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Thinking of the Start of the New Year…
New Year Is Not Far Off.. Today I got up late (since I stay up until 5 am), watched far too much college football including that crazy ending to the Arizona/BYU game, then headed out to the store(s) to get all the stuff Kris needs to make her fantastic pumpkin pies and a turkey and all the extra stuff as well. Actually fun. And then watched more television and didn’t get into my office until after midnight. And most of the time since getting in here I have been working on and thinking about the start of the new year and what I am going to do to really ramp…
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Something Fun for Me…
Offering This To Just Four Writers… A few days ago I made an offer to a writer who was hoping to attend a craft workshop next year with Kris and wanted to be ready. What I offered was this and am offering to four more writers now. Sign up for one of the 2025 in-person craft workshops taught by Kris, either Gothic or Adventure. See how to sign up on yesterday’s post or write me. (Sorry, no lifetime in-person subscribers unless you want to buy an in-person lifetime subscription now, then I will do it for you. Write me for the cost.) Send me a short story every two weeks.…
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My Blog Streak!!
Started a Year After My Friend Died… In August of 2011, my best friend, Bill Trojan died of a massive heart attack on the last day of the World Science Fiction Convention. I was in charge of his estate and I spent 9 months getting that under control. (A full book of stories in those statements.) Then I tried to get back to writing. I had been blogging at times on my web site and also before that on the Star Trek writer web site. But I needed a focus and I was also doing a little teaching and was about ready to start up Smith’s Monthly Magazine. So on…
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Nifty Mug and T-Shirt
2024 Challenge Challenge yourself to average 2,024 words per day for the entire year of 2024. Here is the mug and t-shirt you get for signing up… Full instructions below the pictures. Nifty, huh? And you get both if you join the challenge. Only open until the 5th… Sign up on Teachable. Here are the basic rules… No genre limitations. Rules of Turn-In 1… Every month (or more often if it helps you) you must send me an email giving me your word count. I do not want to know what you are writing, just how much. End of the year we figure it all out. The cost is $600.…
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Write Only For Yourself…
Something I Teach All The Time… The great artist Bob Eggleton put up a post on Facebook tonight. A quote from Andre Malraux the French novelist (among other things he did.). Malraux said, “An artist discovers his genius the day he dares not to please.” I am constantly talking with young writers who are doing a number of things that I try to convince them are not critical. And often deadly. 1… Writing to market. (What is supposedly hot in sales, what you have already done, what others tell you to write.) 2… Write for beta readers or first readers or workshops. Just pretty silly when you stop and think…
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The Myth That Writing is Hard…
I Wrote This in 2009… I have updated it for 2023… It is long but I thought it needed to be said again. And note, this was written before I was doing a blog per day. ————- This myth comes in many forms and has many faces, but let me put it as plainly as I can to start. Myth: To be Good, Writing Must Be Hard. (And it can’t be fun.) Total hogwash, of course, yet it is stunning how many new writers believe this, and how readers, when they bother to think about it, believe the myth as well. And, of course, almost everyone who teaches creative writing…
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Moral Rights
A Friend Reminded Me… That I had not yet talked about moral rights in the Bite-Sized Copyright class. He did not intend to, just sent me a great moral rights topic letter., So I just finished recording that for Monday morning. Basics, but considering most writers don’t even understand copyright or licensing, I had to keep it basic. And nope, will not explain it here. Google is your friend for the basics. It is also in the Copyright Handbook which you should own. Keeping it short this Friday night because after three full days now of my new exercise routine, I am beat up. Tonight I did 4 miles around…
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Two Mentor Spots Open
Been a Year Since I Opened This To Three Writers… Since a number of the writers I was helping in this program from years ago are not writing me as often, I decided to open this back up again for two spots. I really enjoy working closely with writers over the years, but I don’t push myself on them. I am just there to help, answer questions, and point in a certain direction. Often my weekly responses are fairly short if things are going well for the writer. Sometimes I give my kind of advice. (grin) I want each writer to be the writer they want to be. And I…
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Welcome Back!
Time of Great Forgetting Almost Over… So many writers (very few full professionals, but a ton of early professionals) just check out of writing and publishing starting in April and sort of return to writing and publishing in middle-to-late July. Now it has logical reasons. Spring and good weather, family vacations, a ton of other things around the house that just need to be done right now. So all the great intentions of writers in January are just sort of forgotten in April. Also, for early stage writers, the writing and publishing have not hit a level of importance yet to either them, or their family, to push them through.…
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Motivation
Getting Back to Writing… After so much time away because of the eye injury, I am getting uneasy each day if I don’t get back to my writing computer. That is pushing me a lot, remembering the fun of just sitting down and making up a story for myself. And I am pretty much out of the focus on the words because of the injury. Got the computer and screen set so I can just let go again and write stories. Yay. But I also noticed that the challenge is making me more conscious of getting there as well. I still have to be careful to watch my computer time…