Published author, ghostwriter, novelist, poet, comma maximalist. I teach you powerful rhetorical tricks to improve your writing and get paid online.

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James Carran

The worst writing productivity advice I've ever seen:

"Take a break every 30 minutes."

Are you crazy?

Get in flow, stay there as long as you can, then stop.

You'll write 10x more this way.

Craftsman Writer. Published author, ghostwriter, novelist, poet, comma maximalist. I teach you powerful rhetorical tricks to improve your writing and get paid online.

How to become an amazing writer in 8 easy steps:

1. Read
2. Read
3. Read
4. Read
5. Read
6. Read
7. Read
8. Write

All there is to it really.

I'm going to settle this right now:

If you can count it, it's fewer.
If you can't count it, it's less.

"There were fewer emails to read."
vs
"I had less work to do."

Easy.

You can't write something worth reading until you've lived something worth writing.

Shorter isn't better.

Don't write: "He was mean."

Write: "He'd cheat a widow out of her last coins, just because he could."

Show, don't tell.

Even if it takes longer.

Delete "that".

Don't write "He thought that it was a good idea."

Write: "He thought it was a good idea."

Cleaner, and easier to read.

(If it breaks the sentence, put it back.)

Read a real book.

X-Twitter rots your brain and spoils your writing.

So do most self help and business books.

Pick up a classic novel instead.

You'll write better.

By age 30 you should have realised writing is the most powerful skill in the modern world.

It's wild how many terrible writers make amazing money because they just keep putting themselves out there and never doubt their ability.

Something to think about

Writing is a skill, not a talent.

You can learn.

You can improve.

Everything is online now.

Everything is writing.

Never neglect it.

The world belongs to the writer who writes even when nobody will ever read it.

Sometimes I write at night.
Sometimes I write in the morning.
Sometimes I write at lunch.
Sometimes I write on my phone.
Sometimes I write at the desk.

The important thing is writing every day, not where or what time you do it.

Writer's block is just a fancy word for laziness.

Avoid negatives.

Never write "He wasn't the best of shots"

When you can write "He was a bad shot"

Your readers brain will skip the negative, then have to go back and correct it, which jars them out of the reading trance.

Rephrase it.

Stop overthinking.

Write it. Edit it. Publish it.

Move on to the next thing.

1/100 aspiring authors will start writing.
1/100 of those will finish the book.
1/100 of those will publish.

It doesn't take much to beat the average.

People say coffee can't replace water but I think they just don't drink enough coffee.

When I was in LA I got tired of not getting hired as a TV writer for other people's shows.  I decided to make my own show.  To do that you have to get a pilot purchased, made, and picked up.  Beau Bridges had read my script and was interested in playing the main character.  He invited me to his house to talk about it.  He offered me toast in the kitchen with homemade orange marmalade from the trees in his back yard. 

So I am sitting there munching on toast and Mr. Bridges starts talking.

(can't really bring myself to call him Beau)

"I loved your script.  Great writing. I can totally see it.  I do have a couple of suggestions that might make it easier to sell."

Ok, what this means is he won't be attached to it unless I agree to the changes he wants.  Totally normal when you are a beginning writer.  You have zero leverage.  You must be willing to compromise to get things sold in the beginning I am told.  There are other ways to get things made but I wasn't going that route.

"So you know that I am deeply involved in charities right?"

"Of course!"

No clue what he was shilling for, but all actors have some pet projects they like. He then goes into this long diatribe about saving the whales. I am not sure if he did the movie Free Willy because he was already into whales or the movie "whale radicalized" him.  

Then he starts talking about his work with Los Angeles street gangs etc.

The pilot "NGO: Kyoga" took place in a land locked fictional country with two warlords fighting over the control of a city the NGO is launching in.  I can really work with this gang angle, and its probably why he liked the script, because there are two fighting gangs already in it.  The whales were going to be a problem.

"One hundred percent Mr. Bridges." I said, still unwilling to call him Beau. "We can work whatever you want into the gang angle since that's almost the entire plot." 

"What about the whales?" he asked.

"That's going to be tough since the story takes place in a land locked country in Africa."

"I know.  That is why I want you to move locations to Los Angeles."

Cue the sad face music.  He REALLY wanted those whales in there.  It was at this point I looked down at my marmalade toast and started to question the contents of what I was eating.  I briefly considered the possibility that I had been drugged and he was trolling me until I passed out so I could be sacrificed to Moloch.

Alas, it was just marmalade.  He was serious.  It was then I knew I would have to keep being a lawyer.  Kept writing though.  Eventually escaped the law.

taplio

The Battle

James Carran

Wade Skalsky ┃ The Understory Bard

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The Battle

James Carran

Wade Skalsky ┃ The Understory Bard

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}James Carran's LinkedIn Performance

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