Author: Robert Evenhouse

Novelist. Blogger. Founding Member of the Weaklings Writers Group & JOT Writers Conference. Loves Encouraging Writers and Reading Books.

Its Time To Tell Your Self Critique Voice To Shut It

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Blogging1 Comment

I can be crazy. In fact, I’ll prove it.

On a trip to Florida a few years back, my wife and I stayed in a condo with my parents, grandmothers, and brother. We were surprising my other brother for his birthday and had flown down from Michigan.

When I sleep there cannot be any rhythmic noises or my mind will catch the beat and I’ll subsequently stay awake.

Thus when some crazy animal started mewing or barking (it sounded like both) at three in the morning it was annoying. By three fifteen I was growing angry and by three thirty I was marching across the parking lot, rock in hand to put an end to the creature. I tossed rocks into a forest until the bird/animal/little devil flew off to annoy someone else.

Yeah, that crazy. But I slept like a babe from four until seven.

As in the example above, we also carry these bird squawks or something similar in our minds. They are deadly to our creativity, living in the vary place our art comes from. And they offer a constant nagging of how unrealistic our dreams are.

Ever try to write or start to write a business plan and begin to get defeated right away? How many times even before we begin we start to think of why we shouldn’t attempt to try ___ in the first place – money, time, family obligations, work, and anything else march across our mind like a mariachi band.

There is something to learn from my manic story above. The next time your inner voice starts to sound the alarm, grab some rocks, snip the chord, pull out the batteries, and stuff proverbial cotton balls in your ears. Tell your inner critique to shut their mouth.

It might be impossible right now to be a New York Times Bestseller. But if we stop ourselves before we begin we may never know where the journey may take us.

My Writing Update

On By Robert EvenhouseIn MY Writing UpdateLeave a comment

Its been a rewarding and exhausting week in writing, work, and my home life. But that does not mean it hasn’t been great, because it has. I hope you had a chance this week to get tired by going after what you love.

Below is a summary of my writing activities this past week and a glimpse of what’s coming up.

Photo Credit: Vanessa Lynn. via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: Vanessa Lynn. via Compfight cc

Blog Recap

10 Ways To Get Your Blog Back On Track

We all have times when we struggle in the middle of our blog. I’ve posted 10 tips to help you dig in and get back in the groove. Click Here To Read It.

How To Eradicate The Fear Of Failure Once And For All

Fear can follow us around like a shadow. We want to make a career jump, write that book, or try our hand at painting but we don’t because secretly deep down we are afraid of what others might think or what’s on the other side of our currently comfortable lifestyle.  Here I talked about taking consistent steps toward what we want. Click Here To Read It.

If You Don’t Succeed Is The Journey Worth It? Lessons From A Failed Novel

For the past decade I wrote multiple drafts of one story. It was terrible but better in the end. I’ve put it on the shelf for now. As I reflect back I wonder if all of the struggle and thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of words were a waste. Click Here To Read It.

On Removing Impulse And Instilling Good Habits

Life can be easily lived like floating in a lazy river. But if want to be brave and grab the life we want it means swimming against the current. Here I talk about how I tipped the scales at 200lbs for the first time in my life and what I am going to about it. Click Here To Read It.

Don’t Be A Cover Band

Many artists want to repeat the same success as the greats. In this blog I discuss how we need to blaze our own trail if we want to find our unique voice. Click Here To Read It.

How To Always Have Something To Write About

As a blogger or writer or anyone trying to fit their dream into their day stuffed with obligation, you can feel a bit like Sisyphus rolling his bolder up a hill over and over again. It can seem pointless and dull or overwhelming, trying to come up with something write about every day. Click Here To Read It.

My Current Project

I’m working on a middle grade book (4-8th grade target audience) and am nearly a quarter of the way through. I said last week I hope to get 10,000 written. Looking back, that was such an unrealistic goal! I probably wrote 1,000. My hope this week is to at least triple that. This should be realistic as I look at my schedule this week.

Speaking

Next month I’ll be speaking at the Jot Conference on Blogging. I’m excited to be a part of this conference again.

Plan to live this week. Life won’t just happen to you. Go and get it.

10 Ways To Get Your Blog Back On Track

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Blogging3 Comments

Blogging can be exciting in the beginning. Then, out of nowhere, we hit a plateau. It’s at this point we can make a decision to either give up or dig in.

Below I list ten ways to get your blog back on track. If you are struggling, try a few of these methods. They also work if you are just starting out.

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Photo Credit: Cappellmeister via Compfight cc

Know who you are. If you are a fantasy writer, don’t write about pollution. If you are not a professional don’t write posts about how to make it. You are constructing your own platform and if you are not true to who you are or what you write it’ll be hard to find someone that will listen.

Know your audience. Speak to your audience’s condition. If you are speaking to the sci-fi fantasy crowd or talking about the joys and perils of retirement, know what is relevant and helpful to that demographic.

Follow the leader. There’s bound to be a blogger who is further along than you. They may even have blazed the trail to exactly where you want to go. Watch them closely. Learn what they do best.

Be consistent – post time, topic, etc. If you are writing a literary blog, don’t talk about Fifty Shades of Grey. If you are writing about gardening, don’t weigh in on the latest about Kim Kardashian. Unless she is gardening and maybe not even then. Consistency is key. If you post consistently your audience will begin to anticipate when fresh content is available and they will be waiting.

Be mindful of details. Recently most fonts were opened on the theme I use. Don’t think that’s such a big deal? I recently read that some fonts are considered prudish and untrustworthy. Yes. Fonts. So, do your research and understand that even the mundane tweak can mean a lot.

Write ahead. If you have a busy life where time can be sucked into a black hole in a moment’s notice, this is key. Look for spots to fit writing in and if you are writing ahead you will be prepared for whatever life event may suddenly arise.

Commit to the relaunch mental battle. Commitment can require us to cast off what is natural. Sleep, time with friend, work, etc. If you are doing a re-launch be sure your mind is ready for the fight. Know that trials will happen and nothing worth doing is easy.

Set personal goals you can reach but are a bit of a stretch.  This will vary from person to person depending on the season of life. You may post once a week, every day, or twice a month.

Set launch a date. Set a hard deadline for the relaunch of your blog. Build it to look professional, write ahead, and then bam, go live. You can tweek the minor things later.

Connect social media widgets and let your friends know! This is key. Find people who can support you. No writer can keep going in a vacuum. We need people. Your friends and family are most likely going to champion your work.

Blogger, get a clear vision, look for ways to improve and then jump. Even if it feels uncomfortable.

How to Eradicate the Fear of Failure Once and For All

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Have you ever planned a wedding or party or event and had something go array? It was a huge deal at the time. You still think about it and shudder.

But you know who noticed it?

Probably no one.

Even if you mentioned it to an individual that attended the debacle do you know what they’d most likely say? Nothing. They would just give you a confused look like they have no idea what you are talking about.

But fear is a pervasive jerk that is bound to show up again and again. It can ruin a future opportunity and also your dreams.

Often, because we don’t succeed or get hurt, we refuse to put ourselves out there again. You wrote a story and no one liked it. What if that happened again? True you might be devastated, but do you know who’s keeping score of every time you fail?

You are.

Ever heard of Thomas Edison? He failed hundreds of times trying to make a light bulb.

Photo Credit: SkydiveAndes via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: SkydiveAndes via Compfight cc

The difference with Edison is that he viewed the task he wanted to complete as a puzzle. He tried to solve it and if it didn’t work he’d try another piece, another method, another direction.

Life is not easy or perfect, so why would we ever believe a novel or starting a business would be a breeze? You’ll launch a business that will have bad days. You’ll start a blog that will not get any traffic. You’ll start a book that will be terrible in the end.

This can lead to a sad place. Where we draw a line in the sand between us and our dreams.

We give our dreams an ultimatum.

I’ll keep blogging if I get one new follower today.

I’ll keep practicing if I get a call this week for another audition.

I’ll try the guitar one more time, but then that’s it.

The key to eradicate the fear of failure is persistence and perspective.

What happens if persevere? If we throw away our fears of failing and go and see what’s on the other side of the hill?

J.K. Rowling kept at it.

Thomas Edison did too.

How about you?

If You Don’t Succeed Is The Journey Worth It? Lessons From A Failed Novel

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Uncategorized7 Comments

Over ten years ago I had a grand vision for a book series. I still do. I wrote the first book over and over again until I had about seven drafts. After much toil I decided to lay the book to rest. It was hard but it was time to move on.

Have you ever experienced this? Great expectations followed by severe disappointment?

I ask this not just to writers or artists but to anyone in any walk of life.

Often we have a grand vision for how something should go, but all we end up with is a horrible mess.

This prompts a question that can only come from retrospect.

Was the journey worth it?

Photo Credit: jimcrotty.com via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: jimcrotty.com via Compfight cc

Leaving with high hopes and coming up with nothing may seem like failure. Perhaps it is the Top Five Strength of Positivity shining through right now, but I firmly believe it doesn’t have to be this way. We can have fresh restarts and life giving lessons from these experiences.

Take my novel for instance. I worked for over a decade on it and poured hundreds of thousands of words and thousands of hours all for a novel that ends terribly.

But I learned that finishing well is important. That a book cannot end openly, even for a series. I had outstanding critiques and input from friends that shaped it in a beautiful way and learned about the joy of community that every writer needs.

Most of all, failure made me a better writer.

Now, I have a new project. One that has a solid ending, good characters, and a focused POV from the start.

And I wouldn’t have any of this if I didn’t go on the previous novel writing journey.

So I’ll let you decide. Was it worth it?

On Removing Impulse and Instilling Good Habits

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Uncategorized3 Comments

My family traveled to upstate New York to visit my in-laws a few weeks ago. On vacations everything can be a little relaxed. The usage of time, personal goals, and of course being conscious about what I eat.

When I returned from the trip, I weighed myself. I am six feet two inches and for the last ten years I have hovered between 189 and 195 pounds. This time? It read a hefty 201. This may not seem like a big deal to you but we all have that weight we’ll never get to in a million years. Mine was 200. It came as a shock.

Photo Credit: avlxyz via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: avlxyz via Compfight cc

While writing down some new goals on fitness that I plan to begin next week, I pondered how I got to this place.

The reason? I was living on impulse.

When we traveled I gave little heed to what I was eating or drinking. I don’t usually have soda but I know I had plenty. Desserts? Of course. I’m spending time with family gathered around a table, so of course I’m going to have a few dozen cookies.

Also, I drove for over eight hours twice in a four day time period.

This was an extreme lack of discipline, one that came on with the suddenness of a summer storm.

Now, it’s back to good habits. Saying no to some things, like sleep. I need to finish this blog.

Where do you need to work on suppressing impulse and instilling good habits?

Don’t Be A Cover Band

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Writing Tips3 Comments

I listen to music while I work and enjoyed Grooveshark.com before the site went dark. Now, I’ve settled on Pandora. Many of the artists blend together with my suggested band and often there is little distinction.

Have you ever had that experience?

Photo Credit: swanksalot via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: swanksalot via Compfight cc

This can be true for novels as well. You see people following someone else’s formula or ground breaking achievements and instead of producing a work that only they can produce, they write recycled stories.

The book might sell, but it’s a fad and not something that will be remembered in fifteen years.

Then there is that magical time, when I am in the middle of filling out an Excel spreadsheet and I freeze. The music and lyrics are fresh and new. A chill runs down my spine and I forget to click the thumbs  up button because I am enraptured.

Have you ever had that experience? Where you are pulled out of the monotony and surprised by a book or a song that instills wonder and captivates you? I hope we all strive for that kind of uniqueness in our work.

One of my favorite podcasts is by Todd Henry founder of Accidental Creative. His closing quote is always the same “Cover bands don’t change the world, don’t be a cover band. You need to find your unique voice if you want to thrive.”

Create your art. Don’t get distracted by other people. Write what matters to you. Write the sort of book you’d like to read, the type that sets trends and stands alone.

How To Always Have Something To Write About

On By Robert EvenhouseIn The Writing Process6 Comments

Do you have that writer friend that is an amazing blogger, short story writer, or novelist? Yeah, I’ve disowned that person too.

I am in awe of the constant do-er, the everdayer, the consummate professional who always seems to have something to write about.

I struggled with this for a while as I reviewed my plan for my blog re-launch. How will I be able to sustain a pace and not give up like the pros?

Photo Credit: kpkelly53 via Compfight cc

A few months ago, I started seeking out the top echelon of successful bloggers and platform builders. I found a lot of people I admire. You know what else I found out? They all knew each other.

Part of this should not have been a surprise. Once you reach a certain level of anything you want to be with people who have done the same thing. If you play a sport for two decades and want to grow, you can’t do so playing with a first timer. You have to compete with those at your level.

But this was not the main take away from this search. The real point was that they were all conversing about similar topics. And they talked amongst each other on one another’s blog or podcast or Vlog. They endorse each other’s books and attend each other’s book launch.

This gave me a huge nugget of insight. Conversation. This is what blogging, or any art, is about. Interaction, digging deeper into subjects, and then coming away with a response is all part of being an artist. Suddenly I found myself furiously writing down responses or ideas that sprung to mind when I interacted with them.

This is the key to blogging. You want to be a novelist? Read books about authors, by your favorite authors, and write about them. Your answer could be what you’ve learned, things you’d do differently, or ideas for books you may have. Stuff your head full of this material.

Art is not expression in a vacuum. It’s reciprocal.

So get in the conversation. Part of it is listening well. The other part is responding. If you do this, you’ll never run out of things to say.

My Writing Update

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Writing UpdatesLeave a comment

This past week I’ve had a writing renaissance. Here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to lately.

Photo Credit: rsmithing via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: rsmithing via Compfight cc

I’ve been consistently writing on the Jot Conference website for the past few months in an attempt to see if I could get passionate about blogging again. It was a struggle. But this past week, after revamping the theme and some widgets here at Part-Time Novel, I relaunched this blog. It’s not perfect, but this past week I’ve wrote nine posts here and two more at jotwritersconference.com a total of about 3000 words.

Books

I worked on a book series for over a decade and decided to set it on the shelf. Then I started a new book, but I’m not going to share details about it yet. I have completed about 50 pages so far and hope to have a rough draft between now and the next Jot Conference (September 12th). I wrote about 1500 words on it this week.

Speaking

The Jot Conference is moving to Three Rivers in September. I will be speaking about blogging basics and how it can help you in your writing career.

The Coming Weeks 

You can follow my posts on creativity, writing tips, and, chasing your dream job here and also on the Jot Writer’s Conference website. My goal is to write 10,000 words on my book this week and fulfill my blogging goals. Wish me luck.

Creative, Where’s Your Hustle?

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Chasing Life1 Comment

If you’ve ever read Jon Acuff you’ve heard of the word hustle. Hustle is the willingness to beat your body until it does the thing you want it to do. This could mean cutting out sleep, movies or TV, and even time you would normally be eating, in order to get something done. It’s the all nighter, the first months or years of the business, or the last push right before a product launch.

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Photo Credit: AlaskaTeacher via Compfight cc

For most of us, hustle is the last thing we have in our arsenal when sleep tugs at the corner of our eyes and our rational side tells us to not work so hard, that this dream of yours can wait until tomorrow.

The truth is that our dreams can never wait until tomorrow. The promise of tomorrow is the first step down a slippery slope. You’ll find yourself watching reruns and HGTV. I know I do. Then your dreams will be just dreams – someplace you’ll get to in the murky future.

I assure you of this. No successful person wakes up one day to find that they arrived at someplace they never intended to go. Mr. Acuff himself says in his book Quitter that writing for him is not something he wants to do in his free time.

But why does he do it?

Because he wants to be intentional with his limited time. He wants to focus on the things he loves, that matter, that will last.

And I believe this is the true meaning and sweet spot of hustle. It should feel awkward. It is usually hard. But it is worthwhile.

So fellow creative, if you are working hard on your dream and it is more difficult than you than ever imagined, you’re in a good place.

So push hard. Don’t give into easy. Instead, hustle.