We read all forms of advice on how to be a writer, how to become an author, and all the ins and outs of getting published. But sometimes you come across someone able to boil the process down such than anyone can understand the message. James Scott Bell is one such person. Once you hear his advice ask yourself if you can follow his advice.
Well, can you? Will you?
Cheers — Larry
My favorite TV show is Castle. I mean, what’s not to like? A bestselling mystery writer following around a good-looking female homicide cop? It doesn’t get any better, particularly if you’re a mystery novel geek like I am.
The interesting ‘twist’ from this show is that there are actual mystery novels being written under the name of the lead character, Rick Castle. Recently a new Rick Castle website has been launched to promote the book series, including the upcoming release of the third book in the series, Heat Rises.
While the whole notion of fictional characters writing real books is appealing to me, what really caught my eye was a small section where Rick Castle answers questions and he’s asked:
What do you do when you have writer’s block?
Castle’s answer: “I don’t believe in writer’s block. I believe in writer’s embarrassment. That’s when you’re so embarrassed by the horrendous drivel you’re writing that you can’t bear to see it on the page. After all, you can always write something. I’ve discovered that giving yourself permission to write poorly is the gateway to writing well.”
Personally I’ve never believed in writer’s block, muses, and the rest of the mythology associated with writing. And I think Rick Castle (whoever the actual author is) is right on the money. If you realize that your delete key is a powerful tool, you can bypass all the writer’s block nonsense and get on with the writing. Do you allow yourself writer’s embarrassment?
Cheers — Larry
When I was in the magazine business life was a continuous series of milestones. Every four weeks the sequence repeated.
All of these activities overlapped one another and ‘lots of balls in the air’ is a good descriptor of the magazine business. And while it was a hectic life, it was also very gratifying because of those milestones. There’s something satisfying about completing something and doing it on a schedule makes it that much better.
All of my schedules are self-imposed these days but nevertheless, completion of milestones still feels good. And so it was today that I completed all major revisions on my novel Her Book of Shadows.
This novel was a gleam in my eye back in October of last year. I took advantage of NaNoWriMo to write the draft and I completed it in 18 days. I took a break through the Xmas holiday season and probably dragged my feet with the revisions but six months from inception, it’s done. I should be available ‘real soon.’
Cheers — Larry