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Story Seventeen
DAY SEVENTEEN… By the time I got through everything today and the workshop assignments tonight, it was 3 a.m. I really got to start earlier. So off I went to my half-title sheets. I grabbed a half tile “A Thief…” and then almost instantly saw another half title. “of Regrets.” I put that in the title spot “A Thief of Regrets” and instantly put “A Bryant Street Story” under it because it sounded like a Bryant Street kind of title. But after the first line I changed the subtitle to “A Marble Grant Story” and got going. 3:35 a.m. I took a break at 900 words. 4:10 I took another…
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Strengths Workshops Available
THE FULL SERIES IS RECORDED AND AVAILABLE… All six of the Strengths Workshops now exist. If you ever wished a major professional writer would tell you what you are doing right and where you need work, now is your chance. And not just one, but two of us. Kris and I have been making our living in fiction and publishing now for over thirty years each. We have also started to mid-sized publishing companies over the years. And both of us have over twenty million copies of our books in print and have been on every major bestseller list. Kris and I will help you in personal responses to the five…
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Story Sixteen and Still Going
DAY SIXTEEN… Tonight I was again very late getting to the writing because of finishing up the Strengths Workshops. So I again looked at some old story starts and such and found a really interesting story start. I worked on it about an hour, adding about 1,000 words total to get it to a 2,000 word story. It is called “Habit.” And considering I spent all day, night, and into the late night in front of a computer finishing up the last of the Strengths workshop, I’ll take the win and another finished story. And I did not have time to do the cover for the story last night, so…
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Story Fifteen… Halfway Through the Challenge
DAY FIFTEEN… Halfway and having fun. Yes, writing a short story per day is fun. And Kris says she is enjoying reading my stories every morning. I imagine I would enjoy reading a new story (and making light notes) on a story a day from someone as well. (Yes, I would charge for that (grin).) Only problem is that no one I know could tackle that kind of challenge. But if you are crazy enough to think you could do it, write me and I will tell you how much I would charge to be your first reader for a month of short stories. (What a nuts idea. I might change…
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Story Fourteen and Other Stuff
DAY FOURTEEN… And story fourteen on the April challenge. I missed doing a cover today for the story from yesterday, so will try to do two today. Tonight I was tired, so took a long nap and watched a bunch of television. By the time I got to the writing computer, it was 3 a.m. Saw a half-title on my title sheets and just went with the half title. “Always a Way” and then put A Marble Grant Story under it. So third Marble Grant story. She was a superhero in the Poker Boy universe, a friend of Poker Boy’s girlfriend, Patty. She got killed and became a ghost agent…
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Story Number Thirteen and an Answer
DAY THIRTEEN… First off, got the fifth Strengths workshop now available. It is the Strengths Business Two workshop. The last of the six workshops will be done and available by Monday. Everyone who has signed up for all of the workshops should have gotten the code from me tonight. If you did not, write me. Remember, if you want to take all six (over as long a period as you want) you can sign up for all of them and get one free, plus one online workshop for free as well. So for $1,500, you get all six strengths workshops to go through at your own speed and one online workshop…
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We’re Going For the “How To Edit…” Workshop
FULL STEAM AHEAD… After some dithering around because of almost no initial response, we had people today tell us they wanted the How To Edit Your Own Work workshop, but were planning on taking it later. And that is enough to make us realize the workshop is worth our time in trying to help writers not kill their own work. So the workshop is a go. We will take sign-ups for any point that it is on the schedule through August and it will join the regular workshop rotation after that. Thanks for the feedback everyone. Appreciated.
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The Magic Bakery: Chapter Four
Chapter Four… I started off chapter three with a question and an answer: “How do you slice a magic pie? The answer is simply as many ways as you want.” But first you have to have a magic pie to slice. You have to have copyright to license. And that is the rub, the place where so many writers flat run into a massive wall. It takes time and a lot of practice and knocking down personal demons to produce new stories and novels regularly. Anyone can do it for a short time. A year. Maybe two. But then with just a few cases in their Magic Bakery half full and the rest…
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Story Twelve and a Wonderful Dinner
DAY TWELVE… Got a twelfth story for the challenge and also tonight had a wonderful dinner with friends to celebrate. First to the dinner. My friend writer J. Steven York has been in the hospital for most of the last month and had major open heart surgery one week ago today. It was a very stressful day but he made it through wonderfully. Tonight, one week after major open heart surgery, he walked through the door of a restaurant to have dinner with us and other friends from around town. It was a moment I will never forget. He really is superman, how he came though this and is now…
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NEW ONLINE WORKSHOP: How to Edit Your Own Work
New Online Workshop Starting in May… Kris and I get the most questions, all good questions, about the process of editing your own work. And honestly, there is no easy or completely right answer for everyone. But there are hundreds of ways, one of which will be right for you. Between writing into the dark and following Heinlein’s Rules, how do you make sure your work is what you want, clean enough for readers to not notice any problems? How can you edit without the deadly rewriting that kills voice and all originality? Those are just a couple of the questions we get in one form or another, including how to…