Last week, I decided seventy-three times that I’d run out of words and that I was a paper-wasting hack and should go back to school and find another way to pay the bills.

(I also accidentally scared readers by sending out a retirement message via my newsletter that was supposed to be read like a late April Fool’s joke, but my subtle humor was apparently undetectable to some. That’s another story though.)

So far this week, I’ve shed the typist in me and donned the wings of a writer. I suppose it all comes down to accepting that there is no such thing as an easy book, one that will just pour from your fingers. At least in my case. No, every book requires a return to the dark cave where the demons and dragons wait, and even after fifteen books, those monsters do not become less intimidating. They’re actually more terrifying. But when I run my sword (really just a pen) into them, the victories are sweeter than ever.

I even caught myself saying out loud a moment ago, “Maybe, just maybe, I might be able to survive this book, and maybe even weather an entire life of wrangling blank pages, and maybe just maybe, this might be the best book I’ve ever written. And even if it isn’t, I’ve never had more fun or been more immersed or felt more in touch (with all the things) and that is definitely more important.”

Thanks for reading my dumb writer thoughts. Please sign up for my newsletter at boowalker.com if you would like to witness me cram more literary feet into my mouth or read more slaughtered bits of the English language.

#amtryingtowrite #fiction #expatsinItaly #bologna #lakeunionpublishing #boowalkerbooks

Happy Mother’s Day!!

(this was Riggs’s amazing gift to his mom.)

I could not be more happy about this one going out into the world. Can’t believe I have to wait till September. Otis is on his way!

#redmtn #wine #fiction

It’s a Red Mountain kind of day today.

much love @hedgeswine and @goedhartstudio!

When in Maine…
#amreading #fiction
@stephenking

An Unfinished Story has just hit shelves in Turkey! What an honor.

Last month, I jumped into writing the first draft of my WIP (work-in-progress) with little planning. I figured that after doing this fourteen times, surely it had gotten easier and I could rely on my instincts.



It was like biting into an apple that I didn’t know was made of bronze.


So I spent the last few weeks walking and talking and thinking through my ideas, sculpting the thing in my head. I covered my whiteboard and created a deep Excel sheet and nearly blew up my Scrivener software with character and setting sheets and corkboard outline beats. I asked myself and the characters questions and figured out how they would change over the course of the story and what plot points would force that change. From the outside, I probably looked like a mumbling man in a straitjacket.



I’ve done this level of planning for all my novels but had hoped this one would be different. I kept wondering if the masters still had to prep like that. Or did they just sit down and let it flow? I suppose it doesn’t really matter. I just know what works for me.



Everyone always talks about plotting vs pantsing (writing by the seat of your pants like Stephen King). The argument for pantsing is that you get to enjoy discovering as you go. What I find, when I think through the novel ahead of time, is that I get the joy of discovering without having to sit in front of my keyboard. Writing isn’t always typing. As a caffeine-fueled American cliche of a man who feels guilty if I’m not getting in my word count, I have to remind myself of that fact.



Doing this for a living and trying to spit out one or two books a year, I just don’t have the luxury of going down a path and then realizing it’s not working and having to delete large chunks.

And outlining certainly doesn’t limit your creativity. Though I have my story beats mapped out, I am wide open to surprises.



This prep work also serves to drive a stake into the heart of that bastard self-doubt gremlin who sits on my left shoulder. And whenever he’s silenced, the fun amps up.



#amwriting #fiction #ishouldhaverunforSenate

Whole wheat sourdough