right here, write now
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel
Write on the River is pleased to present this chronicle of one man’s writing journey. It’s a close-up view of the writing life as an aspiring writer works toward his dream of publication. Along the way, we’ll learn of his hopes, doubts, strategies and inspirations. We thank Steven Daniel, a local physician, father and aspiring novelist for sharing his experiences with us. We hope you’ll comment on his blog and cheer him along!
The Practice of Writing
I sit across from my patient telling her that we are going to try a new medication. I tell her that I have waited about a year after its release to try it, just to make sure there was not some unanticipated disaster when it was used in the general population. I look it up on my Epocrates app and discuss how to use it and the side effects. I tell her that the treatment is new to me and to let me know if anything unexpected happens.
And that’s when she says it… I know she’s going to say it… they all do: “I guess that’s why they call it ‘practicing medicine’!” And we both smile at the joke. It’s funny, but then every good joke, just like every good novel has a spine of truth running through it. And every good writer must practice as well.
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on May 11, 2012.Gone Fishin’
I think a lot about why I write, how I write and and what I write. I don’t very often think about when I started, but I did this weekend, on a traditional fly fishing outing with my friends of the feathered lure.
Many authors tell stories about their launch into a career of writing. There are tales of authors that started scribbling their first lines in crayon on the bedroom walls. Other authors bloomed in their fifties, sixties and even later after other lives and careers.
I would have to classify myself as a hybrid of these. My writing began early, went deep and was pulled out of the water on a fly-fishing line.
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on May 4, 2012.Getting it Done
Well here goes. Every great suspense novel has a timer ticking. Kay Kenyon mentioned recently that she thought I should not be spending more than a half hour on the blog each week and that I should be writing directly in WordPress. Otherwise it would be taking too much of my writing time. I have had a blast doing the blog but have been thinking about that very issue.
So, instead of thinking, writing, thinking, , editing, cutting, pasting and repeating the whole process over and over, I am taking her advice. I am sitting in front of the Word Press screen and the timer is running…let’s see what we get.
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on April 27, 2012.Counting Muses
Ah, the sirens of the creative life….how many call to you?
There are many admonitions against doing too many things. They range from the biblical “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me” to the wisdom of one of my mentors who warned me that I should not try to cram too many more activities into the pressure cooker of my day job and writing life. But as Ramius (Sean Connery) says in the last line in Tom Clancy’s Hunt for Red October, “A little revolution now and then is a healthy thing”. So this week I rebelled.
This week I did something that I have not done in 35 years. I stood on the stage at the Wenatchee Performing Arts Center immersed in the Oscar-winning music of the last four decades. I played in the percussion section of the Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra for the spring Pops Concert. It was the nexus between music and some of the greatest stories of our time. How could I resist?
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on April 20, 2012.In Short – Steve’s Week:
Sometimes life is written in short chapters. Until my next post, here’s a snapshot of my writing life this week: Keep Reading »
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on April 13, 2012.The Writer’s Brain
I heard a fascinating radio news article recently. It was an interview with Ian Lancashire, a Toronto University English professor who does research into something called cognitive stylistics, the study of personality and psychology as they are expressed through writing. It got me thinking about my brain, how I use it, and most importantly, whether it will last long enough to forge a meaningful writing career.
Now I love sports and the outdoors. I was on the fencing team in college and last went to the Nationals in Austin Texas in 2000. I am an avid fly fisherman, erstwhile hiker and this year for the first time, a snowshoer.
Yes I need these physical outlets and my fingers, or at least my voice to write. But in the battle of tissue priority, the body votes with blood flow, and it is the brain that gets the most.
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on April 6, 2012.Fuzzy Genre
Fuzzy math is fine for the ivory tower theorist, fuzzy genre is fine for the English Lit academic. But fuzzy genre is death to the commercial writer.
I want to write. I want to write good stories. I want to write good stories that will make people laugh, cry, tell their friends and make them hungry for more.
But how does an agent or a publisher know that I have something that will reach those people and give them a place to return every year or so to find another of my stories? That is the need for and the power of genre.
Genre is something that I have been struggling with for a while. My novel has elements of science fiction, romance, social commentary and suspense. So, if I go with all of these, I will have a socially conscious romantic science fiction thriller. Keep Reading »
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on March 30, 2012.Am I a Professional? – Ask the IRS!
She sat across my dining room table, dressed in 21st century professional, blonde hair, medium cut with bangs, a heart shaped face, complexion like the smoothest French vanilla ice cream and blue…really blue eyes. I settled myself into the chair, my heart pounding, wondering what to expect.
She could have been a fellow physician, an accountant, a real estate agent, an attorney but she was none of these…she was an IRS agent, come to call.
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on March 23, 2012.In Short – Steve’s Week(s):
Sometimes life is written in short chapters. Until my next post, here’s a snapshot of my writing life this week:
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on March 9, 2012.
The Learning Curve II
Cleaning out my basement filing cabinet, I found some writings of a famous bestselling author that were penned in his early years before he became a serious writer. Ok, so I’m not famous or even published yet, but….
Writing My Own Story: The life of a writer on the journey to publish his first novel. Posted on February 16, 2012.
