Round Two: TKO!

We're off. Looks like Roberto got off to a sluggish start, Writer's Block had him on the ropes. There's the bell. The first jab. Wait! Roberto bounces back with a left hook! A right jab! He's got Writer's Block begging for mercy! Yes, yes! He's back into his old rhythm ladies and gentlemen. Writer's Block is down for the count! Total knockout!

You better believe it, baby. For two days straight, I've been writing up a storm. I was able to finish my "clocks" story and am now 5 pages into two other stories. It won't be long now before the stories are finished. Right now the collection is 233 pages. 64,000 words of thrills, chills and a little dark comedy.

Looks like those trips to Barnes and Noble are starting to pay off.

As far as reading goes, it looks like I'm steadily devouring works from Joseph Heller. Just have to pick up a copy of Good as Gold and Picture This when I get a chance. After him I'd really like to go through some of Chuck Palinuk's stuff (already read Choke, saw Fight club) and/or Jodi Piccolt. I think I'm drawn to controversial plots now.

One show that has really helped in beating the crap out of my writer's block is http://www.writingexcuses.com/ hosted by Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson and Howard Tayler. These guys have round table discussions on the many leaps us writers have to take. Check 'em out.

Until next time, in the words of Billy Crystal, "A writer writes . . . always."

"What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window. ~Burton Rascoe"

Writer's Block: Round One

I’ve been in a bit of a stump since the last time I wrote something on this here blog of mine.

You guessed it; writer’s block.

Yes, that’s right. The creative juices have clotted. Yesterday showed a pitiful failed attempt at writing. Well, not writing but rather staring at the screen of my laptop inside a Barnes and Noble for two hours straight. To which I finally gave up.

Always easy to start a story.
Soooooooo hard to end it.

Right now I’m looking at 223 pages finished of my first short story collection, which I hope to podcast soon. But six stories remain unfinished. 3 are halfway there, 2 I haven’t even started and one is an adaptation of a previous screenplay I wrote as a teenager. All totaled, the collection holds 20 short stories. Originally it was going to have two additional stories, but I decided to pass those on to the second short story collection. Also, I don’t have the patience for those two stories right now. They piss me off.

I’ve been reading a lot, hoping that dipping into another author’s mind will wake something up in my own head. So far, nothing has really come of it. But here is one I highly recommend.

Talk about writer’s block. This book parodies that very concept. Eugene Pota, an established writer, now seventy, is trying to write his last great book. The only problem is . . . He has nothing to write about. The story is a unique experiment of what a writer goes through and the false starts he attempts. I originally had an idea similar to this, a book consisting of nothing but false starts, but looks like Joseph Heller beat me to the punch. Well played, good sir. I bow out of the project, respectively. It’s a quick read. About 233 pages. Already 100 pages into it. Pick it up, you just might like it.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

"If I'm trying to sleep, the ideas won't stop. If I'm trying to write, there appears a barren nothingness. " ~Carrie Latet

Book Bribery

It was a cold rainy day. I had just ordered myself two chicken sandwiches inside Wendy's and went to sit down at a booth. Fortunately, I had my reading material; a big hefty hardcover of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I was halfway through it and it was getting good. One of my favorites. That and Deathly Hallows.

This was right around the time that Order of the Phoenix was coming to theaters. My girlfriend had already read Stone through Hallow. An elderly couple was watching me reading the book while hey were standing in line about to place their order, pointed at me too. I tried to ignore it, figuring that they couldn't understand why a grown man would read harry potter, let alone drag the hardcover around with him.

"Excuse me?"

I look up. "Yes?"

"Sorry, to interrupt, but my wife and I were just noticing you reading that book. Is it good?"

"Oh, very. This is my favorite of the series so far."

At this, the old man smiled. He gave a reassuring nod to his wife then turned back to me. He smiled with emanating approval.

"Well that's just great. Y'know, we have a couple of granddaughters that love reading. It's always good to see someone reading a good solid book. My wife and I read all the time and we encourage it in our family."

I put the book down. "That's great," I say. "I love reading. I get lost in it all the time."

Eventually we arrived on the topic of how a lot of people don't enjoy a lot of literature or don't have time to read. But this man and his wife had a remedy for that. When his granddaughters were young, he told me, he had promised them that if they would read 500 books each, they would each receive 500 dollars from him. I raised my eyebrows. Such an ingenious method. I asked if they ever cheated by reading magazines and he said no. They read full-length books, each one worth a dollar of the bribe.

We talked a little bit more, shook hands and then him and his wife left.

I was inspired. It was an excellent idea and one I hope to adapt to my future children. Just goes to show that reading in bulk pays off.

"A man will turn over half a library to make one book. ~Samuel Johnson"

Time to Clock Out!

Tomorrow, I dive right back into the pool of words. I figure I'll have just about enough time to shell out the "Clocks" short story. One thing I've learned is that if you are writing a short story and nothing is coming - stop. Take a week. The idea will grow branches then you can just pick and choose what goes into the story.

Also, when you write - just write. Don't think. The first draft, I've found, is the shell of the story. You don't have to get it right the first time. Build a foundation for something to stand on and you are all set.

Writing = A pain and a joy.

He makes it look so easy.

"Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum." ~Graycie Harmon

The New Year Bookolution

During this December I intentionally did not write a thing. Not one word of fiction. It wasn’t because I had writer’s block. Quite the opposite. I had writer’s bulk. Meaning, I was trying to finish as many projects as I possibly could at the same time. This made my brain cramp up and I was moody to boot.

There are writers out there, old and new, who have their own method of how they work. Some make writing out to be a nine to five job, only they are working in their night robe and monopoly pajamas rather than a suit and tie.

Hemingway wrote 500 words a day, Faulkner drank whiskey to inspire the demons, Balzac drank 10 espressos a day (might try that one), Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up. Every different method whittles itself down to a routine or an addiction. Sometimes the addiction to writing itself can be unhealthy for the mind.

Perfect example. It was a Saturday. I was over in Arlington Heights in a Barnes and Noble on Rand Rd, thumbing through some new releases. (This was on a day where I brought my laptop to break the ‘fiction silence’ but found that fate threw me a curve ball by me forgetting to bring the power chord.) Came across a book called Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak. Now, I had already read the great On Writing by Stephen King which was part bio/ part writing lessons. As I devoured the first 20 pages, I came to find that this unauthorized biography held some interesting tidbits that were left out of Stephen King’s version.


One scene described that Stephen was so obsessed with writing that even in the process of undergoing a vasectomy, he ignored the doctor’s orders to take it easy and instead went straight home and, in a fury, was pounding out the story that would become Firestarter. His wife came home, saw that he was bleeding through the chair and screamed that he be taken to the hospital immediately. To which he turned and said,


“Just one more paragraph.”


Lord knows I don’t want to head down that road.
The whole point is to have fun with it . . . Not kill yourself over it.


So, in effort to find my own routine, I’ve decided that I will focus on one story at a time.
Hopefully that will help me concentrate on one thread and not several where you would find me tangled.


My inner voice is determined to write no less than 10 books this year, as part of my new year resolution but we’ll see how far it takes me. Not rushing it. What gets done is what gets done.


"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
-- W. Somerset Maugham


P.S. Through determination I’ve finally been able to pound out some pages. It’s a short story about Grandfather clock and so far it is coming together nicely. Got five pages into it before I took a break. I may finish it before the week is up. That’s be a hoot.