Is It Too Late To Come Back?

I write this post, trying to gain some new ground. I'm pretty sure I haven't written a word of fiction for a year. And yet I have a box filled with half-finished fiction.

Just seems so hard to come back to it. Did Hemingway have dry spells? Vonnegut? Heller? Bradbury?

I'm 25,000 words into a crime fiction caper and have been dying to return to my characters. I've also been itching to write Mr. Dead Eyes 2. I'm also working on a sci-fi thriller involving visitors from the future.

Right now I'm fully focused on narration. 30 different projects. I've read some good books this past year, and each one has been needling me to finish my own writing projects.

But after a solid year of no new words?

Is it possible?

Maybe I should finish all my narration gigs first. Or should I just jump back in, guns blazing?

What do you think?





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Persistence Is Key

Nobody is going to tell you to write a book. It just never happens. What usually happens is you get an inkling about maybe kinda sorta writing a book. It starts off small. Maybe you come up with a character or two in the shower. By the time dinner rolls around, you find yourself with a plot. Then a beginning. Then an ending. The middle is your job. That's where the real work is laid out. Because if you got a killer beginning and a dynamite ending, then its up to you, and you alone, who has to hold the audience for an extended period. 

It can be difficult at times.

Little trolls plant seeds of self-doubt in your head.

Is this a strong enough beginning? Why did I put that obstacle in front of that one character? Will this even make sense?

But there is one thing to look out for if you are a truly dedicated writer. And that is Persistence.

When I first started, back in 1999, I knew that I'd write garbage. I gave myself time to write the most awful work I could. Wrote 168 pages of fiction then deleted the entire thing. I also had four or five ideas brewing. Maybe altogether I had 500 to 1,000 words to work with.

There was this old desktop computer I had when I first wrote. It was bulky, black, an Acer brand. Thing is, this computer was incredibly slow. It wasn't new either. My aunt gave it to me because she was getting a new one. My writing ritual would always start the same.

I'd take the stairs up to the attic, turn the corner, sit at my desk, turn on the computer, then pull out whatever book I was reading at the time. Different Seasons by Stephen King was always a favorite. I'd read this book because it took 20 to 30 minutes for the computer to boot up. When it was fully on, I'd open up Microsoft Office, which took another 10 minutes, and I'd start typing. There was the occasional freeze which was annoying but would clear up after 10 or 15 minutes. 

So, all told, it took me an hour of wait time each time I sat down to write. But I didn't care. If a novel is intriguing, you'll become real persistent. Wrote 80,000 words on that computer. Now I sit here and wonder how I ever had the patience. 15 years later and I've already written 500,000 words. It just takes persistence.

Persistence is key.


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What I'm Not

I'm not a writer dying to be published. I already am. I am self-published and proud of it. Nobody forced me into it and I knew it would not be quick and simple. My biggest fear was never having anything read that I had written. I wanted my voice out there so I put it out there. I'm never going to apologize for that. I'm not a writer who is longing to be published to the esteemed New Yorker. I'm not a writer who feels that exclusivity is a bench mark and that rejection is a totem of climbing success. I'm not a writer concerned about how many degrees you have. You want to impress me? Turn a blank page into something creative.
That will impress me. 

I'm not a writer who toils for years on the perfect modern american novel. I used to think that was what a writer was supposed to be all about. I was highly misinformed. I'm not a writer who will tell you to quit or that there are too many books out there in the ether. I've read amazing stories and have been wowed in many unique ways a thousand times over. Sure there are a lot of books out there. But yours is not out there yet and it needs to be. I'm not a writer who will settle for the notoriety of having written something. I want to support my family writing interesting stories to the amusement of the masses. That's what I'm all about. And I happen to want to write a lot. 

I'm not a writer who will write the same predictable story again and again. I am always striving to write something different; to venture further away from my comfort zone. in doing this I've discovered that approaching each story with a different eye gives the material that much more vibrancy and life. Never be comfortable. Always be willing to change and try something new.

I'm not a writer who believes that you only have one good story in you. Count up all the times you've played the 'What If?' game in your head. I bet it was more than one time. I'm not a writer who will buy reviews, no matter how tempting that might be. You wanna review something of mine? Fine with me. If its a five star review, that will put a smile on my face for a while but it will do nothing for me in the long run. If its a 3 to 1 star review filled with constructive feedback I may brood over it for weeks but in the end I will dust myself off and try to win you back with the next title. I'm not a writer who will offer you runaround advice on how to write. I'm gonna give you exactly what I learned and when I learned it and tell you straight out that you might find a different formula but so long as words get on the page, you've done something right. I'm not a writer who will slow down and take it easy. People have been telling me to take it easy my whole life. If I wanna fill up my tank and take a journey through a landscape of words leaving behind a lengthy back-list of written works in my wake then who are you to tell me to slow down? 

I'm not a writer who will compromise on story. If a story is engaging and rips an emotion from you, then that story has become a part of you and I believe that someone else needs to experience that same visceral feeling. I'm not a writer who believes this is art. This is work. A lot of work. And you know what comes after all that hard work? An income. If you've published hundreds of short stories to countless magazines and in the end you are dirt poor, you need to start selling your stories on the streets. Maybe then, through stomping those streets, you'll see how much more profitable and rewarding it is to talk directly to readers about your stories. I'm not a writer who supports these "Get Rich Quick On Kindle Scheme" ebooks. They are taking advantage of you and are simply driving up their sales on the backs of desperate people. I am not a writer who will ever write a How-To Book on writing. A memoir of writing, perhaps that's in the cards. But how can I possibly tell you how to write a book when I myself am constantly learning new things?

I am not a writer easily dismayed by dwindling sales or lackluster feedback. You ignore me, I'm just going to keep showing up. I'm not a writer who is going to charm you. At the end of the day, if you are driven to read something of mine and want to talk about it or the act of writing itself, then you have my full undivided attention. I'm not a great writer. I would say I'm a competent one. I've weaved enough story ideas that when I explain them to people, they scoot forward and are nearing the edge of their seats. That's why I do this; for the thrill of connecting with readers.

I am not a lot of things. What I am is a writer with heart. And if you've just read this and feel inspired to start writing yourself, then I bet that you have some heart too.

It Was A Dark And Stormy Day

Chicago is a great place but sometimes the weather can be annoyingly unpredictable. It changes constantly but it also changes moods as well. I would say that winter is my worst season for writing. Usually I'm so utterly frustrated that I don't have the heart to write anything down. But on rainy days, I'm a writin' fool. Lately, our fair city, has been getting quite a few of those rainy days and brother, the proof is in the pudding. A couple posts back I talked about a milestone I had reached. I had written and published 340,000 words. Not too shabby. It's all due to this excel program that my wife suggested.

With this program I've not only been able to keep track of the titles I have up now but I'm also tracking my word count progress on projects in-the-works. Altogether it totals to a whopping 387,334 words. Three short stories are done (Sci-fi, Humor, Fantasy), and several novellas are coming soon.

Back to the weather, today we had partly cloudy with a chance of HOLYS#*@! But the madness only lasted for four hours or so. The sky went from blue, to orange to green. And when the sky turns green you best believe that's the color for "leave the scene."

And as quick as it came, it faded into the distance.

Does this kinda weather bother me?

Not at all. I'm used to it. In fact, I say bring on the rain because if it takes severe thunderstorms to produce 47,000 words, you better believe I'm going to be praying for rain everyday!!!

Goodbye, Old Friend

Quite recently, I had to remove something that has been with me on my writing journey since I began.

It was my writing desk.

I had the thing since 1998 when I had a desktop computer and now, in 2013, I have to say goodbye to it.

I admit, I was hesitant, but my nostalgia for the thing has worn off.

Have to make room for our new baby and besides, now that I have gotten rid of it I'm really digging the extra space.

If you are a writer and feel that you can't part with certain objects that you believe contribute to your work, know this: You can write anywhere, with anything, at any time. Nothing limits you.

So long, old friend.

(P.s. The desk was literally on its last leg. While me and a high school friend were moving the thing out, one of the legs came loose, held on by one bolt, just swinging in the breeze. You just never know when things are gonna fall apart on you.)