It's about time!

“So writing is like anything else. You fall, you pick yourself up, and you try again. When you’re discouraged, you eat ice cream.” Anna Quindlen, columnist, novelist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Good Grief!! I'm bbaaaaaddd! I got so wrapped up in creating a new website, sending short stories off to contests and publishers that I let time slip by without updating my blog. It's been sitting here, patiently waiting since April. Well, now that I've changed my schedule and added an extra four or five hours a day to devote to writing, this shouldn't occur again. Now, on to the good stuff.

Novel Writing!

Sounds like it should be the title of a how to book, doesn't it? Well, that's exactly what it is. Coincidently I happen to have a copy. It's written by Evan Marshall and I've got to say that when I first opened it I was both impressed and intimidated. This is not a book for those looking to find an easy way to write or a quick fix. After skimming through it, I put it on my "how to" bookshelf. I promised myself that, as soon as I'm ready and have the time, I'd study it. That took a while. I wrote several more short stories, some poems and worked on getting my new website ready to put online. I, like many new writers, found out quickly that writing a novel could take years. I've been avoiding such a long journey by honing my skill with short stories that only take a few weeks to write.

Well, I finally convinced myself that it was time to jump in and start work on a novel. That's when I reached for my book, The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing. All I can say is WOW! This book is the tech manual for structure. It is a teckkies dream come true. The most difficult things for me to grasp as a new writer were all of the fuzzy how-to's that tried to explain what to do but never gave me any solid step-by-step methods to work with. Well, this book does. From Finding the Perfect Novel for You, Step 1, through Applying the Finishing Touches, Step 14, it is a clear, concise and easy to follow roadmap to learning the art of writing. Needless to say, I highly recommend this book to any aspiring writers who are willing to invest the time and patience it takes to become a published author.

My New Website Coming Soon!

As I said earlier, I've been busy working on a new website (the old one was kind of amateurish so I hired someone to do a better job of it that I can). I will be bragging about myself (If I don't, no one will), creating a forum, possibly a newsletter and best of all, a page of freebie how to's and software links for new aspiring writers. When I started writing full time (three years ago) I had to pinch pennies. I couldn't afford hi-priced software and books so I had to scavenge the netways for anything that was a freebie that I thought might help me write. I expect the site to be online this month and will post a link to it for anyone interested.

Last but not least!

There are loads of excellent programs and how to's on the web. They are all good but finding the ones that work for you is a job. Each program, like each writer, is unique and the job is to find those books and software programs that interface with the way you, as an individual, think and learn. This will be the subject on my first article on my new blog. I also must take a moment to thank Nick Daws for all of the excellent advise he has offered on his websites. (See links on this page.) Well, that's all for now. See ya later, 'gater. Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join

My Writing Friend: writingfriend@earthlink.net
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Click link on this page.
Online Writing Workshop: http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/
Newbie Writers: http://www.newbiewriters.com/
A Long Story Short: http://www.alongstoryshort.net/

I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.