Yesterday, The New York Times ran a story about book covers and e-books. I know we’ve all heard that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but covers do matter. I’ve judged more than a few books by their covers in my time (found my favorite book that way), and in almost every case […]
Archives for March 2010
The Learning Curve
Yesterday, I posted an entry about how writing well takes time. I’ve been very fortunate to be friends with writers, artists, and musicians. One of my musician friends is somebody I’ve known for over 25 years. In that time, I’ve seen him play bass, piano, and guitar. Yesterday on his Facebook page, he posted this […]
Monday Motivation: Learning as You Go
“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.” – E.L. Doctorow * * * Writing well takes time to learn. One doesn’t sit down for a couple weeks and suddenly produce a bestseller. The time needed to produce 85,000 words of even bad writing takes longer than it takes most […]
E-Book Pricing
Recently, on a friend’s Facebook page, the subject of e-book pricing came up. Right now, it seems many people think e-books are priced too high. When people hear about publishers going from the $9.99 Amazon standard for an e-book up to $14.95, they say, “That’s ridiculous!” One can definitely make that argument; after all, the […]
Show, Don’t Tell (A Different View)
One of the best writing rules is: “Show, don’t tell.” It’s easy when writing to tell the reader things, but it’s best to show things happen and let the reader imagine what they will. I never considered this rule applying to being a writer, though. Until today. * * * Through my AvantGuild membership with […]
Monday Motivation: Against the Odds
“It is impossible to discourage the real writers — they don’t give a damn what you say, they’re going to write.” – Sinclair Lewis I’ve heard many working writers tell would-be writers that they should give up before ever really trying. There are many reasons for this: Some writers feel the industry is already too […]
Monday Motivation: Living
“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.” – Henry David Thoreau While a writer doesn’t have to pack it all up and move to a cabin in the middle of nowhere or travel to the far ends of the planet, it helps to have some […]
5 Ways to Get Through a Rewrite
I’m working on my third novel. I’ve written it several times. This rewrite is the last rewrite. I’m not a big fan of rewriting, but it comes with what I’ve chosen to do. While I’m not as excited about rewriting as I am about initial writing, with each pass, the novel has become better. Here […]
Monday Motivation: Happiness
Over the weekend, I replied to this post on Jane Friedman’s blog. (The entry is about happiness — in particular, about what we once believed would make us happy.) In replying, I wrote: I’ve found that I’m happiest when I do things I can do most days: going for walks and hikes, juggling, enjoying a […]
Walking Away
I see writers who talk about how much they really don’t like writing. And yet, they do it. They talk about how agonizing writing is, but act as though they don’t have a choice in the matter. They tell would-be writers to run as far away from writing as they can, as though the act […]
5 Ways to Get Back to Writing
When most people do something for a long time, it’s inevitable that there will be lags in production. Writing is no different — especially for people juggling work, writing, and a life. If you find yourself frustrated after a lull in writing, don’t dwell on it — follow these five tips to get back to […]
Monday Motivation: The Courage
One of my favorite books is John Irving’s, A Prayer for Owen Meany. There’s a line in the book that’s one of the best lines ever written: “If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” I’ve worked odd jobs, passed by […]