We're #2

This has been a free long weekend (Friday through Tuesday) for Pope Bob and My Great-grandfather Turns 12 Today.
I'm happy to report I've given away almost 5,000 copies of Pope Bob and it's in the #2 spot on the top 100 humor Kindle books.

Bad Tips for Writers 018

If your family and friends say
something you wrote is very good
then you can be sure it is very good
and should be published immediately.

Make your motto: Pointing out to the editor
"my family and friends say this is very good"
will seal the deal!

Bad Tips for Writers 017

Remember you don't have to see a publication
before submitting an article to it. Often, just
knowing its name is enough.

Make your motto: If they don't use this kind of article,
they should.

'But I only write . . . '

It's good to recall the life and work of author Ray Bradbury (who died yesterday at the age of 91) when you fall into the but-I-only-write trap.

But I only write . . . science fiction. Fantasy. Westerns. Romance. Short stories. Poems. Mysteries. And on and on and on.

When it comes to writing, when it comes to your writing, there is no "I only."

Writing is writing. No matter the genre.

I highly suspect those who write so well in one form wish they could write as well in another. The mystery writer would like to pen a fantasy. The fantasy writer wishes she could do a literary novel. The literary novelist would dearly love it if as many people read his work as looked forward to the next children's book about a wizard boy in England.

Writing isn't a one-genre-fits-all talent. The gift you've been given, and are nurturing and strengthening, is uniquely your own, just as that developing (or developed) voice is.

Little Willie and I talk about that in this clip.



Just keep writing.

Top Ten Reasons a Child Can Write a Novel

10. He's never told himself he can't.
9. She isn't slowed down by concerns about punctuation, spelling, grammar or style.
8. He has a story he wants to tell.
7. She isn't hung up on what size a "real" novel has to be.
6. He has no doubt he can finish it.
5. She thinks it sounds kind of fun to do.
4. He's blissfully clueless about publishers, agents, and such.
3. She's read some novels.
2. He's not worried about what others will think of it.
1. Instead of doing a bunch of other stuff, she can choose to sit down and write!

Just keep writing.

'No One Owes You a Reading'

Crisis Magazine has a an interesting and encouraging article titled "On Being a Catholic Writer." The author is Ralph McInerny, who's generally best known as the creator of the Father Dowling murder mysteries. (The article's a reprint of a 1995 piece. McInerny died in 2010.)

He has some solid advice and encouraging words for writers:

The difference between a serious writer and a dilettante lies in their contrasting attitudes toward technique. The dilettante writes to amuse himself, an easy task, but the serious writer seeks to interest a reader. Over my typewriter I pinned the legend: No one owes you a reading. It has to be earned. The old-fashioned way — with plot.

A good novel tells a good story.

Just keep writing.

The View from the Keyboard

Earlier this month the family rented a house and spent four days on the Washington state coast. This was the view from most of the rooms.

Even more amazing, we had four consecutive days of warm, cloudless weather.
At one point I was staring out the window and thinking how great it would be to have my desk and computer right there so that every time I glanced up I'd see...

I knew I was kidding myself. The view would be great but it would just be one more excuse not to write. One more distraction.

That had a familiar ring to it so I rummaged through How to Write Your Novel in Nine weeks and sure enough Little Willie pointed out:

In the same way, you can write a great book without having that “cabin by the lake”—your holy of holies, your retreat, your sanctuary—in which to write it. That’s good news, isn’t it? I assume you’re not at that lake right now. Not looking out the huge picture window to gaze on a vast expanse of lake and forest and . . . . No! Wait. French doors. Looking out those french doors, which are open just a few inches so you can feel the breeze, take in the pine-scented fresh air, listen to the . . .

Blah, blah, blah. If you did own that “perfect” cabin, you’d have to worry about taxes and insurance and a leaky roof and . . . . Does that cabin have indoor plumbing? No? Then you might end up doing some suffering there on a cold, dark night when nature calls and you have to head for the outhouse.

Writing a novel (beginning, middle, and end) means overcoming a lot of distractions. Day after day.

You can do that. And get better at it, day after day.

Just keep writing.