Aug
29
I Could have Done it Better; Not!
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I heard someone talking about how they could have made a better movie than…. I can’t remember the flick, but it got me to thinking, as a writer—a creator—about all those people out there who think it’s so easy to write, to create something worthwhile.
I think many of them forget that when they [...]
Aug
11
The Literary Agent-Bomb
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It’s funny how, as a writer, you can wait, and wait, and wait…what was I saying? Oh, yeah, and wait, for a break—little or big. However, while waiting in this biz is unavoidable, overt effort is often necessary.
When I got my first agent, I’d just engaged in, to paraphrase recent political parlance, an [...]
Apr
17
One Author’s Thrill!
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Everyone can probably imagine how it would feel to be a musician, singer, or songwriter and hear the radio playing your music while you’re driving down the street. The CD’s been released, which was great, but right now you know that at this very moment people are enjoying music or lyrics you created.
I felt a [...]
Jan
18
Why do the writing gods have to play such mischief with writers? I mean, come on; why do so many of our greatest ideas, or at least what we think are our greatest ideas at the time, so often come to us when we have no ability to record them? Some notions are so [...]
May
5
Busier than Thou
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Every once in a while I migrate back to this theme: What’s up with editors? Actually, this includes agents and publishers. I don’t know about you, but as one who still manages an alternate full-time career, family obligations, and writes as if it’s a second full-time job, my day is filled from top to bottom [...]
Apr
23
Sometimes a break is just what’s needed for a little change of perspective, and I’ve got the perfect place: Cannon Beach, Oregon. We spent last weekend in a fantastically rustic and cozy room at the Hearthstone Inn, a part of the Cannon Beach Hotel. The room was clean and conveniently located only a few blocks [...]
Sep
23
CLICK!
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There’s an interesting phenomenon I’ve experienced when I, “click.” I’m not kidding, it almost feels like an actual click that shivers throughout my entire body, as if some gate of knowledge has suddenly snapped open. I’m sure it’s happened to you at least once in your life. You try and try to learn [...]
Apr
29
How do you deal with professionals when they behave less than professionally? This is a question with which I’m struggling at the moment. We writers need editors, agents, and publishers. (They need us too, they just don’t act like it.) We don’t want to derail any potential gravy-trains, but we also don’t want to [...]
Apr
13
One of the things I find so exciting about the writing life, actually life in general, are those things that seem to come out of nowhere. I see them as rewards for those of us who refuse to quit. In fact, this hit me the other day when I was wondering about several writing-irons I [...]
Feb
24
A Recurring Conundrum
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On occasion I find myself confronting a recurring conundrum. It’s one where it’s not about looking for the right answers; it’s about looking for the right questions.
In this case, I’m talking about marketing, primarily promoting my writing and especially through the internet. The business and promotion end of things is often the most difficult for many writers, which is [...]