I try to write a blog post here about once a week week. Sometimes I hit that mark, sometimes I fall short depending on how busy I am, and occasionally I crank out two or three. I thought I’d take a minute to share with you about these locations.
Earlier today I wrote a quick post on the website of the podcast I recently started with my friend, TomTrimbath. Together, we have taken on the topic of all-things Writing On Whidbey Island — which is the name of our show, or WOWI for short. We’ve realized that there is a considerable collection of writers here on the island, along with other things having to do with writing, and we wish to present its unique character. Tom and I pop up at different places here on the island, explore different writing related topics, and host conversations (not a hard Q&A) with other authors and people in the writing arena.
I blog about my experiences as a musician at BagpiperDon.com. I also write about Zombie movies and books … because, well, ZOMBIES!
And last but not least, I of course post right here at The Biscotto – A Bakers Blog. I write about my culinary creation process, experiences as a writer, and give kitchen tips … among other things.
Read on & Enjoy! ~ Don
So last night I got my first real opportunity to dive-back-in. I reviewed all of this information, which includes these odd sections. It’s a bit overwhelming but I can see the work ahead. The long and short of it I know is this — once I have this bit of D-Day history written for the WWII chapter …. the rest of the work to complete the book project is all downhill eating cake wearing roller skates.
I consider myself still ‘new’ to the world of being an author. Also, while I have learned a lot about starting and finishing a book project along with self-publishing, I’m still learning things. People frequently tell me about books they’ve thought to write along with asking questions on how to go about their projects. I’m happy to share what I’ve learned, because while book writing and self-publishing is kind of a crazy prospect, it’s also one I’ve found I greatly enjoy!
My first book was a recipe book. I was told later by 
This seems like a no-brainer to me, an automatic thing to do, but I was told by an editor-friend that many writers Do Not Do This. WWWWHHHYYYYY?!?!? Not delivering the best work possible to an editor or publisher is not only sloppy, it lacks professionalism, wastes time, and potentially gets you turned-down for opportunities.
Do not hand a mismanaged stack of papers to an editor or publisher for consideration. Don’t give the excuse that organizing your work is someone else’s job or that they get paid for it. NO, It Is Your Job. “But it’s hard and confusing” — that’s an excuse — it’s difficult and confusing for someone else. “It takes time away from being creative” — another excuse — if you know your characters/world/story then it ought to be little trouble for you to get this in order. “I don’t feel like it” — Boo Hoo — I don’t feel like a lot of things, but buck up, that’s the job of a writer Vrs the half-effort of a slacker. Get it Done. Give someone your manuscript, not your mess.
Think about how much time you spend writing and bringing a book to fruition. Time is money and hundreds of hours equates to thousands of dollars. Now think about losing all of your work, all of your research, all of your notes, all of your development, and what it would take to recreate everything. That’s not even considering the emotional impact. I am speaking from the voice of experience — my first book was nearly done after (+/-) a year when the hard drive on my computer died. It took another two years to recreate and completed my project — and that was partly with finding an early backup I forgot I had made. Backing up your hard drive really takes little time. Today there are products on the market that will do it automatically for you. I cannot stress enough … BACKUP YOUR HARD DRIVE.
Let’s face it — most days are just …. well …. days. Some good stuff happens, some bad stuff happens … rinse, wash, repeat … not a big deal. Occasionally there are days when it seems like nothing can go right — UGG! — chin up, do your best to keep moving forward. And then, every once in a while, there are days where Everything Just Seems To Go RIGHT! For me, last Monday was one of those days …
