[authorme] PUBLISHING EMERGING WRITERS, OCTOBER, 2012
- From: Bruce Cook <cookcomm@xxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2012 16:18:27 -0500
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*In this issue...*
*A Humble Little Post About how to Kiss Your Writer’s Block Goodbye (And
Maybe Punch it in the Crotch on the way out)
by Michaelbrent Collings
Online Authoring Pro0gram, by Bruce L. Cook
*===========================================================
*A Humble Little Post About how to Kiss Your Writer’s Block Goodbye (And
Maybe Punch it in the Crotch on the way out)
by Michaelbrent Collings
*<michaelbrent@xxxxxxxxx> <michaelbrent@xxxxxxxxx>
I'll always remember it. Late in the spring of ’82 when I was young and the
world was spread before me like something that spreads before you when
you’re young.
So I walked into the O.R. and said, “Scalpel.” The lady (I think it was
probably a nurse, but who can say when everyone’s wearing a mask – it could
have been some desperado in a pink outfit) handed me a scalpel. “I’m making
the first incision,” I said. Then I started with the bone saw. “Oooh,
look,” was my next comment. “It’s his brain.”
I poked it, and laughed HI-lariously when the fellow kicked a nearby
bedpan. Another poke and he shouted “Fruity tooty love your booty!”
At this point several armed officers escorted me out of the room. But in
spite of the fact that I was in prison for a while (turns out there are
rules about doing brain surgery when you are not, in fact, a doctor of any
kind), I’ll always have those great memories. The guy I operated on
probably won’t, but that’s a risk I was willing to take.
“Wait, wait, WAIT! What the heck does this have to do with being a writer
and avoiding writer’s block?” I hear you say.
To which I answer: everything, suckah.
Here’s the big secret about writer’s block: writer’s block usually doesn’t
mean a writer has nothing in him or her to write; rather it usually means
they do have something to write, but there’s some kind of internal crap
filter that keeps them from writing it. As though there’s a part of most
writers that insists that every single sentence be an appropriate calling
card for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Or at least a Hugo or something.
But that’s just dumb. Not everything you write will be perfect. And it’s
not supposed to be perfect. That’s what God invented re-writes for.*
So wait, now you agree I may have a point, but still aren’t getting the
whole brain surgery connection. Well, it’s simple, my fine young friend.**
The point of the brain surgery example is to illustrate a simple fact about
writing: unless you are in charge of correspondence between hostile states,
it is very likely that no matter how bad a writer you are, no one will die.
Person who does brain surgery without adequate preparation = bad (and
probably dead brain surgery patient). Person who engages in writing without
adequate preparation =
fine-and-dandy-because-how-the-heck-else-are-you-going-to-get-good-at-it?
So the stakes are low and you can write without worrying about killing
someone. Takes a load off, don’t it?
And that leads to this question: You want to know how to avoid writer’s
block? Answer: Just WRITE. Accept the fact some of what you write will not
be fit for wiping Charley Manson’s behind. When you accept that, you can
also accept that you’ll be able to go back and fix it later (thus making
what you write fit for wiping the hinies of really important folks like the
President or Oprah or other people who run the world).
And when you start to write with this attitude, an odd thing happens: you
start to get good. You start to get fast. You start to be a writer who
knows you can sit down at a moment’s notice and bang out something that
resembles a good piece of work.
Example: I recently optioned a screenplay, and was asked to do some
rewrites on it. I netted several tens of THOUSANDS of dollars. Total time
to write the script: three days. Total time to do the rewrites: two days.
That’s a good earnings ratio.
Or how about this: I wrote a book called Billy: Messenger of Powers (which,
BTW, you can get at smashwords.com at
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14118 or at
http://www.amazon.com/Billy-Mesenger-of-Powers-ebook/dp/B003K16OMY on
amazon.com). The book is pretty good: it’s currently the Highest-Rated book
out of many thousands at smashwords.com, and has gotten great reviews from
dozeons of folks. All this to say (aside from being a really subtle way of
pimping one of my books) is that the book does not stink. It is even
possible to call it “good.”
It is over 180,000 words. That’s well over 400 pages in paperback format.
I wrote it – including rewrites – in a month. Because I just let myself
write, and let myself enjoy it.
Writing is NOT brain surgery. It is NOT nuclear weapons testing. It is
WRITING. It is something that anyone and everyone can do. And along with
that fact, it is also something that anyone and everyone WILL get good at.
If they practice.
If they recognize “writer’s block” for what it really is: they’re own
insecurity getting in the way of a good first draft.
If they, in a word… write.
So what are you sitting around reading this for? Go write something!
==============*
* *Online Authoring Program
by Bruce L Cook*
Online Authoring Program
By Bruce L. Cook
Not long ago I remember reading Bill Gates was predicting that online
programs will replace desktop installations. This would seem obvious when
one thinks of the many online word processing programs available.
OpenOffice comes to mind.
One is left to wonder, however – how could Microsoft survive if, say,
Microsoft Office were no longer on sale? Would Microsoft ever forego the
income the desktop program installations provide? And how many writers and
web developers, etc., would miss the automatic functions in Office?
For example, complex macros in Visual basic, as well as add-on programs,
permit writers to accomplish tedious tasks in a click. I remember creating
an extensive Macro for the Chicago Sun-Times which eliminated 2-3 hours of
work each time it was used.
Granted that online version of current Word and other programs are
available through specialized websites. But these are mainly available to
organizations, not to the individual writer or editor.
In the wake of those questions I was surprised when one of my projects led
me to a little known (in the USA) program called “Help and
Manual<http://www.helpandmanual.com/go2.htm?gclid=CODA2t2d1LICFRBgMgodIUcATA>”
which makes it possible to use a highly mechanized version of Word without
installing the program on your computer.
Help & Manual has the additional feature of exporting in almost any format,
for publication or web, with or without hyperlinks. Thus, in addition to
being a basic Word Processing program, it is an authoring platform, and
more valuable than Word in many ways.
My suggestion? Try a 30-day preview and decide whether Help and
Manual’s<http://www.helpandmanual.com/go2.htm?gclid=CODA2t2d1LICFRBgMgodIUcATA>approx.
U$400 price is a good value for your needs.
============================================================
Publishing Emerging Writers
October, 2012 (No. 1310)
Publisher: Cookcomm - Bruce L. Cook, 7337 Grandview Ct.,
Carpentersville, IL 60110 USA
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