Where does the magic begin?

Agreeing with Barnes & Noble's ad, it all started with a book.

Do you agree?

Where do I go from here?

The act of writing and putting your manuscript together is enough for some people, but most then ask, "How do I get it published?"

Just yesterday I overheard a conversation where a wanna-be writer was asking this very question to a bookstore worker. He seemed disappointed when she couldn't tell him "The Secret." He told her he knew what he needed to do: get on the Internet and start researching agents, but in the end he left the store shortly after his disappointing conversation.

Will he go home and seek his answers online? Probably not. Will he go harass someone else to see if they can give him "The Secret"? Probably. Will that help him? Probably not.

There is no map to getting published. You have to find the road on your own. Even your road may give tips to others, but it won't be the path anyone else takes in exact precision. While having these questions is hard, seeking the magic secret is a waste of time. Just start doing and forge your own path. In the end, that's "The Secret."

Feeling your harmony

Writing is a sublime passion. We find the "hole in the paper" and slip through to another world. We love being there in that world of our creation. Story surrounds us and we are in deep. In that moment, we understand the truth: harmony reflects passion.

If your writing has become a struggle and you're not feeling in the zone with it, is it time to rethink the plot? Go back to that last moment where the writing was easy and start again. Let your passion for the story tell you if you've gotten off track. Then you can get going again and finish your story.

Where's your focus?

Seems that today people are dividing into two different groups: those who are career focused and those who are project focused.

I hope that writers are project focused. It's too easy to get distracted by thinking "I am a writer," but then never writing. Then comes the critic yelling, "You can't call yourself a writer. You're not writing! Writers write. So if you're not, then quit calling yourself a writer."

But if you focus instead on your projects - those manuscripts you keep dreaming about doing - put a deadline on them for getting them done, then you start focusing on the building blocks of your career. These get done. Books and articles get written. Before you know it, not only will you be a writer, but you'll "have written" as well.

Adventure Started

I received my first bookstore review. How exciting! Check it out here. So far I'm hearing a lot of good feedback from people who are reading it. Really makes me want to have the second book done.