Rule Four: Put Story Out On The Market / Happenings In The Outhouse 16-May-2025

At the most basic levels, there are two paths to publication: traditional and self-publishing.

Traditional means to go through an agent or magazine publisher.

Self-publishing means to do it yourself.

For decades, I tried the traditional route by submitting to agents and contests and magazines.  When, I discovered self-publishing in 2011.  I researched the heck out of it until I decided to give it a go in April 2012.

And I have not looked back, except I still submit to contests and magazine publications.

The bottom line on this: get your story out there.  If it gets rejected, don't take it personally.  Put it out there again.  If you have completely exhausted all of the contests and magazines, then try the self-publish route.  But for crying out loud, no one is going to discover it if it's sitting either in a drawer or in a file folder on your hard drive.

Get the story out there.  Now!

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.

The Importance Of Staying Organized / Happenings In The Outhouse 02-May-2025

I am so close to finishing my latest work-in-progress, the first novel in a cozy mystery series, that I am excited to see it finally come to an end.

But as I am nearing the end, I am seeing the importance of story organization.  With a mystery--truly, this can be any story too, not just mysteries or similar genres--there are elements of a crime and the law enforcement agent seeking to discover the truth behind the crime (if there, in fact, is one) that authors do not want to miss something.

Along the way, I have made notes on various parts of the investigation, but I still go back, in case I miss something.

As with any story, be it short story to novel, I try to make notes as to where the story went and where it's going.  Over the years, I have tweaked this process, and may still do so in the future.  In the end, it's important to stay organized or else you'll make a mistake in your story and cause the reader to either stop reading your story or (and this is much worse) will never pick up one of your stories ever again.

Future Pivot / Happenings In The Outhouse 25-April-2025

For many of us who grew up watching TV in the 90's, saying the word pivot brings up memories of Ross Geller from Friends.

As I am nearing the end of my latest novel (trust me, I still have a few weeks to go, if time allows), I always think of what to do next.  As I ponder, here is what may be on the horizon, as I pivot to my next work-in-progress:

The final two books in my superhero trilogy.

Review the 3 remaining novels that were written long ago but have been sitting in the proverbial drawer and deciding if one may be worthy.

Two new series: a vigilante series and . . . something else.

Republishing my single book under a pseudonym under my own name.

I also want to explore putting some of my books into print.

Lots to do.  And I am having a blast doing it!

Progress / Happenings In The Outhouse 18-April-2025

I am making tremendous progress on my latest work-in-progress, my new cozy mystery (first in a series).  This will be a short post today, but rest assured I am still writing, and I am currently over the 37,000-word mark (over 150-pages) on it.

My goal is to finish and publish it by the end of the month.

Rule Two: Finish What You Are Writing / Happenings In The Outhouse 11-April-2025

My first novel I ever completed was while I was in college at Bemidji State University.  Prior to that, I started many stories, but it wasn't until then that I actually finished one.

This is rule number two: finish what you are writing.

Again, seems like a simple concept (and it is), but you would be amazed at how few people actually finish it.

It was a huge sense of accomplishment when I finished my first novel.  It was something I remembered, and it was in late November 1994.  I have finished many novels and shorter works since then.  But I always make a point of finishing what I'm starting.

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.