I like planning. I like being organized. I like being methodical, chronological, practical, predictable. It’s not in my DNA to wander the literary landscape without a map, without a plan. And yet this is exactly where I find myself after recently having completed my 13th novel (due for publication this December by Bella Books).
I’ve always been the kind of guy that edits as I write.
I’m not trying to make my work perfect in the first pass, but I can’t leave glaring mistakes behind if I know they’re there.
That’s the way I am, the way I’m built. I can’t help it.
When I write, even if I have an idea, the mistakes that I might make can be more distracting for me than taking the time to correct them.
Read more
As you get older, struggles become real and shit starts to happen to you (not just to writers, but to the entire population).
Without getting too personal—and grossing you right out—I can tell you that not every orifice in your body is made for bleeding. If it does happen (blood seeping out of a hole it’s not supposed to), that is NOT normal. Lucky for me, this started to happen to my body. You’ll see why I say lucky, instead of unlucky quite soon.
I waited three weeks before calling the doctor’s office because seriously, I was just hoping it would stop or disappear. Silly? I know.
Read more
I am hesitant to include a lot of emotion in my writing. It seems too personal and leaves me feeling exposed. Maybe I don’t trust that the writing will ring true or even more worrisome, that it will be silly or cheesy.
It’s not that I have a burning need to write something devastating or overly sentimental but the act of writing really is baring one’s soul. Most of us just want readers to find something to connect with in our shared human experience. Theoretically I understand that, if well written, the emotional experience will belong to the characters.
I write when the spirit moves me.
Or, when the bank account looks low. That as well. And lately, that has driven my pen more than my spirit has.
I’m contractually obligated to produce between ten and eleven columns a week for various places. And they all have specific topic requirements.
That’s 2550 column or blog posts I’ve written in the last six years that had to be about one certain topic or another.
I like a good surprised twist in a book. I love it when a book puts in a major twist that is both believable but that I did not see coming. It’s a tricky balance to manage well. Usually I can spot a plot twister before the wind even gets brisk; mostly because they are set out as if they are slowly spewing volcano.
The smoke is obvious, the billowing soot a give way, so I am not surprised when the volcano “suddenly” spits out the “surprise”.
I am looking for the kind of twist that makes a reader exclaim out loud while reading. A moment that compels a reader to tell the stranger sitting next to them, “do you know what just happened!” It’s the whoa – everyone is a ghost – kind of surprise.
I have an amazing announcement.
This news is so exciting, it is hard to believe and if you write, you will understand the significance of this announcement.
My novels, all of them, are completed—fully edited and absolutely perfect.
That’s right.
There isn’t a single word, comma, piece of dialogue or description I can improve or change. Three months from now, five years down the road or in twenty five years, I will be able to read my novel and there will not be a single cringe worthy passage. I will never roll my eyes or possibly consider a forceful palm slap to my forehead… because my writing is perfect now and will be perfect then.
If you haven’t picked up on the theme of my blog, check the calendar.
As I’ve written before, I’ve taken some time off from volunteering. I’m so excited to have free time again. My intention was to spend it with my daughters, but they’re old enough to entertain themselves now, so I’m left to my own devices. And it’s wonderful! (happy dance, happy dance.) But as soon as I put my pen down on the last few tasks of 2018, I had enrolled in a writing course and work got busy and we were off, touring colleges for my oldest daughter. Read more