Writing Progress: Sometimes You Have To Start Over

Current Total Word Count: 11,613. Today I wrote on a day I’m supposed to be off the project.  I didn’t write yesterday.  There were just too many things going on. Not only that, I had to completely rethink the project. I’d written about 7 chapters of novel when I realized that I didn’t like the

Short Story Writing Challenge #amwriting

I’ve been writing novels now since 2007.  I’ve written three novels and one self-help book. Frankly, I’m a little burned out. I decided that during the month of July I would try to write one short story every three days.  By the time I was done, I’d have 10 solid short stories to put into

An On The Cheap Self-Publishing Plan

Currently I do not have a print edition of This Broken Earth out there, and the reason was simple: I didn’t feel the need to publish in print because of the lack of interest from most readers.  Most of my readers are digital, and I sell around 10-15 books a month on Amazon as Kindle editions.

Writing the Ending First

My latest offering, Come Apart, due to hit digital and print queue’s everywhere in March, was an experiment of sorts.  According to my proofer’s comments the experiement was a complete success. I wanted Come Apart to be a puzzle.  I wanted to write a novel much like Pines by Blake Crouch, which is a story that unfolds a bit

The Weekend Marathon…and a Roundup

After I write this post, I’m signing off.  I’ll be back on Monday, and will write yet another blog post, but this weekend is the hard-core write fest.  I have to reach a goal of at least 7,000 words to stay on track for the 21st release date. How will I do this? I have

NaNoWriMo Tip #22: Time Out

If you are in a comfortable place right now in word count with the NaNoWriMo, then by all means take a break.  Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S., and if you are a hardcore writer like me then you will want to write today, but fight the urge. Last night I went to my wife’s

NaNoWriMo Tip #14: Scrivener

  I know that several of you use Scrivener to write long form novels, but did you know that Scrivener can also help you plot out a real time word count goals?   First, if you do not use Scrivener, it is well worth the $49 for the program.  I have been using it for

Scrivener 2: Even More Bells and Whistles

As most of you know, I write long form texts on Scrivener because it is probably, in my opinion, the best word processor software a novelist could ever use.  A few days ago, I updated to Scrivener 2 and found several features that were even better than the original. 1.  Exporting to OpenOffice and Word

How to Use Scrivener to Create Easy Outlines

I use a little program called Scrivener created by the wonderful folks over at Literature and Latte (click the link to the right for more info).  It is a fantastic word processing program that meets all of my novel writing needs.  Today I wanted to you how easy it is to plan and outline a

How to Use Scrivener to Write a Screenplay

Scrivener is probably the best word processor available.  Most writers like myself who have been writing for a long time will find Scrivener a welcome addition to their desktop.  I use the program exclusively to write novels, but it has many other functions, one of which is screenwriting. Here are the steps: First, open a