Michael Crichton is my hero. I only just found out. Here’s why: I get a lot of email from authors asking how many words a day they should be writing. I confess that the question puzzles me and I’ve hedge and hummed and fumbled to find a useful answer because the real answer is: “Whatever […]
What Your Daily Word Count Should Be Read More »
For a long time, now, I have spoken of “Just Starting” (here and here and a lot of other posts, too) as a way of overcoming your resistance to getting into a writing session. The basic approach I have, whenever Resistance shows up, and if I don’t fall prey to it, is to tell myself:
Just Start — Let’s Revisit This Idea Read More »
There is a class of Indie author mindset out there that promotes prolific writing, using Kindle Unlimited, launching hard, making sure your Amazon Also Boughts are clean, and writing absolutely to market as the only way to make serious money writing fiction. I did buy into that approach for a year or so. It seemed
Another Factor That Might Change Your Mind About Writing to Market Read More »
“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” ― Flannery O’Connor From <https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/315733-i-write-because-i-don-t-know-what-i-think-until> There’s a lot of hype around journal-writing for authors. Julia Cameron, in The Artist’s Way, calls journaling ‘Morning Pages’ and credits them with nothing short of creative miracles. In the early twentieth century, authors and writers
Diaries, Journals, Notebooks. What’s the difference? Read More »
Just a quick thought-prodding idea for today, from something I’ve found myself doing, lately. If you have a writing schedule, then it’s likely your brain knows exactly when you’re supposed to start. For me, that’s 5.30 am to get into yesterday’s edits, and I should be writing new manuscript by 6 am. But when you
Watch, thou, for thy mutant voice! Read More »
I’m pretty savvy with technology. I had the first computer out of everyone I knew–a for-gosh-sake Commodore 64, complete with printer and floppy disk drive. I ran a resume service using that computer. Yeah, really. Then I switched to an MS-DOS PC with a whole 20mb on the hard drive! Ooooh! I wrote stories using
How to Avoid A Puke-Making Disaster Read More »
Many years ago, I learned that many professional, full time writers have workstations dedicated ONLY to writing. All the other business of writing — bookkeeping, promotion, post production, etc — all that business was kept on a separate computer. Or computers. Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith, in particular, are well known for have
A Dedicated, Unique Workspace. Read More »
I’ve tried standing desks. I’ve used sitting desks. And I’ve even used a device that would turn my sitting desk into a sit/stand desk, which only lasted for about a year before I gave it up and went back to sitting. In the last year, thanks to that global event we’re all so sick of
Make Your Writing Space Work For You Read More »
Do you use BookFunnel (BF)? As a prolific author, you should consider this service, and not just because it will save you a ton of time (which it does). I pay a hefty annual subscription to BF, as I’m now in the small publisher bracket. I consider BF to be worth every penny. But the
Use BookFunnel and Free up Your Time. Read More »
I tripped over this one a few weeks ago. Lifehacker, among other respectable sources (here, here and here) and even a Reddit thread, have reported that switching your manuscript to the Comic Sans font makes your words flow unbelievably faster. The much reviled Comic Sans font is apparently very easy on the eyes, especially for
Write in Comic Sans Read More »
