Reclaiming a Writer’s Life

This is the Lenten Season, when many Christians who observe it sacrifice something out of their lives for 40 days until Easter. I am trying to regain something instead.

Whether you like it our not, a life of a writer must be filled with self-discipline. It is the discipline to sit and write when we don’t want to. It is the discipline to carve out of our day and night time devoted to our art. It is the discipline to continue despite the rejections and the criticism and the sense of failure. It was a discipline that I never thought would be broken. It took years to break it. Now—now I am determine to recover it.

Years ago, my daily routine and discipline was:

• 4:00 AM wake up and write for 1 hour
• 5:00 AM go to the gym and then:
• 7:00 AM on work days, arrive at the bill paying job. On weekends back to writing.
• Lunch time on work days was spent writing or researching. On weekends take a break, go to karate workout and sparing classes  then back to writing.
• On workdays in the evening: return home from the bill pay job, go to karate , go to karate workout and sparing classes  then back to writing.
• On weekends in the evening: research, write, spend some time with others.

With the door that led to possible success opening, this all changed slowly over several years as my bill paying job didn’t allow for too much free time and I was busy taking care of an elderly parent on top of that. I would make time to write, but my concentration wasn’t there as I had to keep an ear open for problems. There wasn’t anyone else to help. I am an only child and my cousins have their own families and parents to take care of. In the peak of the parent’s bad health, I was going for months living on one or two hours of interrupted sleep a day. I went from producing a fully drafted novel in two months to not being able to produce a novel in four years. I felt like a fraud as this talent in me shriveled and all but died on the vine.  After a lifetime of writing, with only very mild success of short stories and poems published, I came to the point of walking away from this art. I was devastated—no, worse than that. My soul felt like it was broken and bleeding out, a wasted life with all that was left was a long count to the final grave.

I don’t like anyone whining and I am intolerant of it in me, even when others would say it is deserved. I made a decision months ago when I hit bottom that I was going to somehow crawl out of this hole and use this gift—this talent—this insanity as it was meant to be done. There is a graduation speech on YouTube by Neil Gaiman that somehow rekindled the fire within. It was slow, but like a good camp fire that would last the night and not one that was built to burn quick and die, I felt my soul come back to life. Mr. Gaiman said over and over again in the address that when life handed you something bad, make good art. Those words, like seeds spread on good soil, have taken root.

There is a painting that I once saw at the St. Louis Art Museum that called to me. I own a print and if you Google Image search the name "Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion" you will find it. The painting is about man who had the love of his life stolen by a Genii. The man was determined to find his love and rescue her.  In the painting he is crawling up an impossible cliff, his clothes ripped to shreds and he is almost to the point of surrender—but there is something just holding on. I feel like that man. Every time I have been told how good of a writer I am, I feel like I have climbed this cliff only to have failed. Every time I have been told that I kept a fellow writer going, I wonder –can I keep going? Finally I know the answer is yes.

While many people are observing Lent, I am digging up the old discipline like an archaeologist—not digging with a back hoe but carefully shifting the dirt and brushing it away carefully with a toothbrush. It is labor intensive, but like that archeologist who knows that they have discovered something and will bring it back to civilization, I have the patience to see it through. Each day I am doing one more thing to move myself down that road.

What am I doing? There was an article I read that I used as a framework to build my plan. Here is that plan step by step:

1. Maintain the to do list.

For each project I am working on as a writer or in my bill pay job or with my martial arts, I have a to do list. Then I have a master to do list. The to do list is not just a list, but it is categorized and prioritized. As I mark each item off the list or mark it as in progress, I sync the project list that night where the item came from.

2. When working on multiple projects, focus on the ones that will yield results first.

I need a win. One thing hasn’t changed, I am always working on multiple projects. In fact right now I am working on:

A. A chap book of crime and criminal investigation related poetry

B. A book on Writing the Fight Scene

C. A Science-Fiction/Crime Thriller Novel

D. Looking at starting self-defense and writing the fight scene webinars

E. I have started, with several other writers, an internet radio show addressing issues in writing and publishing. The show is called The Write Pack Radio. (I will post links below)

I take all of these, and give each of these projects their own to do list and their own focus time-1 hour at a time.

3. Exercise

I am slowly getting back to the level of exercise and dedication to my marital arts that I had for decades before everything collapsed. I am not just jumping back in. I have tried that and it is a recipe for failure. As I said, I need a win. So, I am working with my Kenpo instructor going back over every single technique and kata and polishing them to be executed like the 3^rd Degree Black Belt I am. While I have always trained for the street first and foremost, it is this –path that I need to take right now. These are my new workout routines.  I can’t run anymore after a surgery I had. But these I can do.

While my old battojusu instructor passed away decades ago, I remember his teachings and I am weaving the Katana techniques in with the Kenpo, as I had started to before.

4. Unplugging

With my cell phone being the main life line for the parent I take care of to get a hold of me, I can’t do this 100%. However, I am unplugging myself more and more from the Internet, Social Media and the cell phone as I can. I am not answering calls—even from the bill pay job (which before I was on call 24/7)—if I am in the zone of “writing project focus”. The calls can be returned when I am done.

5. Establish a stay focus process

I am using a timer to help with my focus time and I am also using certain meditation-focusing techniques.

6. Changing my diet.

My diet has not been something that I can easily control. I know there are people out there that will say, “You can control what you put in your mouth.” I welcome them into my shoes. When dinner is the only true social time that the parent you care for gets (not because they can’t do it other times, but won’t) you are forced to go to dinner almost on a nightly basis. While I could sit there and eat a salad, assuming I am at a place that has a salad, or soup or just drink water, that doesn’t work in the long term day after day year after year.

Instead, I have to pick more carefully what I can and should eat. I have created a list of main foods that help keep you focused and control your blood sugar.  I have created a list of foods that I should avoid. Sadly, where the elderly parent wants to go is where the foods I should avoid are most abundant. I am still working on this. It is slow. But I would rather have the slow fire that lasts than the one that burns bright and dies quick.

Along with this, I have returned to keeping a food log. I limit myself each week with the number of calories I can consume. It is like a weekly bank account. If I go over  on one day, then the other days suffer.

7. Re-establish my old writing habit.

With the focus techniques I talked about, I am slowly learning and adjusting to being able to write at home. I am also, very slowly returning to my old morning routine. If all goes right, I should be back to that on Easter Day-by making 5 minute adjustments each day.

None of this is easy.  Success is never guaranteed. Yet, I am determined to make 2014 a year where I rebuild and get my feet back under me. Every Black Belt and every successful writer out there will tell you that no ordinary person ever achieves success. Each of us climbs the mountain following a different path and each of us knows it takes a lot more than an ordinary person can do to achieve it. There is a saying in martial arts that says no Black Belt can stand on its own. It is only the mark displaying the change that went on in the person wearing it.

Please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. You can also follow me on twitter @Owlkenpowriter and the Writer’s Lens @TheWritersLens.  You can also find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DavidAlanLucasAuthor.

Also, check out Write Pack Radio at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Write-Pack-Radio/258130144353624 or on twitter @WritePackRadio. Write Pack Radio brings Pop Culture, Writing, and Publishing together and throws them into a crucible of humor, clarity, and passion.

Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.

Write Pack Radio

Write Pack Radio

The Write Pack is back and you can find us howling about the written word every week! 

There are many talks on the internet about writing, but nothing like Write Pack Radio. Write Pack Radio brings Pop Culture, Writing, and Publishing together and throws them into a crucible of humor, clarity, and passion.

Every Sunday at 3pm CST, Write Pack Radio brings you a new topic and a lively discussion of issues facing every writer or anyone navigating the tumultuous waters of the publishing industry.

Find the The Write Pack Radio on www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio   

You can also find the episodes on The Writers' Lens tumblr page:  http://writerslens.tumblr.com/  

Episode 1 – Amusing the Muse

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio/2014/03/02/amusing-the-muse  

What is the muse? Why does it drive us so crazy? Is it something inside of us or, as the ancient Greeks thought, something external? The Write Pack explores what the muse inspires and how it drives us nuts. Write Pack Radio‘s first episode airs on 3/2, with the Pack exploring that crazy thing we call a muse. What the heck is this drive, this arrogance, this urge to create art with the belief that others will want it? Why does it drive some to success and others to self-destruction? The Write Pack explores … 

Episode 2 – Traditional vs. Self vs. Hybrid Publishing – Part 1

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio/2014/03/09/traditional-vs-self-vs-hybrid-publishing-part-1

The question every writer faces in the modern world of publishing is if they should choose to try to be traditionally published, self-published or a hybrid. It is not an easy decision and can shape your career as a writer. This debate, which has raged and simmered for years, has been fanned into an inferno of dueling blogs around the question: Has the publishing world now been divided into a “caste system.” Follow along as the Write Pack feels their way through this maze. The following blog posts are for reference.

The blog that fanned the flames:

The New Class System http://writerunboxed.com/2014/02/05/the-new-class-system/ 

My Amazon bestseller made me nothing: http://www.salon.com/2013/03/15/hey_amazon_wheres_my_money/

Author Earnings Data Supports DBW Findings | Digital Book World: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/author-earnings-data-supports-dbw-findings/ 

The 50k Report – Author Earnings: http://authorearnings.com/reports/the-50k-report/ 

Book Sales: Running the Number: http://stlsinc.blogspot.com/2014/02/book-sales-running-numbers.html 

Hugh Howey and the Indie Author Revolt: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/61116-hugh-howey-and-the-indie-author-revolt.html?et_mid=661161&rid=240749728 

(Note you need a subscription to the magazine to see this—-so if you don’t have one, check out your local library. Many subscribe to Publishers Weekly) 

Lead by David Alan Lucas and Kathleen Kayembe, 

The Write Pack Radio Show includes Fedora Amis, Jennifer Stolzer, Matthew McGraw, Jamie Krakover, Peter Green, T.W. Fendley, Melanie Koleini, and Brad R. Cook. 

Write Pack Radio would like to thank STLBooks for hosting the recordings!

STLBooks

St. Louis’ newest independent bookstore!

100 W. Jefferson Ave, Kirkwood, MO 63122

Follow Write Pack Radio

@WritePackRadio

www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio  

Find WPR on Facebook too!

Brad R. Cook, author, publisher at Blank Slate Press, and President of St. Louis Writers Guild. Please visit www.bradrcook.com or www.blankslatepress.com for more information. Hear more on the Write Pack Radio www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio. Follow me on Twitter @bradrcook https://twitter.com/bradrcook, @blankslatepress https://twitter.com/blankslatepress, @stlwritersguild https://twitter.com/stlwritersguild, or my tumblr page Thoughts from Midnight http://bradrcook.tumblr.com/

Peter Green shares humor of BEN'S WAR

Welcome to Peter H. Green, whom I've had the pleasure to know as a member of the St. Louis Writers Guild board and as an L&L Dreamspell author. Today's a special post, announcing the re-release of his narrative nonfiction account of BEN'S WAR WITH THE U.S. MARINES.

A writer, architect and city planner, Peter found his father’s 400 World War II letters, his humorous war stories, his mother’s writings and their family’s often hilarious doings too good a tale to keep to himself, so he launched a second career as a writer. His first book recounted the often hilarious antics and serious achievements of his dad’s World War II adventure, Seaboard Press, 2005, to be re-issued shortly by Greenskills Press as Ben’s War with the U. S. Marines. His first novel, Crimes of Design, a Patrick MacKenna mystery, is an intrigue of murder and sabotage set in St. Louis during the highest flood of record, first appeared in 2012 from L & L Dreamspell. It will be re-published, along with the second in this series, Fatal Designs, in Spring, 2014, His awards include, Second Place in the St. Louis Writers Guild 2012 Short Story Contest, for “Tappy,” and the  Robin Moore Thiess award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, 2010. He lives in St. Louis with his wife Connie, and has two married daughters and three grandchildren. His website is www.peterhgreen.com

Featured book: Ben’s War with the U. S. Marines

By Peter H. Green, Greenskills Press, March 11, 2014

First I want to thank you, Teresa, Brad and David at The Writers' Lens, for your interest in my work. It’s quite an honor to be part of your lineup of distinguished authors.

What inspired your latest book? At our 40th college reunion my classmates posed the provocative question: What are you going to do with the last third of your life? On that trip my wife Connie and I also visited one of her college classmates, Mary Oates Johnson, a writer and editor herself, in Andover, Mass. I happened to mention that I spent the summer of 1945, when I turned six, just up the coast with my mother, sister, aunt and her family in a rented seaside house at Annisquam, while Dad was off to war. She insisted on guiding us toward that tiny fishing hamlet. Along the shore road in Annisquam, I recognized a beach turnoff and found the house where we spent that summer! Later that evening, over much great seafood and wine, Mary convinced me I had the story I needed to write a biography and family memoir, based on some 400 letters my mother had saved from that time. My classmates had already convinced me I needed a new career, and I resolved at that moment to become a writer. The letters revealed, among much other hitherto unpublished WW2 history: as de facto manager of Armed Forces Radio Station WXLI on Guam on August 14, 1945, Ben scooped the stateside networks on news of the Japanese surrender.

What brings your writing into focus-—the characters, the stories, the love of words? If you’ll pardon my impertinence, “focus” could have a fuzzy meaning—what it means for me may be quite different from its significance for each reader. But in this book, for me it was placing two strong-willed characters at the mercy of powerful forces in very different settings.

Ben Green was a low-ranking but resourceful nonconformist whose talents were lost in the military bureaucracy. As 1944 began, he had just enlisted in the Marine Corps with the intent of assisting the war effort as an officer in combat intelligence. He was 35 years old and left behind a wife and two small children. The vagaries of war, however, did not result in his anticipated officer training. Instead, he found himself training in the Marine infantry along with tough, angry kids, half his age.

Back home, his family coped with economics, emotional stress, and fear of the unthinkable as they waited in dread for the news of Ben’s assignment to the next island invasion.

Like Luther Billis in Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific, however, Ben learned how to work the system and adapt to both the absurdities and opportunities of military life. He did so in way that provided meaningful service to his country and promised the hope of returning to his family. Also as in Michener’s tale, the indescribable beauty of a tropical paradise contrasts starkly with the horror of war, while unhappy soldiers endure tense boredom, torn from their loved ones, waiting for something to happen but desperately hoping it will not.

What music could be the theme song for your book? There are many, but “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” as sung by the Andrews Sisters sets the tone. My next biography, will have a big band song of the era connected with each chapter, and I’m considering a multimedia e-book.  A book-match for Ben’s War with the U. S. Marines, his wife Alice’s war story, will be called Radio: A Love Story in War and Pieces, to be published by Greenskills Press in 2015. 

After the March 11^th release date, which will be the 106^th anniversary of Ben Green’s birth, this book, richly illustrated with photos and Ben’s own sketches, reviews and the Print and e-books editions will be available at Amazon.com, other book websites  and the author’s website, www.peterhgreen.com .

Ben's War with the U. S. Marines This biography is faithful account of the charming and 

hilarious World War II misadventures of Pfc. Ben  Green--a low ranking but quick-witted individualist who battled the system to serve his country with honor  and yet preserve the hope of returning home to his family.

You can find Peter and his work at:

Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B00ISYPDCU

Pete’s Bookshop: bookshop.peterhgreen.com

e-mail: writerpeter [at] peterhgreen.com (to avoid robots)

Website: www.peterhgreen.com

Blog:  www.peterhgreen.com/blog

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorPeter Green

Twitter: https://twitter.com/writerpeter

LinkedIn: Peter H. Green www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=38211772

_________________

This is T.W. Fendley. You can find out more about me and my books at www.twfendley.com. Thanks for reading and commenting on The Writers' Lens.

The Books of Blank Slate Press

The Books of Blank Slate Press

By Brad R. Cook

Since we talk about books and writers here on The Writers’ Lens, I thought I’d take a minute to introduce the books that made me want to partner with Blank Slate Press.

Blank Slate Press is an adventure in the future of publishing with a focus on discovering, nurturing, publishing and promoting new literary voices.

Slant of Light

By Steve Wiegenstein

David J Langum, Sr Historical Fiction Prize 2012 Honorable Mention

With the nation moving toward Civil War, James Turner, a charming, impulsive writer and lecturer, Charlotte, his down-to-earth bride, and Cabot, an idealistic  Harvard-educated abolitionist are drawn together in a social experiment deep in the Missouri Ozarks. Inspired by utopian dreams of building a new society, Turner is given a tract of land to found the community of Daybreak. But not everyone involved in the project is a willing partner and being the leader of a farming community out in the middle of nowhere isn’t exactly the life Turner envisioned. Charlotte, confronted with the hardships of rural life, must mature in a hurry to deal with the challenges of building the community while facing her husband’s betrayals and her growing attraction to Cabot. In turn, Cabot struggles to reconcile his need to leave Daybreak to join the fight against slavery and his desire to stay near the woman he loves. As the war draws ever closer, the utopians try to remain neutral and friendly to all, but soon find neutrality is not an option. In the wake of a deadly bushwhacking, Turner discovers that he too has the capacity for ferocious violence. When war finally breaks out, Missouri descends into its uniquely savage brand of conflict in which guerrilla bands terrorize the countryside while Federal troops control the cities, and in which neither side offers or expects quarter. Ultimately, each member of Daybreak must take a stand—both in their political and personal lives.

 

Never Hug a Nun

By Kevin Killeen

Ben Franklin Award Silver Medalist for Humor

From falling for a girl with no-good-for-sports stick arms and beautiful penmanship, to jumping freight trains, smoking cigarettes, projectile vomiting, and robbing the local Ben Franklin, first grade at Mary Queen of Our Hearts parochial school changes everything for Patrick Cantwell. By the time Patrick graduates second grade, he’s practically a grown-up, complete with a broken heart, a police record and memories of the Beatles at Busch Stadium.

Written with the keen sense of comic timing Killeen brings to radio station KMOX’s “A Whole ’nother Story” and the annual Holiday Radio Show, Never Hug a Nun is a sweet, laugh-out-loud look at the innocence of childhood in the leafy Webster Groves suburb of 1960s Saint Louis.

Counterfeit

By Scott L Miller

Social worker Mitch Adams is asked by a St. Louis Homicide Detective JoJo Baker to counsel Lonnie Washington,  a man arrested for counterfeiting and armed robbery. It’s a sensational case pitting the suspect, a disabled man from north St. Louis, against the federal prosecutor, the heir apparent of a prominent West County family.  But the more Mitch learns about Lonnie–and JoJo–the more convinced he is that the true counterfeiter is not the man behind bars, but the man who put him there—a man with out-sized political ambitions, the adoration of the public, and his very own Secret Service detail. With millions in fake $100 bills up for grabs and in a city rife with racial tensions, Mitch discovers nothing is just black of white.

Off the Leash

By Jean Ellen Whatley

Off the Leash is an evocative, often comical, but always inspirational read for anyone who has ever had to deal with the loss of a loved one, financial hardship, family secrets, or the bitterness of betrayal. Backed by Kickstarter and cheered on by the thousands who read her blog posts from the road, Whatley chronicled her adventures as she reconnected with the people and places she held most dear. Off the Leash is raw, funny and fresh, and told with rare honesty. Whatley’s voice is an American original, yet she echoes some of the most commonly shared fears and deeply held hopes.

Dancing with Gravity

By Anene Tressler

A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best book of 2011

Father Whiting is asleep in his own life. As a St. Louis priest and the head of Pastoral Care at a local teaching hospital, he’s already on edge wondering if he’s up to the job and wondering how far his predecessor’s–and now his–secretary will go to sabotage him. He is fatigued by his mother’s increasingly erratic behavior, fears he is incapable of ministering to an old friend and fellow priest stricken with cancer, and secretly longs to share everything about his confused, mixed-up life with the very attractive Sarah James, the hospital’s head of public relations. When he overhears a heated argument between the Chairman of the Board and the Abbess who runs the hospital, he fears his job will soon be history. Instead, he finds himself tapped to minister to a small Central American circus bequeathed to an order of aging nuns in St. Louis. Through his deepening relationship with Nikolai, the enigmatic trapeze artist, Whiting wakes to his loneliness, realizes he has been living a half-life, and finally finds the courage to be the man he was meant to be.

In Dancing with Gravity, Anene Tressler, an Emmy Award-winning writer, paints an unforgettable portrait of the grand and petty motivations of the human heart. Her poignant exploration of lost, unrecognized and courageous love will prompt you to consider your own journey toward purpose and fulfillment.

Plus a sneak peek at one of Blank Slate Press’ upcoming titles

A Matter of Mercy

By Lynne Hugo

Coming in August 2014!

Blank Slate Press is open to submissions! To learn more about any of these titles visit www.blankslatepress.com

Thank you for taking a look at the books from Blank Slate Press. More great titles are coming this year!

Brad R. Cook, author, publisher at Blank Slate Press, and President of St. Louis Writers Guild. Please visit www.bradrcook.com or www.blankslatepress.com for more information. Follow me on Twitter @bradrcook https://twitter.com/bradrcook, @blankslatepress https://twitter.com/blankslatepress, @stlwritersguild https://twitter.com/stlwritersguild, or my tumblr page Thoughts from Midnight http://bradrcook.tumblr.com/

Venturing into audiobooks: get free copy of Jaguar Hope

By T.W. Fendley

$4.86 on Amazon
SAMPLE available

One thing about writing -- there's always something new to learn. A few months ago, I finally decided to look into  audiobooks. Lately, that's about all I read, so I'm a big fan.

I've known several other authors who used ACX , but was put off by yet another contract and another process. It turns out, it can be really simple.

My first audiobook, JAGUAR HOPE, was issued Feb. 18! It's a sci-fi novelette in my ZERO TIME CHRONICLES series and is only $4.86, a 30% discount. I'm not sure how long the introductory price lasts, but you can check out the three-minute sample on Audible. The complete audiobook is a little over one hour long. 

I'm offering a free copy to the first five who leave their email address below in the comments or contact me at twfendley@gmail.com (put Free JAGUAR HOPE in the email subject line). If you enjoy it, your review on Amazon/Goodreads would be greatly appreciated!

Here's how the process works: I posted the audition pages on ACX several months ago, offering a royalty share instead of direct payment to the producer/narrator. Royalty share means ACX keeps half the proceeds, and the producer and I will split the other half.

Laurel Schroeder

When Laurel Schroeder contacted me via ACX about producing JAGUAR HOPE, I was thrilled with her narration. I checked out her website and discovered she not only has a wonderful voice, but holds an MFA in acting and BA in theatre. We signed the contract, which included deadlines, then I sent Laurel the complete manuscript. 

While she was working on the narration/production, I contacted author/illustrator Jennifer Stolzer, who did the cover for the ebook back in 2012. Jennifer quickly converted it to meet ACX cover specifications.

Everything worked like a charm. I approved what Laurel sent me, and on Feb. 12 I received notice that ACX would do a "final quick quality control process, and then begin distributing it to Audible.com, Amazon.com, and iTunes. Barring any issues in the quality check, that process should take upwards of 14-20 business days." Six days later, it was available for purchase!

ACX works with authors and producers to promote the audiobooks by offering them copies to send to reviewers. They also pay a "bounty" if our book is one of the buyer's first three Audible purchases. The "bounty" paid for making a sale to a newbie is $25 to split solely between the author and producer. Now that sounds exciting--$12.50 in addition to my usual $1.75 share! But where to find someone new to Audible?

They just announced a change to that "bounty" that doubles the amount to $50, but it has to be the new Audible member's FIRST purchase. That will apply to audiobooks started after March 12, so it won't affect my short story, SOLAR LULLABY, which will be coming out next month featuring narrator Tiffany Williams.

In the meantime, I'm trying to find places that review audiobooks. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

JAGUAR HOPE: Two black jaguars become the symbol of hope for a race facing extinction when they accompany a dying traveler back to her home planet. JAGUAR HOPE, a novelette, tells of the ill-fated journey to Earth’s Age of Crystal in this action-packed prequel to the award-winning historical fantasy novel, ZERO TIME.

Also available as a Kindle ebook.

The Disciplined Habit of Excellence in the Art

“Faith is a state of mind that can be conditioned through self-discipline. Faith will accomplish.”—Bruce Lee.

The muse drives the writer to write, to create, and to pursue the lonely path of being an artist. The world of writing has changed with the advent of the e-publishing. Every writer, from the self-published to the high ranked traditionally published author, fights for an audience. Questions abound right now in the writing industry, and often seem to pit the level of writer against each other on paper. The debates are often along the line of “Self-Publishing is great” vs. “Traditional Publishing is where you must be to prove you are a writer.” Where ever you fall in this debate is irrelevant for the debate itself is irrelevant beyond the surface.

As writers we often ask ourselves or get asked by others in the business, “What sets you apart from other writers? Why should I read your story or even consider publishing your works? What makes you so arrogant that anyone would want to read what you have written?” These questions, while they can be annoying, must be recognized for their origin. They grow out of the world around us, a world filled with mediocrity. Be it in books, television, music, art, or even if you have a “day job” we are surrounded by mediocrity. The level of mediocrity causes the world to become excited when anything that even feels new comes out and leads the traditional publishers to chase this new trend.

What then makes you stand out? What defines your brand, your story telling, you as a unique artist? It is what you produce. Do you chase the mediocre? Are you chasing the trend, the scheme to try to stand out or are you devoting yourself to the discipline and habit of excellence in writing?

Excellence is unusual and thus standsout. Many believe that excellence is the creation of the new idea, the new genre. It isn’t. Excellence in the art goes far beyond, and yet can stay within the known genre. Excellence is noteworthy. Excellence goes beyond talent. Excellence goes beyond the mundane mechanics of writing. Excellence comes from repeated habit and rejection of the mediocre. It may be hard to see this in action of writing, though it is in the written words. Let us then look at excellence outside of writing.

The easiest place to find excellence is in sports and the martial arts. As a martial artist, no one who is mediocre can ever (honestly) achieve the rank of Black Belt. Every martial artist practices for hours, days, weeks, months, years repeating the same techniques over and over again. The Black Belt takes this practice seriously. It becomes a part of their life. Even when they are sitting and seem to be doing nothing, the techniques go through their mind and how they can perform the techniques better. The Black Belt focuses on the tiny details, the slight shift of stance, the single strike, even the tiniest of breath.

This same level of dedication to the habit of excellence that separates the average fighter from the master of martial arts is the same separation of mediocre writer from the writer of excellence. Excellence is not the habit of sitting down to write. Excellence is the habit of sitting down to write excellently—which requires unending learning and sharpening the writing skills. This dedication to excellence makes the work of our writing timeless.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com and www.thewriterslens.com. You can also follow me on twitter @Owlkenpowriter and the Writer’s Lens @TheWritersLens.  You can also find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DavidAlanLucasAuthor.

Also, check out Write Pack Radio at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writepackradio or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Write-Pack-Radio/258130144353624 or on twitter @WritePackRadio. Write Pack Radio brings Pop Culture, Writing, and Publishing together and throws them into a crucible of humor, clarity, and passion.

Fiction is the world where the philosopher is the most free in our society to explore the human condition as he chooses.

SLWG Author Series with Illustrator Jennifer Stolzer

SLWG Author Series with Illustrator Jennifer Stolzer

Jennifer Stolzer

Writer and Illustrator

The SLWG Author Series in February was proud to present illustrator Jennifer Stolzer. She discussed what an author can expect when working with an illustrator, the process she goes through in translating the author’s vision, and the differences between illustrating the whole book versus just the book’s cover.

View the SLWG Author Series with Jennifer Stolzer – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7WxQEWbSac

The SLWG Author Series is held on the third Thursday of the month at STLBooks in Kirkwood. This was the first interview of the series held at STLBooks and we are thrilled to have them as our host.

Find the interview with Jennifer Stolzer on The Writers’ Lens tumblr page www.writerlens.tumblr.com  or on the SLWG website www.stlwritersguild.org  

Find all the SLWG Author Series interviews on Youtube or on the SLWG Website.

Learn more about Jennifer Stolzer and find samples of her artwork at www.jenniferstolzer.com

STLBooks

100 W Jefferson Ave

Kirkwood, MO 63122