I think I’ve probably written about 18 book manuscripts over the years, and had eight of them published. That’s a lot of misses among those hits. And that’s one of the downsides of learning by doing; sometimes you do, and you learn that what you did doesn’t work. At least for someone else. But one … More The First Chapter
The book–excuse me, books–is/are finished. Of course, I’m only talking rough drafts. I still have a mountain of work ahead of me that I can’t even conceive of at this point, nor do I want to. But the framework for the three-part books Champion series–The Champion, The Heretic, and Elijah–is complete. Am I satisfied with … More The Day After
Almost 30 years ago, I had the idea for my first book. It was a how-to book for Seventh-day Adventists entitled “Fifty-two Things to Do on Sabbath.” I was just short of 30 years old, and very unsure of myself as a writer. I sent out a letter to three publishing houses outlining my idea, … More Five of Seventy-two
I’ve always loved to write. In fifth grade, my teacher told me I would someday make a great freelance writer (I had no idea at the time what that meant, but it stuck with me). When I was in high school, my friends dubbed me the poet laureate of our class. And so I dreamed … More Quitting Your Day Job
Classes are over. Grades are turned in. My office is actually clean, even. So why aren’t I working on my novel? Yes, the idea is to switch from professor to novelist with the advent is summer. And yes, I am eager to get started writing. I even have company for my usual summer endeavors. (Thanks, … More Ready? Set? Ready? Ready?
Ok kids, if you didn’t get involved with this last summer, now’s your chance to get in on the fun. Here’s the deal: 1. The trick is to write 1,500 words a day for 30 days for a combined total of 45,000 words. 2. You don’t have to work on one item during that time. … More Announcing the 2011 30-day Summer Writing Challenge
It’s me again, Margaret. There’s nothing like having a bone to pick to rev up the blogging juices again. I know; I’ve been a bad, bad boy–faul, the Austrians would say–lazy. But I have every excuse in the book. Just ask me. I write books. But something a student said last week rankled me to … More Another bone to pick….
Before the new year was born, I was inspired to turn over a new leaf and get serious about my writing. I was going to have a meaningful presence on Facebook and Twitter. I was going to write a daily (daily!) blog. I was going to finish up my projects that lie waiting my resolution. … More So much for New Year’s Resolutions….
One of the most discouraging things I ever read while learning to write was the common statement: “You have to write every day to be able to call yourself a writer.” I’ve heard other variations of this. I heard someone else say, “You have to have written a million words before you can be called … More One million words
Funny how people can get emotional about New Year’s Resolutions. I asked friends on Facebook if they had thought about New Year’s Resolutions for 2011, and I got several responses, almost all of them negative. “Don’t do it,” one said. “They never work.” I beg to differ. A New Year is marked because it signals … More A Writer’s Resolution for 2011
The Great Adventure 