The risqué ol’ joke in my title was too easy to miss. But the truth is still there — especially when it comes to modern fiction. As they say in Hollywood, “Less is more.” In geometry they say, “The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.” In comedy the cleverest joke is the …
Monthly Archive: November 2015
Nov 22
You Can’t Please Everyone
Believe it or not, not everyone is going to like what you write. Get used to it — and move on. Hey, there are people who don’t like Shakespeare. At the turn of the 20th century, wit and playwright George Bernard Shaw despised the bard. French writer Voltaire of the 1820s and ‘30s thought Shakespeare …
Nov 18
What Is Your Voice And How Do You Express It?
Some writers spend years finding their voices, finding their points of view in their writing. Too often it’s the voice of successful, classical writers English literature courses key in on. New writers who spend years trying to emulate the voices of their favorite writer are squandering their time and effort. You already have a voice …
Nov 14
I’m Not Going To Reach My Goal — And I’m OK With It
I’m now six chapters into my new novel and I’ve discovered I’m not a two thousand words-a-day writer. I’ve done two thousand a day, but not on this story and not so far. It was my goal, but I’ve not hit it one single day, yet. Oh, well — it’s not the end of the …
Nov 04
Starting A New Novel As Of Tonight
Tonight I begin my next novel. Having just finished MURDER IN MULESHOE, a mystery, I’m moving back to a Western this time and writing the second in my Texas Ranger Chronicles. The first, finished in 2013, was GUNS ALONG THE RIO — in which my main character, a 17 year old young man, joins the …
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