If The Juggling Writer were a child, it would be on the cusp of tearing around with the energy of a caffeinated Chihuahua, making as much noise as it can.

It would demand attention: “IF YOU DON’T LISTEN TO ME, I’LL GET EVEN LOUDER!!!”

It would throw tantrums, but have also reached a point where it’s figured out there’s more out there and work to figure out its place in the world.

Year One / Year Two

The first two years of The Juggling Writer have been fairly focused, the entries written with the intent of pushing myself to capture my thoughts about writing into entries I hope have helped others.

But…

Recently, a friend pointed out that while my fiction still has a spark, it’s become apparent in some of my other writing that I pay the bills as a technical writer. There’s a certain blandness that’s carried over to some entries.

I’m glad this friend pointed out the tech writing effect in a recent query letter; after he did (and after I rewrote the query letter to have some personality), it got me thinking about other things I write. I’ve been so into the “it’s not about me,” aspect of blogging that much of what I’ve written for The Juggling Writer lacks personality.

The information is all there, but just like the technical manuals and procedures I write, many of the entries during the first two years read like something from a trade journal.

The Terrible Twos

While the next year of The Juggling Writer won’t be the equivalent of a two-year-old tearing though the kitchen, pulling pots out of cabinets, and beating the hell out of them with metal ladles, I plan to have more fun.

Anyone who’s read Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors knows I have a sense of humor — and I want more of that to come through in the blog’s third year. I want to bug some talented friends for interviews. And I want to do more with video.

The blog’s not changing; it’s just getting better!

Thank You

So here’s to another year!

Thank you all for being there the first two years — I hope the next year of The Juggling Writer is the best one yet!

I’ve been having a blast doing the Hell Comes With Wood Paneled Doors podcast.

I’ve mentioned before that I want to do a  Juggling Writer Podcast.

I’m still thinking about it…

Some Ideas

I don’t want the podcast to be the exact same content covered by The Juggling Writer blog. While I know there are people who don’t read the blog who would listen to a podcast, I want the blog and podcast to complement each other — not be the same thing.

Bouncing initial thoughts off a few people, I’ve come up with a pile of ideas.

Obviously, a podcast lends itself to doing interviews, discussing books, and covering publishing news, but I also want to focus on different kinds of writing and opportunities for writers.

I have enough ideas to run with a Juggling Writer podcast for awhile. But I’m not the person who’d be listening.

What Would You Like To Hear?

What would you like from a writing podcast that you’re not hearing from other writing podcasts out there?

How Often/How Long?

I’ve noticed with Hell Comes With Wood Paneled Doors that some people have a tough time keeping up with a weekly podcast. They catch up, but once I put more than a handful of chapters online, it’s taken some listeners a longer time to catch up.

I don’t see doing a Juggling Writer Podcast more than twice a month (and probably monthly at first). When it comes to the length of the podcast, with the exception of interview episodes, I’d try keeping it around 20 minutes.

How often would you want a Juggling Writer podcast, and how long do you like podcasts to run?

Audio, Video, or Both?

I’m not a fan of long video podcasts, but I’ve really come to love 1 – 3 minute videos.

While I’d shoot for 1 – 2 Juggling Writer podcasts a month, I’d like to do short videos when certain thoughts come to mind.

How about you — are you a fan of short videos? Would you like audio only, or a podcast supported by short videos here and there?

Thank You

I appreciate any thoughts readers have about a Juggling Writer podcast. Feel free to leave a comment below, or e-mail me through the contact page.

Thanks!

A Shameless Plug

Oh! And if a weekly dose of a humorous coming-of-age story about a family traveling cross country in a possessed station wagon sounds like you’re kind of thing, click the Hell Comes With Wood Paneled Doors logo in the far right sidebar and come along for the ride!

It’s a good time to start listening because I’ll be announcing a giveaway later this week.

In his book, On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft (Affiliate Link), Stephen King talks about how he once bought the perfect writing desk — the kind of desk he always thought a writer should have.

It didn’t work for him.

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There are times I think about having “the perfect desk” — either a beautiful antique desk, or something slick and minimalistic.

I envision myself coming into my office in the morning and running my hand over the smooth, hand-carved finishes of the antique desk, or placing my laptop (and nothing more) on the sleek desk. I love the thought of that, but it wouldn’t work for me.

I have a confession: I’m messy when I write!

I need to scrawl notes on pieces of paper to capture thoughts before they disappear. I need to shuffle drafts of what I’m working on. I need chaos in arm’s reach (I know where everything I need is in those piles). Notepads (yes, plural) are always at the ready.

I’ve come a long way from the days when I worked in billing and my desk was covered in notes scrawled on adding tape from my adding machine, but I don’t think it’s possible for me to work and not be surrounded by papers. (Maybe this is how I will justify the purchase of an iPad, but I have a feeling it would still end up resting on top of printed manuscripts and hand-scrawled notes that only I can read.)

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I see people posting photos of their desks online and they’re all so…perfect!

Everything has its place in a very soothing room where — I assume — relaxing magic happens.

It’s not that magic doesn’t happen in my office (my next book’s about a female magician!), but I can’t say my office is a soothing place to be for anybody but me.

The rest of the apartment is my sanctuary; the office is where I work, and I work in piles.

See?

My Desk on a Good Day

What you can’t see in this photo are the piles of comic book boxes, the stacks of books, and a bin full of juggling props behind the chair. You can’t see the bins full of my wife’s art supplies and sewing remnants. Oh, my office is also the laundry room, so when it’s time for laundry, I’m back here with hampers and hangars and clothes hanging from the doorway.

It may not always be ideal, but it’s better than saying I need an ideal workspace or I can’t write.

Were I to do that, I’d never get anything written.

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On Monday, I watched this video.

Desk – Music and Sound Design from Aaron Trinder Film:Motion:Music on Vimeo.

I love seeing where people work.

I love the thought of the designer’s big square desk, so crisp and barren.

My writing room is more like that of Kurt Andersen’s in the video. It’s not pretty, but I like to think it’s where some good stuff has been written and recorded.

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I’m not a messy person, but my office is cluttered, no matter what I try to keep it in pristine shape.

Since I often work on more than one thing at a time, I tend to have more than one pile going at a time.

I’m okay with that.

Maybe there will be a day when I have a closet in my office where I can set my piles on shelves — where somebody wanders in and can’t see a printer, wires, or anything beyond the form of a sleek desk and a designer chair.

Instead of a clunky laptop, maybe I’ll write on an iPad with a wireless keyboard and limit myself to one small notepad and a stylish pen on my desk.

But I doubt it.

Even if I do one day have a Zen office like that, I assure you: come in during the day and there will be piles!

As much as I appreciate form, when it comes to writing, I’m all about function.

It’s what I need to get the job done…

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So now that I’ve shared what my writing space looks like, I’d love to see where you write.

Feel free to comment and include links, no matter how clean or cluttered your writing space is.

This is the 130th Juggling Writer post.

This was the first post.

One year ago…

Today…

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I started The Juggling Writer to force myself to always have writing on my mind. Between blogging about writing and working on writing, I hoped to bring back a feeling I lost when I began putting more effort into my day job at the time than I did into writing and life.

When I started writing seriously when I was 20, it’s all I thought about. This last year, thanks in part to this blog, I found that feeling again. Instead of leaving things on the ground for later, I picked things up and got back to being busy.

This last year has been my best year of writing in 21 years. Not only did I break the 100 posts goal I gave myself for the blog, I finished my third novel, went to a writer’s conference, and laid the foundation for some other writing-related things.

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So what do I have planned for the next year?

Obviously, more articles about writing–but I also plan to start podcasting fiction (for a sneak peek, go here), and at least a monthly Juggling Writer podcast.

Somewhere in there, I’m sure, I’ll start my next novel.

If there’s anything you’d like to see covered on The Juggling Writer, please let me know.

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When I started The Juggling Writer, I hoped it would help me.

And it did.

But I really hoped it would help others, even if only a few people read the blog.

To everybody who reads and replies: thank you–I hope I’ve helped you in some way this past year.

If you like this blog, I hope you’ll tell others about it, but just knowing that people are out there reading what I’m sharing makes a year of this more than worth it!

I’ve wanted to podcast my first novel for a couple years.

My first novel, called Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors, is a humorous coming-of-age story about a family traveling cross country in a possessed station wagon. I have a reader lined up, and I finally purchased a recording setup (a Samson C03U USB condenser microphone and mount).

I’m not sure when I’ll start, but when I do, I’d like to release a chapter a week. It would be nice to start on the first day of fall, as a way to keep summer going (the story takes place during the summer of 1984).

While testing the microphone, my wife said, “You should do a Juggling Writer podcast, too!”

With my posting slump, lately, I’m not sure I’m ready to charge into a podcast with a schedule, but I’ve warmed up to the idea. The Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors podcast would come first, but I like the thought of doing a writing podcast.

I started The Juggling Writer, in large part, to force myself to constantly think about writing.

Doing a Juggling Writer podcast would be just another excuse to always have writing on my mind.

I recently watched Richard Nash’s talk about the future of books and publishing. (I found it here, on Booklife.)

There are some great points made in the presentation, but there were two that really stuck out:

1. The reminder that the long form narrative is a feature, not a bug.
2. Most writers — whether they know it or not — want a connection.

Feature, Not a Bug

Some writers and publishers are thinking short and gimmicky these days.

They see a report saying books sales are a little down and they think people don’t have time to read, so they must go with shorter content, or make enhanced e-books that can compete with video games and the Web. (At the same time, many people miss the line in that linked report stating that adult long form fiction saw an almost 7% increase in sales in 2009.)

Nash talks about the strength of the long form narrative, how the medium is a feature, not a bug.

I’ve seen a lot of buzz about this video for an enhanced e-book version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland the past couple weeks. If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know I’m in favor of e-books. But this enhanced e-book demo leaves me flat. There’s nothing I see in the demo that enhances the reading experience. It looks very distracting and gimmicky.

More than that, it seems to treat the long form narrative as a bug — not a feature, like something in need of repair.

There’s strength in the time it takes to read a book.

Nash talks about this and the importance of connections for writers and readers.

The Connection

Nash has seen many writers who thought being published would make them happy. He’s seen writers who seemed let down when they finally got a book on the shelves and was left with a feeling of is that all there is?

More than being published, Nash speculates, most writers really want a connection.

Nash talks about the investment of time, and what readers and writers get from the time it takes to read a book. (By treating the long form narrative as a feature, not a bug.)

Nash talks about how when you buy a book the author is “…inside a person’s head for 15 hours and you own that proxy object, that cultural proxy object that connects two people to one another in a deeper, deeper way than any other medium.”

Books connect people.

Deeply.

When I’ve heard people talk about TV shows at jobs, the talk is rarely deep. But when I’ve heard people talk about novels, there’s a much deeper connection. They don’t just talk about what happened like TV talkers — they talk about how what happened affects the world around us. They often talk about symbolism and social issues, not just who kissed whom in a grab for TV ratings.

The writer, Seth Godin, is big on Tribes. He sees importance in being the person who connects people to other people, even if that connection doesn’t directly benefit you as the leader of a group. It’s about sharing and connecting people; it’s about being altruistic and hopeful.

Writers have the ability to connect people like this in big ways.

Even if you never hear from the fans reading your writing, if you have a following that’s stuck around or grown, it’s a safe bet that it’s at least in large part because you connect people.

Readers invest more hours with one story or idea than any other medium out there. To stick with it, whether they contact the author or not, the author’s made a connection with the reader. And when a reader has invested so much time in something and they find somebody else who invested that much time, they connect and talk, sharing the experience and the ideas that came with the experience.

The act of writing is the act of creating tribes.

If you’re looking forward to having time away from your day job this weekend to write, think about how readers will connect with you and how you will connect readers when you sit down to write.

Writing can be a very powerful thing.

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If you have some time to kill, here’s Richard Nash’s presentation:

Spring is a great time to write articles. It’s no longer cold and wet, and it’s not so hot that you’d rather die than write.

Really, though, every season is a great time to write articles.

One of the problems with seasonal articles is planning ahead a few months and knowing what to pitch. If you have a tough time thinking ahead several months, I have a suggestion: think ahead one year from now.

I hear you saying, “If I have a hard time thinking ahead 3-4 months, how am I going to plan ahead 12 months in advance?”

Easy: look around you right now!

There are probably festivals going on that you wouldn’t have thought about 3-4 months ago. You’re probably getting out and enjoying the weather — maybe you’re running in a race, hopping in a canoe, or doing something else worthy of writing about. Making a list of ways to make spring cleaning easier won’t only help you next year — it may help readers.

Every season is a great reminder of all the things going on around us that can easily be turned into articles.

Here are 5 things you can do now so you’re ready to pitch seasonal articles next year.

Make a List

As you do things this spring, make a list of the things worthy of writing about.

Festivals, trips, seasonal tips — all the things we do when a new season rolls around can usually be turned into an article.

By making a list of things you do and discover each season, you have a list of ideas you can pitch in 8-9 months.

Take Photos Now

If you pitch an article about spring next winter, when the article is accepted, all the spring scenery will be buried beneath snow or dead leaves. Depending on timing, you may not be able to take photos in time for the article next spring, or you may end up rushing around at the last minute.

If you know you’re going to pitch an article about Texas wildflowers next year, why not take the photos this year?

Even if you take photos this year, you may have to return someplace the following year for a few last-minute shots, but it’s much better taking photos when you’re already familiar with that place.

Listen

If you need additional ideas for your list, listen to the people around you.

Listen to the things they’re doing — would it make a good article?

When they talk about something as simple as spring cleaning, ask them what one or two things they did made it easier…or what they wouldn’t do again.

It’s amazing how many article ideas a person encounters each day if only they listen and think about writing.

Rough it Out

When you do something this spring that you plan to pitch as an article for next year, rough it out if you have time.

Figure out how you will structure the article and what main points you’ll make.

If it’s a travel piece, it’s always best to write down your initial feelings right away, while things are still fresh in your mind.

With a roughed-out article, it will be easier to work the tone of the piece into your pitch when the time comes.

Research

The good thing about working on an article now is you have a whole year to research things to make it better.

If you’re rushing to complete an article, it’s easy to miss things: photos you meant to take, people you meant to interview, or points you meant to make.

By roughing out next year’s articles this year, you have more than enough time to research all the things necessary to make your article shine.

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There’s another benefit to roughing out next year’s articles in advance: Now when you think, “I don’t have anything to do,” that’s not true.

When you’re thinking ahead a year, you always have plenty to keep you busy!

On a walk last night, I thought about how I didn’t start writing seriously until I was 20.

I always enjoyed writing, but it wasn’t something I thought I’d do when I was younger. (I thought I’d be an artist, a wildlife biologist, or a juggler.)

As I walked along, I thought about the earliest memories I have of writing, and that led to me thinking about my earliest memory showing some of the character traits that define the way I approach writing.

I came up with this:

The Little Bastard

When I was five or so, my mom and grandfather took me to a forest preserve to let me run around and go fishing.

There was a small, stone wall dam on one of the ponds. I decided that would be a good spot to fish.

I saw bluegills in the water; I was eager to start catching them. I used bread for bait. I could see the fish, but couldn’t catch them. Each time I lowered the hook, it was swarmed by bluegills stealing the bread.

I squeezed the bread harder before putting it on the hook so it would be harder for the fish to steal and started catching little fish. I saw a bigger bluegill and decided I wouldn’t stop until I caught it.

The bigger bluegill probably got bigger because it was smarter than the other fish. It was down a little deeper. By the time the hook reached the fish, the smaller bluegills had pecked at the bread, making it easy for the bigger bluegill to take it off the hook without being caught.

After many rounds of this, I calmly said, “That little bastard,” and went right back to trying.

My mom overheard me call the fish a little bastard and said, “Chris, what did you just say?”

“That little bastard.”

My mom went on to explain that while there were worse words than bastard, it wasn’t a word a kid should use. So I thought about what a little bastard the fish was, until finally catching it.

Then, I let it go.

Why it’s a Defining Moment (And How it Applies to Writing Years Later)

I didn’t just walk up to the shoreline and start fishing — I scoped out the pond, determining the best place to be was on the tiny dam at the far side.

In writing, don’t always go with what’s closest (i.e. easiest). It’s important to assess each step in where we want to go and work at getting ourselves into the best spot we can to succeed.

I could see the fish, but couldn’t catch them.

There are many close calls along the way when you take writing seriously, and it’s frustrating when they break the line and get away. The important thing to remember: there are still a lot of fish down there; sometimes, the one that got away comes back to your hook.

I squeezed the bait onto the hook a bit tighter and started catching fish.

Sometimes it’s important to pack the bait on a little tighter, changing our approach, and seeing what happens. It’s great to think big — that the first novel you write will sell — but the reality is most writers catch some smaller assignments along the way, preparing them for the big catch.

I was persistent and finally caught the little bastard…then, promptly released the fish.

Just because you finally catch the big fish, it doesn’t mean your job is done. Maybe you’ll land a writing deal worthy of mounting on the wall, but at some point — in some way — you have to release it and move on to the next catch.

J.D. Salinger and Harper Lee may have landed records that sustained them for life, but most of us will only catch a few biggies that are worth displaying. Most of what we catch will only sustain us for a couple meals — We starve if we don’t keep fishing.

What about You?

What moment or moments from your past define you as a writer (or other profession)?

Feel free to discuss them in the comments.

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Have a great weekend, everybody — I Hope you all get plenty of time to write!

While most writers will die with a head full of unfinished ideas, there are times — especially when writing articles or other quicker content — when a writer can find himself at a loss for something to write about.

If you find yourself searching for something to write about, I hope some of these five tips should help:

Get Out

Getting out in the world and living is one of the best things a writer can do. When you get out, you become surrounded by potential ideas.

That screaming kid in the restaurant may become the seed for an op ed piece about parents who take their kids places they shouldn’t, or an article for a parenting magazine about ways to handle outbreaks.

If you get out and look at the potential of everything around you  for articles, story ideas, or other writing fodder, you’ll not only never be without ideas — you’ll have a lot of fun gathering material.

Read

Many writers find ideas while reading. This isn’t to say they copy an existing idea and claim it as their own — obviously, that’s not right. But reading a humorous commentary about a family road trip gone awry might trigger a pitch about the top 5 or 10 family road trips.

Reading an article about somebody hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail might lead to interviewing somebody who’s paddled the length of the Mississippi or biking across the country. (Or the writer engaging in the activity herself and writing about the experience.)

If you’re at a loss for ideas, crack open a book or magazine and get reading!

Twist a Trend

In recent weeks, I’ve read articles about the iPad written by people playing Devil’s Advocate. I read an article about the benefits of fatty foods we’re told to avoid and their health benefits. I even read a humorous piece by a scientist about the skewed physics in the movie Hot Tub Time Machine. (Definitely a better piece than another review saying, “It’s full of toilet humor, but has it’s moments.”)

If most articles about something lean one way and you don’t agree, pitch an article countering the trend. (Just make sure your piece isn’t a rant.) Consider something you hold dear and look at it a different way. Write about it.

Don’t take a different side just for the sake of taking a different side, but don’t be afraid to be different. We all gain something when people challenge convention — even challenging their own convictions — and produce articles about it.

Take a Class/Learn Something New

I loved juggling from a young age, but it wasn’t until I started attending juggling clubs and conventions that I became obsessed.

I always wrote, but it wasn’t until I started hanging out with writers and artists taking their work seriously and submitting it that I became obsessed.

A healthy dose of obsession drags you into a scene much deeper than an outsider looking in.

If somebody told me to write an article about gardening (while I’ve enjoyed the little gardening I’ve done), it would be a fluff piece at best. But if somebody obsessed with gardening writes an article about it, chances are, it will be more useful to readers than if I wrote the article.

Classes, workshops, or learning on your own fires people up, creating new fans of something with, perhaps, a different point of view that hasn’t been offered before in articles.

Ask for Help

Writing used to be very easy for me.

One day it got hard.

Only recently have I realized the reason it seemed easy was I used to write independent comic books, so I collaborated with others all the time.

Now that I’m a solitary writer, writing takes more of an effort.

I fixed this by asking for help. (Not always an easy thing for me.)

Every month or so, my wife and I go out for coffee or a beer — notebooks in hand — and we help each other come up with ideas for things. Sometimes I have a vague idea for an article, but it seems too typical. Chatting with people helps me put a twist on things I may have never thought of (even though it often seems so obvious!). If I’m stuck in a section of a story, I chat about it with my writing group friends and things break wide open and I can’t wait to write!

If you’re writing articles or stories, you’ll work with editors who will help make your good writing great; why not get a head start and work with the people around you interested in your writing? If you feel weird asking people for help, think of it as a brainstorming session, not charity or you losing your ability to come up with ideas.

The writing world is filled with people working together to create great things.

Yesterday, The New York Times ran a story about book covers and e-books.

I know we’ve all heard that you can’t judge a book by its cover, but covers do matter.

I’ve judged more than a few books by their covers in my time (found my favorite book that way), and in almost every case the art director and cover artist tapped into the heart of the book better than the jacket copy.

Images are powerful things.

The New York Times article discusses something we lose with e-books: if everybody is reading e-books on the subway or in other public places, we don’t see the covers. Publishers lose out on free advertising, and conversations about books slide a little.

There’s no doubt that moving toward e-books comes with some huge changes to how publishers will do things. One of the biggest changes I’ve thought about, even before a good friend sent me the link to this article, is how e-books will affect cover artists.

I started out writing independent comic books. More than working in a scripting format I liked, I loved working with artists. I met one of the nicest people and best artists I know through those early days of independent comic books.

I rarely read genre fiction, but I will eventually read the book below based solely on the cover.

Covers matter to me.

The couple times I’ve bought an e-book that didn’t have the cover image from the book, I’ve felt a little ripped off. Even on my iPhone screen, I want to see cover art. The weak graphics for the Kindle are one of the reasons I never bought one. Call me shallow, but I like seeing color covers. (Fortunately, the iPad and what follows will support large, full-cover colors.)

While good artists will always find work, it is unfortunate that the work of Chip Kidd, John Picacio, and other artists and designers won’t leap out like they do when people hold physical books in their hands.