I write on a myriad of topics around the Web and thought I would share them all in one place. Below is a sampling of some articles I’ve written and presentations I’ve done. Content Marketing Content Strategy: 7 Essential StepsA definitive guide on how to create a content marketing strategy. One of the biggest and most successful […]
My writings & presentations from around the Web Read More »
At the beginning of July, I received my first royalty check from my first novel. Four days ago, the check was on its way to the shredder. This is the story of how my wife and I got it back.
How Chase saved my first novel’s check from being shredded Read More »
You’ve spent months, maybe even years writing a story. Now you’re nearing the end of your characters’ journey and you’re thinking, “How in the hell do I wrap this up?” You’re not alone. Writing endings can be one of the most stressful parts of storytelling. If you’re writing from an outline, you may find that
About a week ago, give or take a day or two, I self-published my first book, Mantrap, to Amazon. (Hurray for me, high fives all around – which, when you’re alone, is really just clapping.) Here’s a breakdown of what my plan was for that first week and what I learned along the way. Step
Lessons in self-publishing – Week 1 Read More »
About two-and-a-half years ago, my buddy Duane and I were driving back to Chicago from a little cabin on Mantrap Lake in Minnesota where he and I meet up with a few of our old college frat brothers every year for a long weekend of drinking, playing nerdy games and being away from technology. On
Mantrap – A Zombie Comedy Read More »
When I started writing this blog, my goal was to write a new post every week. “That’ll be pretty easy,” I told myself, “No problem.” I’m staring at the date of my last post, which was over a month ago, and wondering, “What the hell happened?” Real life happened.
Distractions, distractions, distractions Read More »
On Sunday, February 24th, 2013, I will publish my first book. After over 18 month’s worth of work (and creating two entirely different versions of the story), I’m set to publish “Mantrap” to the world. Actually, I’m going to be pushing it on my friends and family first to get their feedback, and then I’ll
Waiting impatiently Read More »
I’ve spent the last week putting together a final revision for my book. The book was originally written for my friends, and starred them as characters. Everything about the story was fictional, but since it starred my friends, I forced some things to happen (and not happen) because I thought it would be rude to,
Saying goodbye to characters Read More »
I have a pretty cool day job where I get to share best practices in SEO, public relations, and marketing to the public. I do a webinar about once a month and write for my company’s blog. I’m blessed to work with great people who have taken me under their wings and showed me the
6 business writing tips I learned from creative writing Read More »
Finding story ideas can be tough sometimes. Sure, just about everyone has their million dollar novel idea, but shaping that idea into a true story and adding the detail to keep readers engaged can be daunting. Here are 7 sources for story ideas that you can use. Overhearing/Eavesdropping This sounds a lot worse than it
7 sources for story ideas Read More »
When creating comedic scenes and premises, there are a lot of tried-and-true devices and formulas we can work with. One of my favorites is fish out of water. So what does fish out of water mean? It’s very much like it sounds. A fish out of water scene entails a character (the fish) being outside
Fish out of water – Elements of Comedy Read More »
Doubt is that area of limbo between completely believing that we can do something, and totally believing that it’s impossible. Last year I overcame a large self-doubt when I committed to writing a story that I had been thinking about the year before. It was a fun story based on me and a bunch of
Writer’s doubt – I’m kinda scared to publish Read More »
The single best thing I’ve done to improve my writing was learning how to write sketch comedy. Sketch comedy is the guerilla warfare version of storytelling. In sketch, you don’t have 50,000 words to tell a story. Or an hour. Or half an hour. You have to tell an entire story – beginning, transition, climax,
3 sketch comedy tips that writers should use Read More »
Back in 2005, I walked into my first class at the Second City Training Center in Chicago. The class was “Introduction to Comedy Writing” or ICW and our instructor was the multitalented Ranjit Souri. The first thing he had us do was sit down with our notebooks and free write. About anything. The key was
Free writing – Tips & tools to get you writing Read More »
It took a hell of a lot of work to push through and a lot of re-prioritization in my personal life, but today I put down my 50,000th word in the novel that I’ve been writing since November 1st. 50k words in 28 days. After failing by 20k words last year, it feels damn good
NaNoWriMo Complete Read More »
I just spent the weekend at an iPEC training session with my wife (she’s going into coaching and she was allowed to bring a guest). A big part of the training was how to set goals and then attain them. Now, I’m sure I’d get slapped with all sorts of copyright and trademark infringements if
Setting writing goals – and sticking to them Read More »
I should be working on my NaNoWriMo book right now. Really I should. I’m halfway through November, and I’m just over 20,000 words into my goal of a 50,000 word novel. So why am I writing a blog post instead? Because I want to. I’m halfway through my first draft of this book. So far
Write what you want to write Read More »
A while back, someone on Reddit Writing asked for some advice on plots. He had good characters, a solid setting, and lots of details to create a world on the page, but was missing the essential element of a good plot. Plots can be daunting. Let’s break it down, starting at the beginning. First thing’s
How to write a plot Read More »
You hear it all the time. “Oh, I wish I could write something, but I keep getting writer’s block.” It’s probably the most used excuse in writing, and for a lot of people it feels like something that keeps us from fulfilling our dreams of one day writing that best-selling novel. I’ve been writing for
Writer’s block – a figment of our imaginations Read More »
