Ot Russiie s Lubvye

The blog has gotten 10 views from Russia, I don't know if that's some type of error but I'm excited anyway! A few years ago I tried to teach myself Russian. Primarily because speaking two languages is the equivalent to a super power in my opinion, and if you're gonna speak another language, it might as well be Russian.

As you may have guessed this post has absolutely nothing to do with me working on my novel. I just like Russia, for no other reason than it's just seems like a cool country, and since I may, or may not, have some Russian readers I figured I'd share.

Til next time,

Dosvadonya Muy Brat,

Lefty

P.S.
The blog title says "From Russia with Love", in Russian. (te-he-he)

Books on Writing Books

I tend to obsess. A lot. Especially when I'm embarking on a new endeavor our starting an journey that's new territory for me. And though I've been a storyteller for most of my life (mostly in the form of random and unnecessary lies)  novel writing is still very much uncharted territory for me, so I did what I always do when I'm not sure about something, I research it until my eyes bleed. This lead me to purchasing a lot of books about writing books.

Now most bookstores have a full section for books on writing books, usually it just marked as reference though. Now essentially the books all say the same thing and most of them don't even do that well. In my opinion most books on writing books aren't worth the paper they're printed on, and that's saying a lot, because I don't usually say such things, but I feel it has to be said. Now there are a few good writing reference books out there, but those are usually the one that offer insight into the writing process of already established authors, the books that offer and step by step instructional on how to write a book are worthless, because in the end you're not actually writing a book you're feeling in a worksheet with some fancy details.

There is no formula for writing a successful novel and there is no magic book out there that's going to show you how to do it, the only thing you can really do is write. One of the biggest obstacles of writing a novel is the pursuit of publishing, and unfortunately most books on writing books are just someone else's successful attempt to get published, but just because it was put in print doesn't always make it helpful or even relevant in most cases its just an attempt to get 20 bucks out of an over enthusiastic aspiring writer.

Now there are some great books on writing books out there, but they are the exception rather than the norm. As a matter of fact everything I come across a good one I'll come back here and let you guys know about it (since we're pals and all)

Till next time,

Lefty

November = NaNoWriMo

It's November which means its NaNoWriMo, which means National Novel Writing Month, but for me November means a lot of other things. For one my first year wedding anniversary was this month, Nov 6th to be exact, me and the wife went to Chicago for the weekend and had a great time, but I also took a complete break from writing for the weekend, not even letting myself think about my book project for some 72 hours (of course I cheated, but only because Chicago is a difficult city not to be inspired by) But before we left I finished Chapter 18, yep Chapter 18 done, on to 19. I sent out a few excerpt to a few trusted readers and hoping to get some good feedback as a really burst into the second half of the project. I'm planning for about 12 more chapters to wrap the project up which is less than I've already done but perhaps the most important portion. I hope to be done by year's end but as December get closer, its seeming less and less likely. Here's to trying.

Till next time,

Lefty