of “extra” material to work with, but every new idea meant more words. This was not a problem in general, since the more you have to work with, the better chance you have of constructing a more imaginative, engaging story. But this becomes a serious problem when you’re under a 30-day deadline. It forces you to walk away from certain storylines simply because you don’t have time to explore them.

7) I did not make use of the NaNoWriMo website or write-ins. I did not have time to hit the forums, extend my writing buddy network, play much in the #nanowrimo twitter stream, or meet my local NaNoWriMo writers. This was disappointing, since I feel that all of that can be a part of and can deepen the NaNoWriMo experience. But at the end of the day, I was forced to admit thatI needed every spare minute to write, and none of these activities were adding to my word count.

And most importantly, what I learned from NaNoWriMo is that (at least for now) I am definitely not a writer. I’m someone who writes. It’s a good distinction for keeping one’s ego in check.

Did I enjoy the NaNoWriMo challenge? Will I take the challenge next year? Do I think it was a helpful tool for writing? Yes, hopefully, and a qualified yes. As someone once said about NaNoWriMo, it’s a great way to write a novel in 30 days,  but it’s not a good way to write (even Chris Baty doesn’t suggest its use as a permanent state of writing).

I’m already looking forward to next year’s competition, and if I’m ready to write another novel before November 2010, there’s a good chance I’ll self-challenge myself to a 30-day window. But I certainly would not want to earn my living by writing under these conditions.

UPDATE: One of my fellow NaNo buddies, Drew Lackovic, kindly forwarded his suggestions on how to tackle revisions. Drew is a man of many talents, including writing and teaching. His thoughts are definitely worth a read in general but especially applicable for anyone suffering from a NaNo hangover…

Min. Daily Average Word Count: 1,667

Word Count Goal: just over 3,000

Actual Word Count: 3,045

Daily Word Count Score (words in excess of min daily average): +1,378

Total Word Count Score: 50,067

Chapters complete: 21

With a day to spare, I inched my way across the 50,000 work goal and promptly collapsed. Yes, I could spend another day stringing together yet more verbiage that will most likely never get used…or I could get back to the rest of my life that I essentially ignored this month. I’m leaning towards the latter.

My head’s still swimming from the experience, and I hope to post some thoughts about it (as well as lessons learned) later. For now, I’m just thrilled to have finished my first novel. It’s something I never thought I would do.

So ends my first NaNoWriMo adventure, and, yeah, I’m already looking forward to next year!

Min. Daily Average Word Count: 1,667

Word Count Goal: 2,500

Actual Word Count: 2,101

Daily Word Count Score (words in excess of min daily average): +434

Total Word Count Score: 47,022

Chapters complete: 20

Wrapped up the climax chapter, but I’m still staring down a 3K work final chapter, which feels long. Will write the final chapter until it seems done, then backfill any word shortage across earlier chapters. I left a lot of areas undescribed in my race to cut the plot and get to the climax, which means there are plenty of opportunities to explore the world – lots of flavo-bits to add.

Presuming no big problems, should have this wrapped up a day early!

Min. Daily Average Word Count: 1,667

Word Count Goal: 3,000

Actual Word Count: 3,435

Daily Word Count Score (words in excess of min daily average): +1,768

Total Word Count Score: 44,921

Chapters complete: 19

In to the home stretch. Just started the climax chapter, which leaves a chapter for wrap-up. It won’t be much past 50K words, but I’ll hit the mark.

Aiming to wrap up the next two chapters by the 29th (somehow I doubt much will get done on Monday 30th).

Min. Daily Average Word Count: 1,667

Word Count Goal: 2,500

Actual Word Count: 2,073

Daily Word Count Score (words in excess of min daily average): +406

Total Word Count Score: 41,486

Chapters complete: 18

Just slugging out words at this point and trying to get Mia/Kenji/Sora to the climax location. Planning on one chapter of denouement, which means about four chapters left, total.