I have seen and heard the question asked, “How do you write?” The answer I hear most often is, it depends on the writer. Some writers are planners, some discover their writing as they go. For me? The best answer I can give is, “It depends.” For example, when JR Murdock and I are preparing to write our Jack Kane novels (one of which is published already and another is being worked on) we plot and plan to the nth degree. When I write my Mik Murdoch books (again, two published and one at the publisher) I do a combination of the two. I plot high level, getting more granular on the two or three chapters I’m immediately faced with. […]
Read moreCategory: About Writing
Kickstarting the Creative Process
Before I begin, let me just say, this post has nothing to do with Crowdfunding/Crowdsourcing projects. Instead, it is all about getting stalled creativity going again. Let me set the stage a little here. I published my campfire story, Scouts of the Apocalypse: Zombie Plague back in July. When I published it, I had ideas for book two and three. To be honest, I still do and I have tried to sit down and plot out the basic storyline for each. That’s where my creative process broke down. Why? Well, I find the process of simply putting plot ideas down in some order to be dead boring and not a terribly productive one. I seem to have better luck when […]
Read moreDoldrums
Every once in a while, and for me it is usually the beginning of summer, we experience a drop in productivity or energy or motivation to do the things that are important for us. In my case, I think it happens when it does because I’ve just finished a major project (or two) and I need some down-time to relax and rejuvenate. The problem with doing this (definitely for me) is getting back out of relaxation mode and moving into productivity mode. I call this period my doldrums; basically, I know I need to get busy because I have lots of things on-the-go or coming up but I don’t have the momentum to get working on them. That lack of […]
Read moreAdventure Doesn’t Always Equal Danger
I have come to the realization that having an adventure doesn’t necessary mean being in danger. Case in point is my trip to the World Scout Jamboree in Japan. At no point in the trip was I ever really in danger although attending the jamboree along with the pre-camp and stay with a Tokyo family was definitely the adventure of a lifetime. (You could argue, I suppose, that being on an airplane for 14 and 12 hours respectively constitutes danger, but really?) Granted, some adventures ARE dangerous. Climbing Mount Everest is most definitely dangerous AND an adventure. Going up and then down a slide for the very first time is also an adventure (and possibly dangerous if child has no […]
Read more