Category Archives: Writing

Bible study, self-publishing, Writing

Editing Shows The Problems

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Anxious to move forward with this, but initial editing suggests it’s not as far along as I thought it was.

On Thursday, I began the editing process on A Walk Through Holy Week, Part 1: To Jerusalem. On this editing pass, I’m doing this using Word’s Read Aloud feature. Thursday was the Introduction, Friday Chapter 1, and Saturday Chapter 2.

The more I use this feature, the more impressed I am with it. The computer-generated voice is pleasant, with few pronunciation errors. Wrong words really stand out. You can stop the reading, make the needed edit, and hop right back into the reading, all with just a few clicks. It probably takes a little more time than simply reading aloud myself, but I think it does better at catching the silly little errors we tend to read through without recognition. For example, in one sentence I meant to use “head” but instead typed “dead”. I’m not sure I would have caught that reading aloud, but did using my friendly editing lady.

Alas, what I found on Chapter 1, while listening to my computer read it, was that it seems to have a lot of repetition. I noticed the same thing in Chapter 2. In fact, Chapter 2 may be worse than Chapter 1 in the repetition department.

I say “alas” because, when I wrote these chapters back in October, they seemed really good to me. Now, not so much. Once I go through the whole book using the computer reader, I will have to go through again with slow, careful reading.

I suppose that’s to be expected. Something that goes down on paper (or pixels) fast is probably not all that good. I’m not sure what this does to my timeline for the book, but a delay to make it better is better than a rush to publish.

The first editing pass ought to be ready in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. At that time I ought to have a better idea of what my further editing and publishing schedule will be.

 

books, miscellaneous, Writing

An Introvert and An Extrovert…

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Where the extrovert goes to talk, and the introvert goes to read.

An introvert and an extrovert walk into…let’s make it a coffee house rather than a bar. They are not together but arrive at the door at the same time. The extrovert pulls open the door and holds it for the introvert, who says thank you. They stand in line together, get their coffee at about the same time. The coffee shop is kind of crowded,  with almost all tables having someone at them, so the extrovert says, “Let’s sit together at that empty table.”

The introvert has a book under his arm, and was obviously hoping for a quiet time of reading and sipping his large house blend, but doesn’t want to be rude, and so says, “Sure.” They sit together and the extrovert keeps up a steady conversation between occasional sips of his latte. The introvert says little. He has placed his book on the table, hoping the extrovert sees it and recognizes what the introvert wants.

Fortunately, before their coffees get cold, the extrovert sees a friend enter the shop, excuses himself, and goes to the newly arrived friend. The introvert heaves a sigh of relief, picks up his book, and begins to read.

Is this a realistic scenario?  To me, who sits well out on the introverted side of the spectrum, it seems about right. I’m obviously not an unbiased observer.

But it seems to me that the introvert sees an extrovert and, rather than say, “Why can’t you be more like me, just keeps to himself and lets the extrovert do his thing.

Coffee, a book, and solitude when you want it or community when you want that. The introvert’s life.

But the extrovert, encountering the introvert, not only says, “Why can’t you be more like me,” and then sets out to convert the introvert to the extrovert’s ways, insisting he join a group of six other extroverts for community.

Am I right on this, or am I being too harsh on the extrovert, or perhaps not understanding the extrovert at all?

At a literary agency blog that I follow, the post this week had to do with ways and means of marketing our books, but slipped in this statement:

A high percentage of writers are introverts, yet even they crave community…just on their own terms.

And I thought ain’t that the truth?

You ask what’s the point of this post? Maybe nothing. Perhaps I’ll print it out on cardstock half-size sheets, carry them with me, and the next time an extrovert tries to draw me out in a coffee shop, hand him or her a copy.

writer's platform, Writing

A Writers’ Conference Weekend

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I joined a local Bella Vista writers’ group in early 2023 as a dues-paying member. Alas, the group decided to fold mid-year. Well, technically, we merged with a larger group, the Ozarks Writer’s League, O.W.L. That happened in June. Part of O.W.L. membership includes attending attendance at two conferences, a spring and a fall. Since the merger came after the spring conference, it included the fall conference this year. And, since we had timeshare points to use or lose, the only cost was getting from NW Arkansas to Branson.

The conference was good. It included a social time Friday evening, at which I met a few new people and got reacquainted with some I hadn’t seen for year or had only “met” at on-line meetings. The main conference was Saturday, a day of classes and meeting people and trying to sell a few books—emphasis on “few”.

The classes were good. One on screenwriting (which doesn’t interest me, but the class was good). One on point of view, which is something I can always know more about. One on marketing, which was of the most interest to me. And a panel discussion on alternative ways of earning money from writing.

About 45 people attended, so it’s a smallish conference. But the price was right, even for non-members. Members could reserve a table to set up books to sell, and I did that. As I said, sales were few, but that’s to be expected. Writers are not my target audience. I didn’t get to talk with most of the others who had books for sale, so I don’t know if anyone did better than I did.

I’m glad I went, and glad I could do so inexpensively. Will I do so? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on where I am in my writing endeavors in the next year.

Bible study, Christianity, Documenting America, Writing

Switching Writing Gears

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As I mentioned in previous posts, not long ago I was hot and heavy into writing a new volume in my Documenting America series. It was an interesting project. I did the research on it back in 2020-21, but laid the project aside while other things occupied my attention. The writing was easier than I expected, and I finished writing it on September 22, eight days earlier than my goal. I’m now editing the chapters (2/3 done) and posting chapters to Kindle Vella twice a week. That process will play out slowly for the rest of 2023.

The next project I had planned to write was my Bible study, A Walk Through Holy Week. The plan for this, which I settled on late last year, was for it to be eight volumes, each between 30,000 and 50,000 words. As of right now, it’s half done.

Alas, I started the project two years ago with Volume 4, and moved on through Volumes 5, 6, and 7. In February-April next year, I’ll be co-teaching Volume 8 in adult Sunday school class and will write that volume simultaneously with the teaching. Thus, I have Volumes 1, 2, and 3 to go back and fill in.

I was tempted to go ahead and publish what I have done, meaning Volume 4, then follow rapidly with the other parts. But when I thought more about it, I decided no, it was better to publish the whole series beginning with Volume 1, and then consecutively thereafter. So as I saw my history book project drawing to a close, I knew I had to schedule AWTHW next.

This switching from political-history writing to Bible study had me concerned. What kind of progress would I make? Could I change course so dramatically and be effective?

I began working on the new project last week, while we were at our daughter and son-in-law’s house in Texas. All I completed was the Introduction. Then on Wednesday this week, back home in Bella Vista, I got to work in earnest in my regular writing routine—in the Dungeon, starting early in the morning.

Wednesday, I wrote the first section of Chapter 1 and a paragraph of section two. Each chapter will have seven sections, corresponding to seven daily readings in a week. Thursday, I wrote the next three sections of Ch 1. Thus, four sections are written. At that pace, or something close to it, I’ll finish Ch 1 this week and be ready for Ch 2 next week, and hopefully some of Ch 3.

That is a writing rate that will see my goal of November completion met.

Another thing I’m doing with it, as a trial. Is reading the prior one or two days of writing at the start of my writing section. In other words, edit as I go. I’m doing that for two reasons. First, it ought to make the final editing/proofreading less onerous at the end of the project. Second, it should help me better remember where I left off the prior writing session, which in turn ought to help propel me on the new day of writing.

So that’s the plan. I already have a mockup of the series cover, though early in the process.

So today I’m kind of excited. I’m working on a book I’m enjoying writing, and should have something to publish in January—with a plan of what to write next going out probably until next June. I like planning ahead.

environment, miscellaneous, research, Writing

Nature: The Artwork Of God

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I love being out in nature. Too bad my knees and heart prevent me from going on long, woodland hikes.

I think, a few posts ago, I mentioned I had a new writing idea. Not sure if it will be a book or something else. Right now, it’s just an idea not yet fully developed.

I got this idea from the book I’m currently reading, Darwin’s Century. This is a book that talks about Darwin’s predecessors among naturalists, who came up with a piece of the evolutionary theory. Darwin put them all together. The part I’m at now is about Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle, and how this impacted his intellectual journey on his scientific road. Soon it will get into the theory itself, and talk about the people who helped to “sell” Darwin’s theory to the scientific community and the world. Right now, without having looked ahead or checked the Table of Contents, I’m not quite sure where the book is going—other than it’s pro-Darwin and pro-evolution.

This is the seventh book I’ve picked up about evolution. I find the story fascinating. I have only one more I plan to read (if I can find it at a reasonable price) and re-read one other. That should complete what I feel like I need to know to be well informed about the subject.

Oh, make that eight books. I forgot about the novel I read recently that dealt with some of these issues.

These have got me to thinking about the opposition that the theory of evolution has set between science and religion. Many people who believe in God think evolution is bunk. And many people who believe in evolution think God never existed but was a manmade concoction.

The crux of the matter falls into two categories, or maybe it’s three: God’s sovereignty, creation of humans, and old earth vs. young earth. I’ve been trying to put this into succinct, short paragraphs describing what I see as errors on both sides, but I haven’t yet been able to find the phrasing I want. I’m making progress, however.

I’m tempted to put the drafts of two paragraphs in this post, but will hold off. I need to learn to finish things before posting. Suffice to say I like how the two statements are shaping up.

So what about this book, or whatever this writing idea turns into? What’s the premise? It’s that God is seen in nature, that all that we see is His creation—however He set it in motion and however it continues. Also that science is an ever-changing thing, and we need to be careful about ever saying “The science is fixed,” and basing any type of beliefs about what science says at present.

Well, this post is unfocused today. Sorry about that. That tells you where I am with this writing idea: unfocused. Perhaps I’ll get some focus before long, as I put little thoughts on paper.

critique group, Documenting America, goals, Writing

Writing Progress and Goals: Aug-Sept 2023

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Time to work on a cover for the newest volume in this series?

It’s that time of the month—time for accountability of writing goals. How did I do last month vs. what I planned? First, the progress.

  • Blog twice a week, on Monday and Friday. As usual, I achieved this. Only one time did I find myself late and have to throw something together.
  • Attend three writers meetings. One writers group is folding, so I’ll only have three most months henceforth. Attended all three, as well as an online social gathering of writers.
  • Begin serious writing work on Documenting America: Run-Up to Revolution. I don’t know how fast this will go—or how slow—so I won’t set a word goal. I actually began this on Saturday, and was able to complete the commentary part of Chapter 1—first draft, of course. This bodes well for future writing progress on this book. Yes! I made some major progress on this. As of 8/31, I had 12 of 31 chapters complete. The rest have the source documents fully edited and are ready for my words to be added.
  • Read more in reference documents for my new Bible study idea. If everything gels, get started on the study overview and outline. I didn’t read any more source documents, but I did spend a little time improving the outline.
  • Continue to work on digitizing/discarding of genealogy papers. Yes, I did this, though made less progress in the last week than previously.

Now for some goals. I’m a little hesitant to set any, because my mind has been too active on some potential new projects. But, if I don’t set some goals I’m just drifting to the future instead of steering a purposeful course. So here they are.

  • Blog twice a week, Mondays and Fridays. I suspect my readers are tired of seeing that goal each month.
  • Attend three writers meetings, plus the online social gathering.
  • Complete the first draft of Documenting America: Run-Up To Revolution. This is very doable, but I will have to be disciplined, especially in consideration of…
  • .. Decide on whether to post my new Documenting America book to Kindle Vella and, if I do, get the first chapter/episode published on Wednesday, September 6.
  • Tie down the new writing idea that came to me on August 28-30. Write all I can about the idea in manuscript. No, I’m not sharing what it is now. Heck, I don’t know when I would have time to write it if it seems viable.

Enough! I’ll also be working on the genealogy papers digitization project.  I have a very large notebook open on my desk that I’d like to get all the way through in September.

C.S. Lewis, miscellaneous, Writing

Writer’s Block

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This week, I’ve been unable to write anything. My work-in-progress, Documenting America: Run-Up To Revolution, sits more or less where it was on Monday morning. I think I got a few words written on Monday (completing a chapter I left undone on Friday), but no more.

On Tuesday, I sat in The Dungeon as usual, pulled up the next chapter to write, and…nothing came to me. I couldn’t make sense of the source document, already edited to length. So I put that aside and came back to it on Wednesday. And on Thursday. Nothing. I still couldn’t see how to write the chapter.

Part of the problem is my hurting left shoulder. Did I write about that before? It was severely strained when I was walking Nuisance, our daughter’s family’s dog, in early June, and the dog had an encounter with a snake. They saw each other before I saw the snake. They lunged at each other, and in restraining the dog, boom. My shoulder was damaged. It’s not broken or dislocated, but it hurts like the dickens (as Dad used to say). Having my arm in the typing position seems to be where it hurts the most.

So I’ve been doing other things this week. I wrote a couple of long-hand letters. Organized some e-mails. Worked on my correspondence files from 2018 and 2019, deleting duplicates. Digitized some genealogy papers. That still hurts my shoulder, but I have enough breaks from holding my arms in place on the keyboard.

Oh, one other thing that’s been taking up some time and brain power is arranging for repairs to be done on the house. Dealing with contractors, getting estimates, scheduling work. I always find that draining. One item is now under contract and will be done next week. I should get the final estimate on the second one today. The third I’ll deal with next week.

So that’s where I’m at. Writer’s block for the first time in my writing “career.” I’ll try again today and see if the words will come. Maybe Monday I’ll be able to write that second C.S. Lewis/Screwtape post.

Documenting America, self-publishing, The Forest Throne, Writing

Dreams of a Writer

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I had thought my children’s time travel books might spur sales, but, alas, not so.

After having taken the month of June off from writing—except you can’t fully take that long of a time off from writing—what you do is back off of new writing and pretty much maintain things like the blog and promotion—I’m now back at it, working on a new book in my Documenting America series.

It felt a little weird at first, to come down to The Dungeon in the morning and do things other than writing. But my routines, interrupted for a mere 30 days, have quickly re-established themselves. I have a goal as to where I want to be at the end of July, and I think that I’m either on pace of maybe even a little ahead of where I want to be.

I haven’t yet promoted the sequel. I know I should, but it just seems meaningless to do so.

That gets the long-suppressed dreams of a writer going in my mind. As I work on a new project, other projects come to mind. Even as I plod along toward daily goals, and book sales trickle in at Amazon (10 in June, so far 3 in July, plus one personal sale), other new projects come to mind. Specifically, things I could write and publish serially on Kindle Vella. Four non-fiction series are rolling around, taking up brain space that should be going to the new book. Well, one of those projects is related to the Documenting America book.

The other three potential Vella projects are pie-in-the-sky stuff, things that are more dreams than real projects. Things that would spur sales and generate a little income, get my name a little more wide-spread. Things that would take up time.

And that’s the problem. Do I want to hop over to Vella series from books? That makes no sense. I have no idea how well Vella series sell. Most that are there seem to be fiction, and my ideas are non-fiction. Last month I browsed the non-fiction titles there, and could draw no conclusions. Would my non-fiction series gain an audience there, or not?

In my dreams, they would, and not just a small audience, but a fantastic, large, and ever-expanding audience, waiting for the next in each series, almost begging for more. I won’t share the dreams of how many dollars those series would bring in, because if I did, someone would say it’s time for an intervention, to bring me back to earth.

Such are the dreams of the writer. Working on one project while dreaming of four others while watching anemic sales show up in the Amazon sales report while wondering how to better self-promote. I suspect I’m not alone in that.

Time to move on to the next daily task on the new book. Push the dreams into the background for a couple of hours, and see what I can get done.

Bible study, Christianity, Documenting America, Screwtape's Good Advice, self-publishing, Writing

Too Many Things To Write

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So, the day after posting my writing goals for July, I started to have second thoughts.

In that post, I said my main project would be the next Documenting America series, Run-Up To Revolution. I started working on it yesterday, creating the Table of Contents and cataloging the source items already in the Word document. I turns out I only have five more documents to either find and copy or type. That’s a good start.

But is it the right thing to write? The last couple of days I did some more looking into Kindle Vella. For those who don’t know, that’s an Amazon platform for stories/books brought out in serial form. I thought maybe I could publish my nascent memoir, Tales Of A Vagabond, there. I have five “episodes” as K-V calls them) written, and a little inspiration caused me to start planning the broader book.

But wait, because that new Bible study I mentioned in a previous post continues to pull at me. I did a little research reading for it yesterday in the second source document, and a proposed outline has started to come together in my mind. Nothing is on paper yet.

But it also occurred to me that maybe I should return to working on the eight-part Bible study A Walk Though Holy Week. I’ve written about that before. Parts 4, 5, 6, and 7 are written, and Parts 4, 5, and 6 have had one editorial pass. These four could be ready to publish in a couple of months, Parts 1, 2, and 3 are fully planned, and Part 8 partially planned. It occurred to me that maybe I should shift to writing Part 1, for I don’t know if it makes sense to begin publishing the series at Part 4. What to do, what to do?

Then, our adult Sunday School class has begun re-studying C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. We went through it around 2008, and I wrote four chapters covering four letters. I found them useful in teaching fifteen years later, and I feel the itch to work again on it again. But, that would be quite time consuming and energy sapping. What to do?

And that’s not all. A couple of months ago, finding myself at the time of our critique group and me with nothing to share, I dashed off the first four pages of the first book in my long-planned-but-never-started Alfred Cottage Mysteries. The crit group seemed to like it, as they had liked the series summary I had shared earlier. I’ve wanted to write that series for a long time but have hesitated since it would be yet another genre—something I don’t really need.

And one other thing occurred to me. Perhaps it’s time to get going transcribing the letters from our years in Saudi Arabia, as I did with the letters from our years in Kuwait. I want to get to that while I still have strength of mind and body. That’s not a commercial project; it would be only for family. But it’s important to me to see it done. I think, among all these things I’ve mentioned, it is the least likely to pop up to the surface at this time.

With all that, I actually have one or two other ideas floating around in my head, things that have come to me recently that haven’t gelled sufficiently to think of a title, an outline, or a purpose and scope. But they are there, consuming brain cells, and interrupting my reading on more immediately pressing projects.

Ah, the life of the writer with Genre Focus Disorder, too much immediate time, and too few years left in an already fruitful life to write everything that sits a while in my mind, never mind those ideas that flit through.

Bible study, Documenting America, goals, reading, The Forest Throne, Writing

June Progress, July Goals

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The Key To Time Travel is published.

How can I possibly have progress in a month that I was taking off from writing? Well, taking time off for me is different than for others. It’s hard for me not to keep up with writing even during my month off. So I got a few things done. I’ll list them along with the goals, then I’ll see what kind of goals I can set for July.

  • Blog twice a week, Mondays and Fridays, as always. Even with grandparent busyness, I was able to get this done. Each day had a real blog post written and posted.
  • Attend writer groups meetings as I can based on travel schedule.  As expected, travel kept be away from all but one of the scheduled meetings.
  • Proofread as much as I can of the four completed volumes of A Walk Through Holy Week. I proofread parts 4, 5, and 6 (which I didn’t remember proofreading last year). Part 7 will be a July goal.
  • Work on the cover for the AWTHW series. I don’t sell enough books to pay for cover creation, so I just have to do it myself. I have a concept I want to use, if I can do the graphics. Which leads to my last goal… This is done, sort of. I worked with my 10-year-old granddaughter, who shows some artistic talent, to go from my preliminary concept to a working prototype. Whether it’s a fully workable prototype, I’m not sure.
  • Work with G.I.M.P. on how to do more artistry in covers. I’ll have to find some tutorials.

Other things I got done were:

  • Catching up on correspondence, both new writing and filing all unfiled correspondence for 2023.
  • Publish The Key To Time Travel. I didn’t mention this as a June goal because I wasn’t sure of the timing for getting the cover. After dealing with some health issues, the cover designer finished her work, and the book went on sale this month.
  • Work on the source material for the next Documenting America book. See the July goals.
  • Do more reading than normal.
  • Brainstorm an idea for a new Bible study, and read some source material for it.
  • Made a few updates to my website—not major ones, but things that needed doing.
  • And one thing that wasn’t writing related, but which I feel like mentioning, was digitizing my genealogy files. No, they are not done—far from it. But I added to what I did in prior months and fine-tuned my filing system as I went along. At the end of the month I felt good about how much of this I accomplished.

Now, for some July goals.

  • Blog twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.
  • Attend two writers meetings, one of which I’ll present at. A third meeting may happen and I’ll attend, if the library can schedule them.
  • Work on Documenting America: Run-Up To Revolution. Last month, even thought it wasn’t on the schedule, I managed to copy most of my source documents and load them into a Word document. The next step is reading and condensing them to the right length for the format of the series. I anticipate this will take all of July and possibly even longer.
  • Write up my recent Bible study idea into a proper outline of what it would be.

That’s a good number of goals for a month after a break. Documenting America will be my main task for the month.