The Crotchety Old Man

Tag: writing a novel

  • A Totally Different Experience

    A few years ago, the idea of writing a book intimidated me enough to keep me from even trying. The complexity of the task overwhelmed me. The job was too big to comprehend and I didn’t know enough to break it into smaller, more manageable chunks. I added “write a book” to the things I…

  • Back to Work

    It’s just been me and the dogs here at home this weekend. I took the opportunity to focus on me. My partner would say I do that all the time. He’s right. But when he’s not around, I really indulge myself. I could accomplish more without the dogs pestering me. They insist I stop whatever…

  • Sent!

    The vacation from my day job means I’ve had time to focus on advancing my budding writing career. Until Thanksgiving (formerly known as Addicted) has moved on to the next level. I submitted the first twenty pages of the manuscript and a complete synopsis to a small, relatively new publishing company this morning. Let the…

  • Goodbye, Addicted

    Last week I blogged about the present status of my writing career. Basically, all projects were stalled and I was trying to figure out a way forward. As is so often the case with me, all I need do is state my intentions for everything to change. I got the marked up manuscript from the…

  • New Directions?

    Starting a blog is easy. Keeping it going is a bit more challenging. The internet is littered with the carcasses of failed and abandoned blogs. I’m sure most bloggers fantasize about hitting the big league and making lots of money at least once in a while. But the vast majority of active blogs aren’t the least…

  • Aiming High

    Because of everything I’ve learned about writing in the year since I finished writing it, revising Glass Houses has been more interesting and less tedious than I expected. Leaving it alone for nearly a year helped, too. Hard to say whether the passage of time or my growth as a writer helped more. Both made…

  • More Than Friends

    I finished writing Glass Houses about a year ago. After receiving rejections from the agent of my dreams and a publisher that seemed perfect for my book, I knew I needed help. Several friends suggested I check out local groups for writers. A Google search turned up a group right here in Athens. I sent…

  • Learning Curve

    Those of you who know me will attest to the fact that I’m a bit slow.  Though it applies, I’m not talking about my jogging speed. For some reason it takes me a while to figure things out that others pick up right away. For example, I was one of the last people to figure…

  • Stuck!

    Three weeks ago, I all but finished writing Addicted, my first work of fiction. The main elements of the story are finished. All that’s left is to write a chapter or two to wrap things up. I would have finished it three weeks ago, but I couldn’t figure out how to get from where I…

  • Writing Myself Out of a Corner

    For the last month or so, I’ve made very little forward progress on Addicted, my first work of fiction. I know where the story is going and how it will end. Even so, for some reason I’ve been stuck at the 40,000 word mark. Addicted is a male/male romance novel about Josh Freeman, a middle-aged…