Writers can be easily distracted, it’s a fact.  They say it is the “artistic disposition”.  It could of course be bone idleness…

The Truth About Writers.

Today, the “one post a day goal” for this blog looks in danger again.  Even as I write this the hands on the clock move ever nearer to midnight.  No point in trying to edit the post date either, Wordpress tells no lies!

My excuse this time is that I have been resurrecting an old website of mine most of the day.  Technical problems can be simple, or they can take ages.  If I hear the word “PHP” again I will scream.  Still, the new (old) site is beginning to look good again, all it needs is some traffic and it will be truly open.

The other thing I blame my non-production upon is the renewal of an old acquaintance, Lee Auburn.  Together, we look sort of like Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Twins” if we stand side by side.  Good fun if we tell people that we really are twins that were separated at birth!

Lee and I met through an online MMORPG called City of Heroes.  Back then he ran a large supergroup called “FoxBase”.  (A  supergroup  is a group of friends, playing online super heroes – don’t ask.)

Those days were good times and I met some really nice people, Lee being one of them.  The site I am rebuilding happens to be a community site that served that same group of gamers, amongst others, so meeting Lee again was kind of a synchronicity.  After we had Facebooked, linked and otherwise managed to re-connect in the cyber sense, we did an old fashioned thing; we chatted on the phone.

We chatted on the phone for a few hours in fact.  It turns out that Lee is also learning to become a writer right now.  Talk about synchronicities; do they come in threes?

Lee hasn’t been writing long, but his writing is pleasant and easy to read.  Look Lee up here on Facebook and here in his “Explore Auburnville” personal blog.  Tell him I sent you!

Dave

Tags: Become a writer, Blog, Writer, Writing

On this blog I recently reviewed Stephen King’s book, “On Writing”.  In that review I mentioned some of the attitudes he has towards writing and writers.

It occurred to me after writing that blog post that maybe some of my readers might care to hear the words from the man himself.  So here are a few YouTube videos of Stephen expressing himself on the subject.

There were some truly funny comments in that video and if you just clicked past it you missed some great stuff for any aspiring writer!

Where does Stephen King get his ideas for novels from?

Another good video, with admittedly slightly iffy sound/picture quality.

And finally, probably the best, although it is from a commercial source and so is cut short.

Stephen talking about novels, short story writing and the problems of writing them.

Did you know that Misery and Gerald’s Game were originally conceived of as short stories?  It seems that he finds a problem writing short stories now, as since he became a full time professional writer his mind has become conditioned to writing longer material.

Stephen King is a modern master craftsman of the writing profession.  He proves that it not just possible to make money from writing but that it is also possible to become exceedingly rich.  While it may not be likely for everyone to be this successful, I find it useful to hear those that have been exceptionally successful speak about their subject.

Maybe some of the “stardust” will rub off?

Dave Felton

Tags: Advice, Become a writer, Blog, Books, Dave Felton, Make money from writing, Professional writer, Short Story, Writer, Writing, Writing instruction