Friday, March 15, 2024

Organizing Stories / Happenings In The Outhouse 15-March-2024

I have kept a spreadsheet of all my writing--from finished and published stories to works in progress--for a long time.  It's interesting to see this list grow over these past number of years.

But I have been running into an issue lately that I may need to revamp it.  It's a good problem to have, truth be told.  With close to 60 stories to keep track of, I need to rethink how I have them organized.  Specifically, the short stories that I am submitting for publication or contests.

How you organize your stories is up to you.  But I stress that you at least keep track of them, even if all of them are self-published.  Whether you go physically writing them down to organizing them electronically (or both) is what you feel most comfortable with.

As a side note: I will NOT share how I'm organizing because it's unnecessary and it may not work for you.  So please do not ask.

Friday, March 8, 2024

Another Story Completed / Happenings In The Outhouse 08-March-2024

A short one today.

In the next week or two, I'll write a post on the hit TV show Sons of Anarchy.  My wife and I have been binge watching it--she had already seen the entire series 5-6 times and loves to watch my reaction to each twist and turn.  As of this writing, we have finished the 5th season (there are 7 seasons total) and are well into season 6.

I finished a short story, as part of an online class I had taken several months back--the assignment had no time limit, which gave me ample time to complete it.

I have two stories now completed lately, so now I'm going back for a final sweep and then sending it out.

Friday, March 1, 2024

The Toxic Mix of Politics And Entertainment Creators / Happenings In The Outhouse 01-March-2024

I wrote this post over six years ago, and I can still remember the circumstances that led to it.

And I will repeat this again, because someone very publicly came out recently and trashed someone.  All because this person had a letter by their name.  Yes, it boils down to politics and whether or not the person in question has an R or a D by their name.

I don't give a pass to anyone.  Period.  No one is perfect.

Now, I would LOVE to state here who I am speaking about--and I apologize for being so cryptic--but I will not.  In rare instances have I done this, and I'm not starting now.

Bottom line: do not mix politics if you are in the entertainment business.  Unless it is the clear focus of the content you are creating, please stop.  It alienates others on one side of the political aisle.

The person is question is a big name author, with a series of books that he can't seem to finish after several years and two HBO series in the same world.  This person completely demonized someone and completely ignored another, all because they have an R by their name.  He gives a complete pass to those with a D by their name.

Yes, I am talking about Republicans and Democrats.

Do not give anyone a pass.  If you demonize one side without criticizing the other, you are being a complete hypocrite.

Stop doing that.  Seriously, stop it.

There, rant over . . .

Friday, February 23, 2024

Freedom To Let Your Creative Mind Flow / Happenings In The Outhouse 23-Feb-2024

I had an interesting conversation with my youngest daughter last week.  She's in speech competition and was in the process of writing her creative speech.  But she kept hitting a roadblock and didn't know how to finish it.  She reached out to a few others for help, but in fact got more roadblocks.  An English teacher told her to use some formulaic path to writing the story, and this only frustrated her more.

Once I heard her out, I told her to throw away all of the advice she had given.  Her eyes grew wide, then I told her to brainstorm as many ideas as she could.

"The first few ideas will be easy but you won't want to use them," I said.  "By the time you get eight, ten, twelve ideas down, that's where the great ideas will be.  The ones that will spark the direction your story will go."

When seeking advice from others, please be aware that not all advice is good.  In fact, no offense to the others, but they aren't a creative like my daughter and myself.  I knew how to speak the language of a creative.

When you feel stuck on a project, sit alone and just brainstorm.  Let your mind go.  Let it be free.  You will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Now, on a side note, there is nothing wrong with the advice regarding formulas to writing.  There are a variety of methods, but I knew for her it would just confuse her.  So I kept it simple.  And guess what?  She finished it!

Friday, February 16, 2024

Keep Practicing / Happenings In The Outhouse 16-Feb-2024

I realized the problem I have been having lately.  I have been doing too much thinking with a critical mind instead of just putting my creative foot forward and doing the work.

For me, writing is fun.  And the more I do it, the better I will become.  Not all stories will work.  That much I know, but I need to keep at it, keep writing.

Life happens.  It happens to us all.  At this point, I had a quarterly goal of a certain number of short stories to be written.  Right now I am no where near that point . . . even though the quarterly is roughly halfway complete.

Even if I don't make it, I still made progress.

Friday, February 9, 2024

Troublesome Story Finished / Happenings In The Outhouse 09-Feb-2024

My latest short story is completed.  I finished it Monday morning, and have been doing some small editing this week.  Along with a new title.  I didn't like the original title, as my original vision for the story has changed (as happens often for me).

I will be submitting it to a contest, so once it's away then I'm on to the next story.

Stay tuned . . .

Friday, February 2, 2024

Still Overthinking / Happenings In The Outhouse 02-Feb-2024

Overthinking.

Yup, I'm still doing it.

Some authors call it the critical brain getting in the way of your thinking.  I agree, that's what is happening to me.

I've been working on a short story for a number of weeks now, tweaking here and there, and I've hit a point where I don't know where to go.  When I looked at it from a larger picture, I realized that I was overthinking.

In the past, I've had no troubles working through a story (for the most part).  If I hit a troublesome spot, I'd brainstorm about it.

So, that's what I did.  I should have it done shortly.