Movie Reviews for Writers: Finding Forrester (part 2)

Read part 1 of this review.

Finding Forrester is one of those movies I could devote an entire book to analyzing. There is just so much rich content for a writer to glean advice and inspiration from. Since I covered the main themes in last week's review, I'll use this one to just skim a few of the other bits and bobs that really jumped out at me via the dialog. 

“Why are the words we write for ourselves always so
much better than the words we write for others?”

Ain't it the truth? When we intentionally write for a market or to cash in on a trend, why do those tales always seemed so forced, like we're having to literally excavate them from our brains rather than just turn on the faucet and let the words flow? Or maybe it's not that way for you. For me, when I write the kind of story I myself want to read, it tends to almost sprint out of my brain, so much so that the biggest issue is typing or writing fast enough to keep up and not get behind. (For the most part. There are still bouts when I have to fight the words to pin them down on paper for a 3-count.)

“How did it feel having him tell you what you can't
do? ... Then let's show him what you can do.”

There is no greater motivator for me than to have someone tell me I can't do something or write a certain story. That's been my drive from day 1, I just didn't realize it then. I quit a job with a religious organization when they told me I couldn't write a story about a man turning into a woman. After that, I chose a comic book I was told I couldn't do, a dominatrix turned CIA superhero. When the world said you could only write the Klan as the bad guys caught at the end of the story, I told a mystery where an ingenious murderer used them as scapegoats to cover his crime (still acknowledging them as bad guys, of course, just not the murderers). 

“I'm writing, like you'll be when you start punching those keys.”

I have to disagree with Forrester here -- but only just a bit. For me writing starts when my brain is pondering the story and the words, not just when the fingers touch the keys. But other than that, I have to agree. As I said in one of the previous reviews, the story in your head doesn't count as a "real" one until it makes it onto the paper (or the digital file, nowadays). 

“No thinking; that comes later. You write your first draft with your heart, but you rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is to write, not to think.”

I've heard that thinking is the enemy of writing, but I won't go that far. I will, however, agree that overthinking is the enemy of writing. When you stop to chase stray thoughts (we call them "details" or "research") or to analyze and critique that paragraph we just period'ed and end onto, we break the rhythm, we end flow, we put a stopper in that part of our brains that is telling the story. Sometimes it's impatience -- we just don't want to wait until it's time to edit because that's not nearly as much fun to do. Sometimes it's our minds trying to distract us. (Be careful. That way lies the dreaded "writer's block, I feel.) But the simple truth is this -- writing is writing. Get the words down. Critique 'em later. 

“Sometimes the simple rhythm of typing gets us from page one to page
two. And when you begin to feel your own words, start typing them.”

I wonder how many people use throwaway starter sentences just to get their words going. I used to, but now my brain has become conditioned to creating starter sentences that have bearing on my stories. Regardless, having something, some sequence of words, some phrase to start words moving from the mind to the page can often be all that is needed to really start feeling your own words, your own story. 

“A lot of writers know the rules about writing, but don't how to write.”

Every time I do an interview with another writer, I always ask the questions, "Where would you rank writing on the 'Is it an art or it is a science continuum?'" While (at least for me) the answer is both, where we put that divide says a lot about us as writers. I've always believed that it's a science, a skill we can learn by repetition and study -- but that approach will only get us so far. That's where art takes over. For every Barishnakov, there are thousands of perfectly good dancers who will never be true masters. And that's okay. So, we all start at the same place -- learning the rules about writing. 

Or do we? 

For some, we simply begin to write and we start to learn about or thinking about rules later. The rules are simply how to tell the story. They are not the story. The story is key. It's the important part. And until we can move beyond "mere" rules to "story," we won't have mastered storytelling, no matter how many books we've written. 

Self-Editing Tips and Tricks

For this week's writer roundtable, let's talk about self-editing tips and tricks. What are the ones you use to help you catch as many errors and edits as possible? 

Sean Taylor: For me, I use several depending on the story. 

1. Shuffle the pages and read them out of order. That takes my brain away from the story and focuses on paragraphs instead. 

2. For stories shorter than 5000 words, read them backward to catch spelling and comparably spelled words (or and of, it and is, to and too, for example). 

3. Read aloud. Hearing it will often register better than seeing it. 

4. Have an app read it to you (this is great for those times at night I can't sleep and just lie in bed). 

5. See multiple pages at once on a printout. This forces me to look at pages in context of each other. 

Brian K Morris: Me, I use the text-to-speech part of MS Word to read the story back to me to catch misspellings that aren't (from/form or Brian/Brain). after I've visually edited the piece as best I can.

My twist is I use the AI voice that's WRONG for the story. For instance, if I write crime adventure, I find a voice like a little girl to read it back. If I'm putting together a story with some romance in it, I find the deepest baritone I can find. This way, I don't get lulled because someone's reading to me like my mom did when I was a kid.

Matt LaRock: In my head, I read it in different accents. Sometimes it shows me phrases and sentences that don't really work. And it adds a sense of humor so I don't take it too seriously.

Danielle Procter Piper: I let the story sit for a month, then review it with fresh eyes. Then it sits for another full month before I comb through it again.

Jim Ritchey: Bono taught me No.3, of all people, or got the wheels turning. Concentrate on the sound of the words. How they fit together. Started noticing it in all my favorite writers. Steinbeck was musical.

John Pence: Reading out loud is great neuroscience. You have to process it on so many levels: symbols to letters to words, motor-speech, spoken language, heard language, grammar, and memory …

That’s the shit, but I don’t always do it.

Time away is always good, too.

Robert Krog: Reread it. Read it out loud. Read it backward. Wait a couple of weeks before rereading by one of these methods. Of course, all of these take the time I don’t usually have, but they all help to catch typos and such and are worth it. Just rereading aloud is good, but I actually have read stories backward a time or two. Another option is having someone else read the story to me. I find that works quite well. I don’t usually have a reader available though.

 David Wright: I definitely take my time in walking away from a work and returning to it with fresh eyes. I do that multiple times. I also have four beta readers I rely on to not only catch errors but challenge me on decisions. You gotta have at least one person in your corner that is going to put the quality of your finished work above your feelings. And never, ever let a misspelled word go. If you're ever re-reading something and you see an error, correct it right away because you may not ever catch it again. Typos drive me nuts. Also, if a certain passage or phrasing just doesn't quite do it for you, but you can't think of a better solution, don't let it slide. Dig in and challenge yourself.

Mike Bullock: I have this weird thing of "putting it to bed" wherein I hand it off to my editor and the moment I've done so it gives me fresh eyes. Then I re-read and catch things before the editor reads it over. Something about "finalizing" it that gives me a new perspective. Not sure why... 

Before I get to that point, however, I will re-read following certain sub-plots or character arcs only. For example, When I wrote the Phantom: Checkmate story, I re-read it solely from Phantom's POV, then Diana's, then HIM's. This gives me an altered perspective and helps ensure each character arc and/or subplot works, and I catch typos, etc. in the process I may not have caught otherwise.

Elizabeth Donald: Print it out on paper and read it aloud as you edit with a red pen in hand. Your eye will catch things you’ll never see scrolling on the screen, and your ear will hear the language and the ways it doesn’t quite fit. I have used this procedure for all my own edits, and counsel-urge-beg-plead my students to do the same with their essays. I can always tell the ones who actually try it vs. the ones who run spellcheck and say, “Eh, good enough.”

Ernest Russell: I like to let it sit for a few days. Work on something else during that time.

Then I'll pick it back up and run it through Grammarly. It is a useful tool that can point missing words, duplicates, double words, etc. It is a good tool, but I never use any automated program carte blanche. You can end up with some really weird wordings and punctuation. On the other hand. you have to look at every line, both as part of the story and individually.

Sometimes, I will use Autocrit; it is great at word counts. It lets you find homonyms. Have many times did you use a particular word. Did you really intend to use the word "that" 586 times?

Again, a very useful tool, but a tool.

Printing the draft double-space. Read through it making notes.

When I feel satisfied. My partner, who once worked as a copyeditor for a newspaper, looks it over and tells me everything I missed. 😀

Mark Barnard: Reading aloud helps immensely.

Ron Fortier: Read aloud what I just wrote. Hearing mistakes works.

John M. Olsen: I have a hit list of things I've overused in the past. I have my computer read it aloud to me. I run a few reports in ProWritingAid. I run multiple spell checkers. I run a tool I wrote that graphs the emotional flow to make sure I have the right highs and lows.

Teel James Glenn: I read things out of sequence to not get caught up in the story. I always read my work out loud as I write it so I've done 'that stage'...

Dale Kesterson: I have been known to read segments aloud to some victi--er, friends who are patient enough to listen. I tend to pay more attention to it that way than reading it aloud to myself.

Read it from back to front. That way I focus of the words, not the narrative.

Alan J. Porter: Reading it out aloud is a great way of catching story and pacing problems.

Mark Vander Zanden: Reading aloud and having the computer read it to me are two of my steps. I also use Autocrit as well and that helps me find some of the weak spots in my writing. I take the number rating with a grain of salt but a few of the reports it runs do come in handy. I will have to try the shuffle approach as well.

Bill Craig: I run mine through several layers of PerfectIt editing program

Austin S. Camacho: Reading aloud is a must. and know your personal weaknesses. I do a search for the word "that" because it's seldom really needed, and search for "ly" to clear out adverbs that are clearly and truly unnecessary. 😉 [OR clear out unnecessary adverbs.]

John French: I also read the story aloud. Plus I run it through Grammarly. I don't always agree with its suggestions but I wind up looking at things I otherwise would not have thought about.

Danielle Palli: I have two tricks I use: 1) Everything goes through Grammarly to catch errors my brain auto-fixes. 2) I re-read out loud. Speaking is slower than thinking, so I catch more. 

Stuart Hopen: I use checklists, borrowing from my days as a Hospital Risk Manager, imitating the routines of the Operating Room to prevent mistakes. My lists include things like: Do the sentences vary in length and structure? Do the characters make decisions for understandable reasons? Do events unfold as an understandable consequence of character decisions? Are scenes structured around specific character goals? Does the pace contain variations of emotional intensity, humor, peaks, lulls, and resolution? And the like. The checklists vary depending on the project, and they are tailored to alert me to things I know are my weaknesses. At the bottom of the checklist is a reminder -- stop editing and rewriting, or you will never be done. Good is the enemy of Great, but Perfect is the enemy of finishing.

Motivational Monday -- Crime, Horror, or Suspense?

[Link] 75 Fourth of July Quotes That Encourage Us to Stand Up for What's Right

By Maryn Liles

July 4th is finally here. So whether you plan on celebrating with a backyard BBQ or by watching your city’s fireworks show, these happy 4th of July quotes remind us what America’s Independence Day is all about.

From liberty quotes that inspire us to stand up for what’s right, like fighting against racism in the U.S., to freedom quotes that encourage us to stick together, these 75 inspirational and funny 4th of July quotes are all about the red, white and blue.

Read the full article: https://parade.com/1045615/marynliles/4th-of-july-quotes/

[Link] What Our Biggest Best-Sellers Tell Us About a Nation’s Soul

by Louis Menand

The “canon” in the title of Jess McHugh’s “Americanon” (Dutton) consists of thirteen American books, from “The Old Farmer’s Almanac,” first published in 1792, to Stephen R. Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” which came out in 1989. It includes Webster’s Dictionary, Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” “Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book,” and “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask),” by David Reuben.

The works are all mega-sellers. McHugh tells us about the McGuffey Readers, textbooks first used in nineteenth-century homes and schools; they sold more than a hundred and thirty million copies—and, since most copies had multiple readers, the total circulation was even larger. Carnegie’s book came out in 1936, has sold more than thirty million copies, and is still in print. Louise Hay’s “You Can Heal Your Life” (1984) has sold more than fifty million copies, and Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” has sold more than forty million. Betty Crocker’s cookbook has sold more than seventy-five million copies. At least a hundred million inquiring minds have read “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex.*”

These sales figures are way beyond the range of even the most acclaimed fiction. Some of the books, such as “The Old Farmer’s Almanac” and Emily Post’s “Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home,” which was first published in 1922, are continually updated and reissued, and still maintain market share. McHugh says that “Etiquette” used to be the second-most stolen book from the library after the Bible (which presumably is taken by people unfamiliar with the Ten Commandments).

Fifty-seven million copies of Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary have been sold (I have a copy of the fifth edition, owned by my mother, which was published in 1936), and there are some two billion word searches on Merriam-Webster’s apps every year. The books in McHugh’s canon are not books so much as appliances. They are not read; they are used. And probably many of them have been bought by people who do not otherwise buy many books.

The term “canon” is also, well, loaded. Canons define a tradition, a culture, a civilization by excluding things that don’t belong to it. The claim of “Americanon” is that the enormous and enduring sales numbers of the books McHugh discusses mean that they can be understood to be promoting a national ideology, or what she calls a national myth. She does not think that this is a good thing.

Read the full article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/07/what-our-biggest-best-sellers-tell-us-about-a-nations-soul

Submissions open for The Divine and the Devious: Gods Versus Spies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

SUBMISSIONS CALL NOW OPEN FOR THE DIVINE AND THE DEVIOUS: GODS VERSUS SPIES

A war goes on between beings that live on high mountains and in the deepest seas and humans trained in espionage and intrigue. And now it shall be revealed in THE DIVINE AND THE DEVIOUS: GODS VERSUS SPIES, an anthology based on a concept by editor Sean Taylor now open for submissions from Pro Se Productions.

“I guess it's true,” says Taylor, “ that the best ideas spring forth in full bloom as the saying goes, but it is super exciting to see the reaction this anthology concept got right off the bat from what I thought was a fairly innocuous post on social media. The idea of classic gods and goddesses duking it out with a pantheon of spy heroes and heroines just really seemed to me like one of those "why hasn't anyone published this before" kind of ideas to me. I'm just happy to be a part of such an exciting anthology concept.”

The divine-Pantheons of religions and mythologies past, from Zeus to Spider to Freya to Kali and on and on. The devious-covert agents either based on archetypes from Bond to Bourne to Mata Hari or your own original take on the spy character. The concept of this anthology is simple-pitting one against the other in any time period and in any genre. 

To request a bible for THE DIVINE AND THE DEVIOUS: GODS VERSUS SPIES, email submissions@prose-press.com. Proposals for THE DIVINE AND THE DEVIOUS: GODS VERSUS SPIES should be 1-3 paragraphs long and sent to submissions@prose-press.com.  Two volumes of this title will be produced simultaneously. Six stories of 6,000 words will be selected for each volume. Once proposals are accepted, the deadline for completed stories is October 1, 2021. Pay will be royalty-based. 

If you have any questions, please email submissions@prose-press.com. Check out Pro Se Productions on www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Snow’s Tom McClellan takes center stage in an all-new Snow Short!

For Immediate Release

BEN Books welcomes author Mark Bousquet to #TeamSnow with the debut of SNOW SHORTS #5: ANGEL IN THE STORM. Snow Shorts #5 is now available as a $0.99 ebook from BEN Books. You can read it FREE with Kindle Unlimited. Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097S65J1Y

Get ready for some brand-new #FreshSnow in #TheSummerOfSnow! BEN Books is thrilled to share the cover to the next Snow Shorts story, Snow Shorts #5: Angel in the Storm by Mark Bousquet starring Snow's best pal, FBI Agent Tom "Mac" McClellan. The cover design and portrait are by Jeffrey Hayes of Plasmafire Graphics.

About Angel in the Storm:

When a cargo plane explodes over Atlanta, investigators are dispatched to deal with the fallout, both literal and judicial. Everyone except FBI Agent Tom McClellan. On his boss' hit list again, Agent McClellan finds himself saddled with a detail that's a waste of time, at best. Even worse, Mac comes under fire from a former lover, now a lawyer for a prominent crime family, and hired killers looking to put him and his case in the ground for good. How does all of this connect to a plane crash? That's exactly what Mac has to figure out before it's too late.

Snow Shorts #5: Angel in the Storm is available at the following retailers:

• Amazon US (ebook) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon UK (ebook) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon CA (ebook) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon DE (ebook) https://www.amazon.de/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon FR (ebook) https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon ES (ebook) https://www.amazon.es/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon IT (ebook) https://www.amazon.it/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon NL (ebook) https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon JP (ebook) https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon BR (ebook) https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon MX (ebook) https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon AU (ebook) https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B097S65J1Y
• Amazon IN (ebook) https://www.amazon.in/dp/B097S65J1Y

Learn more about Snow at www.abrahamsnow.com
Learn more about Mark Bousquet at https://themarkbousquet.com
Learn more about Jeffrey Hayes and Plasmafire Graphics at www.plasmafiregraphics.com
Published by BEN Books. www.ben-books.com
Snow created by Bobby Nash. www.bobbynash.com

Remember, in #TheSummerofSnow every day is a #SnowDay!

Interview requests, press materials, and review copies can be requested by contacting Bobby Nash via BEN Books at bobby@bobbynash.com

NEW! SNOW SHORTS #5: ANGEL IN THE STORM

An ebook thriller by Mark Bousquet

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097S65J1Y

Alexandra Holzer: A Haunted Career

Alexandra Holzer is a multiple threat -- author, ghost hunter, and the daughter of the legendary paranormal investigator Hans Holzer. And you've probably seen her on the Travel Channel (or Hulu). 

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

My latest work involves development for television and film. I recently did an interview for a new show due out this fall. On the writing side of things, I have a new book in the works. Although it’s been a while since I’ve written for other publications over the course of the last 15 years — I’ve recently written some articles for UK’s Haunted Magazine.

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?

My father was that inspiration for me as he was a prolific author and I grew up around books lining our living room walls. The subject matter diversified from the afterlife to herbal remedies. I began writing as a child in school and always did well in my English classes. I had an active imagination always creating characters and environments they would be in. I always thought it was neat to have the control and ability to take out a character if they were deserving of it. They could find themselves in such a demise that there was no way out. I also wrote children’s stories and when I became a mother — continued on that path of inspiration from my children. I write poetry as well.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

I tend to revisit the subject matter of the supernatural and otherworldly beings from other universes. Lately, I’ve been delving more into hidden history and not what they put out there currently. I’m talking about the history of who built energy towers that are found in places like Paris, which the narrative is to give it a name and story but not its true identity and its functional purpose. These “Eiffel Towers” are also found in Ohio and elsewhere. I’m talking about the lost civilization of Tartaria. I could go on. 

What would be your dream project?

My dream project would be to take what I’ve created a long time ago — tweaked here and there for either a documentary or a series on the vast field of the paranormal and the occult. 

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

I know many writers are influenced by those before them and in current times. However, for me I just write and envision thru dream interpretation and impressions that come to me over time. I don’t create boundaries or see who wrote what. I just write. How it comes out just comes out. Of course, without a good editor, it won’t work and I’m not an editor. So, the pairing of the two is essential to the work at hand. Just like in tv and film. 

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

I’d rank writing on neither. It’s a creative process that many possess but one must not lack the willpower to make it come to life. The hard part is committing to the work and seeing it thru. To trust yourself and follow your intuitive side for self-support. There are many who can write and write well but will never do anything about it because it’s not their path in life. That can change of course — however, it must be put into action otherwise it won’t manifest and became a reality. It all depends on the individual. 

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

The most difficult part is finding the time. I’m a very active and busy mother and wife running a household with five kids and a bunch of rescued fur babies. Sometimes it may take a year before I can get back into it due to the everyday chaos but I get there, eventually. 

How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not?

For me, it’s not so much a help but rather seeing those deserving of their success come to fruition. It gives me hope and I carry on. 

What does literary success look like to you?

Literary success isn’t about having a best-seller although I know many want that. It’s not about getting accolades or awards. These things help you stand out amongst the crowd, I get it. However, it seems rather pretentious to me as so many should win these accolades but get ignored especially if they don’t have a large enough following in today’s world of social media. It’s a blessing and a curse and somewhat of a trap. How can you get ahead without it these days versus back in the day when publishing houses did business differently. Submission via snail mail and having to have a lit agent just to be taken seriously. What hasn’t changed is the agony of waiting to hear back! 

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

I wish I could but they’re all in development and others in talks. I’m waiting for my new book to be done and the start-up of some projects for tv. It’s a waiting game and what some refer to as being in development hell.

For more information, visit:

www.alexandraholzer.com

Movie Reviews for Writers: Finding Forrester (part 1)

Fantastic cast. Fantastic script. Fantastic filming. It's easy to fall in love with this amazing flick. 

It's Cinderella for the art set. A young guy who'd never get invited to the ball gets his face time with the Prince of Words and learns that he's better than the folks whose approval he was originally seeking, better than he thought he was or could be. 

Let's start with Jamal. When he breaks into William Forrester's apartment, he flees startled, only to find Forrester has edited and critiqued his work. For Jamal, that's the beginning, his origin story, his triggering moment. Someone believed in him and convinced him to believe in himself. We all have them. For me it was a combination of my wife believing in me and an English professor (who also taught writing classes) who saw in me something I didn't think I could do. Based on their confidence in my work, I entered a college short story contest and won first place -- the first time I'd ever thought of entering such a contest. Needless to say, the trigger worked. My origin story was begun. 

"How about 5,000 words on why you should stay the fuck out of my house!" 

We all have our first writing job. Not the first time we write something, but the first time we write something for someone who "ordered" it, who requested it, who assigned the job to us. It's that push the gives us the confidence to keep going, to push ahead beyond that initial belief in us. It may pay. It may not. But it tells us that someone beyond ourselves is interested in our work. 

Ultimate that confidence, that belief is always tested. For some, it's a long lull in publishing opportunities. For others, it watching others get the good gigs and decent sales. For Jamal, it's the accusation of plagiarism. 

"There's a question in your writing suggesting what is it you want to do with your life." 

What drives your writing? How much of your longing can be found in your words? I've covered this in other reviews, but it's an important topic that movies about writers can often miss. Do you want to matter? Do you want to make money? Do you want to show your true self to the world? Do you want to escape into fantasy? Jamal wants to matter, wants people to acknowledge him, wants a place to fit in. That's evident to Forrester from the first time he reads Jamal's work. 

I want to know that I mattered beyond my death. I want my words to outlast me. That's why drives my work. Ideally, I'd love to see just one story studied in the canon of university literature after I'm gone. So, in a lot of ways, Jamal and I are alike. We just want to matter. Now. Later. 

Perhaps this exchange is my favorite part of the film though. 

"What's it feel like?"

"What?"

Writing something the way you did?"

"Perhaps you'll find out."

That's the goal. Isn't it?

Read part 2 of this review.

Flat and Round: The Character Conundrum

I learned some terms this week that I hadn't learned during my time as a lit major in college. 

Flat Characters: Those who are typically not given any depth in character development, reduced to foils and/or stereotypes as a sort of shorthand for moving the plot along.

Round Characters: Those whose stories, lives, and character are developed in depth so as to make them feel more real in the eyes of readers, typically reserved for main antagonists and protagonists. 

So, as any good student, I think we should talk about it. I gathered the gang together and posed the questions around the table.

What benefits have you seen in your work for using flat characters?

Gordon Dymowski: One of the benefits of "flat characters" is that they can serve as placeholders, "red herrings" or other devices to move the story forward. Although I try to give as much background to any character (even peripheral ones), using "flat" characters provides immediate shortcuts and can help reflect the main characters' actions.

Chris Norton: Flat characters can be fun to write, sometimes you need some keystone cops action; also you just don't always have the time/space in a novel, and especially in a novella or short story, to fill out every character, unless it's a serial or has a limited number of characters.

I always feel pulled out of a story when an author takes the time to tell us all about a person whose only action is something like ringing up someone's groceries.

The benefits of rounded characters are obvious: empathy with the characters, pulling in the readers, etc.

Bobby Nash: I’ve never heard the term before your question, but I have in the past had henchmen who were basically there to e beat up or shot at while the hero worked his or her way up to the villain. These guys are just there to get their ass kicked so I didn’t really flesh them out.

Adrian G. Delgado: Flat characters are great as archetypes. Technically, even a god, especially one tied to a specific pantheon, can be flat as a pancake. "I'm a god of war and I make war. What else is there to know?" The Alchemist in Cohelo's "The Alchemist" is somewhat the same way, in so much that he is there to be used by the author to tell the shepherd's story. Come to think of it, characters can go flat and round out many times. Take Planet Hulk for example. The rest of the Marvel Heroes get reduced to Safety First goody-goods who send bad old hulk to a planet in the first few panels. Crack open any other comic though, suddenly Banner himself is a flat strongman.

Rus Wornom: I LOVE THESE TERMS. My flat characters help the main characters either develop as real people, or they move the action along...or they develop the character of the setting, which can be just as important as a character. For instance, I use flat characters in Ghostflowers to make a party in the woods seem real. They interact with the main characters as they progress to a certain point, not only in the woods but in the story.

John L. Taylor: In my writing, I get good use out of flat characters. As a horror writer, the important thing is to make the reader care about the character's fate. That doesn't mean extensive backstories or long conversations between them, just that the reader bonds with them and it isn't obvious who's going to die/suffer. 

Sean Taylor: Flats for me make perfect foils. I like to tease their backstories but then never deliver, so that they feel more important than they are actually. That way, particularly in a mystery story, they can serve as a kind of next-level red herring. They also make great hench-people for villains for pulp heroes, and hangers-on for the A-level cast in just about any genre. 

What line divides the need to make a character flat or round in your stories? 

Kellie Austin: I honestly don't think of characters in those projections. Flat or round-based characters start out for me as all being "Round". I'm very detailed oriented when I write and am constantly world-building. When I'm done with my book or story, I always go back and omit much information regarding some of the characters used, whether they are primary or supporting. Then I place the once rounded characters into the "flat" position until I can re-insert the back story in future stories. Some characters stay in the rounded section as they are the main hero(s). I find creating a character to move the plot along is worthwhile, and I can always use them again later when I need them. If I write a short story, then my characters are most usually always to be flat based as I have problems writing under restraint of words. So, I usually write more action, knowing that as my stories continue, I can begin transforming them into fully rounded characters to accompany the story I began with.

Adrian G. Delgado: If I have no reason to believe that either the reader or the MC or the character holding the point of view needs to see all the nuance of a character's life, they stay flat. If, however, this humanity needs to be discovered in the course of the story, I'll pump the air pump to it.

Bobby Nash: I like to give my characters some kind of identity. Even the henchmen and the like I write these days, I try to at least give them a name or something so they aren’t just a henchman.

Austin S. Camacho: Mysteries often have large casts - drivers, servants, people you get one important bit of info from, etc. Flat characters are a short-hand for readers: "the cab driver is not important to the plot - not a suspect." the better developed a character is, the more the reader expects them to have an important role.

Bill Craig: I agree with Austin. As you know, I love writing ensemble casts, so I try to develop the flat characters as well, just to make them important to the main characters. In the way I build characters, even the less important ones, I want them to be someone that the readers can relate to.

Jonathan Sweet: Like some others have said, my flat characters are usually shortcuts. I figure that if a nameless henchman is going to be offed by the hero, why give him a back story? On the other hand, I do like to give backstories even to minor characters. For example, in Enter the Jackal, I have Ole Karlsson, a cemetery caretaker that finds the first victim of a killer. Adding details about his feelings about the job, the fact that he's hungover from the night before, that he has a dog -- they help round out the character and maybe make us care a little bit about him.

John L. Taylor: In that respect, ALL characters are somewhat flat, including the POV character, based on archetypes with one or two quirks who the reader can empathize with. That distance between the reader and characters helps elevate the horror because the element of the unknown extends to the characters. None is so developed that they couldn't be a secret part of the threat to the protagonist. We don't know them that well to rule them out. We can't guarantee they won't survive. It's the archetype that needs to be compelling, and the plot that subverts that expectation.

Gordon Dymowski: Part of what I do for "rounded" characters is giving them more of a background and provide some motivation as to the "why" of their actions. Many writers create extensive biographies for their main characters; I usually think more of informal "backstories" that stay in my head when I'm writing them. (It also provides authenticity for character actions - having someone who has a history of stealing look longingly at a diamond, for example, makes more sense than having someone who is just "background", so to speak).

Mark Barnard: I always feel that even giving a character with a brief appearance some quirk to set them off adds depth to a story. It may be like describing a brick wall in the background as red and ivied, but for me it's part of the whole.

Rus Wornom: There is no line between flat characters and round characters. Writers don't write while distinguishing characters in that fashion. We develop spear carriers as much as is needed for the story...and sometimes those minor spear carriers become more important than we initially believe.

Sean Taylor: Quite often, a flat will make the jump to a round in my work, as I need to develop a background character because suddenly the story feels like it needs that character. It's more a "vibe and feel" thing though, rather than any kind of rule, at least for me. 

Show us an example of your characters, both flat and round, that you consider successful and effective -- and why you wrote them that way. 

Bobby Nash: Abraham Snow is a rounded character. The unnamed guard Domino Lady knocks out when breaking into a bad guy’s stronghold is flat.

Chris Norton: Flat characters I've written, who first comes to mind are Uther Pendragon's knights in the 2nd season of Young Merlin. Comedy relief, so they could be dispatcjed without hurting the audience, and to make the heroes look better,

Rounded characters, I'd like to think that most of them are, but probably the American Pride Superheroes, 3rd Generation of Militant Mechanical Men, The Demon detectives, and the heroes of Young Merlin all slowly get fleshed out, while the title characters of Hell's Angel and Sword (The Armorer Duke) in Hell Horror are the most fleshed out, but they also started out very two dimensional when I was writing their bios for personal use (HA about 12pp, Sword about 8pp) but even then, just following their adventures (or the ones I'd plotted out before writing them) gave them depth and personality.

Stuart Hopen: Here's a passage from one of my books, Twilight Patrol #5, where one of my characters wrestles with the problem of whether to be flat or round, which in some sense all of do, in life: 

Wootin had been brought here by yet another summons from Cassiopeia, the Queen of Cassiopeia. He was getting used to this business. It was getting to be a routine, almost mundane, though her perennial protestations of urgency and impending doom never proved to be unfounded. And yet there was something different in the way she spoke to him this time. For once, she phrased her requirements as a request, rather than a command, and she prefaced her entreaty with concern that he might have competing priorities. There was a subdued undercurrent of feminine hysteria in her voice, a hint of weakness he’d never heard before, and an uncharacteristic acknowledgement that obedience on his part was not taken for granted. Maybe she really believed she was dying, as Congrieve had reported, dying, along with the rest of her old world order. Perhaps her new affectation was part of the way she was coming to terms with these developments.

“Consider the nature of our foes,” she said. “Consider what has happened before. This is so much the worse than the horrors we’ve already seen.”

Wootin wondered what could shake the unshakable Queen. His curiosity had been piqued. He marveled at her masterful self-negating offer of a choice, and yet it gave him pause. He had the nagging sense that he’d been somehow tricked, and pressed into the service of some folkloric pattern. He questioned what enchantment or post hypnotic suggestion had so unmanned his free-will and condemned him to the role of a mere character, ruled by the laws of fairytales. He felt that way more often than he cared to admit, as if he were an unreal person in an unreal setting. There were other occasions, albeit far more rare, when he felt the opposite way, wholly alive and authentic. These rare occasions might happen during moments of intense concentration—in the midst of composing poetry or mortal aerial combat—and he would lose his individuality altogether, merging himself into a vast design of being that manifested itself through himself, somehow miraculously producing results that were far superior to that which he’d otherwise be capable. Wootin wondered whether these phenomena, though seemingly distinct and contrary in nature, might be inseparable aspects of one another. There was little doubt in his mind that his friend Hollister Congrieve played a role in these patterns and conventions. He knew Congrieve had already been conscripted into this new mission." I try to take a holistic approach to my writing, that character development, plot, theme, and philosophy, or world view are not separate elements, but all flow from one another, and all have to be integrated and balanced.

Sean Taylor: One of my favorite flats is Broomstick from the Rick Ruby stories. He started out as little more than the guy behind the bar who had a shotgun at the ready if he was needed. But over the course of several stories, he can getting more and more real, until the point when I wanted to write a story honoring the late Derrick Ferguson, I needed Broomstick to be more round and real for his own funeral. His death made him more round, as people honored his life. 

Gordon Dymowski: Some "rounded" characters I've written include Joe Magarac in Pro Se's TALL PULP - taking a mythic/folklore character and giving him dimension was not easy. Much of it involved both researching Magarac's "mythos" and integrating my own family background (my great-grandparents came to this country from Eastern Europe in the early 20th century) into the character. What could have easily been a one-dimensional strongman turned into a more nuanced character. (I also took a similar approach to writing the main character in "A Town Called Malice" for THE MASKED RIDER VOL 3. The original Masked Rider pulps hinted that his "civilian identity" of Wayne Morgan was also a ruse; I simply had the character make slightly ambiguous and off-handed remarks that suggested a possible origin...but just left it there for the reader to conclude).

One example of a "flat character" would be the antagonist of "In the Frame" in Pro Se's HOLLYWOOD PULP. Without spoiling, it takes a well-worn cliche and gives a greater context for *why* that person would do what they did. (I must admit that I take pride in making both Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton pulp heroes in their own right in this story).

Adrian G. Delgado: For me, I have made flat victims, mooks, villains, you name it. I let my characters discover the roundness of their fellow man naturally: a pancake flat crime victim naturally gets pretty round as the detective learns more about her.

Motivational Monday -- Awake to Wonder

 

Ray Bradbury on Madmen

 

[Link[ ‘If publishers become afraid, we’re in trouble’: publishing’s cancel culture debate boils over

Publishing staff, in rows over authors from Mike Pence to Woody Allen, are voicing their reluctance to work on books they deem hateful. But is this really ‘younger refuseniks’, or a much older debate?

by Alison Flood

In the 1960s, Simon & Schuster’s co-founder Max Schuster was facing a dilemma. Albert Speer, Hitler’s chief architect and armaments minister, had written a memoir providing new insights into the workings of Nazi leadership. As Michael Korda, Schuster’s editor-in-chief, recounted in his memoir Another Life, Schuster knew it would be a huge success. “There is only one problem,” he said, “and it’s this: I do not want to see Albert Speer’s name and mine on the same book.”

In the liberal industry of publishing, the tension that exists between profit and morality is nothing new, whether it’s Schuster turning down Speer (the book was finally published by Macmillan), or the UK government introducing legislation to prevent criminals making money from writing about their crimes.

But the debate over what should be published has reached a fever pitch. Publishing staff who feel uncomfortable about working on certain titles are speaking out more often and more loudly, through open letters and on social media.

Read the full article: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/03/if-publishers-become-afraid-were-in-trouble-publishings-cancel-culture-debate-boils-over

WHERE ALL IS NIGHT, AND STARLESS -- THE WEIRD FICTION OF JOHN LINWOOD GRANT

For Immediate Release

Trepidatio Publishing
286 pp
PB and e-format
7th July 2021

Where All is Night, and Starless gathers seventeen unsettling stories of our fears and weaknesses, and of our often unreliable strengths: stories of monstrosity and the occasional hope, deliberately themed across three aspects of weird fiction. The section ‘On Mythos’ covers re-interpretations and subversions of themes from H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythos; ‘On Mysteries’ looks into strange transformations, and ‘On Myth’ delves into the realms of folklore and folk horror, each with a dark twist. From the churning hell of World War One to the quiet English suburbs, from contemporary Alaska to colonial Africa, these are weird tales of the decisions we make when faced with something strange, with turns wry, ironic, and dark. Some horrors are found not outside, but in the mirror before us.

“A cornucopia of dark delights, this collection is highly imaginative, extremely well written, and a delight to read. Weird fiction at its finest!” – Tim Waggoner, Bram Stoker Award Winner and author of Your Turn to Suffer. 

“With ‘Where all is Night, and Starless’, Grant has crafted a far-reaching collection, imbued with beautifully deft prose, where dark humour, melancholy and ghoulishness effortlessly share the same space as though in cosmic alignment with the fates. A truly magnificent achievement by an incredibly gifted wordsmith.” – Dave Jeffery, author of A Quiet Apocalypse and Cathedral.

John Linwood Grant is a professional writer/editor from Yorkshire, UK, with some seventy short stories published during the last few years in magazines and several award-winning anthologies, plus a novel, novella and two collections. He writes dark contemporary fiction and period supernatural tales. He is also the editor of Occult Detective Magazine and various anthologies, and can be found on FB and at his eclectic website http://greydogtales.com/blog/

Danielle Palli: Mindfulness and Meditation

Danielle Palli won her first creative writing award at the age of six, and by age fifteen, she had already been published in the Writer’s Journal. She is the author of the Acting Out Yoga series for children, and the Data Collectors Sci-Fi trilogy for adults. She also writes, teaches, and publishes online courses about mindfulness, intuition, and spirituality, and works as a multimedia specialist, voiceover artist, podcast host, and positive psychology-based wellbeing coach.

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

I'm currently wrapping up the third book in The Data Collectors Sci-Fi trilogy. Between the Layers will hopefully be available in June. The story follows Lucene Jones and a team of genetically modified Data Collectors initially sent to Earth to determine what is causing the near extinction of humans as a species. Meanwhile, special interest groups would rather see us die off sooner rather than later, as Earth is prime intergalactic real estate. While the first book is set primarily on Earth, Breach of Contract (book #2) and Between the Layers (book #3) take place on the Earth-like planet, Erde (Yes, I am aware this is the German word for "Earth"). Known as the Peace-Keepers, Erde has evolved as species and enjoyed more than 100 years of peace…until now. 

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?

From the time I can remember (around four or five years old), I have always wanted to write (or become a crime-solving detective with supernatural powers – it was a toss-up). But I credit my older sister for fostering my interest in reading and writing. I was really shy and insecure as a child in school, and she's the first person who taught me how to read and write. She'd also read to my siblings and me regularly, and she'd use character voices too. When she read us Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we always knew whether she was Grandpa Joe, Grandpa George, or Grandma Josephine because her voices were so good. When she was a teenager, one of her first jobs was in a bookstore, and she'd often bring me Beverly Cleary books to read as a kid. She wanted to become a writer, and who doesn't want to be like their big sister? 

What inspires you to write?

I think it's a combination of having an overactive imagination and life lessons to share. I'll often awaken at 3 am with a topic in my head, and it will nag me until I get up and write it down – or at least let it tumble around my brain for a bit before I fall back to sleep. The next morning, I have to write. Sometimes, I'm writing an article related to personal growth. Other times, it's a fiction novel that, hopefully, entertains and offers a few philosophical nuggets to think about. 

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

The biggest theme is mindfulness and meditation. You'll find elements of that in my kid's yoga books, novels, articles, and programs. For me, developing a meditation practice changed my life in profound ways. That may sound odd to many people, but I believe it is one of the quickest ways to physical, emotional, and mental health. The other primary theme is environmental awareness. Just as I support people protecting their internal environment, I believe we have a responsibility to protect the world around us. 

What would be your dream project?

I would love to see The Data Collectors series turned into an anime series next. I enjoy stretching my writing limits and growing with the craft, so it would be so exciting to write and work with experienced scriptwriters as part of an entire production team, people who have the budget and know-how to bring the story to life. I'd also want to be able to voice a few of the characters.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

This is a tricky question for me to answer since, these days, much of what I read is positive-psychology-related non-fiction that supports my coaching practice. And, I never thought I would write a sci-fi series. I thought my first book would be a cozy novel, but the characters kept nagging me until I wrote The Data Collectors. I will say that readers have noted that my work has comedic elements like Douglas Adams and Erma Bombeck, both of whom I read as a teenager. I also admire the works of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman because they push the limits of fantasy and world-building and create unique characters that defy reality. Whenever I start to pigeonhole myself into one way of writing or developing a story, I think of their work and ask myself, "how can I stretch a little further?" 

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

I had so much fun narrating the female character voices for the audiobook version Breach of Contract and have plans to do that for the third book as well. Audio engineer and narrator Graham Mack did a brilliant job on the first Data Collectors book without my input. But, for consistency, I would – at some point – love to record the female voices and have me stitched into the first audiobook so that the entire audio series is multicast. 

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

I guess it depends on what you're writing. If it's an academic or technical piece, it lends itself to science and practicality. If it's fiction, you can really push the boundaries, and the shift is more toward artistry. That said, you still need the discipline to research, write, edit, revise, proof again, produce, and market and promote. For simplicity, I would argue that it's 60/40 split one way or the other, depending on the genre and content. 

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

I have a running list of more than a dozen projects I would like to accomplish … right now. For me, the difficulty is reminding myself that it doesn't all need to happen at once. My latest affirmation when I find myself working incessantly without taking a day off is, "you have all the time in the world." 

How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not?

I would say that most of my friends are adjacent to writers vs. necessarily being writers themselves (though my publisher, Cindy Readnower, is also a successful writer and editor). These are the publishers, beta readers, artists, editors, and audio-video producers that support me and my projects. For the longest time, I had to perform every role because I simply didn't have the finances that would allow me to hire support. But over time, and working my butt off, I built up a modest production budget by focusing on the skills that I'm best at so I could eventually bring in experts in varied fields who could help me. I am so grateful to have that support because trying to go it alone is pretty darn exhausting. 

What does literary success look like to you?

I believe success is ongoing. I was fortunate to have launched my freelance writing career in 2006 as a journalist and publicist, writing on various topics and then moving on to creating multimedia content and educational programming. Novel-writing is a new experience for me, and I celebrate the success of writing three books in a year while maintaining two separate careers in writing and coaching. I love my characters and stories independent of what anyone else thinks. So to me, that's another little win. Next, I would, of course, love to become a New York Times best-selling author and have my books translated into more than a dozen languages, and then be made into an animated series, graphic novels, and movies. But overall, I get to wake up every day doing work that I love, and that's the ultimate success.  

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

Thank you for asking! I would love to have people read and review The Data Collectors series. The first two are currently available in print, ebook, and audio formats. 

For more information, visit: 

https://birdlandmediaworks.com

Movie Reviews for Writers: A Fantastic Fear of Everything

Wow. This one was a bizarre film. But, let's face it, that's exactly what we've been taught to expect from Simon Pegg. In this flick, Pegg plays a children's storybook writer turned crime writer who is also a paranoiac whose research causes him to see Victorian serial killers in every shadow. 

Of course, this one is filled with gags, such as Pegg gluing a knife to his hand, burning his underwear and socks in the oven, diving around in his flat in his tighty whiteys, etc. 

But in the midst of all that zaniness, there are quite a few things to look at that concern the writing life. 

The first is that it's easy to get pigeonholed in the publishing business. At one point, when his agent asks him for another Harold the Hedgehog book that she could sell easily, he tells her (expletives deleted here) that Harold is dead. He really wants to move beyond Harold and his other cute storybook characters and tell a story with (in his mind) more substance, more to say. 

Of course, he continues to be haunted by Harold among his Victorian killer visions and his attempts to come to terms with his own abandonment as a child. Ultimately, he learns that Harold still has a lot to say to him and to his life as a writer. 

Next, he learns that while research is incredibly helpful and a much-needed skill for authors, it can also be debilitating and a huge stop sign in the middle of the actual writing. Of course, not all of us will internalize our research into waking nightmares of Victorian murderers, but I'm sure we've all experienced that moment when research sends is down the rabbit holes of click, then click, then click, then "Wait! What the hell was I looking for in the first place, and how did I end up learning about the chemical symbols for the fibers in socks from the 1920s?" 

Research is dangerous, especially to folks who are easily distracted by new possible story ideas and factoids that might, maybe, possibly, off-chance make it either into a story or even create a new story from scratch later. 

The last point made, and perhaps the one the movie puts the most time into driving home to viewers is that while we often want to fragment ourselves into children's writer or crime fiction writer (or in my case horror writer or pulp writer or superhero writer or literary writer) the truth is that we need to integrate all those things. I won't reveal the ending because it's truly inspired the way Pegg's "selves" work together to... Well, you'll just have to see. It's awesome. 

But at any rate, don't pit one writing self inside you against another. Integrate, baby. 

H. David Blalock: My Hand Is in Everything

H. David Blalock has been writing speculative fiction for nearly 50 years. His work has appeared in novels, novellas, stories, articles, anthologies, reviews, and commentary both in print and online. Since 1996, his fiction has appeared in over two dozen magazines. He is currently the lead editor of parABnormal Magazine from Hiraeth Publishing. His work continues to appear on a regular basis through multiple publishing houses.

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

I was just honored to have a story of mine titled “Green Leaf” published by Dingbat Press in the anthology Standing Fast, the latest of William Alan Webb's The Last Brigade series of books. It's an account of a fictional invasion of the Republic of Panama by the Chinese. I lived in Panama for seven years, so this story ran very close to what I expect might really happen, and not that long from now, with or without the collapse on which the rest of Webb's series is based.

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer? 

It's hard to say. I've been writing since I was little and always wanted to share my work with others. I have always liked stories – hearing them, telling them, and watching them on television and the big screen.

What inspires you to write? 

You mean, where do I get my ideas? That's a novel way of asking. Observing people, mostly, although I do like the typical asking “what if?” 

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work? 

I like to explore different ideas in different ways. My hand is in everything from detective fiction (my Velvet Wasp novellas) to high fantasy (my Thran Chronicles), science fiction and horror (my Angelkiller books and dozens of shorts stories). You might say I revisit whatever my muse seems to find interesting at the time.

What would be your dream project? 

Don't have one, really. I've been writing for 50 years and been there, done that. My favorite of my short stories was “To Our Brothers.” written when our kids grew up and left us with an empty nest. My favorite of my novels was the Angelkiller series, a summation of what I expect I would have seen had my own life and the world gone just a tad differently.

What writers have influenced your style and technique? 

Heinlein, of course, since I first read Red Planet at the age of 12. Lovecraft and his cosmic horror captured my imagination, pushing me toward more psychological horror writing than the visceral horror so popular today. Bradbury's Martian Chronicles made me learn how to see things from a different perspective. A.E. Van Vogt, Jack Vance, Edmund Hamilton, Clifford Simak, Damon Knight, Phillip K. Dick – they all had an influence, and I have worked hard to live up to the master standard they defined.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do? 

Not really. What mistakes I made were honest and improving on an honest mistake is dishonest at best, a new mistake at worst. 

Where would you rank writing on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why? 

There is art and science to writing. As a writer, I partake in the art. As an editor, I use science. Writing is mostly intuition and imagination. Editing is mostly critical thinking and marketing. A professional writer eyes both when crafting.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process? 

Getting started and getting finished. And the part there in the middle. Art is hard. Hard on the artist, hard on the editor. There's nothing automatic about it.

How do your writer friends help you become a better writer? Or do they not? 

When we were running the Imagicopter project a few years ago, it was wonderful being able to be around other writers, share in their successes and failures. Talking about writing is cathartic and heart-breaking at the same time, but the process does help you better understand your own ability.

What does literary success look like to you? 

Finishing a piece and being able to say it feels finished. Some people, I guess a lot of people, think literary success hinges on publication and I can understand that. 

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug? 

Some editing projects and the odd short story or two, but nothing I can talk about right now. Contracts and stuff.

For more information, visit: 

http://www.thrankeep.com

Motivational Mondays -- Filled Up and Breathing

 

Happy Father's Day

 

[Link] Famous Writers From John Steinbeck to Maya Angelou All Swore By This Weird Productivity Trick. You Should Steal It

These literary greats solved the riddle of work-from-home productivity decades before the rest of us.

by Jessica Stillman

John Steinbeck may have won a Nobel Prize but he still preferred to write at an unstable little desk on his fishing boat. Another giant of American letters, Maya Angelou, liked to rent out hotel rooms and write perched on the bed. Peter Benchley, who wrote Jaws, outdid both of them -- he penned the thriller from the clanging back room of a furnace factory. 

All of which might make you conclude that writers are a bunch of odd ducks. That might be true, but according to a thoughtful recent New Yorker piece from best-selling author and Georgetown professor Cal Newport, that's the wrong lesson for less literary types to take from these writers' unusual approach to productivity. 

Newport insists that decades before our recent switch to remote work these authors discovered something many of us are going to learn in the coming months and years: Working close to home beats actually working at home. 

Read the full article: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/productivity-remote-work-john-steinbeck-maya-angelou.html