I have a goal to publish one work of fiction this year. I have barely written any fiction let alone published anything professionally. So, I’ve spent some time during the last few weeks researching the fiction landscape. As I’m doing the research, it is hard not to get discouraged. There are so many people already…
On Writing
A collection of lessons, tools, and techniques on writing.
First Principles Book Marketing
Elon Musk is a well-known proponent of first principles thinking. His best-known explanation of reasoning from first principles is in this interview with Kevin Rose. The basic idea is that you ignore basic assumptions as popular opinion. Instead of reasoning by analogy, which will lead you to make something slightly better, you get to the…
Take More Shots
“My goal is to make four baskets,” my daughter proudly announced to me before her second 3rd grade basketball game. This would be a pretty audacious goal considering it was only her second game ever and the final scores of her games do not tend to be very high. My wife offered another suggestion: “How…
Writing Lessons from My Editor
Last week I returned a manuscript with a number of changes requested by my editor. Responding to her comments and questions made me a better writer. Here are some of the things I learned from her about my writing habits: What works online may not work in print. I have a lot of bad blogging…
How do you respond to editor feedback?
First, look at feedback as an opportunity to learn and grow. None of the comments or changes are meant to be personal attacks. Ignore the tone of brief comments. Don’t read into it. This person just read your entire book. Be grateful and recognize that editors are making the work and you better. Second, tackle…
