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    This Writing Life: A Writer Writes On!
    This Writing Life: A Writer Writes On!
    This Writing Life: A Writer Writes On!
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    This Writing Life: A Writer Writes On!

    By Joseph Sutton

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    About this ebook

    *This Writing Life: A Writer Writes On!* is the third of Joseph Sutton’s books on writing. This is not your run-of-the-mill writing book. It’s different because Sutton, a writer of almost 50 years, is a staunch cheerleader for beginning and unknown writers. He believes that any writer who takes his profession seriously is equal to any writer who has ever lived. The reason: every writer has a perspective and voice that is uniquely his own.

    The main thrust of *This Writing Life* is Sutton’s “Four Rules of Writing”: (1) Sit down to write, (2) Deadline yourself, (3) Write as fast as you can, and (4) Revise, revise, revise. Due to his belief in these "Rules," Sutton shows how he gets ideas and makes stories, essays and books out of them.

    You will get a picture of what it is to be a writer from this book’s 48 short chapters. Every facet of writing is covered: “How to Gain Confidence as a Writer,” “Self-Publishing,” “Selling and Promoting a Book,” “Procrastination,” “Perseverance,” “Overcoming Writer’s Block,” “How to Get Writing Ideas,” and many more.

    This book is the perfect motivator for beginners and unknowns to sit down and start writing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJoseph Sutton
    Release dateFeb 8, 2017
    ISBN9781370288878
    This Writing Life: A Writer Writes On!
    Author

    Joseph Sutton

    Joseph Sutton was born in Brooklyn and raised in Hollywood. He played football at the University of Oregon and graduated with a degree in philosophy. He earned a teaching credential and a degree in history at Cal State University Los Angeles and taught high school history and English for many years. Sutton, who has been writing for more than 50 years, has published over two dozen books. His essays and short stories have appeared in numerous national magazines and journals. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Joan.

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      Book preview

      This Writing Life - Joseph Sutton

      This Writing Life

      A Writer Writes On!

      by

      Joseph Sutton

      Copyright 2017 by Joseph Sutton

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Contents

      Author’s Note

      1 - Four Rules of Writing

      2 - Sit Down

      3 - Deadline Yourself

      4 - Write as Fast as You Can

      5 - Revise, Revise, Revise

      6 - Seize the Time

      7 - Just Write

      8 - Your Internal Voice

      9 - Practice, Practice, Practice

      10 - The Pen vs. the Computer

      11 - One Way to Get a Writing Project Started

      12 - How to Write and Love Doing It

      13 - William Saroyan

      14 - Writing as Therapy

      15 - Perseverance

      16 - How to Gain Confidence as a Writer

      17 - The Burden of Guilt

      18 - Writing is an Occupation

      19 - Procrastinate

      20 - Overcoming Writer’s Block

      21 - When Ideas Come a-Knockin’

      22 - Lenny the Lemon

      23 - New Story Ideas

      24 - Riffing on Two Beatles Songs

      25 - This Writer Learns from His Wife

      26 - A Story from Out of the Blue

      27 - A Writer’s Workshop

      28 - Feedback

      29 - Why I Self-Publish

      30 - The Life of an Independent Writer/Publisher

      31 - Promoting/Marketing Books

      32 - Advertisements for Myself

      33 - Interruptions

      34 - Writing in My Car

      35 - Writing Advice to My Son

      36 - Fame

      37 - I Consider Myself the Luckiest Writer on the Face of the Earth

      38 - Find Your Passion and Let It Soar

      39 - The Gatekeepers

      40 - This Writing Life

      41 - Thanks, Mom

      42 - Why I Write

      43 - The Day I Became a Writer

      44 - Now is the Time of Your Life

      45 - On the Road to Getting Published

      46 - Journal Notes on How I Sold My Novel Morning Pages in 2000

      47 - The Complete Story

      48 - Why I Chose to Be a Writer

      About the Author

      Other Titles by Joseph Sutton

      Connect with Joseph Sutton

      Author’s Note

      Almost fifty years ago, at the beginning of my writing career, I asked myself, Will I ever find my writing voice? All the great writers have it. I wonder how they got it?

      One night many years ago, as I was taking a streetcar home from downtown San Francisco, it occurred to me that what I was observing was different from everyone else’s observation. I’ve known about seeing things from a different perspective since I was a young boy, but somehow it really sank in that night.

      From where I was sitting I could see what was going on in front of me. But a person sitting in the opposite direction or standing up was observing a different scene altogether.

      It struck me that we humans see only a part of what’s going on, we never see all of what’s going on. Because of our varied experiences, because of where we sit, stand, live, who we know, how we were brought up, what we read, because of all these factors and many more, we can’t help but see things differently from other people.

      What does this mean for beginning writers? It means that every human being is unique, and if a beginning writer is willing to write what he thinks, feels, observes and imagines, a distinct voice will emerge. So don’t worry about discovering your voice—it’s already there. All you need is the willpower to write, to keep on writing and to publish your work for the world to read someday.

      Joseph Sutton

      1 - Four Rules of Writing

      Today I ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant. At the end of my meal the little piece of paper in the fortune cookie said, The four basic rules of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity. I like those rules, but I like mine better:

      Rule #1: Sit Down to Write.

      Rule #2: Deadline Yourself. Say to yourself, I will write a certain number of words or pages today, or I will write till I get an idea, or I will write for a certain amount of time.

      Rule #3: Write as Fast as You Can. Do you want to break out of a writer’s block or trigger a new writing idea? Write swiftly, rapidly, speedily, full steam ahead, let ’er rip, open your wings, write without stopping—don’t look back until you’ve finished spilling your guts out on the page or screen. But let’s say you already have an idea of what you want to write about. I say write that idea down as fast as you can and get every bit of it out of your system.

      Rule #4: Revise, Revise, Revise. A writer who cares about his readers will revise. Keep revising until you’re satisfied with what you’ve written.

      2 - Sit Down

      Is there a secret to writing?

      Yes, of course there is.

      What is it?

      It can be summed up in two little words.

      You’re kidding me. How can you sum up the secret to writing in two words?

      Then you tell me what the secret is.

      I can’t. I just thought the secret would be much longer and more complex. Tell me, what’s the secret?

      Sit down.

      Is that it? Are you being serious?

      "I’ve never been more serious. Think about it. If you want to write, have to write, need to write, what do you do? Do you go for a walk, wash the dishes or call someone on the phone? No. You can’t do those things if you want to write. What you have to do is actually sit down. It’s as simple as that. Or, if you’re so inclined, stand up. The choice is up to you."

      3 - Deadline Yourself

      I once knew a poet, Sid Lyman, who was the Poet Laureate of Portland when I lived there in the mid-1970s. It was my honor to dub Sid "The Port

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