Writing and Reading

When Perseverance is a Weakness

by Shawn November 3, 2011

Barry Eisler submitted his completed manuscript to 50 agents.* 50. And he received as many rejections. Throughout the process he continued revising, continued submitting, and continued receiving those rejection notices. He persevered, but it wasn’t getting him anywhere.

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An Envelope I Couldn’t Wait to Open

by Shawn November 2, 2011

About a week ago I received a real, live package in the mail from someone besides a book seller. There is a particular kind of elation that one experiences while trying (unsuccessfully) to disembowel a large envelope sealed tight with indestructible tape. I gave up trying to open it at the end of the lane, [...]

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God Never Promised You Fame

by Shawn October 31, 2011

If you tell someone you’re a writer, what’s one of the first questions they ask? Have you published any books?

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Memories of a Man Who Died 20 Years Ago

by Shawn October 28, 2011

My Grandpa Beiler had a personality impossible to forget. I never witnessed his anger, though stories of it were legendary. What I remember of him is that he never let anyone stop him from doing what he wanted to do. I also remember that he always wore the premonition of a smile somewhere around the [...]

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Emotion Must Not Be Present During Writing

by Shawn October 26, 2011

The first time I read A Prayer For Owen Meany, I found myself getting teary-eyed at the end. What a character! What a story! I had never read a novel that so perfectly illustrated for me the concepts of faith and doubt and friendship. The emotion that rose within me in that moment, as I [...]

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(Revised) Words With Friends

by Shawn October 20, 2011

Last night, while an October mist drifted around the house, and the occasional leaf fluttered against the darkened window, I worked on a revision with clients who are now friends. They drank glasses of white wine – I consumed coffee. Their dining room light was the only light on in the house, and their Boxer [...]

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Two Years Ago I Started Writing For a Living

by Shawn October 19, 2011

Two years ago this week, Maile and I moved our family into my parent’s basement, and I began the tenuous venture of trying to write for a living. So much has happened since then, but when I looked back through my journal of that week, this entry caught my attention:

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