The question of “selling out” can get convoluted. There is an impression that someone who writes for money – or does anything else for money – is a sellout. This notion, unfortunately, has created the idea of the starving artist. There is this concept of nobility that comes of art for art’s sake without remuneration….
Tag: working
Getting Back on Track
Sometimes life goes off the rails. Getting back on track takes work. Over the past 2 weeks, for no discernable reason, I’ve been less diligent about certain aspects of my work. When it comes to nonfiction and writing articles daily – I’m there. And I feel much of my work has been particularly strong lately….
Never Let Fear Stop You
Fear will lie to you a lot. But don’t let it stop your work. Over the last year or so, I’ve joined several groups on Facebook. They each have a different flavor of relation to writing. Some are nonfiction, some fiction, some specifically sci-fi and fantasy. One thing I see frequently is the fears of…
How Do You Practice Persistence?
Persistence is the key to accomplishing everything. But how does it work? When I was younger, I jokingly referred to myself, more than once, as The King of Indecision. I spent a lot of my 20s and 30s being indecisive. I would stall, delay, and avoid choices and decisions frequently. Why? Because I didn’t want…
Content is King
Ignoring content will be to your detriment. Yes, I write a lot. I blog 6 days a week, plus my podcast and my fiction works. I probably write on the order of 3000 words a day. Six days a week that’s 18,000 words a week. For the sake of argument, let’s decrease that to 15,000…
The Work/Life Balance
Even as an independent, self-employed writer – striking the work/life balance is a necessity. While there are obligations I need to meet to contribute to my household, for the most part, I’m accountable to only myself. Embracing my brand and its affiliated parts – writing (fiction and nonfiction), editing, podcasting, public speaking – requires certain…
Creating a Routine
Creating a routine for myself has not always been my strong suit. Over the years, I have worked in fits and starts to create a routine. While I have achieved success, I have also managed to lose my routine along the way. This, however, is due to occurrences of change. It’s important to remember and…
Art and Money
Learning not to be afraid of money and its relationship to your art. When you do a hobby, it is entirely for your own edification. You do the thing you do for fun, because it makes you feel good, and because it stirs creative juices and produces life-affirming endorphins and so on. There are almost…
When a Pantser Starts Plotting
How does someone who normally isn’t into plotting plot out a book? I have an idea. After watching The Clone Wars (finally) I had an intriguing thought. What if you have created hundreds of thousands of warrior clones – and then your war ends? What becomes of them? They were purpose-built to fight a war….
Write or Write Not – There is No Try
The best way to get started with writing is to write. A lot of the things I write are crap. Garbage. Lousy, silly, barely literate words and phrases. Half-baked ideas, notions, thoughts, and so on. I have, in my collection, about a dozen stories I started – and never finished. Some got a good way…