Hey Folks, This morning (as I write this) I read a new post on a site I often reference. I was stunned, and not in a good way. I was reminded again of the preacher in the film “Oh God.” The problem was, the preacher was a hypocrite. God (played by George Burns) said, “The guy ought to be selling Earth shoes.” That sums up my philosophy about entirely too many so-called writing instructors. I … Read more
Hi Folks, Note: This is a time-sensitive post, so I put off the post on bad writing instructors until July 10. Practice Is Important Part I — Rationale and a Harsh Truth About Hovering As it is in all art, practice in writing is important. Without practice, the writing craft and the writing itself goes stale. And as it is in all art, practice in writing is fun, if uncomfortable. Many writers still feel more comfortable … Read more
Hey Folks, I talked here awhile back about the power of streaks. A “streak” means repeatedly hitting a certain regularly scheduled goal without missing. When you miss, the streak ends. For example, say you are determined to write 1000 words per day every day. The more days you do that in a row, the more powerful the streak becomes because you won’t want to miss. As a nice aside, and if you did do that for … Read more
Hey Folks, I received a query from a writer who’s interested in a copyedit. He also asked whether I would help him find an agent and a traditional publisher. Uhh, no. After I explained why I thought the agent chase and traditional publishing in general was not a good idea, he wrote in reponse “About publication: I agree with you. However, I want not money but name as a published author, which you know somebody does … Read more
Hi Folks, As I write this, I’ve just completed another classic (half-price, self-paced) workshop from Dean Wesley Smith. I already know a lot of what I’m hearing in the workshop, but reminders are good too. And I knew hardly any of it a year or two ago. Yet I thought my writing was good. (grin) All of this reminded me again of a writer who emailed me awhile back and asked me to critique a short … Read more
Hi Folks, Note: This post was originally scheduled for 9/13/2013. It didn’t post to MailChimp, so I’m posting it again now. I’ve revised the original post so it’s up to date. No, I’m not saying copyright isn’t important. I’m saying that, like global warming, it exists without you doing anything at all. Let’s get right to it. I received an email from a former editing client. The subject line was “intellectual property?” His entire email read … Read more
Note: Recently, as I tried to have MailChimp add the specific post title to my email, instead it added only the code: RSSFEED:SUBJECT. Understandably, this looked suspicious to some readers. I understand. From this point forward, the posts will have a generic subject line. Thanks for your patience. H Hi Folks, Know what? Writer’s block doesn’t exist. Wait. Way too haughty. Let me try again: Writer’s block doesn’t exist unless you experience it. Okay, that’s a … Read more
Hi Folks, Note: I first wrote this back on May 12, 2015. I think it might help some of you, so I posted it here for the first time today. To put the following in perspective, the entire Wes Crowley saga now spans 10 novels and several short stories. Heinlein’s first rule is “You must write.” The second rule is “You must finish what you write.” As you can see, this has nothing specific to do … Read more
Hey Folks, This is a bit of advice I’ve never heard specifically from any writing instructor. The nearest even good writing instructors come is when they say your readers can’t see what’s in your mind. They can see only what you put on the page. To expand and clarify that a bit, readers can sense only what you put on the page. They can see, hear, smell, taste and feel only what you put on the … Read more
Hi Folks, For a very long time, I used italics to indicate unspoken thought and anything that was being read (still unspoken thought) like signs, short notes, etc. (Note: what I accurately call “uspoken thought” is what others refer to as “internal monologue.”) One day I sent an assignment in to the instructor in a workshop I was taking online. He enjoyed the story, with one caveat. Each time he encountered italics, he said, it jerked … Read more