I have this tendency to overcommitt myself. Now, if I didn’t care about actually fulfilling my commitments, it wouldn’t be much of a problem. That is not the case, however. When I say I’m going to do something, I do it and try to do it well. That in itself is not a character flaw (as far as I know), but it does tend to wear me down over time. Take Scouts, for example. I love being a Scout leader, but about this time every year I start to get cranky. The craziness of the troop and the lost days and nights every month make me wonder if I really want to do it again next year and please, please, […]
Read moreTag: writing
Writing Shouldn’t Be a Solitary Activity
In my early writing days I believed that it was just me and the words. No one else would ever be involved. I was totally alone. I’ve since learned that writing doesn’t need to be so solitary. True, there are times when it should be just you and the keyboard, but there are many times when you should be around and involve other people. For example. critiquing and feedback of your work – I have heard the opinion that a writer must write a million words before they have anything worth sending out. I would argue that a million words without any outside scrutiny doesn’t improve one’s writing much at all. The feedback around what works and what needs work […]
Read moreI’m No Expert
I’m not a big fan of people who claim to be “experts” or “gurus”. I mean, the word “expert” to me mean someone who knows everything about a certain subject. I have no doubt that such people do exist, but the vast majority of the so-called “Experts” only know a very small subset of the equation, and usually use the title as a marketing tool or to shill something. That’s why you will never hear me say I am an “expert” on anything, not even myself (there are days I wake up wondering just what the hell I was thinking the night before when I drank that pitcher of beer, for example). No, if you hear me talk about something […]
Read moreEditing Update – My Transgressions Have Caught Up With Me
I have learned a lot in my current round of revising my “Mik Murdoch” manuscript. The very biggest lesson has been not to rush the story. I know I’ve mentioned this, but I sometimes find myself hurrying a story to finish it. It results in glossed over scenes, scenes that end too abruptly or just situations that are unlikely. As you might imagine, I’m getting tagged with more of those at the end of the book than I was at the beginning. So, I’ve been working for the past several days trying to get to that most sought after page, the last. Except, I keep getting tripped up with little comments like “Expand this” or “Ends too suddenly” or even […]
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