EVERYONE WANTS TO BE AN AUTHOR

Good afternoon all my family and friends.

I just realized we only have 2 and 1/2 weeks to Christmas. So, is your shopping all done? Whether you are or not, in case you missed last month's sale, I'm considering doing it again.

How does that sound? I appreciate all of you who responded so favorably, with kind comments and offers to post a review on Amazon. Thank you all. So, with Christmas so close, Bridgetown High could be a great Christmas gift for your young adults, and even adults.


So, today I thought I would go against everything you've been taught about how to put together a novel. I'm borrowing this from one of my favorite novelists, Jack London.


If any of you have read his biography, "Sailor on Horseback," by Irving Stone, you might remember how London put together his novels.


Before I go into that, however, I want to go over what I've learned from all my contemporary writers. Common wisdom says to start writing something without stopping to check spelling or to fix poor sentences, just write from the opening and work to the final word. Then we are told to go back over and edit, edit, edit!


Well, that makes sense, in a way, but I can't do it that way. As I write, I find myself pausing to fix something and in the process take a moment to think about where I want to go with what I'm currently working on.



Now, as I think back on Jack London's method, I realize I'm not too far from doing it his way. At first, I got a kick out of how London wrote. His method was to write a scene, a chapter, a concept, etc. with no idea of a plot or where it fit in the plot at first. I know, I told you having a plot is one of the most important aspects of a novel. But, after writing something, London would hang the pages on a clothes line, then rearrange them as he thought it over. That's kind of how I do it, only I use a computer. Much more efficient.


As I was writing during my lunch break yesterday, I found myself adding to chapters already written, and moving chapters around to where they would fit better.

I wonder how many of you use the London method -- via a computer. I'll let you stew about that for a while.

So, until next week,  as always, if you like this blog, please "Share" and "Like"it on Facebook , and "Re-tweet" it on Twitter. Then PLEASE, take five minutes to write a short review of "Bridgetown High" and post it on my author page at Amazon.

Also, if you are reading this on my blog, have you signed up for my email letters on my Blog Site? I would love to see you there and have you introduce yourself and give comments to this blog.