The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell

I picked this book up on a whim a few months back wanting to get more books on writing. As I've discussed earlier, I've found most of these books to be trash, so I am always skeptical. I am so thankful I picked this book up! It was my intention of only reading 10 pages of this book a day, but the truth is, I found that it was hard to put it down. Easily five stars out of five.

You know something is decent when you can get at least one piece of good advice from it; however, I was getting something great every few days. The first 80 percent of the book goes into details on writing your novel and the final 20 percent talks about agents, editors, and publishers. I found this last part the most fascinating as this part of the book industry has always been a little hazy to me. Sure, I'm not at the point yet of looking for an agent, but I now have a list of guidelines to go off so that I will know when the time is right to start searching.

"Writing is, ultimately, a matter of cheeks on chair and words on page. You must develop a certain amount of discipline and as much of a schedule as you can." (Bell, 247)

James Scott Bell

How true is that! You'll never write your book if you don't sit down and right. You'll never get better if you don't practice. I have found that scheduling works really well for me, because if I make a plan, I really intend to follow through with it. This past week, after a nice discussion with a friend about how to better manage my time, I realized I could still do everything, I was just making excuses to not novel write. I have the idea. I want to do it. But I wasn't. Well, that has officially changed. For now, I'm only writing for 30 minutes a day, but:




- I have a designated time to write.
- If my husband is home I will put my airpods in and listen to instrumental music (mainly the LOTR soundtrack).
- I write in the dark with only the light of my laptop on.
- I put my phone on silent and turn my wifi off so I'm not even tempted to browse the internet
- I set my timer
- I write.

Nothing is overly difficult. I never regret doing it after the 30 minutes are over. I do; however, already look forward to the days where I shut my alarm off after thirty minutes and keep writing. Once novel writing daily becomes an everyday habit, I have a feeling the time will continue to expand. And that is exciting.

No matter what I do, I plan to: "Respect the craft of writing. Be in awe when you sit down at the keyboard or with a pen. Write hard, write with passion, because that is what you do. Don't waste any time dissing other writers or whining about how tough things are." (Bell, 258)

Let's get to work.

On Writing: Part One

Halfway through January I began "The Art of War for Writers: fiction writing strategies, tactics, and exercises" by James Scott Bell and it has been a fantastic read thus far (I'm about half way through it). I have had a passion for writing since high school and that was more than 20 years ago; however, I have had such a hard time getting myself to read books on writing to better my craft. I decided to change that this year and I'm so glad I did.

Because I have marked up this book so much (with sticky notes), I know this will take several sessions to work through as I want to also reflect and see how I can apply these techniques to my own life and writing. Let us begin.

"Anything that helps me become a better writer, I want to find." (Bell, 2)

That was the entire premise of purchasing this book. If you're into writing at all or studying the craft, you also know that there's also a ton of unhelpful crap out there on writing too. I've found that finding the right resources to be most difficult. I don't want to waste my time or money on garbage. That being said, maybe I need to sift through the trash to find the gems. The question is, how bad do I want to be a better writer? If I'm not learning and improving, then I'm failing. As long as I keep growing, that is a win.

"If you can take just one aspect of your writing to that storied 'next level,' it will be quite evident to an agent or editor." (Bell, 4)
I used to be an avid computer gamer and the concept of leveling up is wildly familiar to me. If I can take something that is normally mundane and turn it into a game, I am all in for it. I love creating mini challenges and rewards. I can totally picture myself taking a scene that is good and figuring out how to elevate it. I specifically love making things more emotionally charged. On numerous occasions I will make myself cry as I'm writing something devastating allowing my own words to affect me as if I were the character directly. That is just one way I could elevate it. I am looking forward to exploring the different options in the very near future.

"Simply put, you must be devoted to quantity." (Bell, 5)

This has been my biggest hindrance. When I get focused on an idea, I get single-minded about it and stop thinking about generating other story ideas. This is something that I want to change this month. Sure, I don't want to write more than one novel at a time, but I also need to be recording my ideas as they come up instead of pushing them away because I am already focused on something. It doesn't take long to write an idea down. I could have a spiral notebook or even just a word document on my laptop. It's a simple fix that I think could have long term sustaining rewards.

"Publishers are not interested in publishing a novel. They want to publish novelists, writers who can build readerships and make money for the company over the long term." (Bell, 10)

These two statements were a game change for me (see, there I go again with gaming references). This also ties in about being devoted to quantity (quality will continue to improve with time and more practice and exceptional editors and guidance from Beta readers and your team). Your value is not just a single book to the publisher but the potential of not just what is, but what is to come. I want to be the novelist, not just the stand alone novel. I admit that I don't know enough about the publishing industry; however, I know people in it, I know how to google, and I know how to ask questions and research.

All of the above is just a tiny portion that I gleaned from the first chapter of this book. I love going back over this because not only is it allowing me to dig deeper into what I've read, but it keeps it fresh in my mind. Some say we can only thing about one thing at a time. Well, it's a good thing my focus is on my writing. I have so much hope for the future, and I will fight for it every single second of the journey.

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

"Better than Before" by Gretchen Rubin was the first self development book I chose for the 75 hard challenge that I started at the beginning of the year. It took me three weeks to read because the goal was to read ten pages a day (maybe it was at least ten). My favorite, most real quote from this book is: "Keeping up is easier than catching up." (p 68) This rings true especially when it comes to house cleaning. If you do a little a day, there is no build up and you have a nice house if people stop by. If you know me at all, you know that I hate cleaning. I like being organized, but hate the act of cleaning.

Gretchen Rubin

In the past, I was always a tomorrow girl. I'll do the laundry tomorrow. I'll wash those dishes tomorrow. Guess what? If everything is tomorrow, then you don't have to clean! YAY! Oh wait, that can't be what this book taught me. We can talk about that tomorrow. :)

"The desire to start something at the 'right' time is usually just a justification for delay. In almost every case, the best time to start is now." (p 77) This one has always been surrounded by food. In the past, I would always plan my new eating habits after a holiday, with the new year, on a Monday... no, not this Monday, next Monday. The only  best time to start is now. This day, whatever meal you're on. This can be with more than just food too. It could be with looking for a new job, getting a hair cut, moving out, writing, school... the sky is the limit here.

"Don't get it perfect, get it going." (p 103) I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist; however, there are some things that I like getting just right. I like my groceries bagged a certain way. I like organizing my refrigerator a certain way. I like to do tons of research and planning before a writing project and then end up not writing because it's not perfect yet. This year, 2020, is different. I'm allowing myself for my first draft of my new novel to be a shitty first draft (SFD). Because you know what?A SFD is 75,000 times better than nothing at all. Embrace what you want to accomplish and do it bad. Learn and grow from your mistakes, but just go do it.

"It's natural to think, "Oh, I did this before, it will be easy to do it again," but often it's much harder to start again." (p 113) Starting again is probably one of the single most difficult things one can do. There was a point where we were basically just eating chicken and vegetables (no carbs, no sugar) and we lost a ton of weight. I've tried in recent years and starting over is the single hardest thing I've ever done. And guess what... it lasted for about three days (maybe less) before I gave up. I just couldn't get back into that groove again.

Overall, I've given this book four out of five stars. I thought it had a great deal of information and advice on habits (several I want to incorporate into my life). I learned that of the four tendencies, Rubin discusses: Obliger, Questioner, Upholder, Rebel, I am an upholder. I like creating rules and goals and I enjoy ticking off when I complete something. One of my favorite parts of the book is the realization that everyone practices their habits differently and there is no wrong way to do them. You do you. Always. Be you. Are you interested in what your tendency is? Try Gretchen Rubin's official Four Tendencies Quiz!

Now that I have completed Gretchen Rubin's "Better than Before" I will be starting on James Scott Bell's "The Art of War for Writers" to continue my self development journey with 75 hard. This is a smaller book about fiction writing strategies, tactics, and exercises. I am very much looking forward to diving into this.