In Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano, a character named Ed Finnerty expresses reservations about seeing a psychiatrist, saying: “He’d pull me back into the center, and I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the […]
Archives for November 2010
How to Write Like a Small Business
Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday. While people lined up [in some cases, last night] for Black Friday deals at large chain retailers, there’s a movement planning to shop locally tomorrow. It’s not about getting the best deals on mass produced electronics; it’s about supporting the people who actually live in your neighborhood. I Understand Being […]
When Getting Published Was Hard
With the rise of self publishing, I’ve heard many people over the years say, “When it was harder to get published, it weeded people out.” True, writers have more options than ever to get their work out there, but I still wouldn’t say it’s easy. I think what people mean is when it was harder […]
Monday Motivation: Do Your Own Thing
I have a couple empty Moleskine notebooks tucked away in my desk drawer. Within reach, though, I have an almost full Mead notebook. (And several small Mead notebooks scattered about–even in my car.) * * * I have a good friend who’s an artist. Years ago, when he read that Mark Schultz uses a Windsor […]
How to Back Up Your Writing
I turned on my computer last weekend and nothing happened. I had a moment of panic: “My writing!!!” Fortunately, I back my writing up. The worst part of last weekend was reinstalling Windows 7 and reinstalling all my programs. It would have been a terrible weekend and week if I didn’t keep back ups. Here […]
Building A Solid Writing Foundation
I’ve picked up books that floored me with the writing. I appreciated the way the authors put words together — going as far as wondering what it must be like to have a mind that can write such beautiful prose. Many times, though, about 40-50 pages in I stopped and thought: “Okay, this is nice […]
5 Ways To Get Out of a Creative Funk
On Monday, I wrote about a couple artists discussing their self doubts. Sometimes that self doubt can turn into something really bad: a full blown funk — even depression. I think almost everybody who sets out to do something creative experiences it at some point. At times, especially in the middle of a funk, it […]
Monday Motivation: What To Do When You Hit a Wall
There’s nothing worse than hitting a wall when things have been going well with your writing. One day the words flow, and then BOOM! your nose is flat, you’re on your butt, and you’re looking up at a challenge that seems impossible. Maybe you came flying out of the starting blocks for NaNoWriMo and hitting […]
The Power of Healthy Arrogance
While I hear people talk about how so many people feel entitled to things, I bump into so many people who don’t feel entitled to things. I know many talented people who feel like they aren’t worthy of success, even if they leave the competition behind. They say things like, “That other guy deserved it […]
Monday Motivation: How To Write Descriptive Passages
There’s a Charles Dickens book — I can’t remember which one, maybe Hard Times or Tale of Two Cities — in which he describes a table. Maybe I wasn’t into the book at the time, or maybe my memory is failing, but it was a very tedious description of a table that made me think, […]