Six on the brain

I’ve got deadlines out the yingyang this week so I’m a day late on this week’s SOTB. My apologies to the handful of people who wait with bated breath.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s a double scoop of links… specifically, it’s a half-dozen blogs from writers you probably don’t know. That was rude… who am I to say who you know and who you don’t?

Anyway, just read.

By the way, I listed these in no particular order.

Dave White’s Writing Block

I first came across Dave’s awesome blog a couple of years ago. At the time, he and Bryon Quertermous were engaged in a friendly writer’s contest, called Let’s See Who Can Finish A Novel First.

The blog isn’t so much about the contest as it is about Dave’s journey as a working writer.

It doesn’t hurt that he’s got a rapier-like wit. Over time, though, and like lots of bloggers, he’s evolved… especially as he’s gotten closer to releasing his book, WHEN ONE MAN DIES. It’s due September 25th and it’s gotten a great reviews.

Read all about Dave at Dave White’s Writing Block.

David Isaak’s Tomorrowville

David Isaak’s story intrigued me because he intentionally signed with a book imprint, Macmillan New Writing, that doesn’t give advances.

Seemed odd to me. I mean, come on, we’re all trying to get paid for writing stories and here’s a guy who didn’t take a dime up front. Then again, the imprint has a great model: find talented new writers in any genre, then release one book a month. That means they can take the time to grow an author almost organically.

Dave embraced the concept full on and he’s got some great posts about the process and why he thinks it was the right deal for him. He also gives some awesome snapshots into his writing process. His book, SHOCK AND AWE, is out now.

Check it all out at David Isaak’s Tomorrowville.

John August (a ton of useful information about screenwriting)

John August is probably the most well-known of this lot of writers. He’s the guy responsible for writing the screenplays for GO, BIG FISH, CHARLIE’S ANGELS, and a few more you know. He made his directorial debut with this summer’s THE NINES.

John’s been at the Hollywood thing for a number of years now, but his blog posts reveal a generous man who seems to give more than he gets (although, I’m sure he gets quite a lot). How many other Hollywood screenwriters let just any schlub ask questions about craft and the business? Better still, how many actually answer you back?

Be sure to check out his downloads page… you can get lost for hours there reading draft scripts and outlines and treatments. There’s also a stunning essay on how BIG FISH got written and made.

Read it all at John August (a ton of useful information about screenwriting).

Duane Swierczynski’s Secret Dead Blog

I came across Duane’s blog quite by accident… read about that here. Since then, I’ve made a point of checking out Secret Dead at least once a week.

By day, Duane’s the editor of the Philadelphia City Paper, the city’s alternative weekly, and the blog reflects that sort of sensibility. Duane’s cynical and funny and ever cracking wise. Plus, he’s got a finely tuned ear for dialog, and is super-quick with uncommon similes and metaphors. I don’t get jealous of other writers very often, but when it comes to this guy I’m as green as bucket full of peas.

Make sure you also check out his three highly acclaimed crime novels—SECRET DEAD MEN, THE WHEELMAN, and THE BLONDE—and a fourth on the way. Then go read more about Duane at Duane Swierczynski’s Secret Dead Blog.

Jamie Ford’s Bittersweet Blog

I can’t remember how I found Jamie’s blog, but, by gum, I’m awful glad I did. I know it was an accident and I know he hooked me with a little tagline in his banner: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet.

Turns out, that’s the name of his forthcoming novel. Clever, and it’s got a lot of automatic resonance.

But the great thing about Jamie’s blog is the diversity… it’s about writing, and sports, and movies, and books, and lots of other things Jamie loves. When I read his words, they seem effortless to me. I’m sure they aren’t, because they never are effortless. And he almost always has the perfect photo attached to the post.

Go read—and see—for yourself at Jamie Ford’s Bittersweet Blog.

The Letter D

Last up is, perhaps, the funniest blog I read. The Letter D is the home of Dwight Hamilton, a lawyer and humor columnist for Grand Rapids Magazine.

Who can resist post titles like, “Screw You, Neal Schweiber!,” “Ponytailed Lawyer Guy,” and “The Night I Saw Prince’s Penis”?

Definitely check out the “Best of D”… you’ll giggle so much people around you will wonder what’s so freaking funny.

The worst part about The Letter D? Dwight doesn’t post often enough.

Take a peek at The Letter D.

After last week’s doozy, I figured I’d tee up a couple of softballs out of the gate for the resurrected SOTB.

I’d like to say that I can sit down to write anywhere and any time. I do know some writers who can pack up the laptop and head to the busiest coffee shop in the neighborhood and pound out words by the thousands.

Not me.

I’d spend more time looking at people and listening to their conversations than I would actually writing anything. While I might be able to call that “research,” I’d be completely useless when it comes to getting words on the page.

Now, this doesn’t mean I have to fully control my environment before I can get things written. But it does mean I have a process for getting my nugget primed for lots of verbs and nouns and adjectives.

While I hate it when people tell me how I should write, I do like it when people can pass along to me what works for them. In that spirit, here are six things I do that make my writing productivity soar.

De-clutter

I’m not a neat guy. I’m organized—granted, it’s my own form of quasi-chaotic organization—but I’m not one to put stuff in folders or categorized piles. It’s pretty much just the one pile. I know that, if it’s important, it’s in that pile.

But the one thing I have to have, before I can pound out even the first letter of anything, is a clean workspace. Pens I’m not using get put away, stacks of Post-it pads get put in the drawer, junk gets tossed or shredded, and important papers—research, notes, etc.—I don’t need for the task at hand go in “the pile.”

I find it keeps me focused on the page in front of me, freeing me to work unencumbered. It takes just a couple of minutes at the beginning of my writing day, letting me get to work sooner.

Read yesterday’s stuff

After I de-clutter, I make sure I go over what I wrote the day before. I find it helps me in a number of ways.

First, it assuages my inner editor. I can get that shitty habit out of the way so it doesn’t poison the rest of the day’s writing.

Second, I can reinsert myself into where I left off the day before faster. Not only does this help me get the mojo back, it can help spark new ideas or paths I hadn’t considered before.

Unplug

This one’s important for me. If I’m not careful, I can get sucked into an Internet wormhole—in the name of “research”—and not return for hours. It’s best if I just turn off the damn modem and get to work.

I suspect the same is true for just about everyone.

Chunk it

It’s so easy to look at the size of a project and get overwhelmed by the sheer scope of it all. It’s for this reason the work on things like highway and skyscraper projects get partitioned out and managed as smaller projects within the larger one.

Those things—which are similar to a writing project—have lots of little moving parts. Once you focus on the smaller tasks and milestones within, the end product looks a lot easier to achieve.

Even over the course of a single writing day, I’ll break up what I’m doing into smaller, more manageable bits, say, twenty-minute blocks. It keeps me fresh and helps me maintain momentum.

Give yourself permission

A few months back, Konrath mentioned that bestseller James Rollins attached the following to his computer monitor:

“I allow myself to write crap today.”

I did the same thing two seconds after I read that. It really became a liberating way to approach my writing for the day. I know what I do isn’t always going to be good. This was a much needed way of reassuring myself that that’s okay.

Give yourself a break

If you’re a regular gym-goer, you know that one of the best things you can do for yourself is to take a day off every so often. Your body needs the time to recover… heal a little… get stronger.

I find something similar to be true when it comes to a writing project. Taking a day off from looking at and thinking about what I’m working on is often what’s needed to keep me going. Otherwise, I get bogged down in the grind of writing.

Getting away, even for just twenty-four hours, is a welcome break. And I usually come back better off than where I was when I stopped.

I know that we’re a nutty lot, given to things like “muses” and “writer’s block.” Whether real or imagined—I say imagined—it’s important for us to keep our writing moving forward.

What I’ve given here works for me… I’m curious about what works for you. Leave a comment, let’s talk about it.

It used to be that I was putting up stuff here constantly. Between regular weekly Six on the brain posts and reviews for the books I was reading, I’d sometimes get several things per week up on the ol’ blog.

Then things slowed down a little before finally coming to just a trickle.

Not that many of you care. I’m one of thousands—if not millions—of aspiring full-time novelists who decided a blog is a great way to build a brand, pass along some well-earned wisdom, and maybe scream to the world that they’ve landed an agent or sold their first book.

I hear you all yawning now.

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