I’m impatient. You’re impatient. We want to start doing something and immediately have it be the best thing that’s ever been done, no matter how firmly the logical parts of our brains tell us that isn’t going to happen. I looked up one day and I had written 20 blog posts. I looked up one…
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Lowering My Expectations
When I decided to write Dark House (the working title of my book), I had some big plans. Some big, ridiculous plans. The first draft was supposed to be done by August 1st, giving me about four months to write it. That date has come and gone and I’m a little under halfway done with…
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Ditch Your Outline
I started working on my novel again yesterday after a two week hiatus. It took me two whole weeks to figure out what was holding me back. I didn’t want to write what I had planned in my outline. The next section was supposed to be a little different than the previous chapters. I was…
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How to Find Story Ideas
New ideas for fiction books pop into my head constantly (whether they are good ideas or not is another issue 😉 ). For example, I was at work the other week and suddenly thought, hospital…in space! Space hospital! Yes, that sounds ridiculous, but I promise the plot behind it could make for a great read. So I…
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Too Much Dialogue?
I was too tired to write last night after a hectic day at work, so I decided to read a little of my draft and tweak things a bit — this was a bad idea. This is horrible. I’ve been in some sort of daze the last two months and this is the worst thing…
Read MoreShould You Tell People You’re Writing a Book?
So you’ve decided to write a book. Should you share that information with your friends and loved ones? I don’t know what the “right” answer is, but here’s my opinion: Only if you’re very serious about it. Only tell people who have a track record of supporting you. What qualifies as very serious? You’ve started…
Read MoreCan I Do This?
Novel Word Count: 16,242 Can I do this? Can I make a living off writing? I made the mistake of Googling “Should I be a writer?”; I knew it was a bad idea. I found all sorts of discouraging information. In one mean spirited article the writer essentially said: writing is hard, you probably suck at…
Read MoreBuilding an Audience for a Book that isn’t Written
Novel Word Count: 13,164 There’s a scenario I can’t stop playing out in my mind. I pour everything into finishing this book – and release it into nothingness. No or next to no sales; no one cares. I don’t know how to market a book that isn’t written yet. Sure, I can get active on…
Read MoreMy Writing Process – May 2018
Novel Word Count: 11,108 I’m always interested in other people’s writing routines/processes. It’s like I’m hoping that someone will have figured out some secret to make writing easier. Also, knowing how other people get their writing done makes me feel better about my own process. Here’s what it looks like most days: I wake up…
Read MoreMy First Novel: Week 1 – Resistance
When I started last week I committed to writing 1,000 words per day. I don’t have a perfect record so far but I’ve been making progress. I’ve missed a couple of days and come up short on word count on others due to working more than I usually do. After a week and a half…
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K. J. Cole 