Revisiting the perfect swing / Happenings In The Outhouse 09-Sept-2016

Last week, we discussed the perfect swing and how it relates to authors.

I wanted to revisit it again because I find it an interesting topic.  Have you, as a writer, ever sat down to write and completely lost time, where the words flow out of you without little effort?

I'm sure you have.

Yes, there are times when (myself included) I have to pull, push, twist, and shove the words out of my brain and onto the virtual page.  Oddly enough, most of my blog posts are written in a single draft (with very little editing, save for fixing incorrect grammar or adding to something I had written).  Right now, I'm almost done with a Halloween-themed novella.  It's something I got the idea for in mid-October last year.

Just the other day, I brought my laptop to work . . . and the words just flowed without effort.  There were areas where I didn't plan on exploring before, making the story that much more richer.

The more and more you write, the more times you will experience this.  It's a great feeling, getting lost in the words you're putting down.  Don't stop to edit what you had just written.  Just keep writing.

And have fun.

Shades Of Darkness on pre-order for 12-Sept-2016 release

A wife murders her husband. The prosecution calls it a slam dunk. A fiery defense attorney demands a speedy trial. So what’s the problem? Minneapolis PD investigators KOLIN RAYNES, SIMON TEMPLETON, and rookie KELLY KING trust their instincts, that not everything is as it seems.

SHADES OF DARKNESS is the fourth novel in the Central Division Series of suspenseful thriller novels. Be sure to check out the previous novels in the series BEHOLDER’S EYE, STRAIGHT RAZOR, and DISCARDED.

Shades Of Darkness is set up on pre-orders on several e-retailers for a September 12th 2016 release.

Amazon Kindle version

Smashwords

Barnes and Noble Nook store

Apple iBooks

Kobo Books

Google Play

For all others in the Central Division Series, click on this link to visit my website.

The perfect swing / Happenings In The Outhouse 02-Sept-2016

First of all, this is blog post number . . . (drum roll) . . . 700!

Hard to believe this all started in June 2010, just a mere 6 years ago.

One bit of news before we talk about the subject this week.  Shades Of Darkness, the fourth novel in the Central Division Series is complete.  Final edits are taken care of, and as of now it looks like it will be released 12-Sept-2016.  When it's available for preorder, I will provide a link and a separate post.

What is the perfect swing?

I equate this with golf, a sport I am most familiar with, but this could be with any sport (I know, I'm not much of a sports fan, but trust me, I won't take long to get to my point).  I played basketball up until 7th grade and golf throughout my high school career.  There were times when I would toss the ball to the basket and just knew it would go in.  The same with golf.  I knew the hits that just made the ball soar higher, straighter, and farther.

Professional athletes do this more often than amateurs.  Countless hours of practice have given them the muscle memory to do it over and over again, in a variety of situations.

Writers can have the equivalent of a perfect swing too.  And again, professionals experience it more often than amateurs, but what separates the two is plain sit-butt-in-chair-time.  Deliberate time, but time nonetheless.

Have you ever written a paragraph, page, scene, or even chapter and just sat back afterwards, exhilarated at what you had accomplished?  I'm sure most of us had.  These are words that, when it comes to editing, it more than likely is the most clean.

There were a number of scenes and chapters in Shades Of Darkness that were like this.  They were super fun to write, and even more fun to re-read.

The Third Group Of Writers' Advice / Happenings In The Outhouse 26-Aug-2016

A few weeks ago, I had a blog post regarding writing advice.  If you missed it, it's worth a read--or a re-read.

Once again, I always seem to find myself late to the party, but a few weekends ago I watched No Country For Old Men on Netflix.  It was a great movie, well put together, and watching it made me think of the author of the book Cormac McCarthy.  Another great movie/book by Cormac was The Road.

Looking at Cormac's publishing history--and many others authors--I saw a sporadic number of books.  In cases, it may be 5-10 years between books.  Yet, somehow these authors make a living writing full-time.  I don't hear much from these authors, however, when it comes to advice.  They mainly talk about their latest books and then . . . that's it.  If they do offer their advice, it may be skewed towards the traditional realm and will completely ignore indie publishing as a flash in the pan.

So, what is a budding writer to do?

Look at it from all angles.  But don't wait too long.  Sometimes you'll spend too much time researching something when you could've written some books, maybe indie published them, and learned more than you would by reading countless resource books on the subject.

Pete's Dragon, Then And Now / Happenings In The Outhouse 19-Aug-2016

Pete's Dragon, circa 1977, is the first movie I ever remember seeing in the movie theater.  According to my Mom, this is not the first movie I ever went to.  That one was Where The Red Fern Grows.  I was two when that movie came out, five when Pete's Dragon did.

Last weekend, I brought my two daughters to see the remake of Pete's Dragon.  I loved it.  So did my daughters.  We laughed and cried.  Don't worry, I won't spoil anything.

Which brings me to the subject of remakes.  Yes, Pete's Dragon is a remake . . . in name only.  There is absolutely no comparison to the original.  Treat it like a brand new movie for a brand new generation.

The same goes when books get made into movies.  Treat them as separate works of art.  Critics who feel they should all be the same have, what I call, the "Clear and Present Danger Syndrome."  Please see my blog post from a few years ago where I explain this.

I've also watched the recent movie Suicide Squad and Batman v. Superman, the latter of course on DVD.  I loved both movies--I know, I know, it doesn't take much to make me love something.  I give both movies two thumbs up, five stars all the way.

Despite what the critics say.

When Batman v. Superman came out in the theater, my oldest daughter saw it and said it was great.  I wasn't able to see it in the theaters.  It obviously did well at the box office.  I have a co-worker who also saw it and agreed with the critics.  He hated it.  His basis for criticism seemed to stem from it being like the comics and the canon it presented.  Once again, another victim of the "Clear and Present Danger Syndrome."

Treat each piece of art as a separate piece of art.  Work hard not to compare.  Rarely are books as good as movies, and vice versa.

Who's advice to listen to / Happenings In The Outhouse 12-Aug-2016

I'm noting that I have close to 700 blog posts . . . yes, you heard correct.  700!

So, needless to say, if I duplicate something that I've talked about before, I apologize.  Hence today's subject of who to listen to.  Not sure if I covered this before.

There are two general camps of writers offering tips to newbies--one can divide these down into sub-categories, but for now I'm going to leave it at two.

The two camps are: veteran writers and new writing stars.

I'm noticing a fair amount of veteran writers--who have been in the business for decades, through the various ebbs and flows of the industry--who's advice is simple: write, keep writing, rewrite only to editorial demand, put your writing out into the market, and keep it out until sold.  Now, I completely stole this advice from Robert Heinlein, famed science fiction writer.  Here's a link to what is called Heinlein's Rules on Dean Wesley Smith's site.  In fact, Dean is one of these veteran writers I'm talking about.  David Farland is another one.  Here is Farland's lectures on Heinlein's rules.

And there are more than these two.  But if anything, to start with, follow Dean and David's advice, to gain their perspective of the publishing industry.  Even if you disagree with them, it's okay to gain their knowledge.

Then, in the second camp, there are the new writing stars.  This camp is comprised of writers who write some books, have some success--in some cases massive success that land them in the top spots on Amazon--and then write nonfiction books or put together online courses about the process.  They don't necessarily quit writing the fiction books that gave them success, but they seem to have slowed down and are focusing more on the nonfiction side of their business.

Comparing both camps can cause your head to spin with disbelief and confusion.  The new stars are focused highly on the marketing, not necessarily writing the next book.  This seems short-sighted for me, and one that I find myself at odds against.  As you'll note, I have not provided links to any of these.

So, what is a newbie writer to do?

Depends on what clicks with you.  It also depends on what you want to do.  I want to publish.  I want to write.  Therefore, I find myself taking the advice of the veterans more than the others.  Not that I ignore the new writing stars.  I pick and choose what I want to listen to.

Then, I put my head down . . . and write.

Heinlein's rules, people.  Simple rules to follow.

Entitlement vs. The Cursed Child / Happenings In The Outhouse 05-Aug-2016

J. K. Rowling's eight Harry Potter book has been released into the world.  As of this writing, I am roughly halfway through it and loving it--and yes I knew it was a script book LONG before it came out.

My thirteen-year-old daughter read it in one night, in about six hours.  And she LOVED it!  Here's the proof, if you don't believe me - here's a cute note she wrote to me:

I was disappointed in the reviews I read on Amazon.  One such review said something to the fact that THIS ISN'T THE BOOK ROWLING OWED ME.

Sorry?  J. K. Rowling doesn't owe you at all.  She can do whatever she wants.  All writers can do whatever they want with their art.  Fans are owed nothing.  So what if the new Harry Potter book is a script book.  I agree it was a little difficult to read at first, simply because I don't read that many script books (I can probably count the number of script books on one hand and have enough fingers left to pick my nose and possibly even flip someone the bird).

But I have still enjoyed it.

I clearly remembered when the news broke regarding the new book.  I did read the fine print, which said it was a script book.  I told my daughter--the one who read it in six hours and even read the entire series last summer--and she shrugged.  "So what?  I'll still love it."

And she did.

And so have I.