Always Keep Learning / Happenings In The Outhouse 14-Nov-2025

No matter your age and experience, it is always important to keep learning.

I listened to a training video by bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith who has been in the publishing business for over 50 years.  Yes, five decades!  One of the points he made in the video (well, truth be told, he makes many great points but I'll limit to just one right here) is to keep learning.  Always.  So many authors came onto the self-publishing scene 5, 10, 15 years ago, and . . . where are they now?  They stopped learning.

Even many traditionally published authors seemed to have vanished.  Not all, but many who were considered the greatest at the time, have now gone bye bye.

Why?

I can only speculate, but it's possible that they also stopped learning.  They stopped reading and expanding their knowledge.

I learn more with each and every story that I write, no matter if it's a short story or a large novel.  There is so much to learn that I yearn to stretch myself even further.

What are you doing to expand your knowledge?

What are you practicing on to get better and better?

Stealth Publishing Revisited / Happenings In The Outhouse 12-Sept-2025

I wrote this post back in 2018 about stealth publishing.

And it still holds true today.

Let me share what's happened in the seven years since I wrote that blog post.

I have 14 completed and published novels, 7 shorter novels (called novellas or novelettes, depending on the length), and close to 4 dozen short stories.  And those short stories will, over the course of months, will be published one at a time, and I will be putting some nifty collections together too.

I'm also brainstorming some nonfiction books with my blog posts as content.

And I am still learning new things . . . 

What are you doing today to further your craft?  It doesn't have to be catastrophic in nature.  Start small if you have to.  But, as the philosopher El Nike says, "Just do it."  Do it today.

Not A Dollar Store / Happenings In The Outhouse 05-Sept-2025

There are a lot of changes on the horizon.  So much so that I am excited for what the future is going to bring.

I am currently taking an online course taught by Dean Wesley Smith and Kris Rusch about creating your own short story market, and one of the things I learned in the very first week was about pricing your stories.

One trend I have noticed lately (and this may be purely psychological) are the number of books in the $1.99 range.  Short stories, despite them being short, should never be $.99.  It makes your work look and feel cheap.  So the starting point for short stories should be at $1.99 (the exception would be if you were a massive bestselling author, where you could start at $2.99).

Over the next few months, I will be reviewing all of my stories and pricing them accordingly.

Don't sell yourself short by selling cheap.  Cheap never wins.

This also works the other way too.  Don't price your work too high either.

Rule Three: Do Not Rewrite / Happenings In The Outhouse 09-May-2025

For Heinlein, the entire rule states: "Do not rewrite except to editorial order."

When I first encountered this rule, I didn't quite know what it meant.  So I dug deeper.

When we first write, we're using our creative voice.  It's raw.  It's got edges.  It's unique.  As we rewrite and rewrite, we're polishing our unique piece of work until something that's . . . frankly, dull and boring.  The creativity is lost.

Now, it's okay to fix typos and errors in the story.

But that's all.

What author Dean Wesley Smith taught me was to cycle.  Cycling works like this: write a set amount of words (300-500 or so) and then circle back to where you started, fixing what needs fixing on a typo level or adding details, and then moving another 300-500 words past where you stopped before.  Once you are done with your story, you have kept much of your creative voice in it.

Again, that's all.

Game Changer / Happenings In The Outhouse 04-April-2025

I am going to pause on sharing my experience with Heinlein's five rules of writing to share something that has absolutely changed the course of my writing.  To simply call it a game changer doesn't do it justice, but it truly is.  Not only is it a game changer, I now view stories in a whole new light.

Emotions.  Opinions.  Five senses.  Or in a single word: depth.

Author Dean Wesley Smith has an extensive lecture series on what it means to have depth in your writing.  It is well worth the money for the 7-course bundle, or you can go through each one individually too.

If anything, take the introductory Depth in Writing class.

Trust me, it's a game changer for sure.

Because after I took the class, my stories changed and were noticed more than before.

What's In Mind For The Rest Of 2024 / Happenings In The Outhouse 11-Oct-2024

At the start of the fourth quarter of the year, 2024, I'm mindful of what I have left to be done . . . as well as looking forward to what my plans for 2025 might be.

Wow, 2025!  Hard to believe with so much going on, in my personal, work, and creative life.  Seems like yesterday it was 2000 and then 2010 and 2020 . . .

But before we look to the future, to 2025, we have three more months left of the year.  My focus this year has been short stories, getting as many written as possible, and submitting as many as possible for publication.  I have gotten tremendous feedback, despite the lack of offers, but I can feel myself becoming a stronger writer.

Learning is a huge part.  I have taken a number of educational classes taught by the prolific Dean Wesley Smith.  One major class, which has had a huge impact, are the depth classes.  Those gave me a whole new perspective on stories and how they're told.

I'm going back through all of the short stories I have written since the middle of 2023 (there are a ton of them!) and adding in a bio along with an afterword.  It's been great fun rereading some of these stories and possibly coming up with a new series for a few of them.

Still Overthinking / Happenings In The Outhouse 02-Feb-2024

Overthinking.

Yup, I'm still doing it.

Some authors call it the critical brain getting in the way of your thinking.  I agree, that's what is happening to me.

I've been working on a short story for a number of weeks now, tweaking here and there, and I've hit a point where I don't know where to go.  When I looked at it from a larger picture, I realized that I was overthinking.

In the past, I've had no troubles working through a story (for the most part).  If I hit a troublesome spot, I'd brainstorm about it.

So, that's what I did.  I should have it done shortly.

Holiday Happenings / Happenings In The Outhouse 22-Dec-2023

This week, I finished a short story.  I'm submitting it as part of a Kickstarter campaign I helped to fund.  It was originally going to be part of another short story submission, but this one fit better.

As we get closer and closer to Christmas, my family and I have been watching a long line-up of Christmas-themed movies.  From Christmas with the Kranks and Deck the Halls to A Christmas Story and Elf and everything else in between.

Making memories.

What do you think of when you think of the holidays?  From your childhood?

Merry Christmas!!!

Lots Of Writing / Happenings In The Outhouse 15-Sept-2023

I have been doing a lot of writing lately.  Short stories.

I have been taking online classes by Dean Wesley Smith and learning lots of new skills, stretching my imagination in ways I barely dreamed of.

What the plan is now is to submit these for publication in the traditional market, whether it's Writers of the Future or other places.  Lots are out in places, and if anything sticks, I'll let you know.

Idea Machine / Happenings In The Outhouse 01-Sept-2023

I have written about ideas and brainstorming before, but let me elaborate on what could be an idea machine.

I've been improving my writing chops by taking writing classes through Dean Wesley Smith's WMG Publishing on Teachable.  If you're a writer and want to improve your skills, taking Dean's classes (also taught by his wife Kris too) is a must!

Now, what about ideas?

When you're thinking of story ideas, do you go with the first thing that comes to mind?  Chances are, it's what most people will think of and your story will be predictable.  Even the second and third and possibly the fourth thing will be predictable.

When you're brainstorming, try and come up with ten ideas.  I had to do this for one of Dean's classes.  The first few ideas were easy, but to come up with ten was a bit more difficult.  Not impossible by any means, but it allowed me to think well outside my comfort zone.  Well outside the mainstream ideas and come up with something more original.  More unique.

Good luck!

Rebranding And Brief Pause To WIP / Happenings In The Outhouse 19-May-2023

A large local employer in my area is going through a rebrand.  Rebranding what they stand for and what they do, how they want to be perceived by customers, vendors, and even employees.

Even if you are a solo entrepreneur or artist, your brand is just like this.  John Grisham is known as the legal thriller author.  Stephen King is known as a horror author.  J. K. Rowling is known for Harry Potter.  J. R. R. Tolkien is known for the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.  Despite all of these authors writing outside of what they're known for, that is their brand.

Your brand also reflects what one does on social media.  If you are politically sided on one end of the spectrum or always known to be contentious, that's your brand.  If your brand is that you are a genuinely nice person, then so be it.

What do you want to be known for?  What will be said about you at your funeral?

Think on it.

And live your life to fulfill that.

On a side note, I am slowing down my work on my current work-in-progress.  I am taking two online classes (three weeks in total for each of these two, and both are being taken at the same time) I achieved from a Kickstarter about cold cases and modern cases from a fiction writing perspective, and it's eating into a little of my writing time.  But that's okay.  Because it's only going to make my writing that much better.

Planning For The Future / Happenings In The Outhouse 24-March-2023

Ironically, today is my late wife's birthday.  She would've been 51.

A few weeks ago, I read a blog post by Dean Wesley Smith on estate planning.  It is well-written and thought provoking, for sure.  Please take the time to read it, save it, and come back to it time and again.

It is selfish not to plan for the future, not to plan for your eventual demise.  It warms my heart to think about the words I'm publishing today producing fruit for my children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren and beyond for others to enjoy.

Do not put this off until tomorrow.  Do it today.

And do not--and I stress do not--instruct others to throw away your writing.  I can't think of a more idiotic way of disposing of your hard work.

If you don't know, there is a world of knowledge right at your fingertips.  Use Dean's post as a starting point.

Strange times and writing advice / Happenings In The Outhouse 27-March-2020

Unless you've been living under a rock or in a cave, these are definitely strange times we're in. My day job has allowed me to work from home, which I am thankful for.  Many companies have had to adapt to these restrictions our state and federal governments have placed on us, and even then some have had to shut their doors for the time being.

I have also seen how important having a schedule is.  I'm keeping my same break/lunch schedule, which helps.

There are two videos I'd like to share with you.  Especially for the indie authors.  The first is by Dean Wesley Smith.  This 40+ video is packed with info.  Take notes.

https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/if-you-want-to-watch-my-talk/

The second one is by his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch.  Again, take notes.

https://kriswrites.com/2019/11/30/my-talk-on-perfection-at-20books/

If I may paraphrase one portion of her talk, she said there was some advice that 800-page fantasy books are not quite the thing anymore.  She said, "But I like 800-page fantasy books."  And so do I.  Just because one person says it's not "in style" or "in market" doesn't mean that there isn't someone out there who will love it.

AS I've always said, take writing advice with a grain of salt.  Both Dean and Kris have been writing for over four decades.  Yes, four!  I take their advice more seriously than someone who's been writing for four months or four years with only a handful of books.  It was in Dean's talk, he said that between the two they have over 1000 stories published.

Now who's advice will I follow more?  Think about it.

The stigma of self-publishing / Happenings In The Outhouse 10-Jan-2020

Okay, are you ready for a link-filled post?

The other day, I was having a conversation and the person was talking down on someone else for self-publishing her book--keep in mind, this individual either didn't know I also was an indie author or knew and completely forgot.

So, I proceeded to educate this individual on how crappy author contracts are nowadays, how many of their rights are exploited for as little money as possible, and how many traditional authors are actually turning to self-publishing.

When pressed as to why he felt that self-publishing was so bad, he told me, "Well, obviously they weren't good enough to get published."  Now that may be true.  However . . . there have been many examples where that wasn't the case.

So, here are some links to educate yourself on indie publishing:

Dean Wesley Smith

Kristine Kathryn Rusch (check out her business resources)

The Creative Penn (blog/podcast)

That's enough for now.  Seriously, people.  The game has changed.  Our cheese has been moved.  Do a little research before spouting off that all indie authors can't cut it.

What Does A Break Look Like To You And Your Art / Happenings In The Outhouse 14-July-2017

Here's the scenario: you've worked on your manuscript for months and months, and have finally finished it.  You lean back, both exhausted and relieved.  You may even be a little apprehensive and scared.  It's your baby.  It's not quite ready for the world, in your mind.  How long do you wait before tackling any rewrites/edits?

Stephen King has advised to put your manuscript away for a minimum of six weeks before looking at it again.  Dean Wesley Smith doesn't rewrite at all (he has a circular writing technique that is very clever and I want to give a shot at on future projects).  In fact, Smith doesn't even look at the manuscript again unless his wife Kris tells him to fix a few things.

Where do you fit in?

Brandon Sanderson, between his enormous epic fantasy novels, writes shorter books.  I think I read once that Stephen King does the same thing with his novels, but don't quote me on that.

What does taking a break look like to you?  In the past, I've read much more than usual.  It's something I call "recharging my batteries," because I feel like I haven't read as much as I should (which is probably not the case) and I love reading new things.

I'm working on the edits for books 2 and 3 of the Shadowkill trilogy.  It's going well, much better than I anticipated.  And, of course, I'm looking to see what I should work on next.

Stay tuned . . . the future is very exciting . . .