Archive for Business
So you want to be a writer, Part 7
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s another interview in my series on how to become a writer. This time, I asked a couple questions to Steve Perry
Steve Perry, training Silat
Q: How did you start out writing your first book?
A: I was looking for an agent, and I’d been writing short stories, which weren’t going to get me one. So I pitched a novel. The potential agent wanted to see chapters and an outline, and I didn’t really know how to do that, so I wrote the book in a hurry, then used that as a basis for the outline. Read More→
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So you want to be a writer, Part 6
Posted by: | CommentsIn this series on how to become a writer, I wanted to get the views of some experienced and successful authors. So it’s with great pleasure that I can present this interview with Barry Eisler
Don’t forget to check out his site for some more resources for writers and a great forum.
Q: How did you start out writing your first book?
A: I have a long-standing interest in what I like to think of as “forbidden knowledge:” methods of unarmed killing, lock picking, breaking and entry, spy stuff, and other things that the government wants only a few select individuals to know. When I was a kid I read a biography of Harry Houdini, and in the book a cop was quoted as saying, “It’s fortunate that Houdini never turned to a life a crime, because if he had he would have been difficult to catch and impossible to hold.” I remember thinking how cool it was that this man knew things that people weren’t supposed to know, things that gave him special power. Anyway, since then I’ve amassed a small and unusual library on some of the foregoing and on other esoteric subjects, I spent three years in the CIA, I got pretty into a variety of martial arts…
And then I moved to Tokyo to train in judo. I think all the other stuff must have been building up in my mind like dry tinder, waiting for the spark which life in Tokyo came to provide. Because while I was there commuting to work one morning, a vivid image came to me of two men following another man down Dogenzaka street in Shibuya. I still don’t know where the image came from, but I started thinking about it. Who are these men? Why are they following that other guy? Then answers started to come: They’re assassins. They’re going to kill him. But these answers just let to more questions: why are they going to kill him? What did he do? Who do they work for? It felt like a story, somehow, so I started writing, and that was the birth of John Rain and Rain Fall.
Barry working on his ground game with Dave Camarillo
Q: When did you decide to write full-time and how did you reach that decision?
A: You remind me of that joke about why dogs lick their genitals… (oops, did I say that out loud)?
I love writing, and had for a long time thought that getting paid to do full time what I love would be wonderful. So as soon as I got my first check, from Sony’s Village Books imprint for the Japanese rights, I left my day job and started concentrating full time on writing. That was in 2001, and it’s been a dream come true ever since. Read More→
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So you want to be a writer, Part 5
Posted by: | CommentsAfter yesterday’s interview, here’s another one. This one fits into the series I did on “So you want to be a writer.” I figured it would be helpful to ask one of the most successful writers in martial arts and self defense for his take on the craft. So here’s the interview with Loren W. Christensen. Enjoy!
Q: How did you start out writing your first book?
A: The year was 1976 and I was on leave from the PD because I had broken my knee in a martial arts sparring match. I had been thinking about writing a book on police defensive tactics because at that time there were only two on the market. Part of my desire was to write about DT and the other part was that I just wanted to write a book.
During my three years in the Army I had taken a writing course and had sold a small piece to Reader’s Digest. Five years later I received a check from them (not all publishers are this slow), which was the same week I decided to write the DT book. I took the payment, bought a cheap typewriter and a year later my first book was born.
For the next several years I wrote only magazine pieces, focusing on the martial arts, survival, bodybuilding, nutrition, and police techniques. Ten years later in 1987, I wrote another book and then another and another. Today, I’ve had over 40 books published by five publishers and I’ve written dozens of magazine articles.
I would suggest that new writers begin with magazine pieces and stories for their community newspapers. It’s better to get experience writing smaller pieces first than trying a book. When you jump in hard and fast with a huge writing project, you’re more likely to crash, burn and give up discouraged. Instead, take your time to learn and practice, and things will naturally fall into place for you.
Loren choking out his partner
Q: When did you decide to write full-time and how did you reach that decision?
A: Because of some incorrect information I’d received, I thought I could retire from the PD after 20 years. When I had about 18 years on, I began planning a full-time writing career, with a side gig of teaching martial arts privately. At 19 years on the job, I was told I couldn’t retire until I had 25 years in. Six more years! Read More→
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So you want to be a writer, Part 3
Posted by: | CommentsNow that I’ve spent the previous parts being negative and telling you all about the myths concerning writing, let’s focus on the things you can use to make it work. The first and in my opinion foremost key to success is the mental aspect, what goes on inside your skull. There are two components to this: Dealing with yourself and dealing with others.
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So you want to be a writer, Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsWe got the ball rolling in part one of this guide with an aspiring writer contacting me to review some of his fight scenes. It got me thinking about the last couple years, ever since I started writing books and what kind of ride it’s been: the good, bad and ugly. Let’s move on now to some of the common myths people believe about the job. Again, this is just my personal opinion, feel free to disagree if your journey has been different from mine.
Myth #1: I’ll write a bestseller and get rich in no time.
In truth, this could happen and it does. Every year, a handful of writers make it to the big time with a hit novel or non-fiction book. For instance; JK Rowling had an insane success with her first Harry Potter 
For every success story like hers, there are millions of writers who either don’t get published or they make virtually no money at all in comparison. Sit down, have a cup of tea and repeat to yourself: “It may never happen. It may never happen. It may never happen.” Does that mean you shouldn’t try? Not at all. Only that you’re better off with both feet on the ground if Lady Luck never favors you.
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