Skip to content

Apr 17

What I Got From the Bookstore – Spring 2019

 

New stuff from the bookstore!

My dad knows me well and got me a bookstore gift certificate, so I recently put it to good use. All the books are non-fiction this time around. This is a bit different from my usual reading, but this year I wanted to read different kinds of books, such as biographies, writing books, etc. There was a time when I devoured every writing book I could get my hand on. The writing life genre is still one of my favorite subcategories of non-fiction. I’m always fascinated by other writers and how they navigate this world.

 

Thrill Me – Essays on Fiction by Benjamin Percy

I haven’t started reading this yet, but it has been in my Amazon wish list for a while. When I saw it on the shelf, I decided to go for it. I’ve read a few of Percy’s works and follow him on Twitter. Plus there was an endorsement from Karen Russell on it. When one of your favorite writers likes another writer, you buy. (One of my personal beliefs.)

You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero

This is a follow-up to her first book entitled You are a Badass. I didn’t realize it at first, but no worries. You don’t need to have read the first to understand the second. I found Sincero’s writing funny and relatable. This book is all about firing you up to make more money and be unapologetic about it. While money is not the most important thing in life, it is necessary and wanting to make more shouldn’t be shamed. Notice in my last post I wrote about getting paid for my stories? This book just reinforced my ideas about writers needing to get paid. The myth of the starving writer is a damaging one and I want to make sure that I never fall into that category.

E -Squared by Pamela Grout

I’ve always been interested in the law of attraction. I had heard the general idea of it and watched a few videos on YouTube where someone says how they “manifested” $1,000 in 24 hours (or something like that). But this was the first time I bought a book on the topic. Grout breaks down the idea into 9 “experiments” that you can try in your everyday life. I tried a few and one did work (One didn’t and I haven’t tried any others). It was an interesting read and I have tried in my everyday life to be more conscious of the energy I’m putting out in the world. Grout, too, is funny and the book had a casual, friendly tone to it. I think I may pick up some of her other works later.

Happy reading everyone. Hope you get some fun stuff from your bookstore!

Apr 16

Should I Submit to Non-Paying Markets?

This is a dilemma many writers have. Should you only submit to places that pay, or do you widen your search to everywhere no matter if they pay or not?

My stance for the past few years has been to submit only to places that pay. My initial publications were at places that didn’t offer payment, but now that I have a few publication credits, I’ve only been focused on paying markets. Problem is, I think I may be missing out. Am I limiting myself by only going for markets that pay? Or is it a disservice to myself and my work by going for markets no matter if they pay or not?

I see the refrain of many successful writers. Never work for free. Money should flow toward the writer.

But a lot of writers feel that when you first start out, and you don’t have any credits, you should submit anywhere. You don’t have the luxury of being picky. You submit everywhere that is appropriate for your work whether they pay or not. Once you have a few pieces out, build a following, and get some experience, then you can start submitting to the big leagues.

Then, I’ve read some writers that say start at the top paying markets and then work your way down. Swing for the fences first and when those markets are exhausted, you move down the list.

And then there are writers who say the only places you should be submitting are ones that pay. Anything else is a waste of time. I don’t necessarily agree with this notion. There are a few places I really like and would love to be published in print (like Conjunctions). Also I think that if you are getting something you believe is beneficial to your career from the publication(maybe lots of eyes on the piece, or listed on Amazon with other writers, or for charity), then it may be worth it to submit.

For now, I’m in the second camp. I submit my stories to the best places first. Once they get rejected, I move on to the second rung journals, and so forth. This way, if a story gets published I don’t have the regret of saying, “Maybe I should’ve submitted to ______ first.” There is a lot more competition for the higher paid places, but moving away from those, I’ve noticed there are more places that I thought that pay semi-pro rates (.03-.05 cents/word) or token payments. Nobody is getting rich, but still feels good to get fifty bucks or so for a story.

I guess there is no one way to get it right. Maybe some of the amazing, non-paying markets offer great opportunities that I am missing. However, I can’t get over the fact that I want to be paid. I don’t work at my day job for free, so why would I be okay with my writing career? And other writers may disagree and build an amazing career build on lot of non-paying credits. Each writer has to make the best decision for themselves.

I may revisit my feelings about this in a few years to see if my strategy worked or not. I’m sticking to my plan and working hard to make all my stories successful.

Apr 15

Adding the Funny

Look At This!
photo from: Department of the Interior

I’m adding the funny back into my writing. My last few stories that I’ve finished have had some real spots of humor. I’m not quite sure why this is happening, but I’m here for it. While serious fiction has its place and I am certainly not going to abandon it, I also find myself leaning more on the strange, humorous moments in life too.

Maybe this decade got a bit too serious for me.

Or maybe I am changing as a writer. (I don’t think so. If you read my story Where’s Rocky? you know how funny I can be.)

I guess it all comes back to my ideas about writing different kinds of stories. I not one of those writers that tells the same story over and over again. My imagination is sparked by so many different things, I want to explore them all. Imagination really is boundless.

And I want to laugh at it. Enjoy it. Delight in it.

Hmmm. Spring has made me more playful and fun.

Bye winter.

Apr 14

How to Write an Amazing Story

I wish I had an answer. I wish I knew the formula that would write world-changing stories. If I did, this would be a different blog.

I heard once that all an artist can do is put work out there they believe in and hope that the right people find it. Trying to make history will not make it so. History is made only after time has gone by, not in the moment. Who knows what will really be remembered a hundred years?

I create stories that I love. I believe in them. I trust that the people who find and read them are those that are meant to. This doesn’t mean I am against marketing or promotion. How else are people going to know what you are creating unless you tell them? I’m mean people who write stories they don’t believe in thinking that is the way to get published. That is a bad road to go down. Putting your name on work you don’t believe in will only lead to trouble later.

Write something you believe in.

And do your best to let people know about it.

Apr 13

#1 Trick for Writing Everyday

You can do everything right. You’re in the right head space. You sit down to write and then –BOOM! – you find yourself drifting off on some day-dream that has nothing to do with the story your writing. What happened? You did so well yesterday and thought you would be ready for the next, but nothing seems to be happening. You stare at the words you wrote yesterday, but nothing else is flowing.

I used to waste a lot of time trying to get back into the flow of the story. Try as I could, sometimes I couldn’t get back the magic that I had the previous day. Sometimes I could push through and get some good work in. Other times, I stayed lost and I resigned myself to getting something written, even something bad.

But a while ago (like 15 years or so), I learned a trick to keep the bad days of writing at bay. (Most of them. I still have a few.) I’ve used this idea consistently and it never lets me down.

I always end my writing day in the middle of a sentence.

If I do this, I always have an easier time finding my way back into the head space of a story. It’s like a pause in the middle of a thought, a metaphorical breadcrumb to the story, that I can restart again by reading back the words I wrote the day before.

I’m not one of those marathon writers that sits for 12-18 hours hammering out story. My brain shuts down around 8 pm. I have a day job. I need to work out and eat food and sleep. Life stuff. So I pause my thoughts a lot when I write. It’s so much easier the next day when I pick up the story. I finish the sentence and then, I usually write another one.

And another. And another…

The only time this fails is when I complete the story. No more sentences to finish. My work around now is to have multiple projects going. If I finish one, I have something else that can be finished. If I get a new idea, I can start that. I always get a new idea. Ideas, as you may have heard, are cheap and plentiful. Completed stories are much more rare.

I find this trick gets me writing every time. Gets me to the finish line. Gets me to my goals.

Good luck and happy writing.

Apr 12

Finding Balance

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about balance. As I said earlier, I went to the doctor and she encouraged me to get back to exercising now that I am almost fully recovered from surgery. I want to fit that in again, along with fiction writing and my regular stuff. But I’ve also been thinking about other aspects of my life that I’ve let fall to the wayside. There are friendships I don’t put enough time into, travel I’d like to do, spirituality I’d like to explore more, and a whole host of other aspects.

About 15 years ago, I heard Tom Wolfe speak about the writing life. He said one of the best things a writer could do was go out and live a life. Don’t just sit around and write. Go out and see the world. I remember him saying that. He felt that writers had become too insular, where they were only writing about themselves as writers and nothing more. A dangerous, slippery slope I hope one day to never fall down.

A full life, full of mundane and exciting stuff is what we should all aim for. I’m striving for that now. Not an easy thing. Sometimes I feel like I’m pulled in so many directions and other times I feel like the dullest person in the room. Maybe the answer is that I need to do what I can each day to feel like I’m living my best life. Some days that’s going to be binge watching TV. Other days it will be squeezing in a workout and one thousand words of new fiction. And some will be spending time with the family/friends. I don’t have to do everything everyday.

I have to focus on doing my best each day and keeping things interesting.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →