Matthew Arnold Stern's Blog, page 43
April 14, 2017
What I learned from earning Eagle Scout
Forty years ago, I earned my Eagle Scout award. It remains one of my greatest personal achievements. I learned many valuable lessons from Boy Scouts. In addition to life skills from first aid to paddling a canoe, I learned how to overcome mediocrity and that you can leave unsupportive situations to reach your goals. The most important …
April 11, 2017
Down the rabbit hole
I’ve never been so angered by the news as I have been these past few days. Syria. San Bernardino. United Airlines. Stockholm. Borussia Dortmund. Sean Spicer. Sean Spicer! If he had a shred of honor and self-respect left, he would resign. But he doesn’t, so he won’t. And his boss won’t fire him because doesn’t have …
April 9, 2017
Why you should read my new novels
I have two new novels that are free to read on Inkitt for a limited time. Even though these books are free, I still have to convince people to read them. And book marketing brings up all sort of bad memories of when I tried to ask girls to date me in high school. I …
March 26, 2017
How to deal with rejection
As a follow-up to my post about using bad writing to get to good writing, I was asked how I deal with rejection. It’s easy to be philosophical about it. I can talk about how many rejection letters authors got before their groundbreaking work got published. I can talk about how no leads us to the yes we …
March 19, 2017
Writing with a Kindle
I recently got a Kindle. My first Kindle. I have read eBooks on other devices, but the Kindle is a different experience. The eInk reads like paper, and the Kindle Paperwhite’s 300 dpi resolution matches the quality on the first laser printers I used. There are no distractions from social media, email, and text messages …
March 15, 2017
The Remainders is here, and you can read it for free!
My Fun A Day Reseda project The Remainders is now available on Inkitt. A limited number of copies are available for free! Visit Inkitt and download your free copy. Then post a review and share it with others. Only a limited number of free copies are available, so get yours now. Your Reseda novel is here. …
March 8, 2017
Why community service is now more important than ever
I can always tell when it’s time for youth baseball and softball season to start. The weather gets warmer. We get more hours of sunlight. And I get more people reading my Little League opening day speech. But would I still be involved in a position like a Little League president today, especially with all the disincentives of getting involved …
March 1, 2017
Wars of attrition
Difficult challenges turn into wars of attrition. When we realize that victory won’t be quick and easy, we entrench ourselves and brace for a long struggle. This applies to our current political situation, and it also applies to personal challenges. Health issues, financial crises, family conflicts, office politics, addiction battles — they all become tests of endurance …
February 21, 2017
Why you need bad writing to get to good writing
I was cleaning out some old files when I came across drafts of screenplays I wrote in the 1990s. They were awful. Eye-achingly awful. So awful that I shredded them and put them in the recycling bin. But when I wrote those scripts, I thought they were so wonderful that I registered one of them …
February 15, 2017
Slaying the dragon
Spoilers ahead. Fiction involves some sort of conflict. Usually, the source of the conflict is visible: another person, the environment, or some other physical threat. Even conflicts within ourselves are made visible through our actions. What if the source can’t be seen? What if it is something powerful and overwhelming, but abstract? What if the adversary is …
