Pictures of the Day - Tornadoes

FIRE AND WATER

I saw these on the news. Pretty awesome.

And - welcome to my newest friend Alexis Henderson [Maybe I'm Dreaming] [5th Fantasy] .

How Hard Do You Have To Work?

THE AWFUL REWRITE

So you've finished chapter twelve after rewriting it several times over the past several days. You feel good about it. You leave your computer for a break and to do some other things around the house. Then, later, you stop, shake your head, go back to the computer and delete the last three pages.

And you do it all over again.

And again.

What does this mean? Insecurity? A drive for perfection? Not enough pre-planning so you know where you're going?

Many best selling writers tell how they rewrite their books several times over until they are satisfied. By rewriting they don't mean that they merely change a word or a phrase or two on a page here and there. They actually rewrite the entire book, some of them nine times or more. They make hundreds of changes with each rewrite. They grind through the entire manuscript again and again until it is as good as they can get it.

Can you say the same thing?

When you are finished with your novel, can you say it is done to very best of your ability, even if it took an extra nine months of hard work? Or did you settle for mediocrity?

With so many would be writers throwing their manuscripts into the ring (so to speak) you can't afford to not do your very best.

Now -- a shout out to my newest follower, Trep. Catch him on [The Write Stuff].

Since this is a new feature on my blog, earlier followers--look for your own shout out in future posts.

How to get good ideas for your story

READ, READ, READ.

There are several things an author can do to strain out good story ideas from his subconscious mind.

Read everything you can get your hands on: library books, books you love, books you hate, newspapers, encyclopedias, backs of cereal boxes, cookbooks, books that want to eat you.

A writer should read while he is relaxed because that is when the stuff he's reading sinks most deeply into his mind; furthermore, reading should be his primary form of relaxation, not skiing or tap dancing or fishing or building model trains or watching television, but reading.

No novelist can expect to reap harvest after harvest of fresh ideas from his subconscious if he is not constantly fertilizing his subconscious with reams of other writer’ fiction and nonfiction. With every novel you read, thousands of facts, characters, images, narrative techniques, and plot twists are stored in your subconscious, thereafter constantly interacting below the level of awareness. When bits of this input jell and surface, they are usually in an original arrangement that bears no resemblance whatsoever to the books from which they came.

Do you have a list of books from which you are reading?

Write what you love

LET EVERYTHING ELSE TAKE CARE OF ITSELF

While my computer spent time in the computer hospital, I caught the crud and endured a few sleepless nights thinking about writing.

Every writer I know hopes their work will be the next blockbuster. I know writers who write with that goal solely in mind. I’ve fallen prey to that malady myself.

While feeling crummy, it occurred to me that trying to write the next blockbuster could be an inspiration killer. How about is? Worrying that the story will be interesting enough for a million people to want to read could paralyze the thinking process.

Most of the time it does. It did for me. I have two rejected manuscripts to testify to that misguided approach.

How does one predict what the readers want next? Trying to guess could cause you to spend prodigious amount of time on a dud.

What if, instead, you write something you love? Write that book you would eagerly order from Amazon.com. There’s a huge chance your book will have more life in it than the best seller you’re trying to write.

And who knows…..