On the Fourth Day
I wrote a novel. I decided, after going back and fourth and back and fourth for a while, to go ahead and self publish it. I like it, but then, I wrote it so I should. If you think you might like it, it will be available to purchase within a few weeks. I’ll also…
30 percent or die trying
“I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” — Blaise Pascal, 1657 Editing is sadism; self-editing is masochism. But if you’re going to enter the leather-clad world of professional writing, you probably ought to learn to be a switch. I’ve edited for all sorts of…
Submissions and requests
My father used to tell a story about the guy who taught him about sales. The guy, my father said, was not an attractive man. It was the mid-to- late 70s so he had sideburns and shaggy, thinning hair that was always a bit too long. When they were on the road, he and my…
The smile behind the statement
It’s not a lie if YOU believe it. — Carol Leifer, via George Costastanza When I sold homes, there was no more important phrase for me to keep in my head. I joked about it; I told people that it was a definitive part of my personality. And when I did, they’d grimace a tad,…
“Said” as punctuation
While I have a degree in Creative Writing, I came up through newspapers. AP style is designed to keep information flowing and to make reading as clear as possible. It’s why my Indeed proofreading score is only proficient (I struggle with the Oxford comma. It’s an unneeded pica, dammit!) and why I keep my paragraphs…
Ice blocks
Every winter I develop ice block. Drainage required a low spot in the driveway, and once the snow starts falling ice builds up on its lower edge, the spot where concrete turns to Colorado dirt and the path the water needs to take in order to leave. However, a giant pine to the south shades…
600 words
The goal, every day, is 600 words. On a good day it’s something constructive, cover letters, reworking my query, a scene or two in the book. On less good days it’s getting into arguments on football or TV message boards. At my very worst it’s a journal entry, unfairly bitching about my life or politics…
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Matthew Adams 