Welcome back
So, are we ready to continue? You've made the decision to do this. There's no second thoughts. There's no turning back. There's no, "I'll get started on this sometime tomorrow." (See Blog #1)
It's Onward and Yonward!
From this moment, it's eat, sleep, think writing. That's what you've signed on for. You've limited your time on Facebook, and Twitter. (Very important). You carry a small notebook in your pocket for those ideas that are there (Yes!) and then (Damn!) gone in an instant. You lie awake thinking up characters, and situations. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, doesn't matter. You're thinking about writing.
And by now you've got your blog up and running. If not, get that started right away.
"But, Max, I don't want to do any blog. I got this terrific book idea..."
There is no magic pill. You have to write and write, and write some more. (See Blog #2)
"Okay, I get it, so how do I do this?"
There are thousands of books on how to write. I use only two. I've read my share, but only two stand out. I read each every six months.
We'll start with, 'Writing Down the Bones,' by Natalie Goldberg. Get this book and read it. Takes about an hour or two. Let me tell you how I use her book.
I walk up to a coffee shop near Flower Street here in Downtown LA. I get my coffee, open my spiral notebook, sit, pick up my pen, put my head down, and write.
Natalie writes in fifteen minute chunks, then sits back and rests for a few minutes. Then writes for another fifteen.
I wrote, when I started, for an hour. Then stopped for about fifteen minutes, got up, walked outside, talked with the regulars, then sat back down and wrote for another hour.
Natalie recommends writing with a pen, and paper, not laptop or android. She says it has to do with a hand/eye/brain connection. It might be that she grew up before word processors, so she's more comfortable with a pen in her hand. So I write with a pen.
Here's the thing. Your hand can't stop! That's the way it's done. You write for fifteen minutes, without stopping. You just continue to write.
Took me a few days to write without stopping, without looking up. But that's how I do it today. This was four years ago. I go up to that coffee shop every morning at 5:30am. I write for an hour when there aren't many people around. Then about seven I do another hour. I socialize for half an hour after that. Then walk back to my loft and type in into my laptop. That's how I do it.
I'm done about noon.
Two hours of writing at the coffee shop, yields about eight pages. This translates into about three pages when I get back and type it into my laptop.
When you can't stop the pen, you’re going to have sentences like, 'And why am I doing this...A man has just walked in with a funny hat...Who is this lady, in the high heels...' Obviously, I delete those sentences, plus any duplications, and those sentences I just can't read, too scribbly. I get the essence into the laptop.
Write and write and write some more.
It's tougher if you work eight to five, you have to find the time during the day. Before work? After work? On the MetroLink. Ten minutes here, 20 minutes there. It all adds up.
Just remember, if it's only fifteen minutes, write without stopping. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE WRITING, just focus on an idea. And don't stop. After a few fifteen minute writing periods, you'll have something that moves your story, or your blog post, forward.
For my first blog, StiffLeftJab.com I checked sports sites on the Web, early in the morning, found an odd story, then fit the facts into my cast of characters. In one I had Pete Rose in the back of a taxi cab talking about his life, with taxi cab driver, Diego Garcia, one of my main characters. He was always eavesdropping on big time athletes he'd picked up at LAX.
That's what I did, 500 words a day, one post every three days, for one year.
So, get Natalie’s book. Read it. It will get you started.
Next blog, we'll discuss the other book, the one that will show you how to get it down on paper.
Later...
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