the writing life

The Journal, Thursday, May 17

Hey Folks, Topic: How Do You Know You Won’t Like It If You Don’t Try It? Parents? Sound familiar? Well, we’re in the same boat here. I received a very congenial email from a friend and one time editing client that contained a link to an article titled “I Copied the Routines of Famous Writers and It Sucked.” As it turned out, the article was more humorous than serious. I’ve included the link (last) in “Of Interest” below. And just so you know, the author of the article is not a novelist. He’s a columnist and/or contributor to several online … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, May 16

Hey Folks, First session today, I hit only a little over 1200 words. If I didn’t have an edit to do, I might finish my WIP today, but I think I’ll stick to the schedule of switching from one to the other. One problem with writing my own stuff while I’m editing for someone else is that I’m tempted to stay in the chair longer than I should when I’m writing. I feel pressured (a little) to get as much writing done as I can. That was the case this morning. This morning I got to the Hovel at 8:30 … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, May 15

Hey Folks, Tom Wolfe once said, “I do novels a bit backward. I look for a situation, a milieu first, and then I wait to see who walks into it.” May he rest in peace. Be sure to see today’s “Of Interest.” A lot of good stuff there. Another copyedit came in, and from a writer for whom I’ve copyedited before. It’s great fun watching a writer improve at storytelling. I’m looking forward to the story. So I’ll be doing that for awhile in addition to finishing the novel/story collection. Topic: An Update on Process Writing my own current WIP … Read more

The Journal, Monday, May 14

Hey Folks, I’m alive. Yesterday I took a much-needed “do (almost) nothing” day and basically did (almost) nothing. I did blast through an online workshop. I visited the Internet a bit and we went to the grocery and I read. Otherwise I did nothing. But I’m back. This morning I’ll commute to the Hovel (about 200 feet from my house), coffee in hand, and write a short story. No idea what that will be at the moment. Then this afternoon I’ll work on a copyedit that came in. It’s short. I hope I’ll be able to finish it this afternoon … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, May 12

Hey Folks, Okay, first, a happy Mother’s Day (tomorrow) to all the moms out there. I hope it’s a great day for you. Well, it’s getting too hot in the afternoon even to write out in the Hovel, so adjustments are coming. For those new to the Journal, the Hovel is a rammed-earth structure, basically a cave, with walls that are three feet thick. I have a box fan out there right now, and I bought a portable swamp cooler that works too, though I have no ready source of water out there for it. But both are noisy enough … Read more

The Journal, Friday, May 11

Hey Folks, Wow. I woke up jonesing to get back to writing today. The marketing webinar was great yesterday, but I’ll have to go over it again. It was a ton of information, and they probably needed 3 or 4 hours (or longer) for a proper presentation. They flew through it, not even showing all the slides they’d prepared (but those are all included in the actual video). If you missed yesterday’s Journal, the link to that video is https://youtu.be/2XTd9NcgWWc. As an added bonus, you can dowload the slides they used in the video at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GC3CZUCVQqDN0P7iuLJ44qo9xpkXoqAK/view. (When you get there, … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, May 10

Hey Folks, A little rambling today… This morning I rolled out closer to the time normal human beings get up. That might become the routine since the sun’s coming up earlier now. Doing so enables me to ease my way into the day, spend some time with my wife in the morning and evening, and gives me more of a normal workday. This is me trying to rationalize staying up later at night and getting up later in the morning. But it seems worthwhile, at least so far. We got rid of regular TV programming and the $100+ per month … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, May 9

Hey Folks, I got up much closer to my normal time this morning, but frittered away much of the morning. I did do a little cycling and enjoyed that. I also enjoyed wondering what I might write later today. Even made a couple of starts, but nothing stuck. It wasn’t time yet. For whatever reason, today I’m just not feeling it. So day off today. I’ll check out my window later to see whether the world ended (grin). My little cat’s been sneezing a lot lately, and she’s listless. She’s usually a tightly wound ball of pure energy, so I’m … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, May 8

Hey Folks, Okay, a lot of stuff in “Of Interest” today re crime novels and thrillers and Amazon and other things. Crime Writer Sue Coletta is an excellent resource. First some admin stuff… Happy birthday to my eldest daughter, Audrey. Today is her 44th. Thanks to all of you who remain subscribed to this Journal because you find it interesting, motivational, or educational. I probably haven’t said it for awhile, but I do appreciate you. When I was still in the USMC a lifetime ago, I overheard two much older guys talking about ways to stay young. One of them … Read more

The Journal, Monday, May 7

Hey Folks, The “Of Interest” section is huge today, and filled to the brim. Rolled out a little late this morning, but not too bad. After my experience yesterday with writing a short story at what amounted to megaspeed for me, I look forward to what might happen today. I started the day with a half-ton of reading. Everything in “Of Interest” plus a few similar items and side articles. Fascinating stuff. The thing is, everything goes into the subconscious. Even if you don’t write crime/detective/mystery novels, bits of what you read in these articles will bubble to the surface … Read more