Sonnets For My Savior 43

Ungrateful

A mother protects her son from foolish deeds.
The son wails and gnashes his teeth in frustration.
His mind wants danger more than what he needs.
He sees the mother’s love as an act of restriction.

How much more has this happened to God the Father?
How often have we cursed Him for what would become our blessings?
How many times have we called His commandments a bother?
How frequently have we scorned Him out of desire for harmful things?

But our Father is patient, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He has plans for our welfare, which give us hope.
If everything that happens comes from God above,
why not be still and silent, for with Him, we can all cope.

How can we receive good from God and not receive the bad?
Why do we grumble over what we want, forgetting all we have?

 

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The Change

In my mind, there is a mirror
Showing me the man I used to be.
The change in me becomes clearer,
for that wretched man sickens me.

He was angry and lustful.
He believed everything had to be done by his own hand.
He was bitter and mistrustful.
He only sought God to meet his every selfish demand.

How can such a different man wear the same face?
What can explain such a change?
It can only be God’s glorious grace.
Now the man I was seems strange.

Still, the mirror is a great comfort to me;
It shows me how I’ve changed and proves I’ve been set free.

 

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Peace of Mind

Almighty above, you created man and his mind.
You have the power to quiet a man’s thoughts.
Hear now our prayer, for if we seek so shall we find.
His emotions are racing, and his ideas are tied in knots.

Let your servant’s head be clear.
Help him and guard him from false ideals.
For to you I surrender my anxiety and fear.
For only You can help; only you can heal.

Our trust is in your mercy and grace.
For you are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Look kindly upon your servant’s face
and grant him peace from above.

Let your name be praised, and bring glory to yourself.
Bring peace to his heart and return this man to himself.

 

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Lament For A Guide

How long will your servant suffer?
How long will illness ravage his body?
Only You can free him, no other.
Hear our prayer and grant him the grace You embody.

How long will those who scorn you mock his testimony?
For he proclaimed his health to your name.
Heal him lest doubters scoff and call his praise of you phony.
Cleanse him lest doubters use this in attempt to bring you shame.

Our faith and trust are in You alone.
We praise You, for your mercy abounds.
We kneel before Your mighty throne.
When our strength fails, Your power compounds.

We sing Your praises even amid our pain.
We pray in hope, for in You our hope will always remain.

 

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The Why

Why do you obey?
Is it for His glory or your reward?
For what reasons do you act in a certain way?
What are your treasures, and where are they stored?

What would you do if your prodigal brother returned?
Would you gnash your teeth and grumble?
Would you begrudge the loss of what you thought you’d earned?
Or would you be glad and remain humble?

Man can observe your actions and think you righteous,
But God sees the heart of every man.
It does you no good to only act pious,
if your actions are only part of a selfish plan. 

Deeds can seem wonderful to a merely human eye,
but those deeds are fear less important than the reason why.

 

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Understanding

Thunder booms inside my mind.
The core of my spirit quakes.
In You is the only peace I’ll find,
For I lack the strength it takes.

My heart breaks with sadness.
My souls cries for relief.
My eyes seek and only find darkness.
This confusion vexes me beyond belief.

You understand that which is beyond my understanding.
Your comfort can soothe any pain.
Your love is far beyond human comprehending.
I cry out to you and pray in Your holy name.

Grant me wisdom and compassion to help my fellow man.
Work through me to comfort them even when I don’t understand.

 

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You’re Going To Suffer Anyway

Pain comes to the wicked and the redeemed.
Misfortune falls on the generous and the selfish.
Trials come to the reviled and esteemed.
Death comes to those you hate as well as those you cherish.

Curious are those who turn from God because pain exists,
for their stiff necks don’t lead to lives without pain.
Curious are those who blaspheme God, shaking their fists,
for what does their fury ever obtain?

They make the same argument; pain comes to everyone,
but they only think in earthly ways.
However, what those who’ve turn to God have won,
is glory immeasurable in future days.

What is the reward of those who suffer without belief?
Those who have it can at least take comfort even when they feel grief.

Failure is a choice; success is inevitable

Greetings All,

I’m sitting at an airport getting ready to see the family. As I considered what to talk about (I’m a discovery writer at heart, so mosts of my posts are organically conceived if not written), I came across a post on FB about George Lucas and how he had to fight to get Star Wars out to the people.  THAT post reminded me of a conversation I had with my sister recently.

I think if I die, and anyone cares to throw out a quote from me, I’d like it to be this:

Failure is a choice; success is an inevitability.

At any point in time, an individual is free to decide he or she no longer wants to pursue those goals. The reasons can be disappointment or a new opportunity that’s of more interest, but it is the individual who chooses to stop.

But what happens to those who decided not to give up?

Here are a few of the (perhaps a bit less known) stories of those who didn’t give up.  My source for this is storypick.com, where you can find the full story here.

Brian Acton was turned down by Twitter and Facebook before he and Jan Koum built WhatsApp.

Steven Spielberg was actually rejected by USC’s School of Cinematic Arts because of his C average.  He took an unpaid intern job at Universal  and waited for his chance.  I think it worked out.

There are more stories. I’d be interested to hear yours (if you feel you’ve arrived) or another. There are a lot I’m aware of, so I’m particularly interested in stories people may not already know, but that doesn’t preclude you from placing whatever story of inspiration you wish in the comments below. I’d love to hear them.

Why is it, in stories we demand characters who perceiver through failure, but fail to recognize the lesson that teaches us. Anything worth having is worth working for.

I’ve published two books so far. I’m not ever going to stop writing. I’ll either make it, or I won’t, but I believe I’ll succeed in time if I just keep at it. I believe the same of you.

If you choose to let go of this path, don’t choose because you’ve decided to be a failure. Instead, choose to move on to something new. If you look at it that way, you weren’t a failure, you simply found something more worth your time.  But if the thing you’re after means everything, I implore you to be willing to risk everything to get it. That’s my point of view.

So strive. Fight. Work. Do so knowing it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. You will get there, so long as you keep working.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Some Dream-Come-True Moments

The B2B Cyber Convention just wrapped up. I’ve been super busy these past few days, but I wanted to take a moment to share some things (one of which was truly amazing).

The first is a story I’d like to share with you all.

I’m a creature of habit. I do my laundry on the same day. I eat at the same place every Friday. I work the same schedule every day. I like routine. The thing about routines though is you tend to have this expectation that every day, week, and moth will work out exactly the same. Most times, when there’s an interruption to my routine, I’m actually quite difficult to deal with.  But sometimes, it’s just wonderful.

Every other Friday, I go to the same place to cut my hair. I eat at the same place as I do every Friday. I check to see what movies are out that I might want to see. I stop by the book store in the mall just to see what may have gotten released without my knowledge.  That’s when I head over the my hair place.

This particular Friday, I arrive to find the woman who does my hair isn’t available for  awhile.  I don’t think much of it. I arrange a time later that evening with her. I’m about to head out to knock a few items off my to-do list when someone taps me on the shoulder.

One of the other employees caught my attention and pointed to the woman he was working with.  The woman smiles and points at me.

“Aren’t you that author?”

(PAUSE)

You see, my whole life, I’ve always wanted to be, “That Author.” That identification may be on the top three list of things I want to put on my tombstone.  When The Journals of Bob Drifter was first published, my sister bought me a personalized pen.  When she gave it to me, I told her it was a life dream of mine to have someone approach me and ask for my autograph.

So when Karen asked me that question, she quite literally made one of my life’s dreams come true.

(RESUME)

A picture of me and Karen after the autograph!

I don’t really remember much after that. My euphoria made it pretty hard to think straight. I said yes.  She said that she’d recognized me from my book (Journals). Since I’m a regular at Rafet’s (the place I get my hair cut), I thought to plop a copy of the book there so people could read it while they wait for their haircuts. Now, that book has been there since Bob got published (two years now).  Turns out, at least one person had been chipping away at it!

So we chatted for a while. She told me the book really grabbed her attention. We exchanged contact information, and, yes, I gave her an autograph.  I originally gave her an autograph on a sheet of paper (which I tell my students to always have on their person). The establishment actually gave her that copy of the book, so I later signed that one and grabbed a selfie with Karen.

The world is a wonderful place sometimes. A guy can just be going about his day, and suddenly God smiles on someone. The little things are usually more special than the big. That moment will fuel my dream to be a “successful” author for quite a while.

So to those of you a little earlier in their journey than I am, I say you have to remember it’s a marathon. You have to work. It’s not an overnight thing. This isn’t the realm for instant success. But if you keep at it, and you’re consistent, you’ll get these little moments that mean so much. My sales are still right about where they normally are, but I found a fan and a new friend. If you’re reading this, Karen, I say again, Thank you!

That was how my weekend started! I posted on Friday about the Brain To Books Cyber Convention 2017.

The first cool thing was how many more authors I met. I got to hang out more with Joshua Robertson, who I met a few months ago and got to know a bit better when his book Anaerfell was up for Book Cover of the Month. I also met so many other cool authors: My internet is really acting up, so I can’t really link them all like I want.  But just a few are: Heidi Angell (she’s not THAT kind of angel), Richard White, A.L. Mabry, Suzanna J. Linton (a fellow Dragonriders of Pern fan), Tim (again, my internet isn’t letting me find his last name), and Joe Compton. I PROMISE I could go on for days. I don’t know how many panels or group chats I did. What I DO know, is I’ll be adding a page to this website soon. I’ll add those videos, because they’re fun for readers, writers, and authors trying to figure out marketing.

Angela B. Chrysler and I had an idea at about the same time. I’d been trying to figure out a use for Youtube, and so she created Nerd Rage, which will be a monthly Youtube event we do. We’ll film them the last Saturday of every month. There may be a time or two we can’t all make it, but for the most part, there’ll be a handful of us just needing out about whatever topic Angela pulls out of a hat. (No, I mean that literally.) If you can’t wait for me to get around to loading what videos I’ve already been a part of, you can look at those and everything else here.

Which leads me to my last thought of the day. I’d mentioned that one of the events I was taking part in was a covers war. I’m very proud to announce that Caught won the cover war for horror and thrillers! I have to admit, I campaigned pretty hard to win. I was a big fan of my cover, and I wanted it to get recognized. It turns out, a bunch of my Facebook friends and a few of my Author/Wordpress friends (Hi JR! Hi Corey!) came to offer me support! Look, it’s basically just bragging rights, but it’s like I said, the little things make all the difference sometimes. So I wanted to end this post with a huge thank you for that support in giving that cover some love. Thank you all.  Now, I have a short story to revise, another short story to write, two books to write and a series to get started on. All by 2018.  So…I’m off.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

State of the Weech: What’s This Guy Up To?

I’d mentioned earlier this week that I had intended to do a post going over my schemes for the next little while.  I wanted to do that today because there’s a lot happening.

First, I’m happy to announce the discovery draft of my short(ish) story, Sojourn In Despair, is finished! I wrapped that up Dec. 22. So I’ll wait about a week before I try to revise that into a first draft that Alphas wouldn’t want to throw out of a window.

I’ve learned a lot this past year. I wanted Caught out in March of 2016, and I couldn’t make it happen until 2017. This is because it’s not about releasing a book for me, it’s about releasing a GOOD book readers will enjoy.

Revising always takes me an extremely long time, and I wasn’t anticipating a fifth and sixth draft. I want to say this because writers are in love with their work, and they’re either in too much of a hurry to get it out (normally me) or too afraid to put it out there. There’s a balance to this I hope everyone finds. You have to be willing to stand behind it.

When I sent Caught to Marco for an edit, he gave me a lot of information that I think made this book that much better. But it meant taking time to apply that feedback. This is part of the art. This process also taught me a lot about how to look at work. I’ll be using this process again in the future.

I want to help other authors avoid mistakes I make. I want each project I release to be more successful than the last. So I hope this information helps those who are afraid to show their work to many people. Get lots of feedback. Hire. Professional. Editors.

I feel far more confident about Caught than I did about Bob. I also feel more realistically optimistic (not an oxymoron I promise).  But, now that Caught is scheduled to hit the digital bookshelves, I have time to do more stuff.  So here’s a list of my projects in order of priority:

Sojourn in Despair: Elele’s story is drafted, and now I have to do the work that takes a solid idea into a well-told story. I’ll take a week off (maybe accidentally write a short story and submit it, Hi J.R.).  But once that week is over, I’ll do another draft of Sojourn. This one will still go by quickly, but each draft will take exponentially longer than the last.

Re-release of The Journals of Bob Drifter: I’ve been quiet about this, but it’s time I start talking about it. I feel this was a great story, but I made a lot of mistakes in how I published it. There are also some glaring typos I want to fix. The story will not change. The main priority of this effort is to bring the cover price down and gain more control over pricing. I want Bob to be more affordable to my readers. I’ll chip away on this in between drafts of Sojourn.

Images of Truth: This book is going to be wonderful. I was about halfway done when Caught revisions became my soul purpose in life.  Elele (from Sojourn) is in this book. She’s one of four primary characters, but this book focuses on Jammin, a young aspiring photojournalist who finds himself a stowaway on a special forces spacecraft in the middle of a secret war effort.  Sojourn is the story of how Elele came to be where we find her in Images. I want to finish this discovery draft quickly. The release of this book is a long way off. But I like having a draft done.

Revisions of 1,200:  1,200 is the story of a homeless veteran who is secretly using his recently-discovered magic to help the rest of his fellow homeless veterans. I want to revise this sooner rather than later, but if Caught does well, this will be the project that falls father in the back burner.

The sequels to Caught: I have a confession to make: I accidentally outlined a short story about Kaityln.  Not outlined exactly, but she’s such a wonderful character. She whispered in my ear (I’m not crazy; I promise) the whole flight to Arizona, and I got off the plane with a great little story just for her. This isn’t part of the trilogy, but her short story will be released in 2018. When in 2018 is something else entirely, but it’ll be out. Books Two and Three of the Oneiros Log will be revised and drafted accordingly. It may be ambitious, but I want all three projects AND Images drafted by the end of 2017.  I don’t know when I’ll publish them. So much depends on releasing a book, and I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. Once Images is drafted, these will be the books I outline and draft. What I will promise is that as soon as these books are ready, I’ll get them to you.

The plan is to rotate edits between Sojourn, Kaitlyn’s story, Oneiros 2 and 3 until all of them are ready. 1,200 isn’t the biggest priority right now, but it’s a great project to step away to when I’m feeling bogged down. I may also decide other characters from Caught need their own stories. This depends on how loud they get in my imagination and how successful Caught and Kaitlyn’s story are. I do intend to release short fiction (novellas 40K or less) more regularly. This is so you all have stuff from me to read while I work on the larger books. For other young authors out there, this also helps me keep product hitting the shelves and earning income which will fund edits, covers and revisions for the larger products. I feel this was a solid idea on my part, and it keeps me writing.

I’ve been writing since I was 7 or 8. It’s been my dream to be an author since I was 17. Even now, what I’m doing is a dream come true. However, I’m never one to settle. I don’t just want to be a published author. I want to be successful. I want one day for this to be my primary source of income. That said, in a way, you all are so amazingly important to me. You’re here now, in the beginning, when it’s hard. You’re here for me when I’m up at midnight writing a blog or drafting a story. I can’t tell you what you mean to me. I can’t tell you how amazed I am that you’ve shown an interest in my dream. I hope you’re as excited about these projects as I am about getting to work on them.

So, I’ve been particularly blessed this Christmas, because every single time one of you shows interest in my work, that’s a gift you give me. Aside from the love of my friends and family, that’s truly the greatest gift I could ask for. I hope you all have the happiest of holidays and New Years. Thank you!

For today, and the days that follow, thank you for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Entrepurpose by Rusty Pang and Brian Laprath

(NOTE:  This is a nonfiction book, so I’ll be reacting to it much like I did with The Problem of Pain.)

I found this book immensely reaffirming. For me, I held a lot of the concepts in this book true without any terms or explanations.

The first thing I read that really resonated with was the concept that time is a valued currency. I’ve said for a long time (I even wrote it in my own personal Code) that the only two true forms of currency are love and time. This book speaks to that belief and supports it with both relevant anecdotal evidence as well as research.  If you only buy this book to read Chapter 8, it would be worth the money.

This isn’t just true of someone who likes self-help, non-fiction books.  This chapter is specifically for all those people who “say” they want to be an author.  This chapter forces a person to look at their life and truly understand what they do establishes their priorities.

This book speaks to sticking to your purpose and pushing, never giving up. That’s pretty much me in a nutshell.

There were parts that truly got me thinking. The big conundrum to authors is the idea of supply and demand. Great businesses tap into what’s going to happen. They jump the market. They give people what they want. This is very hard to do as an author. At the end of the day, people want to read good stories. So how does one of a huge number of authors prove his stories are good or better than the other books out there?  How does an author earn the time of readers? This is a mystery I’m trying to solve, and the answer will make whatever author learns it very successful.

This book speaks to mentorship. It challenges people to seek out people more successful than you.  I’ve done that over the last year or so, finding the Slush Brain and other people that I can speak to and learn from. Writers WANT to be part of a group of successful authors. Just look at history and you’ll see what tends to happen to talented individuals who share that sort of energy.

This book challenges readers to look at what they’re doing and why. It gives readers courses of action that can help them drive in on what they want. I’d have like a bit more time in terms of identifying purpose. While I have my purpose, I find that most people don’t, and I felt if any part could have more, or rather if I wanted any more of one segment, that would be what I’d wish. I tell my students pretty much daily that I don’t care what they want; I just want them to WANT SOMETHING. So more information on finding that, and if I’m being honest, helping others find that, would have made this product even stronger.

Entrepurpose isn’t good because a friend of mine wrote it; it’s good because it’s useful. It’s good because it does what I think non-fiction should do. It calls you out, offers you tools, and forces you to admit you’re the one who has to move. I’m so very glad for Rusty and Brian. I recommend this book most specifically for people who know what they want, but are afraid or unsure if they should go for it.

 

Book Shoutout: Entrepurpose, by Rusty Pang and Brian Laprath

I’ve always said I love it when other authors get published.  These particular authors and this particular book makes me that much happier because Rusty is a friend of mine.

Let’s start with the book blurb for Entrepurpose:

Begin blurb

You are here for a reason. So, the question is: Why?

Entrepurpose is a book inspired by 13 intense years of struggle to find the answer to the question,

“Why am I here?”

That journey took me through three depressions, alcoholism, and unhealthy weight gain as I tried to reconcile my life without purpose.

Now that I know my why, I have experienced an infusion of life and focus that I have never felt before.

This work has become my mission, and I can enjoy it more fully each day. But, it came at a price. That price was 13 years.

My story is our gift to you.

Inside these pages are the tools and principles that led me to understand what I was born to do.

If you apply these principles to your life, you will begin to see that every experience, no matter how painful, is part of your strength. If you feel different from others, a misfit perhaps, this book will show you why different is better than better. Maybe, for the first time, you will begin to accept who you are.

Whatever the reason that brought you here, know that you are here for a reason. That reason can be understood, and once you know it, you will have a responsibility to impact the world in the way only you can.

Welcome to your rebirth.

End blurb

This book is already doing well, and I couldn’t be happier for the creators.  It reached number 1 in three categories: Business and Money, Education and Education and Reference.

What’s most important about this book is, it’s designed to help people who truly feel low.  All the feedback I’ve seen and all the messages I’ve read continue to say, “This is what we need.”  Every writer wants his or her book to have an impact, and the early returns on Entrepurposve indicate this book does that.

Now let’s meet the creators.

I met Rusty somewhere around two years ago.  We both teach at the same school.  Over the last few months, we’ve been working more closely as he’s teaching the same segment of the course I teach.

There’s a bond between authors.  They don’t have to recognize it or accept it in any way.  It’s a bond of caring for your craft.  You see it when they’re a bit tired the next day because they rushed home to eat up whatever time they can with their family before they toil away at another job that takes not just a great deal of effort, but an insane amount of mental energy.  I’ve watched Rusty as he’s pushed himself to share this with you.  It’s not just his story, which alone is something compelling; it’s his passion.

Every day I see him talking to people about personality types and how they gather information.  Every thing he does as a teacher is driven to understand how the student thinks and learns, so that he can teach more effectively.  I haven’t had a chance to read the book just yet (it’s next on my TBR), but his story and his effort to find ways to reach people are already strong motivators for me.

I haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know Mr. Laprath.  He’s currently a reservist in the Air Force, and any time I can help out a fellow veteran, I’m going to.  You can find out more about him on the Entrepurpose website.  That site also has a blog and a ton of information worthy of checking out.

So I wanted to take a moment today and share this with you.  As most of my followers and those I follow know, I love giving shoutouts when dreams come true.  I relblog posts where authors announce they’ve finished a book.  I like it when people achieve their dreams, and I wanted to share this achievement with you.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Discovery Writers and Outliners

I’d like to start this story out by telling you about my senior year in high school.  I promise, this is relevant.  I don’t know about you all, but my algebra class had a rubric which accounted for showing your math.  This infuriated me. I’d get the answer correct, but lose a point because I didn’t demonstrate how I got there.

I didn’t know it then, but this was an early indication of my writing style.  When you get down to it, there are generally two types.   There are discovery writers like me, who think, formulas be damned, here’s the book as I made it up.

Then there are outliners.  These are the people who toil and stress over each plot line and scene.

A few of those big names out there have different terms, but they all mean the same thing.

But wait!  Matt, you said you outline all the time!

Yeah, yeah I did, but that’s because I, like most authors, have found a little bit of both worlds can be helpful.

The first book I ever finished writing was discovery written.  I wrote a chapter a day for a few months and finished a book.  I made it up as I went.  I knew what my ending was, and I had a few general ideas, but I just sat down and typed.  I’ve mentioned before that book never worked, but while numerous drafts are a consequence of discovery writing, the technique isn’t a bad one.  I was just so inexperienced and raw, I didn’t know what to do.

The first act of The Journals of Bob Drifter was also discovery written.  I had to revise that part a few times, but I was also more experienced.  I’d been studying and reading. I was practicing my craft.  Then I sat down with my brother (primary alpha reader and main supporter).    We set out a few plot points, and I had an idea.

I decided to use my discovery writing tendencies to develop an outline.  This let me keep the freedom of letting the story take me where I wanted with the ability to make continuity and development adjustments.  I could switch things around without having to do a bunch of rewrites.  (Don’t let me mislead you, no matter what you do, you’re going to have rewrites.  I just mean I didn’t have to do dozens.)

This is what I tend to do now.  I develop my characters.  I plot their progress.  I do this by typing a summary of their through line of the story.  If I hit a scene I really like or just want to flesh some things out, I do.  If my pace starts to slow down, I just summarize what’s going on and move forward.  I’ve written whole chapters that way.  Once all my characters are done and their through lines prepped, I tie them together in an overall outline.  Again, as I copy and paste these plots together, I let the 17-year-old me come to all the conclusions he wants.

Remember that story I opened with?  I did that then too.  I’d write down a formula or do a step or two if I was stuck, but once I felt like I was moving, I just kept going.  All I cared about then was getting to the correct answer. All I care about now is getting the outline done.

When I finish, I have my outline.  BUT, the discovery writer in me isn’t done yet.  After my outline is finished, I start what I call my discovery draft.  The rules change a bit, but I still have some freedom.  The rule change is I have to complete a manuscript.  I do this the way any writer of integrity and skill does.

I cheat.

My fingers still fly across the keypad.  I don’t stop for anything.  Inevitably, I come to a new chapter, a new character, or pretty much anything that needs description.   Description is the molasses in my swimming pool.  I get better with every book, but inevitably, I get frustrated, or just flat out bored.  So what do I do?  I use parenthetical symbols.

The good guy kicked in the door, his 9mm Barretta (CHECK SPELLING) held just at eye level.  The room was like a nightmare. (BORING, WHAT MADE IT LOOK LIKE A NIGHTMARE).

Inside the parenthetical symbols, I use all caps and write a little message to myself.  I’ll do everything from say (DESCRIBE THE ROOM) to (FIND OUT WHAT SORT TACTIC A HACKER WOULD USE TO RESOLVE THIS SITUATION).  I’m not a hacker, but I know people who know people.  (NOT ACTUAL HACKERS).

So I just motor through my draft.  Sometimes I go back and clean things up.  But whatever I don’t fix this time around, I don’t worry about.  I just get everything on paper.  I use my first draft to address all those notes.  I find experts who are willing to help me with stuff and get rid of those. Then the dreaded editing starts.

I’ve found that really works for me.  It took just about three years to write my second book.  (That first book I mentioned, I wrote it 21 times through a 15-year period).  This new system allows me to write about one a year.  It still takes a hot minute to edit and make them ready to publish, but not nearly as long as Journals took me.

I decided to sit down today and explain this because it helped me.  But what if you’re an outliner.

That’s okay.  You’ll probably hate yourself less during editing, but if you find yourself stuck, I don’t want you to be afraid to just pound something out.  I have a few friends who can’t turn off their internal editors or cure themselves of world-builder’s disease.  If you find that you’re stuck, do something different.  I found that I hated how many rewrites I had to do, so I decided to outline in a way that still fits the way my mind works.

So what are you? Outliner or discovery writer?  Do you have a process you think works for you? Please share it in the comments below so everyone can try to add a new tool to their toolbox.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

On Finishing Plateau: my first ever novel

I promised The Angry Farmer I’d reblog this when I felt like the blog would have solid viewing time on my page. Give the post a look. Another author has finished his first book. Send him some applause. It takes commitment to get there. I hope the edits go well.

The Angry Farmer

Well bloody hell.

I’ve finished Plateau today! My first ever novel/book/anything! It’s just over 61,000ish words and is now in pre-edit, a.k.a. I’m leaving it alone for a month so I don’t start fussing over it. There’s a bigger explanation of what the bloody hell on the Feedback page detailed below. The book was written ‘live’ daily, I tried to do at least one chapter a day, hence its need for polish and shine.

There’s a new page in the Plateau section for feedback; if you’ve kindly donated time to reading it, I would love to hear what you think! I’ve completed the WIP full text version to the pre-edit finished article if you want to jump ahead; otherwise I’ll bung up the final chapters this week in bits each day, so as not to spam.

[NB. The Everlasting Night is horror, you’ve been warned!]

Full Novel (Pre-edit)

By Chapter…

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My Routine: One Writer’s Habits

One of the more common questions I’ve heard is “How do you get through writer’s block?”  or “How do you find time to write?”

In my blog “confessions,” I talked about my work day.  I’m going to delve into that a bit more, but what I hope to address is the distinction between “finding time to read,” “writer’s block” and just plain prioritizing.

I’m a big believer in routine.  I think consistency breeds consistency.  Perfect practice leads to perfect performance.  I’m not perfect by any stretch of the imagination in any regard, but I’ve found a thing or two that works for me.

First:  My schedule.  I usually wake up at 6 a.m.  I get up, go the the bathroom, go right back down to my room and shut my eyes for another 10-15 minutes.  I don’t like waking up early.  I worked night shifts in my younger days, and the routine stuck.  My brain usually comes alive around 3.  My current schedule, my bosses and my students don’t and shouldn’t care bout my sleep work cycle, but it’s how I’ve always worked.  This is honestly harder each year.  Already, my body demands an earlier bedtime than it did four years ago.  Still, the thing that gets me out of bed is the fact that my students are there, and I love helping them.  My friends are there, too.  So I get up, get dressed hit the road and arrive to work on time.

I leave my job anywhere from 4:30 to 7:30 depending on a host of factors.  Do my students need extra help?  How much do I have to grade?  Am I prepared to teach whatever it is I’m teaching tomorrow?  Will I have to be early tomorrow?  How long has it been since I’ve worked out?

More often than not, I’m home no later than 7:30.  I’m happiest when I’m home by 6:30.  As impossible as it is to tell when I’m going to get home, I still get there.  If I get home first, I clean up and start/order dinner.  Once everyone is home, I take the time to hang with my family.  This goes until about 8:30.

Then I go back to work.  Only this time, it’s my dream job.  It’s the occupation I want to put on my tax form. (I do that now, but I’d like for my income to grow).

A Call to action:  My call to action book was On Writing by Stephen King.  I’ve recently read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.  Both books talk about a premise that I hold to be true.

If you want to be a writer, you should probably write.  I’ll blog about this at a later date.  Anyway, to write, you have to build a routine that works.  Some of you may disagree.  That’s fine.  This is just what works for me.

Step one:  Establish the Command Center

So when I go downstairs, I bring some diet soda and a few snacks.  I snuggle up in my chair and pull my table with my lap top right up against it, trapping me in what I call my Command Center.  You see, I grew up watching Voltron, and I liked the feel of having my chair lock me into my own version of a battle robot.  I’ve occasionally been heard making sound effects.  Don’t judge.

The term Command Center came from an old boss of mine.  He once told me, “You can’t win a war if your command center isn’t squared away.”  I hadn’t joined the Navy at the time, and he was a crusty old Sailor.  The term made a lot of sense to me.  I finish off the command center by making sure my 49ers blanket is wrapped around me in a cowl, my references are near to hand, and my distractions are literally out of reach.  I make sure I have a pen and something to scribble on is near by. So my command center is established when I’m locked in, everything I need is close to hand and everything I don’t need is out of reach.  The 9ers blanket is just because I love my team, and I like being warm.

Step two:  Clear the Distractions
This is a bit of a trick.  Before I understood the importance of social media, all I had to do was make sure the X-Box controller and remote controls were out of reach.  Social Media has made that harder.  I can’t focus if I think there’s other stuff to do.  I think very quickly, and if I think a problem is coming, or I need to handle something, I jump to fix it.  This takes me away from writing.  So I have to clear the virtual distractions, too, so I do my rounds.   I have a Facebook, WordPress, and Twitter account.  I do whatever sharing, following, and Tweeting I feel is necessary.  I check on my sales.  I check my emails.  I make sure I’ve addressed everything that can come up.

Step three:  Establish the Mission

So being in the military has given me an affection for being told what to do, even if I’m the only one giving orders. I COMMIT to what I’m going to do.  I PROMISE myself I’m going to achieve something, and every now and then, I promise myself a reward for meeting the mission goal (right now I reward myself by watching episodes of Naruto).  I’ll ORDER myself: “I WILL write 1,000 words” or “I will edit this chapter” or “I will write this blog.”  Then I offer my self reward.  I’ll say, “…and after I finish, I’ll watch ONE episode of Naruto,” or whatever I have to. NOTE:  It’s CRITICAL to me to be as strict with my reward as I am with my mission, otherwise I write one thing and watch TONS of Naruto.  That’s bad.  It’s a betrayal of my mission and a failure of my efforts.

Step four:  Clock in.

Lately, I’ll signal this by sending Quintessential Editor a quick message via Facebook saying, “Clocking in.”   We both know this isn’t an excuse.  It’s a commitment.  He knows I’m working.  He’ll usually tell me he’s working or how long he’ll be before he goes to work.  The point is, we’re professionals, who go to work.  We see our work as an occupation.  It’s not a hobby.  It’s not something we get around to.  It’s our job, and we have to do it.  We may only have to do it because we choose to, but the point is we’ve chosen to.  If you want to be a writer, write.  If you want to make money off your writing, treat it like the job you want to earn an income doing.  So I go to work, and I clock in.

Step five:  Meet the goal

Whatever objective I established for myself, I reach.  Sometimes, it’s fast.  For me, it’s fastest when I’m drafting and slowest when I’m editing.  That’s not to say there aren’t days when drafting is a pain.  Trust me:  The most important time to write is when you don’t feel like writing.  Now some disagree with me on this, but I have a few tips (which I’ll elaborate on in future blogs).

First…if what you’re trying to write isn’t working, write something else.  I have several projects going.  If Caught is really not working, I still work until I’ve met my objective, but I may take a different sort of break.  No, I don’t go to the digital water cooler and talk to Corey.  Instead, I shift gears to a different project.  Right now I’m drafting Images of Truth, world building Sojourn in Despair, reading something for my writers group or scanning 1,200.  Be wary.  If you ever want to be a PUBLISHED author.  You have to finish something.

I shift gears to another project only as long as it takes me to get a sense of momentum (more on this later).  Once the muse (I subscribe to King’s theory on the muse by the way.  I really do.) has had a chance to use the imaginary bathroom or finish his last beer (see “On Writing”), and I can hear him talking to me, I move back to my objective project.  I don’t take a break yet.  I won’t let distractions fool me into thinking I’ve actually done anything.  I finish the mission.  Again, I was trained as a Sailor.  I may have to take a break from photography or writing an article to stand watch or clean a compartment.  Those are important jobs too, but they’re not my main mission.

When I finish those collateral duties, I go back to work and finish the job I PROMISED myself I’d finish.  This is the hardest trick to figure out, especially if you’re someone like me who’s a fan of linear, one-at-a-time tasks.  But momentum is more important to me than anything.  The more I gain momentum, the easier it is for me to keep it.  If I stop, I’m hosed.  That’s all there is to it.

Once the juices are flowing, I step away from the side project (promising that said project will in time become my primary mission) and get to work on my current objective.  I knock it out.  Then I revel in whatever reward I’ve promised myself.  If I’m on a role, I let it ride until I feel like I’m forcing it.

Rinse.  Repeat.

I can’t do one thing for extreme periods of time.  I need to shift gears.  I’ve learned I work best with about an hour of productivity and 20-45 minutes of rest.  This is just what works for me.

On a good night, I get through about three rotations.  On a great night, I get through three rotations, and it’s not yet midnight.  That almost never happens, but it’s beautiful when it is.  If I’m particularly sleepy or drained, I only do one rotation.  But I ALWAYS do one rotation.  Midnight is a benchmark for me.  If I have more time, or I feel particularly energized, I push it.  I usually end up going to 1 or 2 in the morning.

Momentum is everything.  I know myself, and as an author, you need to know yourself.  Identify your resistance (if you subscribe to Pressfield’s dialogue).  For me, I know I WANT an excuse not to write.  I want an excuse to step away.  That’s why I have to establish my command center.  I make sure I don’t have the “excuse” to get up to find something I need.  That’s why I clear the distractions.  I make sure I don’t have the “excuse” that I’m worried I forgot something.  Etcetera.

The more I write, the more I will write.  The more I accomplish the more I will accomplish.  The consequences of stopping?  A few weeks back I had a terrible headache.  I took the night off.  Now it was the right thing.  My head hurt so bad I saw spots and couldn’t see very well.  My body said, “Matt, get some sleep, or I’ll PUT you to sleep.”  So I let myself turn in early (very early).  I was fine the next day, but I didn’t get anything done for about another week.  Even when stopping is the right thing to do, it totally derails my rhythm.

I don’t believe in writer’s block.  I believe people don’t have momentum, so they stop because they can’t get started.  When I say it that way, with brutal honesty, do you see how little sense that makes?  It may be a real thing, but I’ve never had it.  Maybe something wasn’t working, but the trick I mentioned above always gets me back on track.

My routine PROBABLY won’t work for you.  It’s mine.  Maybe some theories will work, but you have to find a routine that works for you.  I hope mine has given you a few ideas.  This routine has evolved over twenty years now.  It started when I read “On Writing” and learned the muse needs to know when to come by.  (roughly translated it means go to work when you say you will, or write at a consistent time.)  It evolved and evolved as I found more distractors or potholes on my road to success.  I think it’s pretty solid now as I’ve written six books, and I’m about to publish my second book.  The main point remains.

If you want to be a writer, you should be writing.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Origins: Two Moments That Changed My Life

My birthday has come and gone.  At least from your point of view as you read this.  It’s still to come from my point of view as I type it.  Which means we’re both time traveling in a way, and that’s awesome!  But that’s not what I’m talking about.  I read a blog from A Penny for my Thoughts the other day that reminded of a few things.  As my birthday was approaching, another tradition of mine made this a pretty great opportunity to talk about two very key moments in my life.

When I was about 8 years old, I saw my favorite movie for the first time.  Krull is the story of a man who must rescue his princess from a mountain castle that moves each time the sun rises.  I often say if anyone wants to understand me, watch that movie (and another I’ll mention briefly below).  It explains everything from my fear of spiders to my affinity for fiction.  It was quite formative for me as I think back.

I recently shared a video on Facebook talking about the Top 10 Fantasy Movie Weapons.  The cool weapon in my favorite movie was number eight.  I watch this movie and Valley of the Wind every year on my birthday.  It’s my way of feeling like a kid again.  So let me go back to those days…

As a boy, watching what has been my favorite movie ever since, I sat crying as my favorite character dies.  My biodad wasn’t a nice person in any stretch of the imagination.  He gave me a scoffing laugh and said, “If you don’t like it, write something better.”

You see, in my family, we don’t take kindly to challenges.  I had “small kid” syndrome, “picked on” syndrome, and a huge case of the ego, so when he threw down the gauntlet.  I picked it up.  I marched into the dining room, sat down and scribbled away some 10-plus pages of a sequel that explained how my favorite character did not, in fact, die.  I did not know what copyright infringement was.  I will of course also take full credit for creating the genre known as fan fiction.  You’re welcome.  (*Note…I probably didn’t invent fan fiction, but who can blame a guy for trying?)

(NOTE:  The years start to blend together.  I’m pretty sure this all happened my freshman year in high school, but there is a chance it happened in junior high.  I’m fairly certain it was high school, but in the interest of honesty and integrity, I felt the need to disclose that fact.  Aside from what year of school I was in, this story is accurate.)

I’ve been writing ever since.  I didn’t finish that sequel.  But I fell in love with storytelling.  It also gave me a love for attention.  Well, if I’m being completely honest with you, I’ve always loved the spotlight.  Which brings me to my Freshman year of High School.

I’m a proud graduate of Yuma High School.  I was number 35 on the football team, and let me tell you I single handedly kept the bench from harming any of the other players!  That first year though was quite an experience for me.  I was egotistical, arrogant and still getting over some adjustments in my life.  I was a little shit.  I actually planned out a series of skits and pranks to take over class.  I once interrupted finals for the semester by pretending my left hand came alive to kill me.  I had not yet seen Evil Dead 2.  The next semester, my English teacher  tried to do a lesson on metaphor using Star Trek: The Next Generation.  I, of course, made it my mission in life to correct her on every account and pretty much just continued to make an ass of myself.

So the funny thing is that teacher had every right to do anything from give me detention to enforce stronger behavioral medications.  She didn’t do either of those things.  Despite the fact that I was indeed a trouble-making instigator, the records for both high school and junior high school say I was a model student.

I was so unruly, that this teacher put her faith in the other 20-something 14-year-old freshmen in the class more than one of me.  She’d stop class whenever I started, um, drawing attention to myself.  She’d take me for walks.  She’d ask about my day.  She’d ask how I was.  She invested in me.  Then she asked what I wanted.  I said I wanted to be a writer.  So she made me a deal.  If I kept my work and grades up (which was never a problem), I could write my first book during class, and she’d read it.

So there I was a kid crying out for help in all the wrong ways, and she heard me.  I’m such a horrible human being, I don’t even remember her name, but I’ll never forget she gave me a shot.  I never finished that book either, though I still actually have what I did write of it.  She gave fuel to a passion I’d already fired up to a substantial degree.

Not too many years later I’d become a substitute teacher.  I ran into that teacher’s husband while subbing at a local high school.  He knew me on site.  I apologized for being the worst human ever, and told him how much of an impact his wife had on me.

Now I’m a teacher.  I’m a writer.  Even better!  I teach about writing.  Those two events had such an impact on me.  At work, I tend to gravitate to those students who aren’t doing well.  I’m excited for those with high potential, but I want to be the guy who helps students who could make it, if only they had the same chance my teacher gave me those many years ago.  I write fantasy books because I want people to feel that same sense of wonder and I I feel every time I watch those two movies.

Life is funny in the way that it shapes a person.  I have a pretty sharp memory.  These are the ones that I tend to focus on.  One stokes that competitive fire in me.  The other memory refuels my passion to be patient and teach even when I have every right to punish.  Don’t let that fool you.  There are a great many MCs out in the Navy that will tell you how quick I am to hold people accountable.  That’s true.  I’ll never be as patient or understanding as that teacher of mine was.  Also, I teach young adults, not high school students.  I’d like to think, however, that even when I hold a student accountable, I still look to correct the issue.

I thought I’d share those little stories.  What moments helped shape who you are?  What people influenced you most in your life?  Don’t be afraid to share in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Matt