SUMMARY OF LESSONS LEARNED FROM WRITING ONE STORY A WEEK FOR 52 WEEKS:

My presentation at Rainforest was an autobiographical report of what I learned by following Ray Bradbury's advice to write a story a week for a year. After all, he suggested, it is impossible to write 52 bad stories in a row.

I tackled the challenge because I wanted to directly ( Read more... )

For those who are keeping score, I started writing the novel on the 18th. The day totals have been 614, 690, 657, 443, 200, 871, 864, 763, 613, 663, 513. I haven't missed a day (which is habitual: I haven't missed a day in almost nine years). I'm 3,045 words ahead of schedule based on the goal of averaging 347 words a day for a May 22 rough ( Read more... )

 One of the interesting aspects of writing while working the day job is getting into a rhythm that feeds my writing.  Since school started this week, I've been able to fall back into a pattern that works comfortably for me.

For the last four years, I've had a son at the high school where I teach.  My oldest, Dylan, graduated last year, but my 15- ( Read more... )

Here is my post for the "Write a Book in a Year" club for the high school.  I'm putting one of these conversation starters up a week at our blog.  The audience for them is newbie writers who want support for tackling big projects.  These really basic topics feel relevant to me, though, even though I've successfully tackled big projects in ( Read more... )

The weirdest things trip me when I'm writing.  Lately, for example, research questions stop me dead in my tracks, AND THEY DON'T HAVE TO!

I'm working on a story where a character is trying to outlast a tremendous snow storm in the mountains during the 1890s.  He's the sole caretaker of a water-powered generator that the mines need for their air ( Read more... )