My Writing Journey

So here we are again

2009-09-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

So here we are again, after nearly ten months without posting anything.
I've recently joined an online critique group. I'm glad I was warned ahead of time that some of the people in it were very forthright in their critiques, but isn't that the best kind of criticism to pay attention to if you want to improve? The first submission I sent was the first part of my NaNo from last year. It pretty much got hammered, but most of my fellow writers said the same things, so I need to pay attention to what they said. I'm also still in my monthly Sunday critique group, and I've been taking the same material there that I've submitted online. The Sunday group has liked the piece better and have not been as, well, critical. I need to combine what both groups have said while doing rewrites. Of course in the end, it's up to me, the writer, what stays and what goes.
I see enough potential in the story to toss it and mark it up to part of my writing apprenticeship. I can also see that the first draft plus limited revisions I've made might prove to serve only as an outline for subsequent drafts.
I'm listening to Stephen King's "On Writing" again. It's reminded me that I watch too much TV, especially if I want to improve in my writing. As he says, I have to "read a lot and write a lot." the new TV season has just started and I can't afford to get sucked into watching show after show. That's a luxury I can't afford. The next books I want to read are "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," King's "It," and others that slip my mind at the moment.
Back to the online group. It takes more time than I thought it would to critique others' work. It'll be worth it in the long run though. Getting back two or three or four good critiques is worth the time it takes to critique two or three others. I'm still working two jobs, but if and when I'm able to scale back to one job I'll be able to do more in critiquing others and writing more myself. It's a little after 9 AM Saturday morning as I write this. I have to be at Publix from 1 PM until 10 PM tonight, so that gives me less than two hours free time when taking into account getting ready for work and taking a short nap.
I'm trying to decide if I want to do the NaNo again this year. My inclination is to say yes, but I'm not sure yet.
Stephen King is going to be at a book signing in Atlanta on November 13. I'm hoping to get to go, but won't know until November 6. The bookstore where he'll be will be accepting email requests for tickets on that day. I'll be sending one a minute after midnight leading into the 6th.

Across the NaNo finish line

2008-12-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

I hit the 50,000 word mark in this year's National Novel Writing Month with an hour and a half to spare. The first draft isn't complete and there are some holes to fill, but all that matters in NaNoWriMo is getting to the 50K mark by midnight on Novemeber 30. I'll finish the the first draft in December. I'm mulling over possible endings in my mind.
So now I have 2 50,000 word NaNo novels, but of which need to be edited. I've found the first draft is fun, after that it is work! But nothing that stops with the first draft will ever get published. So looks like I have more work ahead of me.

NaNoWriMo 2008

2008-11-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

Today is November 24, and to make it to 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month I have to write 17,000 more words in the next 7 days, including today. I won't have time to write today or Wednesday, so that leaves 5 days. That means an average of 3,400 words a day. That's a lot. We'll see if I can get away with being a recluse while out of town for Thanksgiving.

On a much more somber note, I lost my mom on November 10. She will be greatly missed.

Another long stretch between posts

2008-10-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it wasn't five months between posts this time - only a little over three.
I've started going to a writer's group that meets once a month. The group has been critiquing a short story I wrote a year or two ago and has given me great feedback and suggestions for it. After the next meeting and a lot of edits I'll start sending it out to potential markets for publication.
One of the two stories I mentioned in my last post grew to over 12,000 words and should end up being book length, but it's on hiatus for the time being.
NaNoWriMo starts in a month. I'm going to sign up for it again even though I don't have the time. Even if I don't get to 50,000 words it'll be good for me to have specific objectives and I found last year that I don't waste as much time when I have a November 30 deadline. I've got an idea brewing in my head to write about and will do a little research over the next couple of weeks to see if my idea is viable.
I didn't get into Harry Potter 5 yet, but since the movie for 6 has been delayed until next summer, I should still be able to read 5 and 6 before the movie for 6 is released.

Last few months...

2008-06-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I my last post to this blog was in January. I went a couple of months having no job, a few weeks having one job, and for the last six weeks or so have been working two jobs - one full time and one part time.
I haven't written much of anything - mainly one short story which early critiques convinced me to shelve. I'm in the early stages of two stories, at least one of which could easily develop into book-length.
As far as reading, I started on the Harry Potter series in February and am nearing the end of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I have to divide what little free time I have between reading and writing, so it's slow going even though the Potter series is a fun and easy read. At least I should be through book six by the time the movie comes out in November.
For audio books I'm back to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and am currently listening to On Writing again, I think because it's inspirational for me.
Hopefully there won't be five months between posts this time.

New Stuff in a New Year

2008-01-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

I'm going through significant changes in my life as 2008 begins. My wife and I are preparing to move to the Birmingham area and I'm looking for a new job. 2007 was full of surprises; some good and some not so good. 2008 will be a year of getting back on level ground in many areas.
I haven't written much since finishing the NaNo. I've tried to keep reading, though. I read Tess Gerritsen's The Surgeon over the course of 3 days, which is almost unheard of for me, and am now reading Stephen King's Misery. Both books are excellent, even though I am only halfway through Misery. The movie was very good, but the book blows it away. I saw a video of Mr. King on YouTube where he emphasized the importance of aspiring writers continuing to read. At least I'm doing something right!
Hopefully and prayerfully we'll be set in Birmingham within 2 or 3 weeks. I'm looking forward to returning to a sense of normalcy over the next few months. As that happens, I believe I'll be able to get back in stride with my writing.

Pillars of the Earth

2007-12-29T10:07:00.000-08:00

A friend highly recommended a book called "Pillars of the Earth" a few months ago and I decided to listen to it on my iPod. After my NaNo in November needed a mental break from thinking about plotlines and characters as I drove to work. If I would've picked up "Pillars" from a bookstore shelf and started in on it, I would've put it down after a while. It's around 900 pages and the audio book is 40 hours long, whereas most are 15 to 20. I kept on listening since my friend raved about it so much. Now I'm well over halfway through it and am glad I didn't quit listening to it. The author, Ken Follett, does a tremendous job of weaving a complex tale of building a cathedral in twelfth century England.
I don't usually outline my stories very deeply, but have seen in "Pillars" how an outline could be of great benefit, provided I could stick to one. Stephen King, my favorite author, doesn't use outlines on his first drafts and he has written thousand page books that have been interesting throughout. I guess that proves that every author has his/her unique style. I like to know where I'm going in a story, either a short story or a 50,000 word NaNo, by the time I'm halfway through it. I just don't usually know how I'll get there.
I'll read more of Ken Follett's books in the future, as I will Stephen King's. I could do worse than to emulate aspects of writing from both of them.

NaNoWriMo part 3

2007-12-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

I completed my NaNoWriMo novel on the evening of November 29 - one day ahead of the deadline. During Thanksgiving week I fell behind on my word count several thousand words. On the Friday and Saturday of that week I caught up a little while sitting in Barnes and Noble in Hoover, Alabama for a few hours at a time. Then I averaged 3,000 words a day for four days to finish it. Prior to November I don't think I had ever written 3,000 words in a day. My highest word-count day during NaNoWriMo was 4,800. The whole thing was great fun and I hope to do it again next year.
I was alligned with the Birmingham, Alabama NaNo region and a lot of folks there also hit the 50,000 word goal. One person wrote 20,000 words in the last four days. I was floored by that.
Now I need to edit at least two short stories and get them sent to prospective publishers and edit and revise a novel I completed the first draft on in October. I also need to catch up on a lot of reading, since I was writing in November in times I would otherwise be reading. Several of my favorite authors have new books out - Tess Gerritsen, Patricia Cornwell, and others. If I ever get to write full time maybe I'll finally have time to read as much as I'd like to.

NaNoWriMo part 2

2007-11-12T07:49:00.000-08:00

We're 12 days into November and I'm still on track on my 30 day novel, barely. I was a couple of days ahead of my daily quota until last week when when I had other obligations for a few days, but as of last night I caught up to where I needed to be. 4,000 words in one day is my highest one day tally ever. My only problem, or should I say challenge, is that I don't know exactly what happens after what I'll write today. I'll hit 20,000 words later today.
I finished my judging responsibilities last week. It took more time than I originally thought, but I'm glad I did it. I saw stories from beginning writers as well as a few from writers who had obviously been honing their craft for a while. My hat's off to all of them. People put a lot of hard work into getting manuscripts ready for submission to contests. All of them showed great potential.
I received my 2 copies of The Petigru Review, this year's South Carolina Writers Workshop anthology, last week. It was nice to see another one of my stories in print. Two friends from the Columbia 1 chapter of that organization recently critiqued a short story I finished a couple of months ago. After the NaNoWriMo is complete I'll edit the short story and send it to a few prospective publishers.

NaNoWriMo

2007-10-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

November is National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) . This year is my first time to participate in this crazy event which consists of writing the first draft of a 50,000 word (about 175 pages) novel in one month. Quantity of work, not necessarily quality, is what counts. It'll take me an average of around 2 hours each day, which means most Saturdays will be spent in front of a computer to catch up if I get behind any during the week. I've got an idea for a story in mind and hope to flesh it out more over this weekend.
I had planned on being at the annual writers conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina this weekend but things didn't work out that way. Instead I'll finish the first draft of a novel I started several years ago (it began as a stand-alone short story but everyone who read it wanted to know what happened next) and judge some short stories for a contest from north Alabama. This is my first time to be a judge so I hope I do a good job.

Another birthday and writing longhand

2007-09-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

Since I mentioned Stephen King's birthday in my last entry, I would be remiss if I didn't add that today is William Faulkner's birthday since he is the favorite writer of one of my author friends in South Carolina. Faulkner was born 110 year ago. And no, I'm not going to start using this blog to keep track with every famous author's birthday.
I've been writing longhand several evenings lately and now am revising and typing one of the stories. It takes about the same length of time for me to type as it does to write longhand so I need to weigh my rationale. I might just jot notes longhand then flesh them out on the keyboard. In any event, I've been in more of a set pattern in writing over the last couple of weeks than I have been in a long time. I just need to keep it up.

A notable birthday

2007-09-21T05:26:00.000-07:00

Stephen King turns 60 today. Like him or not, you can't ignore the fact that he has sold more novels over the last 30 years than anyone else on the planet. ( I didn't research this but feel it is a safe assumption.) J.K. Rowling has sold more copies of single titles with her Harry Potter series, but Mr. King has more total sales. That's quite an accomplishment for someone whose first eventually published novel (Carrie) had its beginnings rescued from the garbage can by his wife.

Happy Birthday sai King!
Long days and pleasant nights.

All over the place

2007-08-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

I've noticed my writing style tends to be all over the place, as far as genres go. I've written a lot more stories than I've sent out. Many of my favorite authors write crime/whodunit books. But when I've tried short stories of this genre, they're usually lacking something. One or two of my horror stories are decent, as well as a couple of my "down-home life in the country" stories. Yup, quite a difference there. I've never tried writing comedy even though I think I have a pretty good, albeit dry, sense of humor. I've tried a few mystery short stories, and several involving dreams. I've just started a mystery that I think could turn out pretty good. We'll see.
Sometimes when I write something I finish it just so I can say I completed something. Occasionally as I'm working on a story I think it's better than most of my other stuff. Several stories from a few years back might be worth re-working; one of two in particular.
Pretty soon I'll be living out of suitcases for a few months (long story). I'm not sure if I'll have a laptop in that time so I've just started writing longhand again. I've heard that J.K.Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series in longhand, at least to begin with, and Stephen King wrote part of a book that way, too (I want to say Dream Catcher), while recuperating from the accident that almost killed him a few years ago. He's written in several genres (not just horror) and has done quite well in all of them, so maybe there's hope for me!

A good week!

2007-07-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

Two days ago I found out I'd be able to attend this year's South Carolina Writers Workshop (SCWW) annual conference in October. http://www.myscww.org/2007_conference.htm . I had a great time at last year's conference, as seen in previous blog postings, but wasn't sure if I'd have a repeat trip this year. Thankfully circumstances worked out in my favor (long story), so now it appears I'll be there. That alone was GREAT news, but the week has gotten even better.
Yesterday I found out one of stories will be published in "The Petigru Review," the anthology of the SCWW! This news is great motivation and encouragement for me to keep writing at every opportunity.
I've got another story almost ready to submit and am back to work on a novel that has been dormant for a while. And I've come to think I'll always be working on a short story or two.

Don’t let “what ifs” drag you down

2007-06-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

“I wish I would’ve started writing when I was in high school.”
“I wish I would’ve read more when I was younger.”
These and similar thoughts have gone through my mind many times since I started writing short stories several years ago.
Sure, it would be great to have thirty years of fiction experience and a few published novels at this point in my life, but I can’t turn back the calendar. If I live in the land of “if only” or “what if” it will only serve to stagnate my progress as a writer. I can’t let writing/reading inactivity in the past hold me back in the present or the future. I’ve gotta write today from where I am today as a writer.
There’s no shortcut to getting better as a writer. Whether I’m 16, 46, or 70, I have to read a lot, and write a lot. Then I have to revise a lot, and keep submitting stories.

Key moments in a fledging writing career

2007-06-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it's been a long time since my last entry. A lot of stuff has happened lately that I can't get into right now. My writing has slowed down a lot, but have I given up on it? Never!

Here are a few thoughts I've had lately concerning writing.

I thought about writing short stories for several years before I ever put anything on paper. I even bought Writer’s Digest magazine a few times. Then in one issue of it I saw an ad for a writer’s correspondence course. I decided to go ahead and try it. I took their test and enrolled in a course from Long Ridge Writers Institute. That got the ball rolling.
A couple of years later when I lived in Montgomery , Alabama , an issue of WD had an interview with Stephen King, whom I had never read. I enjoyed what he said so went out and bought his book “On Writing – A Memoir of the Craft.” That book is still my favorite book about writing. I’ve read it several times and King is now my favorite author.
A couple of years after that, while living in Columbia , SC , I saw another ad in WD, this one for a writers conference in Myrtle Beach . The ad had a web link for the South Carolina Writers Workshop. Thanks to that ad I started attended a critique group that helped me tremendously. Even though I live in Alabama again I communicate with folks from the critique group regularly and am looking forward to attending this year’s conference.

I Wish I Was Hosey Hitchcock

2007-04-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

Mickey Burriss, a friend from South Carolina, has just had a story called "I Wish I Was Hosey Hitchcock" published by Blue Cubicle press - in a stand-alone chapbook. Way to go Mickey! You can order a copy at http://www.workerswritejournal.com/overtime.htm .

I finally wrapped up the first draft of a story this week that I've been working on for a few months, off and on. I'll let it rest a couple of weeks while I edit a story I finished the first draft of in January. It's a continuation of a story published in last year's Catfish Stew (mentioned in a previous post). My next publishing goal is to get these two stories tightened up and send them out to prospective publishers.

I had an article published this week - if you can count a letter to the editor in the Selma Times-Journal. The STJ ran a short article on Anne Rice's newest book (around 2 years old) in last Sunday's edition and I sent an email to the writer. She replied and asked if she could publish it.

Is anyone there?

2007-02-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

I have no idea if anyone besides me has read this blog yet. Either way I'll keep adding to it.
If you should happen to run across it, drop me an email at dsurrett@yahoo.com. I won't give your name or email to anyone else.
I occasionally enter the names of old friends in a Google or Yahoo search and sometimes find news about people from my past. Am I the only one who does that?

Long Live the iPod!

2007-02-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post.
My story to The First Line didn't make the cut but this time the rejection said "Fun read, David. Submit again" or something to that effect. I've looked at the line for the next issue and I'll submit one or two stories for it.
I visited a critique group in a city 90 miles away yesterday. Its structure is different from the group in South Carolina, but I enjoyed it. I'll keep going to it if they extend an invitation. I took two pieces of flash fiction (1,000 words or less) I've written over the last few weeks. They liked one of them pretty well and thought the other needed a lot of work, which goes along with my feelings toward the stories.
An idea for a novella or possibly novel has hit me during the last week. I need to jot a few notes for it and finish a story I started a few months ago that's over 10,000 words.
My iPod has been a lifesaver on my commute to and from work everyday. The latest books I've listened to are "The Talisman" by Stephen King, "Fear Nothing" by Dean Koontz, "Lisey's Story" by Stephen King, and I'm currently listening to "Black Notice" by Patricia Cornwell. Next on the hit parade will be sequels to all of the above except "Lisey's Story."

A Little Progress (Finally!)

2007-01-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

After thinking about story progressions and writing a little when I could, I finally finished the first drafts of two stories this week. After I make revisions and get some friends to make suggestions I'll send them out in hopes of getting them published.
One of them was written for www.thefirstline.com. They have a quarterly publication where each story begins with a pre-determined first line.
The other one is an extension of a short story that was published in Catfish Stew. It's grown from 1,750 words to 14,500. I think it's got a chance to find a publication that will accept it.
I've decided I'm going to stay up late at least one night a week to get in more writing. I'll drink extra coffee on the succeeding days to try to stay awake. If I only write when it's convenient and never push myself, I'm not very serious about it. Hopefully it'll help me take the next step in becoming the writer I want to be.
Thanks to my new iPod and a membership at audible.com I've been able to listen to more audio books over the last few weeks. As every successful author says, if you want to be a successful writer, you have to write a lot, and read a lot.
I'm still waiting to hear if I've won an iPod with all of Michael Connelly's books loaded on it. That would be awesome! (and I don't use that word very often).

Happy Birthday to Me!

2006-12-14T19:25:00.000-08:00

Yes, I turned 46 today. My wife is out of town so I didn't do too much out of the ordinary. I was able to write just over 1100 words tonight, though, which is pretty good for me as of late.
One of my writing friends who is retired tells me I shouldn't worry about writing, as busy as my schedule is. (I leave home just after 5 AM during the week and get home anywhere from 5 to 8 PM.) I appreciate his wanting me to not push myself, but writing has to become more of a discipline in my life if I want to improve. My ultimate goal, same as thousands of other authors, is to be able to leave the treadmill of a 'regular job,' whatever animal that might be, and support myself writing. I don't want to have to work outside the house until I'm 67 or even 62. In order to cut the next 21 years of work down by a few years, I have to become a better writer. And how does one improve one's writing? Read a lot, and write a lot. No shortcuts allowed.
My writing friends who are kind enough to critique my revised first drafts are going to receive more requests from me in the coming days to look over longer stories. Mickey, Bill, and Hope, thanks again for helping me get better!

Here, there, everywhere

2006-12-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

Here, there, everywhere. That's where I seem to be in my writing sometimes. I'm bad about starting a story, writing a few hundred or even a few thousand words, and getting bogged down without taking it any further. I've decided to complete at least two of the current three stories I'm working on before beginning anything new. Well, maybe I'll just jot a few notes if a really good idea pops into my mind.
"Good Will Hunting" is on TV as I write this. Movies don't often inspire me in specific ways more than a few hours, or maybe even a few minutes, but "Good Will Hunting" and "October Sky" are exceptions. A few years ago after watching one of them I decided to go back to school for a Computer and Information Sciences degree. I wasn't able to finish the program and get the degree, but the courses I took eventually helped me get my current job.
I had thought about writing short stories off and on for several years without ever moving on the idea. After watching the other of the two movies listed above I decided to take a writing course from Long Ridge Writers Institute, which gave me the foundation for all the writing I've done since.
I'm not sure which movie inspired me to go back to school and which inspired me to write, and it doesn't really matter. But they will always stick out in my mind as being important.
Inspiration can come from anywhere. You can never tell when someone or something will change the course of your life, so be mindful to always be on the lookout.

More from the Conference...

2006-11-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

The Keynote speaker at the conference was Tess Gerritsen. That's her in the picture with me.
Cathy Pickens was another author I was privileged to meet. She writes mysteries and has a great sense of humor. I picked up her award winning book Southern Fried this afternoon and will start reading it this weekend.
I'm updating this blog late Thursday night and have Friday off for Veterans' Day and hope to get some serious writing done over the next few days for the first time since the conference. Ain't it the pits when work interferes with writing?

SCWW Annual Conference

2006-10-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I attended the annual conference hosted by the South Carolina Writers Workshop, of which I'm a member. It was great! Congratulations go to Dottie, Craig, and the rest of the large crew who organized the event.
I'll post a picture or two in a few days and tell more about the conference. Suffice it to say that with speakers like Tess Gerritsen (NYTimes Best Selling Author) and Ted Tally (screenwriter of Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, consultant on Shrek 2 and 3) it was an informative and entertaining time. Marcia Preston, Cathy Pickens, and other authors as well as numerous agents and editors conducted fantastic workshops. I hate to leave anyone out but I'll list more of the speakers when I have time to post a longer blog.
I'm already planning on going next year. For me, it's a no-brainer.

Updated Website

2006-10-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

I've finally updated my website - www.davidsurrett.com. It has 3 of my short stories and a few other things, including links to some of my favorite authors.
One week from now I should be on my way to South Carolina for the conference. It's difficult to concentrate at work, but I've gotta hang in there for a few more days!

A Slow Week for Writing

2006-09-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

The combination of my daytime job and responsibilities at home have made this a very slow week of writing for me. I got a little done on two stories I'm working on, but not much. I hope to have time to get more done next week.
Only two and a half weeks until I go to Myrtle Beach, SC for the annual South Carolina Writers Workshop Conference. It'll be good to see friends from the SCWW chapter I attended the last few months before moving back to Alabama earlier this year. I've gotta remember to bring my camera to get pictures of myself with a couple of famous authors. Speaking of which...
I'm most of the way through Tess Gerritsen's "The Mephisto Club." It's a great murder mystery with a continuation of characters from several of her previous books.
This isn't exactly a Pulitzer-winning blog entry, but I figured I need to add at least a paragraph or two once a week.

Good News for 2 Friends

2006-09-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

While I'm waiting for some of my work to get published it's always nice to hear about friends who have had better luck than I have lately.
Mickey Burriss recently had an article published in a magazine put out by the major South Carolina electric co-op, so his work will be in front of over a quarter million people!
Louis Gruber has just had a story published on-line at http://www.daikaijuzine.com .
Mickey has a great down-home voice and Louis comes up with some great bizarre story lines.
I'm very fortunate to have good friends who are writers.

Still no word from a story I submitted in early July. The on-line publication said, "If you don't hear from us within two months send us an email." I'm still waiting to hear from the email.
I'm just finishing up Stephen King's "On Writing" for the fourth time. Also waiting to hear from Writers Digest about their 2006 Annual Competition.
Meanwhile I've started a short story and one that will probably be a novella, maybe 20,000 words.

Random thoughts

2006-09-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

A couple more rejections have come my way lately. I'm disappointed, of course, but I'll go over the stories again and submit them elsewhere. I think they're at least halfway decent.
I finished Stephen King's Gunslinger/Dark Tower series a couple of days ago. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read or listen to the books. It's an excellent tale. King made the characters real to his long-time readers.
Just six weeks or so until I go to the writers conference in Myrtle Beach, SC. I feel like a kid anticipating Christmas but looking at the calendar and seeing it's not even Thanksgiving yet.
More later.

As Roland of Gilead would say, "Long days and pleasant nights."

Itching to write

2006-08-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

I'm still a novice writer based on how many stories I've had published, but I have this internal urging almost every day that I need to be writing something. Some days, thanks to a long work day, I don't get the chance. At this point I can't afford (literally) to write too much at work. I want to write full-time someday, but I want it to be on my timing.

I've got one novel in the works that some of my writers group, which is 440 miles away, has seen, and one that no one has seen. That's mainly because the first half of it is on 100 handwritten pages in a notebook. And who's got time to transcribe that much?

For me the easy part is writing the first draft. After that I let it set for a few days or weeks, go over it again, and email it to one or two of three friends who are gracious enough to critique and edit stories for me. Then comes the tedious process of adding, or more often, subtracting words, lines, or paragraphs. Ideas for new stories usually pop in my head while I'm in the revision process. So which do I do? Edit? Start with a fresh idea? Both? D - all of the above.

The next part is my weakest stage - finding a market and submitting my work. Occasionally I have a contest in mind when writing, but more often than not I've let manuscripts from 1,000 to 20,000 words sit around without ever giving them a chance to be accepted or rejected.

I need to win the lottery so I can write like I want to. Me and about a million other writers.

Who I Read

2006-08-12T21:27:00.000-07:00

I've heard it said many times there are two things a writer must do - write a lot, and read a lot.
I have long work days (I'm not a full-time writer - yet) and am not able to read or write as much as I would like to, but I'm usually reading one or two books.

I just finished Tess Gerritsen's "Harvest" and recently read her book "Vanish." They are both excellent. "Vanish" was the first thing of hers I've ever read, but she is now on my "must read" list.
I'm also reading "The Dark Tower" by Stephen King. I'm on the seventh of seven volumes. I've just gotten back into after putting it aside for a while. I feel like I've been on the journey to the Tower as long as Roland and his ka-tet. If you've read the books, you understand.

My other favorite authors are Michael Connelly, John Grisham, and Patricia Cornwell.
I'm about to get a book by JA Konrath, and from what I've seen of his work so far, his name will likely be added to the above list.

I read thrillers, suspense, mystery, courtroom, etc., and watch TV shows like "Law and Order" (all of 'em) and CSI. And surprise, surprise, a lot of the stories I write are mysteries, suspense, etc. Hopefully in time, some will be published.