Robert Crais talks about CHASING DARKNESS

"When you look at the book, it actually is not a completed piece of art. The art isn't completed until the reader reads it." - Robert Crais

If you're looking for some motivation, this might just do the trick.








CR: Crashed by Timothy Hallinan

It's all better with friends.

When Failure Isn't

I sat an unrealistic goal for myself over the weekend. Shoot, I set an impossible goal for myself over the the weekend.

In other words, I set myself up to fail.

But did I?

I decided I would add 8000 words to my WIP (work-in-process) by Monday night. Under normal conditions, that would have been a stretch, but we had plans both Saturday and Sunday, and Monday there were a couple of domestic duties scheduled (clean underwear is a good thing).

I didn't come close to achieving my goal. But what I have now that I didn't have on Friday is a clear "what's next" for my scenes. That has always been a stumbling block for me. Which thread do I pull now?

So although I didn't make the 8000 (and we all know I didn't expect to make the 8000 from the get-go), I was propelled and compelled to figure out a plan.

A friend gave me a plaque that says, "Shoot for the moon . . . even if you miss you'll land among the stars."

So today, I'm off to play in the glitter of star dust—with just a trace of moon dust to keep me motivated.

Are you feeling glittery, or just dusty? What do you do to shake it up or shake it off?



CR: The Fourth Watcher by Timothy Hallinan in hardcover. An absolutely amazing series beginning with A Nail Through the Heart which I read on my Kindle.

It's all better with friends.

Duh-Dum, Duh-Dum, Duh-Dum

So I'm sitting here, feeling a little smug. In control. Upward and onward with my edits. Kind of liking that my more recently written scenes in my SFD weren't requiring the same kind of gagging overhaul the earlier ones did. The really hard work was done.

I saw nothing but calm seas ahead of me.

I should've known something was about to happen when I heard the theme from Jaws begin to rumble in the air around me.

Has that ever happened to you? A shark attack out of the blue?

What happened was I got a couple of critiques back from my writing partners.

Both of them were all over my character motivations and responses to danger. They were relentless. In the spirit of the season, I tried picturing them (two gorgeous blondes) as wicked hags with warts on their noses.

How could they? And especially . . . How could they be so right???

In other words, the writing wasn't so bad, but the storyline, at this particular point, stinks. Like that shark bait . . . what's it called? Chum?

Aaargh!

I hate it when I'm thinking I don't have to think so much and then someone forces the issue.

But I showed them. Well, I'm gonna show them. I figured it out.

Now to write it.

CR: Green by Ted Dekker

It's all better with friends.