Category: Writing Process
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A Failed Novel Resurrects Itself
Put this one in the category of never giving up on a project. About 10-12 years ago I got up the gumption to write a novel – something I had never attempted before. I had a certain premise in mind, 3 generations of Americans who had somehow been affected by Vietnam – one at the…
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Trust Your Past and Use It
Here’s one thing I have learned about writing: Trust your past, and use it. Why do young writers tend to write fantasy or science fiction? Because they lack experience. Well, I don’t. (lack experience, that is.) So … Trust your past, and use it. Upbringing, experiences, relationships, stupid mistakes, brilliant moves, books you’ve read, people…
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Come to think of it, I was always a writer – Part III
In a couple previous posts (PART I HERE!PART II HERE!), I did a little reminiscing over my life, acknowledging the fact that I’ve always enjoyed writing, even if I often doubted my skills. But in each segment of my life, writing played a meaningful role in one way or another. As I now look over my…
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Is starting the hardest part?
I’ve heard other authors say that starting is often the hardest part in the writing process. I hope that’s true because if it is then I’m well on my way to novel #4. I took advantage of a free afternoon to just lay down the framework of what’s to come for me. Recently, I realized…
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56,000 Moving Parts – Try Fixing That!
As far as I can tell, cars have on average about 14,000 moving parts. Complicated to fix? Yes, I think so. And my car knows a thing or two about having its parts moved around on a frequent basis. Well, my new novel, The Recluse Storyteller, has 56,000 moving parts. As I’m in the final stages of…
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Using Scrivener: A First Time Assessment
I’ve written three novels now. Two using Word and one using Scrivener. Hmmm. I wonder which was the best experience. Let’s see. The first one, Beauty Rising, was written on MSWORD and later transferred over to Scrivener on the recommendation of a friend so I could make a Kindle version. Well, of course, dealing with WORD is…
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Proofreaders … ahh … well, hang on. A little snag.
Remember that cheeky post from the other day, gloating that I was done with revisions and ready to send to my proofreaders. Well, no, that isn’t happening. Not yet. Remember that other post I had about the curse of reading my own writing. As I started doing one final read-through before handing it to the…
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The Curse of Reading One’s Own Writing
Will there ever come a day when I can just sit down and read my own writing? Period. What I mean is, will there ever come a day when I can sit down and read my own writing without wanting to tweak the text? Now I’m planning on re-reading The Recluse Storyteller just for effect.…
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Profanity free writing: Honestly, I swear!
This is a post which (I swear) I’ve been trying to write for a while. What do you do with those ubiquitous cuss words which seem to seep out of every modern-day genre like the plague of locusts coming forth from Charlton Heston’s staff? What is the purpose of swearing in writing? When is it…
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Couldn’t make it through the first chapter: The importance of advanced readers
After I finished writing The Recluse Storyteller in the summer of 2012, I passed it on to my first faithful advanced reader. I was confident and excited. I liked how the story came together, but I was, of course, a little nervous. You know how it is when you finally expose one of your creations to the…
Author Mark W Sasse 