Directions in a Writer’s Life

Namely – mine!

Some writers pretty much stick with what they began with whether it’s novel writing or scriptwriting or journalism for an entire career. That’s great for them, or, if you’re a writer and that’s the way you go, for you.

For me, things keep on a’changin’. It’s not that I move away from one type of writing to another and leave the ‘old’ behind, it’s more like I add to what I’m doing. That can get a bit crazy, but it’s the way I Iike it. Spices things up for me, keeps the fresh and the new ideas rolling.

I began with novels, published with Doubleday, Harlequin and others. 

Then I added script writing and I loved it. Had a wonderful mentor in Larry Brody of TVWriter.com (for whom I'm a Contributing Editor), sold a script, optioned some others and am still working with scriptwriting having completed one a short time ago. All I had to do was know how to type and be creative...and learn the formatting.

But that’s not where it stops for me. I’m also creating a novel from a previously written script. Its great fun and I intend to publish.  I have a romance novel I’m working on finishing up as well. Still typing, still milking the creative juices.

What’s the newest? Comic books. Kid’s books. Yep, an unusual undertaking for me. I’ve partnered up with a great friend and we, together, write and illustrate the comic series Planet Of The Eggs with five adventures published so far and more in the works.  As an off-shot we’re now creating our first ‘read-to-me’/’young readers’ picture book based on the fun characters of Planet Of The Eggs. The first is celebrating the differences in us all, as well as what brings us together, and is as yet untitled, but that’s coming!

The learning curve was pretty steep on comic creation. We’re still using a combination of photoshop, powerpoint and comic life software. Now we’ve also thrown in the free photo manipulator from Paint.net and got a couple of special effects packs so we can create cool pen sketches and other kind of amazing effects.

The results so far is the near completion of the first volume (six issues) of the Planet Of The Eggs comic book series. But wait, there’s something afoot!  The series is about to find itself in a reboot as we evolve from the very young adventurous eggs to the more confident, determined Superhero eggs and their friends, companions and arch enemies. We’re on the very cusp as we complete the first picture book and dive into plotting for the sixth adventure to complete our first volume.  

Oh, and the fifth, Planet Of The Eggs-Eruption 2, Saving Dot has just released in Kindle format and paperback will follow in the next couple of weeks.  Want to keep up with it all? 

Go to our facebook page for Planet Of The Eggs, tell us your thoughts, which heroic egg is your favorite, what villains you would like to see, whatever comes to mind. We love to hear from fans. Oh, and there’s a monthly newsletter as well – just click the sign up button near the top of the page and get access to the first adventure in PDF FREE! Or sign up directly here.

So, my personal writing career has become a fantastical juggling act and I love it. Yep, I’ll be finishing that romance novel, probably creating more novels from scripts and the reverse as well as finding new and exciting things to pursue with my writing.  I’ll let you know what I come up with next.  Meanwhile, happy reading and writing.

Destructive or Constructive Criticism And The Writer And Reader

All right readers and writers, gather around. This isn’t going to be a whiny rant about how people are mean to writers and how their criticism is the pits (though at times it can be), but a bit of a quick analysis of the situation and how everyone, readers and writers alike can deal with it.

Look, constructive criticism is a good thing and writers should get over their ire at having anything they create criticized by anybody. Hey, that’s life. And, constructive criticism can point out flaws or maybe a bit of a slip in editing that would, when corrected, make the book, short story or article much better. Really.

Oh, and readers who post criticism, think about how you couch it. You’re entitled to your opinions and of course if there are glaring editing or grammatical errors in a work you might want to point out that’s happening so other readers will be aware, but it can be put in language that isn’t a personal attack. You might feel the urge to be a ripsaw, but curb it. Remember that writer, whoever it is, put a lot of thought and work into the project. Because it isn’t up to certain standards now doesn’t mean the writer isn’t striving to improve and will, indeed improve. Helpful criticism is one thing, an all-out attack is another. Think about it. Does attack make you in some way feel good? What if your work, whatever it is, was attacked with a vicious edge and you were left feeling naked and abused? You might consider, even with a poorly written work, turning your own thoughts around and saying something encouraging instead. Or just plain shut up. If you have to point out a flaw, maybe you can point out a good thing as well. Maybe the book needs a lot of typo fixing but the story itself is interesting, just hard to see through all those errors. Pause and reflect. Just sayin’.

Okay, now writers, it’s your job to write well, to edit like a pro and cut mercilessly so you don’t surround your readers with needless fluff. It’s also a fact of life that no matter how good you get, no matter how well-known, you’re going to get those personal attacks and not just criticism for the obvious typos or grammar errors. Sadly, it comes with the territory.

BUT you don’t have to let that get you down. Of course they’re going to find the typos you miss no matter how hard you try and the grammar slip-ups and the story twist that didn’t quite do the pirouette you planned on. Take it with good grace when they’re pointed out and correct or you can decide their point isn’t valid. Up to you as writer.

Of course there’s going to be the ‘nasty’ out there who lives to do nothing more than try to tear others down. You don’t have to buy into it. Let the moment pass. You already know there’s no critic out there who can be harder on you than you are on yourself. Forgive the nasties, you don’t know what they may be dealing with that creates the inner demons who just want to attack and destroy. And if you can’t forgive them, cultivate your own positive attitude and don’t bother to respond.

Writers keep writing. Keep moving forward. Readers enjoy and give an occasional thought to the person behind the writing.