Just when you think you have everything all planned out . . . life happened

I didn't realize it had been so long since I've last posted, but then again I've had life smack me in the face.

Oh, where do I begin? In the beginning, as the Great Books says. Here we go.



On April 7th, 2011, my wife had a bone marrow biopsy performed at the Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, ND. Afterwards, the doctor said the results could take up to a week to come back. Needless to say, if you've consulted a calendar about now, you know that this would've been on a Thursday. By Friday afternoon, the doctor called and said she wishes to meet with us Monday morning, on the 13th of April.



What led us up to this point? For now, I'm just going to tell it from this point on and not rehash the countless tests and procedures my wife Melissa had gone through before the bone marrow biopsy.


Okay, on Monday morning, the doctor and an entourage of two other nurses come in and inform my wife that she has Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and that she has to do her treatments in Rochester, MN. Long story short, she has been home two times since then, and is currently residing at the Hope Lodge in Rochester, MN (with her brother as a caretaker). Needless to say, I feel very blessed for all of the support and prayers that have come from the community that I live in, as well as the community I grew up in. The largest town I've lived in was Bemidji, MN, back when I was at the university, but I have to honestly say, you are treated so much more warmly in a smaller community than if we lived in, oh let's say anywhere in the Twin Cities. On May 19th, ironically on my 8-year-old daughter's birthday, there was a benefit held for us at our church in Red Lake Falls. My one wish was that Melissa would've been able to see it, but she was of course down in Rochester. Several hundred people showed up - it was very overwhelming. I feel very blessed by the experience, and can't wait to bless countless others down the road when life throws them a curve ball.


Although I won't go into too much detail about Melissa's treatments and what the future holds, I will do so at a later time. I am still writing, it's something I work on almost every single day, and will add more to this blog very soon.

For updates on my wife's condition, go to the caringbridge.org site and type in melissapeterson1 in the search box.

Reseach and Development - R & D of your writing business

The "head" of your writing business is Research and Development. Okay, what does this entail? Very simple: learning new things.

"Learning new things?" you may ask. "You mean, like English composition and stuff like that?"

Not necessarily, but it could be, depending on your situation.

First, the publishing business, like any other business, is ever-changing. No writer in the history of the world ever got published without some influence or "help" from experts. If you are serious about writing, there are a few books about writing that is essential to have. The first is "Elements of Style" by Strunk & White. This is a small book about the mechanics of writing, and is vital to have in your arsenal. The next is Stephen King's "On Writing." King talks about not only his life and how he got published, he also breaks down the crucial parts of a writer's life and offers excellent advise on writing style, plot development, dialogue, work habits, query letters to literary agents, and even rejection. If you read at least these two books, you are well on your way to knowing a lot more about the writing industry.

Are there other books about writing that I recommend? Certainly . . . although, for the sake of time, I will only mention one more here: John Gardner's "On Becoming A Novelist." This one was recommended to me in April of 2010 by a literary consultant named Ian Graham Leask as he stopped for a writing conference at the library in Red Lake Falls. I read it, and I can certainly say that one area in which I was lacking was forever changed because of Gardner's book: editing. Gardner's book gives a straightforward and moral approach to writing. Of the one area in particular that I was lacking, Gardner helped to influence my writing. Or, more specifically, my editing. Before, I would read a particular chapter three or four times and then more on to the next one, and the changes in that chapter would sit for a long time (anywhere from a few months to a few years) before I made the changes on the computer. Gardner's method is as follows: break each chapter down into parts or scenes. Read each scene 3-4 times, immersing yourself into it, until the chapter is done. Then, make the changes and repeat the process. It may seem slower, but I have actually gotten more accomplished using this method.

Bookstores and libraries are full of books to help you with your writing. Are these stinkers out there? Of course, but you'll have to weed through them. Besides, you do not have to do everything that these books tell you. Take the best parts out that fit your life.

What else can be learned in this R & D section of your business? Well, simply reading a good novel or story in the same genre that you are writing will help. In fact, over the years, I have made a study on reading the first novels of the most successful fiction writers, to see what they wrote to become as successful as they are: Stephen King's "Carrie", John Grisham's "A Time To Kill", J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and so on. Read the first novel of your favorite author. Even read a different genre. You'd be surprised what you could learn, depending on what it is that you read.

Okay, anything else, Mark? Yes. I would read anything you can about success and motivation. "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie "How to Win Friends and Influence People" are only two such examples. Also, reflect on your own life. Find an author who is coming to a town near you and watch his or her presentation. Can you see yourself doing that? You can even get a good book on public speaking, if that's one area in which you are lacking. Also, how about a good book on marketing. Because if you want to be successful at writing, you will need to take the bull by the horn, so to speak, and learn how to market your book.

I hope this has helped you get the perspective on the R & D portion of your writing business. Now, this does not need to take up gobs and gobs of time. Earl Nightingale taught that if you devote 15-30 minutes a day to learning your craft, in a few short years you would be classed as an expert in your given field.

I would also recommend, if you want to be published one day, that you also learn about query letter writing and literary agents. In fact, even if you are still on your first draft, start writing your query letter. Believe it or not, your one page query letter is harder to write than a 1000-page novel. Don't ask me why, it just seems to be. Also, go on the Internet and find blogs about writing. The first that comes to mind is www.guidetoliteraryagents.com - the blog on this site in extremely valuable and there are even more links to other sites. I highly recommend this one.

Now, go forth and conquer. Learn . . . expand your knowledge . . . and you will succeed.

Writing as a business introduction

We previously discussed about your writing as a business. Because if you want to succeed to the next level in your writing (from the "playing around" stage to publication) and are serious about doing it, then that is the mind-set that you need.

First, what I am about to discuss is a variation of a motivational talk by the great Earl Nightingale. In his excellent audio collection "Lead The Field" he talks about the four components of a successful business, which can be shifted to how one can learn to succeed at whatever you put your mind to do. I take this one step further, but at an elementary level I still credit Mr. Nightingale for the knowledge I am about to share.

Think of yourself as the CEO of your company. Or, better yet, the CEO of your life. There are three main components to it, which, depending on how successful you put them to work, influences the fourth. Since we are in the writing business, you are the CEO of that business and how successful your writing will become, will largely influence how much . . . money you are able to earn.

The three main components of any successful business are as follows: Research and Development, Production, and Sales. If any given business works these three areas to the best of its ability, it increases the fourth component: money. If one area is lacking, then the business becomes stagnant and eventually fails.

Earl Nightingale put this in a personal perspective when thinking of your own life, of which you are the CEO. If you look at your own body, the head is Research and Development, the hands are Production, and the legs are Sales. Your chest . . . let's put a huge Superman-like S in the center, but instead of an S let's put a dollar sign. How successful you are in R & D, Production, and Sales will affect how much money you are able to earn.

In the next few blogs, I will break each of these three components down for you.

Sage advice from a former teacher

Last week, at the Red Lake Falls Library, I had the privilege of meeting a former professor of mine from Bemidji State University, one who taught me a lot about writing: award-winning Minnesota author Will Weaver.

Throughout my entire academic career, I can name two teachers who have had an impact on my writing. One is my 6th grade college-prep English teacher Mrs. Anne Olson. (I hope I spelled her name right). Never before in high school was I ever asked to write a creative piece. What? I thought at the time. You mean, make something up? I had always dreamed of being a writer and was always working on something, but this was the very first time I was able to do it for a class. She taught many of the mechanics of creative writing, from character sketches and such, and her advice was always positive.

Will Weaver, on the other hand, took my writing to a whole new level. I took two classes from him: Introduction to Fiction Writing and Intermediate Fiction Writing. (Yes, my Criminal Justice advisor didn't think too highly of my taking such classes when I was getting a degree in Criminal Justice, but oh well - I'll have the last laugh when I'm sitting on top of the bestseller's list). Will Weaver's advice, albeit simple and straightforward, was right on the money. And, last week, proved it once again.

Will Weaver first talked about the art of the short story and how beginning writers can use that format to learn about the craft. He taught about keeping your focus on a small, defined period of time and even a limited number of characters. He even said that a narrow subject matter would also help make one's short story better.

He read several pieces from his books, many of them young adult, and also talked about "writing more about less." This means to write about the finer details of one's story (just the right amount of details, but not too much that would overload one's senses and also not too little where the writers is screaming for more).  There was much more advise he shared (and this blog simply cannot name them all) but one that really stuck with me was the following: write well enough so that you don't give the reader a reason to stop. The same is also true with an editor, because if you can keep an editor's attention, you have the makings of a good story.

Writing as a business

Greetings fellow writers, and have a Happy New Year!

For one to become a serious writer (when I mean serious, I mean to say that writing is how you want to make a living - as Zig Ziggler would say, "turning your vocation into a vacation" - something you absolutely love doing) you have to treat it as a business.

What! A business! That makes it sound so . . . corporate.

Not really, but if you really want to become a published writer, you do have to be serious about all aspects of writing. In other words, treating writing as of it's a business.

Over the course of the next few weeks and months, we'll explore the various aspects of "writing as a business" one piece at a time. The information presented is largely from research that I've done over the years, and I will give credit where credit is due.

The first thing we need to do is decide, once and for all, what it is you want to do. Sure, we all want to make millions (or billions) of dollars (okay, not every one wants this, which I find incredibly odd, but that's okay . . . we can still be friends). Ask yourself once question: if you were offered, let's say, $100,000 a year (or $500K or even a million dollars) doing something--anything--what would you like to do?

Previously, I talked about Zig's saying of turning your vocation into a vacation. In other words, you need to love doing what you're doing - to the point where "work" isn't really the dreaded W-word. Maybe you love restoring old cars. You may even love building bird houses.  Or you love cooking, have a passion for music or writing.  Find out what that is. Imagine making money (the kind I noted above) doing exactly that. Could you?  Believe in yourself that you can.

But does everything have to revolve around money, you may ask? Of course not. That's not the point, which is getting into the mindset of loving to do something, having the passion to do something every single day. This may come as a shock, but I love writing. I've spent many late nights and early mornings writing or editing stories. I've spent many hours in the car, either going to or from work or even on my commutes home when I was going to college at Bemidji State University many moons ago, thinking about writing or going over whatever story I happened to be working on. That's my passion. That's the reason I plow ahead each day, edging ever-closer to the day I can write full-time and support my family the way they should be.

What is your passion? What is the one thing that you would love to do if you were paid good money to do it?

Let that sink in for a bit . . . you may not get it at first, what you really want to do, but write them down as soon as you think of it. Before too long, you'll discover your meaning . . . your purpose . . .

Writing a novel in a year - setting goals

Greetings fellow writers. I read a lot of success books. Meaning, books about becoming successful. Successful at whatever your heart desires. And of all the books, from Napoleon Hill and Earl Nightingale to Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar, they all stress the importance of setting goals.

Goal: write a first draft of a novel.

Seems easy, doesn't it? Well, for those who've never done it, it can seem like a daunting task. Let's break it down, shall we?

Oh, I'm forgetting something. You also need to put a timeline on it. Timelines can change, and they will as you go along. That's okay. Give yourself permission to do it. There is a famous saying that "there are no unrealistic goals, just unrealistic time frames." Not sure who said it, but it's true. Okay, here we go . . .

Modified goal: write a first draft of a novel in . . . one year (365 days).

How does that sound? Terrifying? Exciting? Both? It can be done.

Now that you have your larger goal of writing a novel in 365 days, let's break it down into daily tasks. Let's say . . . write one page a day. "Okay, Mark, I can do that. No problem."

Day one: write that one page. When it's done, look at it and pat yourself on the back. You are one page closer to getting it done. If you do that for a week, you'll have seven pages. Phew! Holy cow! After a month, it's thirty pages (yes, you'll be writing on the weekends too). You are thirty pages closer to getting it done.

But how long is your novel going to be? Who knows? Let's say . . . 400 pages (note: none of my novels have I really known ahead of time how long they'll be but we had to pick a number so just go with me).

"But, Mark, at that rate, I'll never finish the 400 pages in a year."

Ah, ha!

Let's say after thirty days you've started to get a good rhythm and you do two pages in a day. Wow, two pages! If you do that for a month, you'll have sixty pages. All total, ninety pages. Very impressive. Now it looks like you'll finish that novel in a year.

But wait, there's more. You'll find as you go along, there will be days where the one or two pages will just flow and the next thing you know, you've written somewhere between five and ten pages. This doesn't give you permission to take the next few days off. No way! Keep writing. And before too long, if you keep this pace up, constantly writing more and more pages as you go along, three or four months have passed and it'll be done.

Then, comes the next phase of writing: editing.

But that's for another day, fellow writers.

Final note: write down your goals. Post it where you can see it everyday.  In fact, even get a calender and write how many pages you write in a day. You'll be surprised how many you can do when you set a goal, write it down, see it, and execute.

To outline or not to outline . . .

To outline or not to outline is a definite question.

It was the consensus of today's writers' group meeting, when the subject of outlining came up, that outlining stories is . . . a complete waste of time. For us, that is. I must stress that too. For us.

I know, I know, there are those of you out there who just can't seem to start a story without detailing every minute piece of it before starting your "Once upon a time . . . " If that's you and outlining works for you, by all means do it.

Every author does some sort of planning, in varying degrees, before they start their story. I'm reminded of a Chevy Chase movie called Funny Farm where Chevy plays a sports columnist-turned-author. For some reason, a publisher gave him an advance towards writing a novel (and he hadn't even started it yet - sorry, this would never happen in the real world, for a first-time novelist). Anyway, after Chevy sets up his writing room in their new house, which is in the middle of the New England countryside, he types the title page on his typewriter (yes, a typewriter - not a computer or a laptop or some other electronic do-hickey), then inserts another page and types out CHAPTER ONE. Proud with himself at this point, he inserts the third page, types a "1" at the top, and starts writing . . . "The" he writes and then he draws a blank. Okay, this may seem a bit extreme and one should have a plan, but it doesn't mean you need a mega-detailed outline of each and every chapter, etc.

Bottom line: I do not outline, save for some vague notes on characters and other plot points that I don't want to forget (because I most certainly will, if given the chance). In fact, as of this writing, I have five completed novels and well over a dozen other novels I've started, and none have been outlined. In fact, how I write is a lot like excavating an archealogical dig: who knows what I might uncover, which is half the fun of writing - I never know what comes up the next time I sit down to write.