by Joe Bunting |
I’m not the biggest fan of driving. Once I hop into the car; the road needs my undivided attention, my heart beats anxiously, and I fear the busy traffic around me. Still, I know it’s a fact of life that I need to drive, so I do it.
I also drive because I know the importance of practice.
Driving a car is much like the art of writing. It takes a lot of practice transform our weaknesses into our strengths. You don’t become a safe and confident driver overnight, you have to practice, practice, and practice some more.
Let me illustrate my point by explaining why I now have an embarrassing scratch on the back of my car.
by Joe Bunting |
A friend of mine is in the middle of writing a short story and he wants to give up. He has 2,000 words and none of it makes sense. He doesn’t know what he’s writing about. He doesn’t know why he’s writing in the first place. He’s lost faith.
Have you ever felt like this? I know I have.
How do you finish when you want to give up? How do you push through when you don’t know what you’re story is about?
by Joe Bunting |
Have you ever thought about becoming a writer? If you’re like me and most of my readers, you probably have. But even if you haven’t, you should think about it.
Writing has done more for my life than I could have ever imagined. It has made me a better person, a better friend, and a better husband. It has even helped me to provide for myself and my family. And it can do the same for you, too.
Here are five reasons why you should consider becoming a writer:
by Joe Bunting |
How do you get your writing finished and complete your deadlines in the midst of a frenetic, distracting world? How do you break away from Facebook, Twitter, blog posts, and the other perils of the internet and just write?
We’d all like to live more focused, whole lives, but how do you actually do that?
Today, I’m interviewing author Joanna Penn to find out. Joanna Penn is the author of the ARKANE thrillers, Pentecost and Prophecy. She is also an entrepreneur and professional speaker. Her site for writers The Creative Penn has been voted one of the Top 10 sites for writers two years running and offers articles, audio, and video on writing, publishing and book marketing. To learn more about her fiction, visit her fiction website, JFPenn.com. You can also connect with her on Twitter (@thecreativepenn).
by Joe Bunting |
Today we’re finally announcing the winner of the Let’s Write a Short Story contest. We had seventy-five entries to this contest, which is a new high, and the judges and I had a lot of fun reading through all your wonderful stories.
However, if you want to select a winner, you end up creating a lot of not-winners. I understand what it’s like to be a not-winner (which is different from being a loser, I think). Just yesterday I got another rejection from a literary magazine. I’ve been sticking them to my fridge, which is slowly getting covered by them. But this is what you have to do to succeed.
Instead of measuring how many times you’re published, measure rejections. Instead of trying to get everyone to like your stories, get as much feedback about how to improve your stories as you can. Don’t justify how good you are. Try to get better. If you do this for long enough, you will succeed.
