1,000 Words A Day

I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday picking up some magazines, including two writing magazines, and the old man at the cash register asked me, "So, who in your family is the writer?"

"That would be me. Of course, I've been working on the same novel off and on for 10 years." I said with a smile.

He replied, "You know what the secret is to that?"

"If I did, I probably wouldn't be buying these magazines."

"1,000 words every day."

That's probably the simplest and most direct approach to take, and might be the best advice anybody's ever given me on the topic.

It's also a heck of a lot to try to write every single day. I'm not sure I'm up to it. Which is why my novel's stuck in Chapter 1.

Michael Jackson

I'm sick of hearing about him.

I'm not saying it's appropriate to vilify him immediately after his death, but neither should he be deified or given so much attention. Regardless of his success as a musician 20 years ago, we cannot overlook the repulsive events of the last 15 years of his life.