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It’s been a slow start to my writing year. I was doing OK for the first few days, but then we hit a snag. The world sorta blew up, and watching that — plus the fallout afterward — took a toll on my writing. The wind out of my sails, I actually ended up with the longest streak of NO writing days that I’d had in over a year. The why doesn’t matter that much; different things will impact different people differently. That’s normal, and to be expected. What bugs me might not bother you at all, and vice versa. …

Creating When Life Gets Messy Read More »

Going from a million words in 2020 to 1.8 million words in 2021 is sort of a big jump, and I’ve had a few folks ask “why?” Why bother? Or why jump so big? It’s true that maybe a smaller goal would be easier to accomplish, but that’s not really the point of a challenge, is it? Well, for me, anyway, the main point of a challenge is to have fun. I enjoy pushing myself, seeing what is possible, what I can do. It’s a blast, seeing where the limits really are and then chasing them out a little further. …

A Year At Pulp Speed Five Read More »

Last night I accomplished a goal I’d set for myself years ago: to complete a million new words in a year. I’ve come close in the past, even made over 800,000 words in 2019. But I’ve never crossed the threshold before. The million-word-barrier sat there like it was the twin of the old sound barrier. And, like the sound barrier, the million word barrier turned out to be psychological, not physical. Once I sat down to really do the work, it turned out to be much easier than I’d ever imagined it could be. As a result of this success, …

New Year, New Challenge: Welcome to 2021! Read More »

A writer recently asked an interesting question. I’m paraphrasing, but the general idea was this: “Do you believe that the prerequisite for success as an author is to write X words every year, where X is a very large number?” My answer was: No, I’d disagree strongly with that statement for several reasons. 1) There are (rare, but existent) authors who produce just one book a year and make a full-time living.2) I’d have to know how big “X” was, which in this case is sorta like asking “how long is a piece of string?”3) We all define success differently. …

The Pursuit of Happiness Read More »