Hi Folks, Distractions happen. They do. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do about them. But if you’re a mechanic and you get a phone call (distraction) and your spouse or significant other shows up unannounced for lunch (distraction) or a chunk of spy satellite falls out of the sky and flattens the dry cleaner across the street (distraction), you look, you take care of it, and you go back to work on the engine or the … Read more
Hi Folks, Following on the tail of Trusting Your Subconscious Mind, this suits. I’ve talked before about writing off into the dark. In fact, my whole Daily Journal is based on that method of writing, piggybacked on the writer’s determination to follow Heinlein’s Rules. I even teach an Audio Course on Writing Off Into the Dark. Click the link and scroll down to Course 12. But one subtopic is sorely lacking any direct instruction that I … Read more
Hey Folks, This first appeared as a topic over at my Daily Journal at http://hestanbrough.com. It also sprang from a comment (a question from another writer) on Dean Wesley Smith’s website. Awhile back I talked about writing a “reverse outline.” The idea is, as you write your novel off into the dark (no pre-plotting, outlining, etc.) sometimes keeping track of characters, what they’re wearing, major situations, etc. becomes cumbersome. Now when I write a novel, I … Read more
Hey Folks, I was going to write a whole post on this topic, but really, that isn’t necessary. It’s a personal pet-peeve kind of thing. And far be it from me to foist my “beliefs” on anyone else. What pet peeve? Well, people who write things and then postulate—not even apologetically but more apoplectically and with a wag of the hand—that “The reader will know what I mean.” Those folks get on my nerves. Deep and … Read more
Hi Folks, Sometimes, probably more often than not, my own biggest problem is Me. Today I knocked out something over 2000 words before I went walking. Didn’t walk all that long. I didn’t even need a shower, really, although I took one because that’s what you do. After that, I was fired up to leap back into writing another scene in The Marshal of Agua Perlado. And I did. Then I got stuck. I wasn’t stuck … Read more
Hi Folks, Sometime or another, in one place or another, I mentioned to someone that Streaks Have Power. I probably mentioned it here before, and I’m sure I mentioned it in at least two or three seminars or writing intensives. To create a streak, you set a daily or weekly or monthly goal and then achieve it time after time after time. If you’ve ever worked in one of those places where the management had a … Read more
Hi Folks, A writer and friend once asked in a comment over on my Daily Journal whether I would “address the issue of setting the bar of productivity so high that [some] of us … can’t possibly keep up with you? As much as I want to, I can’t keep up. I’m guessing that eliminates me from the ‘professional writer’ category.” I did respond in a comment (on the Journal), but I know a lot of … Read more
Hi Folks, For well over a year (as I write this, May 2015), I’ve been practicing pushing down my conscious, critical mind and the fear it brings to the table. Yet this morning as I was going through my morning wake-up ritual, fear flooded over me. This morning it’s back to the writing. I have at least one more prequel to write (it will be book 3 in the Wes Crowley series) and I’ve already started … Read more
Hi Folks, Many of you know I put a lot of stock in Dean Wesley Smith’s advice, but sometimes he tosses a blanket over a topic and beats it to death with assumptions and generalizations. When he’s talking about things he knows about, his advice can be golden. I’ve learned a great deal from him. However, he has his prejudices like anyone else. I suspect he was burned once by a bad freelance editor (or book … Read more
Hi Folks, Note: I originally wrote this back on May 9, 2015 for my Daily Journal. It’s valid information. I hope you will enjoy it and find it useful. More than once I’ve mentioned Heinlein’s Rules. You can actually get your free copy here. If you follow those rules, you will be a professional writer, period. Not only that, but others will consider you prolific, even if you’re not. As an aside, still others will consider … Read more