Tag: writing

This Story is Beneath You

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

A confused fan searches for one of my books
Almost two years ago I started my 6th novel. Plotting and planning, then writing like mad. Research, plot adjustments, pondering, and more writing like mad.

Somewhere along the way, it crashed.

More precisely, I crashed.

Flashback to Success

On November 11th of 2011 I released 6 books simultaneously. (11/11/11, get it?) In the previous 6 months I’d written (or compiled) 4 books and co-authored 2 more, all books about business philosophy and process.

I switched to fiction. Finally followed up my first Irish adventure novel with a second, then started another series, and a third.

It was like driving a Lamborghini steamroller.

Then, I got some professional advice.

… more … “This Story is Beneath You”

Interview with Author Meg Wolfe: How Do You Write?

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

MegWolfe

After I’d read An Uncollected Death and An Unexamined Wife by Meg Wolfe, she let me pillage her brain for thoughts on how she pieced together the stories, the mysteries, the characters.

How long did it take to sort the plot details for book 1? Creating the bits of the mystery, I mean. A month? A year?

It took me sixteen months to write that first book—there were two two-month spells where I couldn’t do any writing because of health and family problems, but of course I kept stewing it over in my mind even when away from the computer. There was a lot of time spent on learning to plot, then changing from a four-part to a three-act structure, which “felt” better to me. I was also learning to use Scrivener.

I developed the characters along with the plot. It really is character-driven. What happened was that I had many, many strands of interrelated stories that I braided together, changing and tweaking details by working backwards, then forwards again. The last third, Act III, went really quickly, once I got the first two acts properly braided. The same thing happened in the second book, and in this third one, as well. The second book took me a little over eight months to write. This one has taken me ten–I had some health problems again during the summer which really slowed me down.

Why the French Resistance? Special existing knowledge on your part, or just interest?

… more … “Interview with Author Meg Wolfe: How Do You Write?”

“There are only two possible dialog tags,” he said.

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

quotesPicture the scene:

You and a friend are having lunch by the water. Their phone rings. They chat for a moment, hang up, and turn to you and tell you it was Bob.

If you’re nosy, you ask a question.

“What did he . . . ” What?

Aver? Shout? Insist? Snarl?

… more … ““There are only two possible dialog tags,” he said.”

Two Kids Walk Into An Open Mic

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Joel plays bassA handful of years ago we were regulars at open mic in a suburb of Sacramento. Some of the performers were excellent musicians and singers; real artists.

Some, not so much.

One night two young boys, the older probably 15 and the younger 10 or 11, came in with their electric guitars. They used a recorded rhythm section backing track and played along and sang.

From a purely musical perspective, they were not very good.

I had seen something, though.

… more … “Two Kids Walk Into An Open Mic”

Most Viewed Posts of 2014

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Get Your Book Out of the Someday Box in 2014These were the most viewed posts on the Someday Box blog in 2014.

  1. 4,472 Words of Free Marketing Advice About Marketing Free
  2. The Hook (#1 of 12 Sentences)
  3. The Ultimate Plotting Tool for Pantsers: Your Story in 12 Sentences
  4. The Setup (#2 of 12 Sentences)
  5. The First Plot Point (#3 of 12 Sentences)

Who Are You Writing For? (It Isn’t Really Either/Or)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

I should turn that into a song, eh?

vegComes up sometimes in discussion boards: write for yourself and find artistic fulfillment, or write for your audience and sell books?

Here’s what comes up in the research of Chip and Dan Heath, experts in the brain science of decision-making: avoid either/or thinking when making decisions. Consider more than two opposing options.

Today, consider taking a page from CompSci (that’s computer science for the 99.9% of you who’ve managed to elude its evil grasp.)

But first, let’s make soup. … more … “Who Are You Writing For? (It Isn’t Really Either/Or)”

Author Entrepreneur: Eight Essentials to Make Writing Pay the Bills by Pat Fitzpatrick

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Pat Fitzpatrick
Pat Fitzpatrick
(Somehow this draft never got posted. Even though the linked article is 2 months old, it is excellent, well worth your time.

8 practical tips on making the transition from working for a living to writing for a living. Yes, that’s a joke. The article is not. Pat Fitzpatrick guest writing on Joanna Penn’s blog.

What Are You Writing?

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

that's no stairway to heavenThis site has 20 to 50 visitors a day (the 50 happens on Fridays.)

I’d love it if every one of you would do me the huge favor of leaving a comment with a note about your current writing project. I’m curious what y’all are doing as writers, not just readers.

If you like, you can also share whether it’s going well or badly, and why you think that might be the case.

Maybe we’ll get 20 to 50 comments. You are all working on something, right?

Doors (Excerpt from an Unpublished Work)

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

c'mon in!No one door opens and closes properly. Some do one or the other quite nicely. Some do neither.

The front door technically opens and closes just fine, but since we don’t have a key for it, well, there’s that. The screen door (no longer a storm door because half of the glass is missing) has to be kicked open and closed, which we wouldn’t except the mailbox is hanging right there beside it.

The nice solid pine doors on the coat closet, which match the solid pine walls in the dining room/office, open just fine, but neither will really close. … more … “Doors (Excerpt from an Unpublished Work)”