Tag Archives: palahniuk

I’m a little behind the plan on the new novel, but after some extra writing time Friday night, I’m starting to catch up.  The 14th Mansion — which features characters from both of my previous novels by the way — should come in around 80,000 words.  Which means I’m more that a quarter of the way through in just 30 days.

I also entered a short story called Ms. Ishmael’s Box in a contest over at Litreactor.  So far the story has a 100% positive rating.  The prize?  A chance to get feedback from lots of great writers (including Chuck Palahniuk).

Speaking of Palahniuk, here’s a quote from the movie Fight Club which was based on his novel of the same name.  It leads nicely into what I want to talk about next:

“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.”

One of the things that has made writing for more fun and easy is my perspective.  Since putting my books up on Smashwords last year and really taking the plunge, I’ve used my martial arts training and knowledge of the occult to turn my perspective inside-out.

When I was younger, becoming a successful author seemed like an impossible task and an unattainable goal.  But now I see that if you want to be a writer, you just be a writer.  This applies to whatever a person wants to do or achieve.  I redefined the phrase ‘successful author.’  A successful author approaches the craft of writing with sincerity and writes stuff that people enjoy reading — no more and no less.

Defining success in terms of money is a trap.  Money is not lived.  Life is lived, and it is fleeting; it wants to be spent in the practice of whatever craft that beckons you.  This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.

Whatever it is you want to be, I suggest you become it today.

Writing Progress on The14th Mansion