A.M. Offenwanger's Blog, page 5

November 15, 2023

November 11, 2023

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? – The .pdf Download

“So You Want to Write a Book?” is now available, all six parts in one document, on the website to download as .pdf (here) – just in case you want to save it to your computer, or print it out or something, and peruse or re-peruse it at your leisure.

You’re welcome! Now go write that book.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 11, 2023 08:00

November 10, 2023

#FridayFragment, 10.11.2023



A fly buzzed against the window as slowly, outside, the rain dripped off the eaves.


“It’s kind of cozy,” he said, pulling the blanket closer around his shoulders.


“I know,” his friend replied. “I don’t know if I can stand it much longer.”


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 10, 2023 10:36

November 8, 2023

November 4, 2023

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? Part 6: Living the Writer’s Life

[Cue sonorous voiceover] Previously on “So You Want to Write a Book?”: Part 1, How I got started; Part 2, Other Ways of Writing a Book; Part 3, WRITE THAT THING; Part 4, What next?; Part 5, Getting it out there. How I wrote my first book by just starting to write; how to plan a book step by step; how to actually write that book; how to edit it once it’s finished, and how to self-publish it.

an open notebook with a fountain pen and handwritten textPart 6: What Else? – Living the Writer’s Life

So perhaps, this whole thing of writing a whole, b...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 04, 2023 08:00

November 3, 2023

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? Part 5: How to Self-Publish

[Cue sonorous voiceover] Previously on “So You Want to Write a Book?”: Part 1, How I got started; Part 2, Other Ways of Writing a Book; Part 3, WRITE THAT THING; Part 4: What next? How I wrote my first book by just starting to write; how to plan a book step by step; how to actually write that book; and how to edit it once it’s finished.

a print book and an ebook reader displaying the ebook version of the same bookPart 5: Getting it out there – Self-publishing

So you finished your book (Congratulations once again!) and you’ve edited it to the best of your abiliti...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 03, 2023 08:00

November 2, 2023

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? Part 4: Editing Your Book

[Cue sonorous voiceover] Previously on “So You Want to Write a Book?”: Part 1, How I got started; Part 2, Other Ways of Writing a Book; Part 3, WRITE THAT THING. How I wrote my first book by just starting to write; how to plan a book step by step; and how to actually write that book.

computer with manuscript in editing stage displayed on itPart 4: What next? – Editing the Book

So you’ve gone and finished that book you’ve always been dreaming of. Wow! Hurrah! Congratulations! That is so awesome!

I mean all of what I just said. Having writt...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 02, 2023 08:00

November 1, 2023

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? Part 3: How to Write the Thing

[Cue sonorous voiceover] Previously on “So You Want to Write a Book?”: Part 1, How I got started; and Part 2, Other Ways of Writing a Book: How to write a book by just sitting down and writing it, or, conversely, how to plan, plot, and plunge deeply into the story before you begin writing, a five (or more) step process. Spoiler alert: Both methods work.

Small laptop with text on screenPart 3: WRITE THE THING

If you’ve skipped ahead to this part because you couldn’t wait to find out how to actually write that book, he...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 01, 2023 08:00

October 31, 2023

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? Part 2: How to Plan a Book

[Cue sonorous voiceover] Previously on “So You Want to Write a Book?”: Part 1, How I got started. Detailing in great, umm, detail, how a particular writer went from “I’m not ever going to be ‘a novelist’!” to being, well, just that. And how said writer wrote their first novel by sitting down and starting to type on a chilly November day in 2011.

Part 2: Other Ways of Writing a Book – How to Plan a Book

So, as I said last time, I didn’t even set out to “write a book”, because I didn’t k...

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 31, 2023 08:00

October 30, 2023

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? Part 1: How I Got Started

Note: When I started this series I thought it would be one post, maybe two. It turned into six. So I’ll be posting one of these every day this week.

Part 1: How I Got Started

A friend and I were talking the other day about things one could do with one’s life.
“Is there anything you really want to do?” I asked her. “Something you’ve always dreamt of?”
She didn’t even pause to think.
“Write a book!” she said.
Well, you know what my reaction to that was bound to be.
“Do it!” I shot back at her....

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 30, 2023 08:00