Steven Savage's Blog, page 39

November 15, 2019

Steve’s Update 11/15/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Hello all. Last time I was trying to catch up – so how are we doing?

So what have I done since last time? Way With Worlds: The Gods and Deities Book is going OK, though I’m trying to pace writing it differently. As opposed to doing a bit each day the idea is to bingewrite once a week – and it’s been a busy week. I’ll know more in a few weeks.Chance’s Muse: Editing done and the print book is formatted!A School Of Many Futures: I’ve written out to Chapter 4 (as well as other stuff like some scenes and...formatted!Aweeks.Chance’s
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 15, 2019 20:17

November 14, 2019

Stop Being The Writer You Are

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Let me ask you a question – imagine someone is basing a character on you as a writer. How would they portray it, what “writer archetype” would you easily map to?

My guess is that answer came a bit too easily, or that once you examined it, you found the choice was not quite right.

Our culture provides us many ways to think about being a writer – roles and tropes and ideas of who we should be. Lately I’ve been aware of just how often writers (and...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 14, 2019 08:29

November 12, 2019

Musings On Ideal Media Culture

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Last time I posted on how it was hard to deal with there being so much “stuff” out there, which Serdar has commented on. In turn, he also provides this link on how books are still dominated by a few megablockbusters. So yes, there’s problems with “so much stuff” as well as “big stuff over all of us.”

Think of it this way. We also have a lot of new stuff on Netflix and giant blockbusters dominating everything else. We can publish anything but there’s also h...

1 like ·   •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 12, 2019 08:15

November 7, 2019

Write Every Day? Maybe . . .

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

You’ve probably heard of the advice that a writer should write every day. I disagree with that – I feel writers have to find their own pace – but it works for me and seems to work for a majority of authors I know. But, let me clarify that though it works for me, how it works for me wasn’t what I expected . . .

In trying to write every day, I found myself under strain to keep up on my various projects. Much of what I do involves writing...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 07, 2019 23:20

November 5, 2019

There’s So Much Stuff Out There

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

We live in a time of soul-crushing opportunity.

In this age, we can create so many works. We can publish books physical and electronic. We can make podcasts that fly across the internet. As I’ve heard it put, so many ways, “there’s just so much stuff out there.”

This then begs the question, “why create?” From giant conglomerates to people like ourselves, there’s so many people making things to read, watch, and so on. The chance of our works finding purchase in...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 05, 2019 16:13

October 28, 2019

Steve’s Update 10/28/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Hey all, busy getting back on top of my projects – and almost there. Let’s catch up!

So what have I done since last time? Way With Worlds: Writing away on the Gods and Deities Worldbook! It’s going great and is a lot of fun – got a lot to make you think!Chance’s Muse: Still on the first edit after a few delays. There’s some loose language I need to tighten up.A School Of Many Futures: The book is now blazing away. Chapters 1 and 2 are in good shape, but 3 has some weakness. Still, looking...up.Athink!Chance’s
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 28, 2019 20:09

October 24, 2019

Well That Was Easy: The Ivy Lee Method

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Looks like my blogging this week is about productivity. I wanted to share something that set off a chain reaction in my own personal organization, the Ivy Lee method. It’s led to me rethinking a lot, which I will doubtlessly share in more, excruciating detail.

So I love all sorts of productivity methods, study them, integrate them, and so on. This is one I hadn’t heard of, probably as it’s A) Old, B) Common Sense, and C) Not insanely elaborat...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 24, 2019 08:30

October 22, 2019

Productivity: When Does Your Week Start?

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I want to ask a seemingly obvious question – when does your week start? I mean for a lot of my readers the answer is “Sunday” since it’s the first day of the week we all sort of use. But that may not be the real answer – for many of us the week ends on Sunday and starts on Monday if we’re part of a normal US work week. For many of us even that doesn’t apply.

So when does your week really start and end? Why ask this? Because it’s a key to getting t...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 22, 2019 08:30

October 19, 2019

Steve’s Update 10/19/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Whew! Life is a bit calmer here so let’s get to the update on my projects! Less than I’d like, more than I expected!

So what have I done since last time? Way With Worlds: The new book has been outlined – I’m covering Gods and Deities as that’s a popular subject – and one that deserves more coverage if only because its too easy to resort to tropes.Chance’s Muse: Is in the first run edit! If all goes well, I can still drop it late November/early December!A School Of Many Futures: I’m back to writing, doi...December!Atropes.Chance’s
1 like ·   •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 19, 2019 09:27

October 18, 2019

We Have To Go Smaller

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

If you’ve followed my updates or my newsletter, or just heard me ranting, you know that I’ve been very busy lately. Because I was so busy, I kept trying to power through the draft of my next novel, a School of Many Futures. Sadly, the powered through version felt off, emotionally disconnected. When it’s a sequel to your first novel, and a skewering of the “special school” genre, you want proper emotional connection, if only so the jokes land...

1 like ·   •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 18, 2019 21:54