On Using Distractions
I was reading through some of my blog posts from the old Story Arcs and I saw one about writers block. In particular, it was about how one of the things I did to work through it, cutting through distractions. First, I’d like to say that a lot of people say there’s no such thing, there are just writers not writing, allowing things to get in the way or too afraid of “messing up” to put words on paper. That’s not important, not to my point anyway. It surprised me because things have changed bit since then. Eliminating distractions is often essential to getting things doen, but for a while now I’ve actually been using them. My favorite way to write at the moment is to put Netflix on one side of the screen and Word (or WordPress at the moment) on the other. Then I burn through some TV…
A Novel In How Many Days?
While I was on hiatus, I read this series of posts by Dean Wesley Smith. The link just takes you to the first day, there are nine more and each one is more valuable than the last. Basically, he writes a full 70,000 word novel in ten days and documents his progress across each day. Ten friggin’ days. I remember when I first started writing, spending months on a single chapter. Don’t look at me like that, I was fourteen. I thought the struggle was part of the process. And that’s part of what is so great about Mr. Smith. I don’t agree with everything he states about publishing, but he serves as an essential counterbalance to everything else you hear in the industry. He is all about debunking the myths of writing and publishing, to the point he has a book called Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing, much of…
Deus Ex Machina at Indies Unlimited
Lynne Cantwell over at Indies Unlimited (another of those blogs I follow) has a great post about Deus Ex Machina. I won’t go into detail, because she does it better than I do, but it’s a great summary of the idea as well as its use. Read it here.
A Couple Articles On Publishing
I said yesterday that I’ve learned a lot about publishing since last posting. One of the ways I’ve done that is by seeking a balance in the information I ingest. I read a lot from self-published authors and supporters (Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Katherine Rusch, The Book Designer, The Passive Voice)as well as traditional publishing supporters (Janet Reid, Tobias Bucknell, Nathan Bransford, and various other agent’s blogs). I want to share a couple of articles, because I think they present some good opinions on both side. First off, Tobias Bucknell’s article on Survivorship Bias. It’s about the success you’re seeing in self publishing being the only voice, or the loudest voice, because of the sort of “cause” surrounding it. Anyone who disparrages it is seen as a defeatist or anti revolutionary. It’s a really good article and worth reading even if you’re not looking at publishing. That type of bias…
Story Arcs Has Moved Here!
I have a post up on the old Story Arcs announcing this, but I had a lot more to say and thought it really needed to be here. About a year or so ago I created my first blog (actually my second or third, but the first I really kept up with) for the purpose of looking at several topics. First and foremost, writing. I am a writer and aspiring author. I have one book completed and the second well on its way. I wrote about several things in the publishing industry (as I learned them) as well as the various things I love about Fantasy and Science Fiction. I also write about games, movies, shows, anything that peaks my interest. This new site will follow that same format for the most part. The blog is still dedicated to all those nerd habits, but I also intend it to be…
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