Quality vs. Quantity

Why write a blog post every day? Seth Godin recommends it. Tim Ferris does not. The conflict between quality and quantity…

Exhausting Inspiration

Inspiration should be taken when it presents itself.

Slow Ambition

All writers have unfinished stories. Whatever the reason, they were let go, put down, closed in a drawer.

Writing for the Selfish Awe

Writers of Fantasy are addicted to the awe.

Interesting Mistakes

Mistakes are inherent in experience and not in ourselves. They are ever present.

It is easy to assume that they indicate some faulty part of ourselves, as if we are the only ones who feel like they never do anything right.

In Love As It Is In Writing

The writing must happen anyway. It grows, becomes part of you. It is an urge, a calling, a constant whisper in…

The Selfish Fiction

Setting out to write fiction is, at its core, a bit selfish.

Maybe that is too harsh, but there might be some truth in that statement.

Writing fiction is hard. Everyone can agree with that.

Reflection and Time

Reflection gives the ability to improve.

Reflection is where the seeds grow into something.

Reflection is where the random idea suddenly becomes the lynchpin to the story.

But reflection, like drafting, requires time.

Time is always the investment.

Comfort with Achievement

Getting comfortable with writing takes time. Getting comfortable sharing those written words takes a little longer.

Once achieved, that comfort translates into other facets of life and when that happens all of the difficulties become worth it.

Keep Movement

The movement towards the goal is never understood. It can’t be. Some would say that’s not fair, and it’s true.

There are so many unseen factors at play and there always will be. There’s nothing to be done but to keep moving…

Things That Need To Be Said

It is impossible to edit during the drafting phase of the writing process.

The Tired Surprises

The surprises that come usually happen at the worst times.

Push and Pull

Writers are constantly pulled towards different projects. Today a short story and tomorrow a blog. Maybe there’s time to draft a new…

Setting into the process

Understanding your setting is helpful when outlining a narrative.

The Beacons

Pursuing a new interest need not be a gamble. Stumble into it. Doors will open if allowed to, and those who can be of aid will appear.

It Takes Time

In drafting, there are points where one realizes something is missing. Some idea or notion makes sense only if the seed is planted at…

The Core

We already know what we have to do and what we have to focus on. The path to becoming a published author is notoriously difficult — at least…

Looking Back

Gaining perspective is what many try to achieve. We get lost in our day to day, and the ability to stop and examine how or why we do…

The Why of Choice

Why write narratives? Why put ourselves on the line?

Because, really, there isn’t a choice, is there?

It’s The Little Things

A story is made up of words. Individual words arranged together into sentences. Those sentences become paragraphs which then fill pages. The pages, well, they accumulate, too.

It’s easy to lose light of this simple truth. We get lost in the construction of plot…

Off Days

The off days can be off putting if they are recognized for something other than what they are.

Off days.

They are not off weeks or off months or off years. They are off days.

There’s the End

The story will tell you when it’s ready to end.

All of a sudden the top of the mountain is clear, and at that summit all of the work and time that was put in gains context.

Six Minutes…

Blogging every day is daunting. It is. The constant question: “What should I write?” Stays with you.

Community

A community is important to have when you are a writer.

The like minded can help guide the way.

But a writer must put in effort to find those that can help you while also finding those that you can help.

It’s a two way street.

That Which Keeps Us Coming Badk

What sustains? What brings us back to the seat, pen in hand?

Writing narratives, art in general, brings with it a sense of freedom. It is a dream of living sustained both materially and spiritually by the creative mind.

Question and Stretch

Always end with a question.

Steps

Daily practice is a reminder of what you want to become.

A Known Mystery

The writing process is not linear. No creation is meant to be. That is why so many attempt to grasp at the clues given by others…

The Lens of Defeat and Victory

How we fall is just as important as how we get up.

There are situations in our lives where we repeatedly fail to live up to our own expectations. This can be difficult to accept. It is so easy to fall into the trap of self-pity, the trap of thinking…

Writing and Looking Back

When writing a narrative, looking back is the only way to go forward.

Research and the Love

Steven Pressfield says that research can be a trap, one more manifestation of what he calls resistance.

This is true.

But research can also serve as a clue. The research that does not feel like “work” is the research that one should be…

Light and Doubt

To be a writer is to live with doubt. There’s no way around it.