“The first draft of anything is shit.” –Ernest Hemingway I’m nearing the completion of the first draft of my first chapter on my latest book. And the more I write on it, the more unhappy I am with it. One of my father’s sayings was: “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s … More Ugly Baby
My wife, Shelly, and I have been going through the Bible this year. We have an app that reads it a few chapters aloud each day. Then we listen to a quick commentary that helps us make sense of what we have just heard. Right now, we are entering the book of I Samuel. They … More A Writer in the Wilderness
Life has its ups and downs. Writing does too. I’ve learned not to sit by the mailbox, waiting to hear from the editor as to whether they plan on publishing my story, or proceeding with my book idea. I have enough story ideas to keep me going until I am pushing up daisies. And I … More Hits and Misses
When my son was involved in a car accident 20 years ago and suffered a traumatic brain injury, I learned a bit about the brain and how it works, mostly through talking with doctors. They often refer to the brain as a “black box,” meaning that whenever there’s an accident, they really don’t know what’s … More When There’s Nothing To Say
There are two typical ways of starting to writing a book. The classic way that people envision–and the way I actually started–writing books is you sit down at a desk with a laptop (or a typewriter, since I started in the Stone Age), and just start typing. The words flow from your psyche and you … More Logistics: Getting from Point A to Anywhere Else
I admire artists whose work is larger than they are. What made me start thinking along these lines was thinking about Mount Rushmore. Shelly and I have been talking about doing another road trip sometime in the next few months, and we have never been to Mount Rushmore or to the Black Hills of South … More Larger Than Life
I will have to admit, there have been many times when I have cut corners with my own writing. I would have a flow of consciousness that I was following in my story, only to hit a speed bump when I got to a certain word that I wanted–but couldn’t think of. And that is … More Master of the Word
I put quote marks around the words “making it,” because the idea of “making it” or “success” vary somewhat from writer to writer. It’s kind of like being “rich.” If you talk to several people who you consider rich and ask them if they consider themselves rich, most would say no. Or the term “old.” … More 10 Steps to “Making It” As a Writer
I woke up at 1:30 last night with an idea for a blog. I had a title and everything. I told myself, “Write it down; you’ll forget it otherwise.” And then I thought, I don’t want to get out of bed to write something stupid down. Besides, if I make a mental note of it, … More Stuff I Can’t Remember
I haven’t been able to do any work on my book projects lately because of my other duties. I am frantically trying to complete the last few articles for my university’s alumni magazine. The articles are due Friday, and from the beginning, when I went into the Planning Committee meeting with one idea and came … More The Ugly Stepchild
The Great Adventure 