Tag: novellas

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How To Avoid Writer’s Block

There’s nothing worse than sitting down at your laptop after a long day at work expecting to write down all the great ideas that swirled in your head all day, and it happens. You just sit there staring at the screen. Your fingertips are on your keyboard, but there’s no movement. Your hands turn to stone as your eyes glaze over at the white digital paper illuminated on your screen. Trust me, I’ve been there. However, over my short author career (4 years as of this post), I’ve developed a system that keeps me on track and pushes my narrative forward.

It’s nothing too crazy, and is designed to accommodate my EXTREMELY busy life. With all the craziness and chaos that comes with it, there’s very little room in my day to get my writing done. But I’ve done it. I’ve published a book a year for the past 4 years, and I’ve maintained the same system throughout. It may seem small and simple, but I promise you if you stick to it, you will have your dream novel finished in no time at all. You just have to stay to it and maintain discipline. You ready?

500 words a day.

That’s it. That’s all it takes to be an author. You can get that story on paper with just 500 words a day. Now, I know what you’re thinking: John, that isn’t very much. This is the way I see it. 500 words a day – 3,500 a week – 14,000 a month – 56,000 in four months. That’s a manuscript. Every young author that reaches out to me on Instagram asking what their word target should be, I always tell them 50,000. By most standards, that is considered a novel. Now, I’m not saying that your final draft should be that amount, but having a short first draft manuscripts gives you time to build on your story during further drafts. Trust me, your 50k first draft with turn into an 80k-90k in no time. After that first draft is finished, it is far easier to sit down and expand on what you’ve already written instead of trying to craft something from thoughts alone.

Now, here’s the real key. As you’re going about your day at work or school, I want you to think about EXACTLY what you’re going to write before you write it. Imagine the scene over and over again like a never ending loop until the only way to make it stop is to put it on paper when you get home. This exercise allows you to do the hard part of writing before you even have an opportunity to develop the dreaded writer’s block. While I’m at work I will obsess over the minor details I want to include in the current scene I’m writing. This allows me to mentally get myself ready to fire away on that keyboard before I even walk into my house. More times than not, that 500 words turns into 1,000 easy. When you know what you’re writing before you do it, it’s like copying from one paper to the other. Just one is in your mind.

The hardest part of this process is maintaining strict discipline. No matter what, you have got to find a way to get your 500 words done. Laziness is infectious, and if you fall under its spell, it’s so damn hard to break out of it. You have to be strong and imagine the feeling of pressing that publish button on KDP and releasing that story into the wild like a caged animal returning to its home. Dedication, discipline, and self motivation are foundational principles for being a hobbyist indie author. We write because we love it, not for a tiny paycheck.

Discipline = Results.

If you would like to chat about this topic, send me a message! I would love to go over it with you!

–John McCool

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There Came A Knocking Publishes Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is publication day for my new novel “There Came A Knocking”!

I’m so excited to finally get this awesome work out to all of you incredible readers. I’ve put so much love into this, and painstakingly brought the retro feel of 1980’s slasher thrillers back to the literary world. The campy slasher genre has disappeared as of late leaving, what I would argue, a void that hasn’t been filled by much of anything substantial. My hope is that this novel can revive some peoples’ interest, and reignite the silliness that comes with it.

Now, what do I mean by silliness? It’s all about the gimmicks and the HORRIBLE decisions that our poor unsuspecting character make within the horrorscape that we as authors create. Think about some of the best slashers out there! The combination of an interesting gimmick and the complete absurdity of characters’ choices to go into the dark basement when you as the reader KNOW there’s something fishy going on down there. It’s almost satisfying to see a clearly dumb move be punished by something you’re mentally telling the character not to do. That’s party of the joy of the genre!

Think of some of your favorite movie slashers and really think of their gimmicks. Ghostface has the ghost mask and hunting knife, Jason has the hockey mask and giant machete, Freddy Krueger has the burned body with the finger blades, and Jeepers Creepers has his hate and coat to cover his demon body. The gimmicks are the key to creating a memorable antagonist in these stories, and it’s something I find so much fun in creating. The best part is coming up with something so absurd, give it to someone with murderous intent, and let them loose into the worlds of the page.

In some ways one could compare the slasher horror/thriller genre to that of romantic comedies. The stories are so full of absurdly exaggerated events that lead the characters to make choices that one would never do in real life. Do you think the hot cowboy billionaire is gonna choose the city girl that has nothing much to give him? Yeah, probably not. Do you think that rummaging around in a dark creepy shed behind your house while you’re being stalked by a serial killer is going to result in anything except you being stabbed? Yeah, you get my point.

This genre is so dear to me, and offers so many great stories that keep you looking over you shoulder as you walk through your house at night. did you check if your door is locked? Better go double check, who knows who could out there. “There Came A Knocking” has a slasher with a killer gimmick that would make you question if his motives blur the lines between what is morally right or wrong. Or maybe you will just see him as a monster that he is to so many unfortunate people. That conclusion is completely up to you! I look forward to hearing what all of you amazing readers have to share about it in the coming weeks post publication.

Thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me, and I look forward to all of you coming a knocking with me!

–John McCool

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Minneapolis’s Hidden Bookstore

Recently I undertook a journey to the land of a thousand lakes for a work trip to Cafe Imports and Mill City Roaster. Oh yes, I’m talking about the land of the Vikings in America. The lands of the far north that borders our friends and partners across the great lakes. I’m talking about the great state of Minnesota, land of a thousand lakes.

After my business things were taken care of, I decided to just strap on my backpack, pick a direction and just walk. I walked on for a while until I happened across this super cool book store hidden off the beaten path. Every time I go off adventuring in some new city, I make it a point to find a local coffee shop, and find a nice used bookstore to lose myself in for a few hours. So business trip or not, this trip was no different.

I stumbled upon a very interesting sign that just leaned up against the side of the building. It literally said “Books, Maps, and Prints”. What a way to pique my interest, right? I was immediately intrigued. I promptly crossed the street, and pushed my way into the old wooden door revealing the hall within. Now, what was really cool about this building was that it was actually connected to an art studio, which had their current exhibit up on full display as soon as you stepped in.

Their theme was a very relevant subject that we see quite frequently in the circles of the literary world. The theme was Banned Books. Displayed all through the exhibit was various forms of artistic representation of books being banned through society, whether for a good reason or bad, the intention was clear. However, the most impressive piece was four books that hung from the ceilings by chains. The dangled loosely to about chest level where upon further inspection, I discovered that there was a little lock mechanism that allowed someone to open them up and read the books. This was such a super cool feature, but it was the actual books themselves that interested me more. From the chains hung religious texts from four of the biggest religions in the world. It was fascinating to try and dive deep into the mind of the artist to understand what they were going for. Why were they hung from the ceilings by chains? Why were they locked, but easily unlocked for anyone to read? It was simply an incredible exhibit.


After that awesome surprise, I took a trip next door to the reason why I came. Before me was a low lit, dusty, old book store with books piled high to the ceiling. Literally my dream come true. This little hole in the wall is a small operation ran by an older man, that was just as awkward as you could imagine. He was the owner of this fine establishment, and wore the wrinkled face of a man who had seen a thing or two in his day. Each wall was lined with books from medieval reprints to maps of some of the strangest places in the world that one might not expect to find in such a place. It was quite the collection that could only be spawned in the dreams of a bibliophile.

I took my time to rummage through the seemingly endless shelves; most so over stocked that there were stacks piled up high on the floor. What I discovered is this book store was dedicated to the realms of knowledge and history. 85% of the tomes that lined those shelves held the chronicles of the world which the likes I’ve never seen. Memoirs, biographies, history texts, language books, How-to’s- and even a few cook books thrown in for good measure. I love the fact that places like this exist to preserve some of the forgotten lore from our history. In an age where reading certain things can be looked down upon, seeing this old man hold such tomes was a delight.

One section that quite interested me the most was his vast collection of art books. Each one was carefully categorized by the region which the art pieces were collected, making the seemingly endless books more manageable. The shelf that interested me the most was the Japanese art collection. I’m very interested in this subject at the moment as I am currently wrapping up a course in Japanese Scrolls and Manuscripts at Harvard University online. As I flipped through the pages, I found many of the works which I had learned about in my studies which gave me valuable insight.

Now, I don’t really collect non-fiction books, however, I can truly appreciate it. Even though there weren’t any books I walked out with, the memory of this place will forever be with me. If you ever find yourself in Minneapolis, MN, please go check out this incredible shop. Finding this little book store confirmed to me that the used book market isn’t going away any time soon.

–John McCool

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Does anyone actually read screenplays?


This is the question I’ve been asking myself over the past year. So, a little backstory on me. I actually began my writing journey as a screenplay writer back in 2016. Of course I’ve written things before then, being short stories and stuff, but my first REAL work was in writing for the silver screen. Or the little screen you hold in your hand everyday, and are most likely using to read this very post. Anyway, I wrote several screenplays to ship around to film festivals, and some of them actually did quite well. In fact, some of my readers might be familiar with The Ruse. I loved that story so much that I produced a print edition with added extras like commentary and an exclusive short story for it.

So, I was going over my website the other day, and a question materialized in my head. The exact same question I proposed at the beginning of this post. Does anyone actually read screenplays? The answer, come to find out, is like 95% no. Now, this isn’t to discourage any would be screenplay writer, because that is absolutely NOT why I’m here. It all has to do with the target audience, right?

Who would you say is the target audience for your screenplay?

1) Actors looking for practice.
2) Producers that you’ve pitched the script to.
3) Other screenplay writers.
4) Film festival judges.

That’s it.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. If you have a love and a passion for screenwriting, then you already know that your future belongs in the hands of the festival circuit. Submitting my work to a film festival is truly some of my most exhilarating and exciting memories as a writer, and it’s going to be something I look forward to more in the future. However, the common reader or follower of your work more than likely isn’t into such a format. AND THAT”S OKAY. We write depending on the people who we wish to share our work with, and I’ve found over the years that leaving screenplays sitting dormant on my website is just a waste of space. Every bit of writing has its place and its proper location!

I’ve recently redone my website to accommodate this transition to a more traditional format. If I do get lucky enough to get something produced, or produce it myself, I’m going to 100% publish the script alongside the produced product. I’m a huge fan of reading scripts after I listen to an entrancing audio drama, so it would be quite the shame if I didn’t follow that same release format. Did I just admit to working on audio plays? Maybe…

Regardless of who your chosen audience is, go out there and follow your dream no matter what. Write that screenplay you’ve had an idea for, and send it out to every festival imaginable! Those are your people!

– John McCool

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Reedsy

When I began my writing journey I often wondered where was the best place to start. I remember sending in the library of the community college I was going to at the time in my home town of Meridian, MS world building this incredible fantasy world that I have yet to do anything with. As I filled this notebook up with some of the most detailed crafted world I’ve ever developed, I started to become worried that I’ve bitten off more than I could chew, and I was right. I was under the false assumption that the best thing for new authors to do go balls to the wall, and knock out that debut novel from day one. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but I can say that it was the wrong idea for someone so new to the world of writing literary fiction. This quite obviously led to extreme burn out before I even started to pen my first work, and as you could assume, this was quite discouraging for someone just starting out.

There was a time when I was really considering that a potential career in writing simply wasn’t for me. I dabbled with screen writing for quite a while, until I was introduced to something that completely changed my writing life forever. This little community of dedicated professionals helped me propel my career in writing to a place I’ve always wanted to be, but always struggled to get a firm grasp on. I’m talking about Reedsy.

As me and my wife were bouncing around to different places, as a result of our nomadic lifestyle at the time, I really struggled to actually sit down and put pen to paper. The original part of Reedsy that I was introduced to was their awesome short story writing contest. They provide authors with five prompts that they can submit to, and a panel of decorated judges come to a winner who is awarded $250! Now, to be fair I’ve yet to win this competition, but every week the competition restarts allowing myself and hundreds of other authors to step into the arena of literary combat to become the champion for the week.

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I would be encouraging new authors to join competitions. The answer is that it’s not about the competitions at all. It gives new authors an organized, structured environment to hone their skill, and make a few friends along the way. The content requirement is very simple with a max word count of 3,000 words, and a minimum of 1,000 which is absolutely perfect for beginner writers. With the overarching theme changing from week to week, writers are able to really stretch their muscles of creativity. I tend to steer more to the dark and mysterious in my writings (it’s literally more slogan), so I can take any of those prompts and turn it into something quite epic! However, the downside is that I’m pretty sure Reedsy doesn’t necessarily like dark story telling, because I’ve never seen one win, but who knows!

Reedsy will always hold a special place in my heart. All of the stories in my first published book was an anthology of short stories all written for those competitions! It really helped me become such a better writer, and become more comfortable with people reading my work. For anyone even slightly interested in writing as a hobby, please consider giving it a look over. You will be quite surprised with the fascinating worlds you can create.

– John McCool