Thursday, September 15, 2011

A Break From Stories

I haven't been very good at writing new short stories, but it's not a bad thing. I've been spending time outlining and researching my next novel. I'm really excited about this one.

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Lately I've been looking into the amazing success stories of Amanda Hocking and John Locke. They've been all over the internet for the past several months. Both are authors, and both are self-publishing millionaires. I would love to reach that kind of success for several reasons. First being the fact that I would love to make a living from writing books. But chances are it's not going to happen -- and I'm okay with that.

Hocking and Locke have a lot of things in common. They both write short novels, they both write fast, they both write series, and they both got lucky. I use the word luck only because there is no other word to describe that magic element that draws readers to one author over another of equal talent. I'm not saying their success was all luck. No. They both worked hard and made marketing plans and fought hard for attention just like every other serious author.

Why do I bring this up? Well I've been thinking about how I define success. For me, creating has always been something I need to do. I don't know why, but I always feel compelled to write another song, learn how to paint, or write another novel. I can't help it. Most of the time my creations are enjoyed only by me, but occasionally someone I don't even know finds my creations and falls in love. That is how I define success.

My goal for this next novel, is to write somebody's favorite book. Just one person. If I can achieve that, I'll count myself successful.

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I'm having trouble coming up with a name for my main character. I need a strong male name that is not overused. Any ideas?

7 comments:

  1. I love your songs, novels, and anything creative you do. Ya, I'm a little biased, but I think you're amazing! Love ya!

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  2. Jason... Hmm... Since that is the only name I have been given I might just use it.

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  3. Biblical! I haven't thought to look that direction yet.

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  4. i to love to create. when i think about how i am like that it reminds me of you some times cuss i thought you are also creative. i have to say i am a big fan of your song the rain in acoustic. sadly it was lost with all my sterio stuff that was stolen so i may have to get it from you again lol. any way, i was reminded of you recently because i woke up a few days ago and could actually remember my dream that night (does not happen often) it was in a topic that hapens often in dreams i remember. i started thinking hay this would make a cool book. i decided hey i should try and write one and remembered you have. i am going to buy it and read it soon.

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    1. You should write a book! It's a lot of fun and it really satisfies that urge to create.

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