I’ve thought a lot about how to approach this post. I mean, what IS a perfect novel anyway. And perhaps that is the point. There really is no such thing. One person’s masterpiece may be unreadable by another person. That also raises the question, “Should a writer simply be trying to write the novel everyone wants?” To that question, I guess I can only say, why not, but then, who is Everyone? We all want success so why not write something that will be popular? The thing is, while I am able to write in multiple genres, the trick for me is to actually CARE about the story I’m writing. If I don’t have some sort of connection to it, I […]
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Writing (Perfect) Beginnings
Last week I talked a bit about how I wanted to be a perfect writer when I first seriously started trying to get published. That resulted in excessively long timelines to get anything done and probably much more stress than I ever wanted or needed. But I’m not talking about being a perfect writer today (or for that matter, trying to be one). No. Instead, I’m talking about Perfect Beginnings and trying to create them. Why? Because I’m sure many of you have read the same books I have. You know the ones – they talk about how critically important it is to have an engaging first sentence/paragraph/scene/chapter? So, having read that bit of advice and because the first sentence […]
Read moreShould Perfect Be Your Writing Goal?
I have been giving a lot of thought to my own writing and the journey I have taken thus far. Let me tell you, looking back, my preconceptions about being an author were WAY off. As an amateur I truly had no idea what I needed to do or what to expect. That being the case, I’ve decided to write a series of articles talking about the various stages of my writing journey and the misconceptions I had. At this very moment, I think the series of articles will look something like this: Being a (Perfect) Writer I had lots of questions when I began. How do I write a story? What is it about the craft that I need […]
Read moreWay Outside the Comfort Zone
I wouldn’t call myself an extreme adventurer, but I do like to do activities that some would consider a little crazy. For example, last weekend, I took my older Scouts (Venturers: 15 – 17 years-old) on a weekend camp-out. We rode our bikes from the city to a campground approximately 20 kilometers away where we setup our tents and camp. Not too insane, right? Probably not, but it gave me a pretty good idea about traveling longer distances without a car (and wearing a pack). Then, the next day we went white water rafting. This is an activity I last did when I was in elementary school more years ago than I would like to consider. None of my Scouts […]
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