http://750words.com/
http://writeordie.drwicked.com/
http://typetrigger.com/
http://www.easystreetprompts.com/

Keep at it, dude!

I definitely don’t want to come off as discouraging people from writing. I love it when people write. And, honestly, a lot of what comes my way are really good ideas, even well-organized ideas, that would probably work quite well under a ghost writer’s pen. I just wonder whether editing and ghost writing are being confused a bit. Editors, to my mind, help to bring out the author’s voice, not impose their own voice on the work. We’re like voice trainers, helping the author to sing to the best of his or her ability. You’re a bit flat there, hold that note a little longer, etc. When all you get are a jumble of unintelligible thoughts, though, it can be hard to stay true to the author’s voice while honoring the process of editing. Many pieces I get are the bare bones of a melody, and what’s being requested is that I make it more complex, that I sing the song. That goes against what I believe the editorial process to be.

Whatta maroon. Sorry ’bout that, folks.

Thanks very much for the nice words! It sounds as though we’re both very much in the same place at the moment… a searching place. For my part, I’ve felt for a very long time like a ship set to sail, but moored by uncertainty. As you know, it’s a hard thing to walk away from a steady job in search of something more fulfilling, and not just because of the risks to self. Luckily, Jen has been an utter saint through all of this, despite my cutting our annual income practically in half while I’m getting the freelance thing going. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive spouse.

I’ve been doing a lot of both writing the first draft of Story 2 and revising Story 1 over the past week, which has left me happy but a) exhausted and b) without much new to report. I’m still trying to find my rhythm with all of this (for lack of a better word). I’ll definitely try to put some new content up here soon, though, even if it’s just pictures of my hammered, sad little keyboard.

Thank you for putting yourself “out there.” I found your blog through your wife, and I was sucked in by the grammar talk (I’m an amateur grammar geek myself), and I stayed for the Freelancer talk. I guess I’m not a freelancer, per se, as I’m not working for money (nor am I desirous to do so at the moment). But I have quit my job in order to pursue… something else. And, right now, I’m figuring out what that something else is. Meanwhile, I’m a housewife trying to start a blog.

You are an inspiration to those of us who are trying t figure out their “(ugh) ‘process’, if any…”, and it wouldn’t work if you weren’t honest. I hope you keep writing – your story, and here.

~ Christine

I embrace that, though. My feeling on it is that both Doyle’s comments on Mormonism and Murphy’s comments on gays and AIDS were, even if a bit hateful, a reflection of a common attitude of the time, and should remain forever uncensored. Of course, I’m the kind of guy who lobbies to have Birth of a Nation shown in schools, because I prefer to stare ugly, ugly reality in the face rather than whitewash it and pretend things were never so hideous. How else are people going to recognize the blatant hatreds in their own society? How else to realize that prejudice isn’t limited to backwoods hillbillies, but can be rather destructively bred by otherwise kind and/or intelligent people? The responsible tactic is, in my mind, not to censor, but to explain and educate.

Whoa… I’m getting dangerously political over here, and I think I’d rather have my heart gnawed out by a gopher. Next entry will be about muffins and puppy dogs, promise.