Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 223

My Fabulous Writing Life – Or the Wonder of Me, Part Deux

Now that we’ve told you all about our writing journey, here are some insights into our writing life, and how we live it.

by Paul D. Marks

Before I get to the question, I want to congratulate Catriona and Art (Criminal Minds Emeritus) on their Agatha noms. Good luck! And now to the question at hand:

Ah, the glamorous life of a writer. TV interviews. Being invited to speak on cruises going around the Greek islands and getting the royal suite. Being invited to be Jennifer Lawrence’s boy-toy and acc...

Ganging Agley

"Now we've told you about our writing journeys, here are some insights into our writing lives."

by Catriona

Here is my official writing life:



MACRO
I write three books a year. For thirty weeks a year, I write 2K words a day (Mon-Fri) until the 100K first draft is done. Then for nine weeks a year (3 x 3) I research the book I've just written. For nine weeks a year (3 x 3) I edit the researched book. I take two weeks off on holiday in the summer and two weeks off at Christmas.

MICRO
I check email, de...

"My Way" (someone had to use that, right?) by Cathy Ace

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The writing curve

Some scattered insights into the writing life ...
Disclaimer:  Today my take on the writing life will be different from yesterday's and from tomorrow's. Transitioning into being published is a shaky learning curve, I've found. I glean what I can from others' experiences, but it's a curve for the most part we seem to have to figure out for ourselves: up, down, slithering about, occasionally knocked sideways.    
First words: I love to write around a rough idea, and let the idea ha...

My Writing Life, or La Dolce Vita

“Now we’ve told you all about our writing journey, here are some insights into our writing life, and how we live it.”
- from Susan
Reading last week’s Minds authors makes it clear(er) to me that I’m not going to be anyone’s role model on how to construct a writing life. I have no brilliant insights, only a few basic tools I use to hack my way through the underbrush that tangles my writing life. 
Motivation is important. For me, there’s nothing quite as motivating as a contract for a book. I...

Respect The Fourth Wall

Process has never been my favorite subject. Since my beginnings as a comedian and actor, I've treated The Fourth Wall, that invisible and yet impenetrable barrier between performance and audience, as sacred.
"See, you sit over there. I stay up here. That's how the magic happens."
I remember late nights, at coffee shops, with a bunch of comedians all dissecting and rearranging each other's material after an open-mic at whatever workout rooms we'd crawl through. We'd openly lament the bits that w...

Hello, I’m Alan (Part II)

by Alan

I’ve always been a numbers guy. As a kid, I hated English class. All that grammar and junk. I didn’t like reading so-called classic novels (I did a lot of skimming). I certainly didn’t share my father’s love for literature (he was a former English teacher).

I went to college and studied Mechanical Engineering. I didn’t much like engineering, so I went back to business school and got an MBA (at MIT, not exactly a fertile breeding ground for creative writers!).

I didn’t much like busin...

Write on

by Dietrich Kalteis
Early every morning I switch on my computer, and fueled by coffee, I get into whatever story I’m working on, and I go until noon. Mornings are best for me, that’s when I’ve got more energy and focus. Working on my seventh novel now, I’ve got it down to a routine that works for me, and I’m even getting a little better at staying off social media while I’m supposed to be writing. Outside of my morning routine, I carry a notepad with me and jot down ideas that come to me durin...

A Window onto my Writing Life

By R.J. Harlick
In the previous blog, I gave you some insight into how I became a writer, this week I’ll open a window onto my writing life.
From the moment, I penned the first words for Death’s Golden Whisper, I knew I would have to set aside a time for writing and follow it, otherwise given my penchant for putting off today’s tasks until tomorrow, I would end up never finishing anything. I established mornings as my writing time and amazingly, to me at least, I followed it. Eight books later,...

A Window into my Writing Life

By R.J. Harlick
In the previous blog, I gave you some insight into how I became a writer, this week I’ll open a window into my writing life.
From the moment, I penned the first words for Death’s Golden Whisper, I knew I would have to set aside a time for writing and follow it, otherwise given my penchant for putting off today’s tasks until tomorrow, I would end up never finishing anything. I established mornings as my writing time and amazingly, to me at least, I followed it. Eight books later,...