Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Anthems for Authors – Lady Writer

A couple of weeks ago, I posted my first “Anthems for Authors” piece. I like songs about writers – a lot. But Lady Writer by Dire Straits is my favorite. That’s probably because Mark Knopfler wrote it for me. That’s right. You heard me. Yes, I have been on television – a few times. I know I made those appearances long after the song was released, but that doesn’t matter. As I said in my last post of this sort, this is one of those times when I exercise my right to replace reality with my version. That’s just how I roll.

So enjoy this video – the lyrics are fantastic and Knopfler’s guitar skills are legendary. And now, Lady Writer by Dire Straits.

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The Horror… The Horror…

“Horror… Horror has a face… and you must make a friend of horror.” Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now

You’d think that horror would be one of the easiest of genres within which to write: create a protagonist who is either extremely likeable or go for the opposite, a character deserving of some particularly overdue and nasty payback; either invent or import a monster from Familiar Horror Trope Land (sparkly or not, preferably the latter); bring them together in some unexpected location and everything gets all squishy and liquidized and unpleasant and the audience members lose all control of their bodily functions and curse your parents… except that’s not necessarily what happens at all. Horror is hard to write. Okay, no, I just lied. Horror is easy to write, but good horror is hard to write. Continue reading “The Horror… The Horror…”

Ed’s Casual Friday: Indie Author Off Day

6:58 AM. Wake up and try to remember the tail of that dream which may have held the key to resolving that scene in chapter 14 of the WIP. Fail to do so.

7:05 AM. Turn on computer on way to kitchen to start coffee.

7:07-7:29 AM. Check sales, use bathroom, check sales. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: Indie Author Off Day”

Writers gotta eat!

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, you are probably not going to make a lot of money from creative writing. If you do, send me some. But you probably won’t. So, this brings us to a conundrum…how are you going to pay your rent and bills? Well, I suggest selling cocaine. It is a compact product and the profit margin is really high. You might get murdered or put in jail, but life is about risk. I don’t like risk, so I freelance. If you’re a pussy like me, you might want to consider it.

Continue reading “Writers gotta eat!”