Hi kids,
"You must be willing to do the work, grasshoppa..."
These words (I just made up...) have haunted me for a number of years. When I was younger, things, some world class, came easily and I became spoiled and entitled and when it got difficult I just jumped to another one. I never really realized just what "professional" meant because even though I had the goods and aptitude(sports, acting, design, etc.), I just didn't have the mindset, and, even more sickening: I didn't even realize it. We may cause our own failures and our own bitternesses and never know it. It wasn't until I got older and by some miracle of revelation that I understood and immediately panicked because I knew it was getting late in the game.
Writing is one of the trade-crafts here on earth that require work, hard work, and a learning curve that never really ends, even though you may be paying your bills with book sales. No amount of song and dance or fist pounding tantrums or schmoozing can replace the day to day grind of learning to write, and then writing. For me, mainstream commercial fiction, thriller genre, is where I hope to plant my flag and hopefully the hurricane force winds of fate will once again lift me to that mountain top in my soul and I can rest knowing I really was, finally, "willing to do the work."
I recently released a short story that I have lost all objectivity with, in terms of possibly editing it, which it still needs. I look back at it now a month or two later and I cringe. Someday soon I will rewrite and re-release it. I think essentially it's a good storyline and has a few decent sentences.
The book I'm working on at the moment is a high action thriller starring a guy who's life suddenly changes radically and people are ending up dead all around him and he finds himself on the run living on instinct from moment to moment. I can relate, and hopefully translate my own blood and guts, life and death experiences to this guy without him becoming the face of vengeance.
Sometimes our lives change in ways we do not welcome or want. But, when we travel down a road, let's say The Writers Road, we cannot expect the familiar faces and places and security of home to follow us or be set into the moving landscape hurtling past us continually, or where we might waylay for the night or a season. Time moving forward, or at least in a linear direction, keeps moving whether we like it or not. Moments savored, all too soon disappear like a mist. The one constant we are granted is the fruits of our labor, and it is to that end I now endeavor to persevere and in fact treasure the chance to do so.
Thanks to everyone who reads this and/or follows me in social media, I appreciate it and will try my best to be a friend back to you too.
I highly recommend reading Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, blog and perspectives for authors, especially new ones. Mark's Blog
Look around at his other posts too. He has some really good ideas and many writers may not realize just how much of a techie he is.
I'm at just over 50 thousand words into my thriller and I'm writing some very high action scenes, that's why I haven't been around as much. Then it will be onto the finding the money to tap into editing process on a high level.
...you know where to find me...
LUVU
Showing posts with label bloggers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bloggers. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
My REAL life...
Hi Folks,
I wanted to blog out a little update and mention a couple things.
Same as you maybe, as I careen down The Writer's Road like a pin ball on speed I'm finding that it's only when I truly slow down and give more, deeper thought to the "side-bar"(they're NOT sidebar) issues that come up when it comes to the actual fruit of my brain and inspiration, as it appears on paper.
THAT'S when it hits me. (Thank God for these moments...)
What hits me?
Let me explain: Recently I submitted a short piece I've been working on for a couple months, to someone in publishing whose name you might recognize, for her evaluation on my ability since we may be working on some other things together. (She's an industry expert, an author with 2 red hot titles and a mega force with a LOT going on.)
I realized, to my horror, that many fundamental elements of writing - WHICH I KNOW - had been left out of the flow and structure of the piece, a feel good story. It was overly descriptive, WAY too many modifiers, verbs and adjectives, the struggle came and went more as character building and NOT the axis of the "pay-off"(don't ask me what that means....) as I intended, wrongly thinking it would be perceived the way I wrote it(or not). Then, of course falling prey myself, in a couple spots, to what I call "presumed assumption" - where the author in an amateur moment omits key elements, knowing he knows them and then stupidly leaving them out thinking everyone else does too. And if that wasn't bad enough I told a little too much in the way of detail here and there, thus robbing the reader of the joy of imagination and thrill of marveling at my literary classic.
Most people stop at "trying to hard", but me? OH NO......I try too hard to try too hard. (I'm an extreme adventurer....it's a gift....the doctor says.)
For a few moments there I felt like a rank amateur until I read the first and last and a few in between comments she made regarding my ability, which was there....somewhere. I had to go back a few times to the ones mentioning that my mistakes could be fixed and that she felt I really could write.
THIS is what I mean by "side-bar" issues. We know they are not, and, in fact are the foundational elements of writing. So,what hit me in one sledge hammer moment was that the residual influence of my other writing endeavors and complete lack of regular writing sessions may have left gaps in my second nature tool box and the result was what she read and commented on.
Sometimes I piss myself off, and this moment was the mother of all piss-offs. Not at her, at myself, for not sitting back, examining the piece for just such boo-boos and correcting them.( I think, I, have comma issues, too, just, sayin',)
Having been a blogger for a long time I'm well into 7 figures in overall readers of the various industry blogs I've written over a period of 3+ years and that's not supposed to impress anyone however it does mean that I've learned a few things. Blogging is NOT writing, fiction writing I mean. It has little to do with it other than the elements of punctuation, spelling and all that. Better writers write better blogs but better bloggers may not, or ever, be better writers.... and I was reminded of that the other day, even though I've wanted to be a writer for much longer than I've been a blogger.
Writers in the 21st Century are faced with the serious dilemma of dividing their time in the right amounts in the right directions and there really is no model for it yet other than the trial and error phase some of us are going through. For me, it's a huge shift both time-wise and mentally to get into writer mode from blogger and techie/networker mode but I'm getting better at it. We all struggle for the time and clarity to write, too.
Just a thought.....
Also, and this has nothing to do with what I'm saying here but bears mentioning - this is why I have such profound respect for journalists who are also great fiction writers, like Alex Berenson.
Update: I think I'm moving. I stumbled onto a property(that I've been stalking) the other day and may be buying. Though smaller, it has the unbelievable qualities of being closer to the beach, we would own it AND it would be 1/3 of the cost of the half acre we are on now. I guess what I'm saying is that maybe over the next couple weeks I may be MIA part of the time, doing My REAL Life....
You know where to find me....
LUVU
I wanted to blog out a little update and mention a couple things.
Same as you maybe, as I careen down The Writer's Road like a pin ball on speed I'm finding that it's only when I truly slow down and give more, deeper thought to the "side-bar"(they're NOT sidebar) issues that come up when it comes to the actual fruit of my brain and inspiration, as it appears on paper.
THAT'S when it hits me. (Thank God for these moments...)
What hits me?
Let me explain: Recently I submitted a short piece I've been working on for a couple months, to someone in publishing whose name you might recognize, for her evaluation on my ability since we may be working on some other things together. (She's an industry expert, an author with 2 red hot titles and a mega force with a LOT going on.)
I realized, to my horror, that many fundamental elements of writing - WHICH I KNOW - had been left out of the flow and structure of the piece, a feel good story. It was overly descriptive, WAY too many modifiers, verbs and adjectives, the struggle came and went more as character building and NOT the axis of the "pay-off"(don't ask me what that means....) as I intended, wrongly thinking it would be perceived the way I wrote it(or not). Then, of course falling prey myself, in a couple spots, to what I call "presumed assumption" - where the author in an amateur moment omits key elements, knowing he knows them and then stupidly leaving them out thinking everyone else does too. And if that wasn't bad enough I told a little too much in the way of detail here and there, thus robbing the reader of the joy of imagination and thrill of marveling at my literary classic.
Most people stop at "trying to hard", but me? OH NO......I try too hard to try too hard. (I'm an extreme adventurer....it's a gift....the doctor says.)
For a few moments there I felt like a rank amateur until I read the first and last and a few in between comments she made regarding my ability, which was there....somewhere. I had to go back a few times to the ones mentioning that my mistakes could be fixed and that she felt I really could write.
THIS is what I mean by "side-bar" issues. We know they are not, and, in fact are the foundational elements of writing. So,what hit me in one sledge hammer moment was that the residual influence of my other writing endeavors and complete lack of regular writing sessions may have left gaps in my second nature tool box and the result was what she read and commented on.
Sometimes I piss myself off, and this moment was the mother of all piss-offs. Not at her, at myself, for not sitting back, examining the piece for just such boo-boos and correcting them.( I think, I, have comma issues, too, just, sayin',)
Having been a blogger for a long time I'm well into 7 figures in overall readers of the various industry blogs I've written over a period of 3+ years and that's not supposed to impress anyone however it does mean that I've learned a few things. Blogging is NOT writing, fiction writing I mean. It has little to do with it other than the elements of punctuation, spelling and all that. Better writers write better blogs but better bloggers may not, or ever, be better writers.... and I was reminded of that the other day, even though I've wanted to be a writer for much longer than I've been a blogger.
Writers in the 21st Century are faced with the serious dilemma of dividing their time in the right amounts in the right directions and there really is no model for it yet other than the trial and error phase some of us are going through. For me, it's a huge shift both time-wise and mentally to get into writer mode from blogger and techie/networker mode but I'm getting better at it. We all struggle for the time and clarity to write, too.
Just a thought.....
Also, and this has nothing to do with what I'm saying here but bears mentioning - this is why I have such profound respect for journalists who are also great fiction writers, like Alex Berenson.
Update: I think I'm moving. I stumbled onto a property(that I've been stalking) the other day and may be buying. Though smaller, it has the unbelievable qualities of being closer to the beach, we would own it AND it would be 1/3 of the cost of the half acre we are on now. I guess what I'm saying is that maybe over the next couple weeks I may be MIA part of the time, doing My REAL Life....
You know where to find me....
LUVU
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A little perspective...
A quick update, an overdue post on what I'm up to lately.
As many of you know I'm active in the blogosphere and in social media, mostly Twitter and Facebook. I read and follow dozens of writerly blogs and publishing industry websites and I try to keep up on the latest news and information as it pertains.
An interesting perspective has formed in my little brain that I wanted to ramble about today.
Firstly, I've made some great friends in the past and also more recently thanks to social media, and, by contributing to and interacting with numerous writer and writer's blog sites in support of my fellow writers and their efforts. Something I am sincere about.
Many editors, agents and publishers I follow offer their opinions and advice freely in well done blogs and on awesome websites. I've noticed tightly knit communities in these fields as well. I also follow closely several of the cutting edge tech and SEO type sites, like Hubspot, Mashable, Technorati, Digital Book World and a few others. Being both a techie and a writer, for me, these two worlds easily blend together in some ways, and yet, in others they don't.
I wanted to talk today about the ways they don't.
Let me ask you something: How do you act, think, feel and treat people you're close to, like friends, family, relatives, or even colleagues? Is the bond or connection for you personal and emotional or does it lean more to a business or marketing mentality, or is it a bit of both? And, is it the same or different from the way you speak to and think about and interact with clients, customers and business associates or others you don't know so well?
What? You might be asking right now.
Here's what I see every single day as I zoom around the internet touching base with friends and fellow writer friends, writer sites, tech sites and just about everywhere else. I see the lines blurring between friendships and marketing between people, such as writers, and an odd mentality of association for gain or profit, only, taking the place of basic human trait of people just wanting to be together. Not that this is, (everyone together holding hands skipping through green pastures throwing rose petals in the air and singing,) all I expect or had hoped for the web to be for me or anyone else. Maybe it's because for most people the web and all it's glory and power is so new to them and since 99% of what's on the internet is profit driven, the influence is invasively overt and at the same time subliminal and fuses with people's perception, development and use of the internet. Even to the point of changing how we find, see, interact and treat each other.
It's becoming a capture (site) and convert (to sale) world.
Back in the early to mid nineties when I got my first computer, the world I knew to be out there was suddenly at my finger tips in living color with real people I could communicate with no matter where in the world they were. I kept in daily touch with a group of scientists stationed in Antarctica who were studying the dispersement and effects of sediment particles(pollution) in the atmosphere. I recall a somber Dr. telling me they had found diesel and other emission carbon particles up to 3 feet down in the older ice pack. This was historical news, very bad news. In those days it was a daily, momentary thrill to be part of something we all knew would soon change the world. I had a tech genius friend and pioneer who would regale us with tall tales of the future of computing and what the computers of tomorrow would and could do.
Awesome stuff since I see his theories and predictions all coming true.
I still see light speed changes and new technology and it's application spreading it's mighty wings every day but I'm troubled by the dis-associative current silently(sometimes not so silently) flowing underneath it all. Maybe you don't, but I do.
One of the world's top marketers does and it has caused him to write about it recently.
I'm not planning to run off and live in a cave or unplug my computers and throw them in the trash.
Being and staying personal on every level, for me, is a priority, not a clever sales or networking technique. It's part of who I am and how I demonstrate my love and respect for people. Being a writer, I enjoy daily emails, Twitter and Facebook communications and comments from lots of different folks. n it's still fun to make new friends too.
Writers are people whose job can be solitary in it's fundamental execution so I see a higher level of understanding and exuberance among them interacting with each other professionally and socially and I really get a kick out that. I hope that never changes.
I just wanted to write a few words about how I see things lately.
That's it for now, you know where to find me.
LUVU
As many of you know I'm active in the blogosphere and in social media, mostly Twitter and Facebook. I read and follow dozens of writerly blogs and publishing industry websites and I try to keep up on the latest news and information as it pertains.
An interesting perspective has formed in my little brain that I wanted to ramble about today.
Firstly, I've made some great friends in the past and also more recently thanks to social media, and, by contributing to and interacting with numerous writer and writer's blog sites in support of my fellow writers and their efforts. Something I am sincere about.
Many editors, agents and publishers I follow offer their opinions and advice freely in well done blogs and on awesome websites. I've noticed tightly knit communities in these fields as well. I also follow closely several of the cutting edge tech and SEO type sites, like Hubspot, Mashable, Technorati, Digital Book World and a few others. Being both a techie and a writer, for me, these two worlds easily blend together in some ways, and yet, in others they don't.
I wanted to talk today about the ways they don't.
Let me ask you something: How do you act, think, feel and treat people you're close to, like friends, family, relatives, or even colleagues? Is the bond or connection for you personal and emotional or does it lean more to a business or marketing mentality, or is it a bit of both? And, is it the same or different from the way you speak to and think about and interact with clients, customers and business associates or others you don't know so well?
What? You might be asking right now.
Here's what I see every single day as I zoom around the internet touching base with friends and fellow writer friends, writer sites, tech sites and just about everywhere else. I see the lines blurring between friendships and marketing between people, such as writers, and an odd mentality of association for gain or profit, only, taking the place of basic human trait of people just wanting to be together. Not that this is, (everyone together holding hands skipping through green pastures throwing rose petals in the air and singing,) all I expect or had hoped for the web to be for me or anyone else. Maybe it's because for most people the web and all it's glory and power is so new to them and since 99% of what's on the internet is profit driven, the influence is invasively overt and at the same time subliminal and fuses with people's perception, development and use of the internet. Even to the point of changing how we find, see, interact and treat each other.
It's becoming a capture (site) and convert (to sale) world.
Back in the early to mid nineties when I got my first computer, the world I knew to be out there was suddenly at my finger tips in living color with real people I could communicate with no matter where in the world they were. I kept in daily touch with a group of scientists stationed in Antarctica who were studying the dispersement and effects of sediment particles(pollution) in the atmosphere. I recall a somber Dr. telling me they had found diesel and other emission carbon particles up to 3 feet down in the older ice pack. This was historical news, very bad news. In those days it was a daily, momentary thrill to be part of something we all knew would soon change the world. I had a tech genius friend and pioneer who would regale us with tall tales of the future of computing and what the computers of tomorrow would and could do.
Awesome stuff since I see his theories and predictions all coming true.
I still see light speed changes and new technology and it's application spreading it's mighty wings every day but I'm troubled by the dis-associative current silently(sometimes not so silently) flowing underneath it all. Maybe you don't, but I do.
One of the world's top marketers does and it has caused him to write about it recently.
I'm not planning to run off and live in a cave or unplug my computers and throw them in the trash.
Being and staying personal on every level, for me, is a priority, not a clever sales or networking technique. It's part of who I am and how I demonstrate my love and respect for people. Being a writer, I enjoy daily emails, Twitter and Facebook communications and comments from lots of different folks. n it's still fun to make new friends too.
Writers are people whose job can be solitary in it's fundamental execution so I see a higher level of understanding and exuberance among them interacting with each other professionally and socially and I really get a kick out that. I hope that never changes.
I just wanted to write a few words about how I see things lately.
That's it for now, you know where to find me.
LUVU
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