This past Sunday was the season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead.
Normally, I watch The Walking Dead on Netflix, but season 6 ended in such a way that I had to see what character Negan (the newest bad guy) would kill with his trusted baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.
No, I won't spoil who died.
Was I shocked?
Nope. Another TV show I watch, Game of Thrones, also kills off several characters--even main characters. Yes, I've read all of the books so far, and I am eagerly anticipating the next novel to be released. So the death of a main character isn't shocking to me.
But it must serve a purpose.
And I truly believe the latest deaths in TWD will also serve a purpose.
I'm currently 28,000 words into my newest novel. It's a stand-alone Christmas-themed drama. It's been very fun to write. Then, as I started thinking about the path the book is going to take, I planned on having a character get hurt. Severely. Then, I imagined what the story would be like if this particular character died.
Believe it or not, I had tears in my eyes when I thought of it. I still do, knowing I may have to end this person's life--fictionally, of course, but that doesn't make it any less hurtful.
Will it serve a purpose?
At this point I hate to answer that. Because I know what my answer may be.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Friday, October 21, 2016
An example of putting yourself out there / Happenings In The Outhouse 21-Oct-2016
Let me take a small moment this Friday to brag about my son.
He's eighteen, a senior in high school, a member of both the football and golf teams, and he's light-years ahead of every single member of his class. And I truly mean it. Every single one.
Why?
Because he's putting out content. On his own. Many people talk about it. Many of those people even study about doing it. But they never get around to actually doing it.
My son has.
The other day, I heard rumors from my wife about his YouTube videos. The rumor was that he had some swearing in them. I honestly didn't care too much as I had watched the one and only video I thought he had put out there. The swearing was minimal and done all in the nature of the content he was providing.
Then I went to his YouTube page (by the way, I was his very first subscriber) and was completely shocked to see he had over 170 videos and over 50 subscribers. Holy cow! So I watched a few. Heck, he even had advertising on them, which means he's making some money from it. A few cents here and there add up over time.
And the swearing? In the few videos I watched, I didn't hear a single one.
Now, I will not share his YouTube name nor provide a link to it as his audience and mine do not mix. In looking at a Venn Diagram, our two audience circles, if they were to intersect, would barely touch each other. If at all aside from yours truly.
My son has done exactly what I told him to do. And that is exactly what I do with indie publishing. I'm putting myself out there. And so is he. While he puts out daily content, he's also studying what others in the YouTube field are doing. But he's not just studying the how's, he's putting it into action. That is what puts him light years above and ahead of all of his classmates.
What content have you created? If you have, what are you waiting for? Put it out there.
He's eighteen, a senior in high school, a member of both the football and golf teams, and he's light-years ahead of every single member of his class. And I truly mean it. Every single one.
Why?
Because he's putting out content. On his own. Many people talk about it. Many of those people even study about doing it. But they never get around to actually doing it.
My son has.
The other day, I heard rumors from my wife about his YouTube videos. The rumor was that he had some swearing in them. I honestly didn't care too much as I had watched the one and only video I thought he had put out there. The swearing was minimal and done all in the nature of the content he was providing.
Then I went to his YouTube page (by the way, I was his very first subscriber) and was completely shocked to see he had over 170 videos and over 50 subscribers. Holy cow! So I watched a few. Heck, he even had advertising on them, which means he's making some money from it. A few cents here and there add up over time.
And the swearing? In the few videos I watched, I didn't hear a single one.
Now, I will not share his YouTube name nor provide a link to it as his audience and mine do not mix. In looking at a Venn Diagram, our two audience circles, if they were to intersect, would barely touch each other. If at all aside from yours truly.
My son has done exactly what I told him to do. And that is exactly what I do with indie publishing. I'm putting myself out there. And so is he. While he puts out daily content, he's also studying what others in the YouTube field are doing. But he's not just studying the how's, he's putting it into action. That is what puts him light years above and ahead of all of his classmates.
What content have you created? If you have, what are you waiting for? Put it out there.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Writing is fun / Happenings In The Outhouse 14-Oct-2016
Last week, I blogged about how I thought writers block was an excuse for being lazy.
I closed with the notion that writing is fun.
It is. For me. If you're not having fun, don't do it. Do something that you do enjoy. Woodworking? Painting? Working on an old car? Collecting Star Wars toys? Volunteering at the local animal shelter?
It's not all about money, but trust me when I say money is nice to have. Try going without and you appreciate having it.
This is why I love indie publishing. I can write what I want. I have four novels in a thriller series, and, instead of working on the fifth book, I published a Halloween-themed novelette titled Grave Secrets and I'm roughly 16,000 words into a Christmas-themed family drama novel.
Afterwards, I'm going to finish the Shadowkill trilogy. I wrote the first book a few years ago, and I want to close out the series when it appears that the genre is starting to get hot.
In the end, writing is fun.
I closed with the notion that writing is fun.
It is. For me. If you're not having fun, don't do it. Do something that you do enjoy. Woodworking? Painting? Working on an old car? Collecting Star Wars toys? Volunteering at the local animal shelter?
It's not all about money, but trust me when I say money is nice to have. Try going without and you appreciate having it.
This is why I love indie publishing. I can write what I want. I have four novels in a thriller series, and, instead of working on the fifth book, I published a Halloween-themed novelette titled Grave Secrets and I'm roughly 16,000 words into a Christmas-themed family drama novel.
Afterwards, I'm going to finish the Shadowkill trilogy. I wrote the first book a few years ago, and I want to close out the series when it appears that the genre is starting to get hot.
In the end, writing is fun.
Friday, October 7, 2016
Writers block is plain laziness / Happenings In The Outhouse 07-Oct-2016
**Forgive the slight profanity in this post here.**
Let me be frank and bold: writers block is a crock of shit.
Was that too bold? Sorry, but it had to be said. I was listening to a podcast last week and one of the topics they discussed was writers block. I agreed with the interviewee, who said there really wasn't such a thing as writers block. The interview, obviously, disagreed and tried to wallow his way out of the argument, but failed.
In my opinion, writers block is just plain lazy.
Don't agree. Let's replace writing with . . . oh, let's say exercise. "I have exercise block," one says. No, you're just too damn lazy to get your ass out of the chair and walk or jog or lift weights or eat right or any number of things to help lose weight.
I have "eating right" block. This is the same thing as exercise block, except it deals with food. One is too damn lazy to NOT pop that pizza in the oven and just open a bag of lettuce. Oh, hell, grow a few vegetables, if you are so inclined.
I have a crab apple tree in my yard, which has been producing results for the past two years. I get excited during the late summer, because I can pluck something from a tree in my own yard and eat it. Now, I agree that it's not cheap and easy to buy fresh veggies and fruit all the time, but then again it's not cheap and easy to get a heart attack and die!
Okay, back to writers block. I'm currently 12,000 words into a new novel. It's a Christmas-themed family drama. It's a far cry from what I normally write, but I've been having loads of fun with it. Do I write every single day? No. I've been keeping track of how much I write each day on a spreadsheet, and so far I've written about 75% of the days.
Some writers have replaced writing with researching. Sorry, not the same thing. Write original words. For me, I re-read the last few pages, just to get a feel of what's going on and then away I go. I write whatever comes to mind. No over-analyzing or agonizing. Just plain writing, hands on the keyboard.
Try it sometime. Don't overthink it. Write whatever comes to mind. There's really no trick to it. I know, there are tons of books on writing faster. Sorry, but I think they're all bullshit. Not a single one has helped me. They're too gimmicky.
Banish the thought that you ever suffer from writers block.
Write.
And, most of all, have fun doing it.
Let me be frank and bold: writers block is a crock of shit.
Was that too bold? Sorry, but it had to be said. I was listening to a podcast last week and one of the topics they discussed was writers block. I agreed with the interviewee, who said there really wasn't such a thing as writers block. The interview, obviously, disagreed and tried to wallow his way out of the argument, but failed.
In my opinion, writers block is just plain lazy.
Don't agree. Let's replace writing with . . . oh, let's say exercise. "I have exercise block," one says. No, you're just too damn lazy to get your ass out of the chair and walk or jog or lift weights or eat right or any number of things to help lose weight.
I have "eating right" block. This is the same thing as exercise block, except it deals with food. One is too damn lazy to NOT pop that pizza in the oven and just open a bag of lettuce. Oh, hell, grow a few vegetables, if you are so inclined.
I have a crab apple tree in my yard, which has been producing results for the past two years. I get excited during the late summer, because I can pluck something from a tree in my own yard and eat it. Now, I agree that it's not cheap and easy to buy fresh veggies and fruit all the time, but then again it's not cheap and easy to get a heart attack and die!
Okay, back to writers block. I'm currently 12,000 words into a new novel. It's a Christmas-themed family drama. It's a far cry from what I normally write, but I've been having loads of fun with it. Do I write every single day? No. I've been keeping track of how much I write each day on a spreadsheet, and so far I've written about 75% of the days.
Some writers have replaced writing with researching. Sorry, not the same thing. Write original words. For me, I re-read the last few pages, just to get a feel of what's going on and then away I go. I write whatever comes to mind. No over-analyzing or agonizing. Just plain writing, hands on the keyboard.
Try it sometime. Don't overthink it. Write whatever comes to mind. There's really no trick to it. I know, there are tons of books on writing faster. Sorry, but I think they're all bullshit. Not a single one has helped me. They're too gimmicky.
Banish the thought that you ever suffer from writers block.
Write.
And, most of all, have fun doing it.
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