Take A Break From Writing By Writing

Writing can be very taxing on the brain. I was writing earlier this week, working on my novel, and I was feeling burned out. It wasn't the writing or the sitting in front of the computer, but what I was writing. It is important to take a break and give your mind something else to focus on. For people like myself who are trying to make a living from writing, or do already, it is hard to take a break from how you earn your living. It is a beautiful thing being a writer, the more you write the more money you can make but when you get in a rut it becomes scary. I decided I needed a break from my story, from my characters.

I was trying to think what would be a good break and realized that I would like to be writing but something else instead. I had an idea for a short story, something based on an actual crazy night of my life, and I decided to write that. I started writing and I got on a roll. The story that I thought was going to be a few thousand words has now turned into more of a novella length and will be 22-25k words when I finish tomorrow. The break from my novel has been good and I think by the time I get back to it on Wednesday or Thursday this week I will feel refreshed and ready to write. It is a slippery slope though, if you take a break to write something else, make sure you finish the new project.

Keep writing.

We Published Our First Book Today

  So this is from Outfox Digital Publishing (I am the CEO). We published our first eBook today. A cookbook that focuses on Northern Italian cuisine that can be made from scratch in just minutes. It's a great book for beginners or for seasoned cooks. There are 50+ recipes to choose from that are categorized as: Bruschetta, Antipasti, Insalate, Primi, Secondi and Dolce. The eBook is called Fast and Fresh: Recipes from Northern Italy and the author is Giovanni Gaudio.


  Overall the process at times was frustrating and the hours were much longer than I could have imagined but it is so worth it. I feel like I have accomplished something wonderful and there is something out there now that will be around for a long time. I can't even comprehend right now what it will be like when I finish writing and  publish my novel. Here is an excerpt from the introduction of the cookbook.

I understand how fast we live in our American culture and the challenges our home cooks face- attempting to prepare healthy and interesting meals for their families and friends that are also nutritious and non-processed, usually with limited amounts of available time. My latest inspiration is to offer a simple cookbook that is fast and fresh, with recipes that lend themselves to a quick snack, a bigSunday meal or a great dinner party. I hope you enjoy my recipes and find they’re approachable mid-week or fabulous and satisfying for entertaining.

Some of these recipes have been made in a particular region in Italy for centuries; other recipes were developed by me and are a creative spin-off from an Italian recipe. And some recipes are completely inspired by a combination of local farmers’ crops in Northern California, my travels and certainly my imagination. Have fun, enjoy the process and the outcome, e buon appetito!

To find out more about the cookbook, get a sample or buy your own copy Click Here! or search 'Giovanni Gaudio' on Amazon.

I would sell out and so would you

All writers want to write the next great novel. There is a part of each of us that wants to be the next Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald. What writer wouldn't want to be recognized for being a master of prose. The problem is most of us will work our whole lives trying to reach that level of rarefied air.

If I was given the choice of writing the next great American novel and making dump trucks full of money every week (see E.L. James) I would take the money. It may seem shallow. Before you judge me, ask yourself what you would do. The chance of becoming enormously wealth as a writer is extremely small, so why not leap at that chance. I would rather be rich than remembered for being a great writer who died poor. Feel free to judge me. They say money can't buy happiness...I would love to try.

This train of thought came to me as I was writing my first novel. I kept rewriting the first few chapters, trying to make them perfect. I realized that no matter how long I worked to perfect it, it would never be the book it was capable of being. My best hope is to write a simple book that appeals to a wide audience and try to strike it rich. Suddenly the words began to flow and I am on pace to finish a full length novel in one month. Not bad for a first time writer. Here's to hoping other people will want to read what I have written and I haven't gone too far into the darkness.

Too many distractions necessitate a change of scenery

I was feeling stuck with own writing this week. I decided to try writing somewhere else. Where else would a first time novelist write the next seminal American novel than Starbucks? It felt so cliche but I couldn't think of a place that had places to sit and plug a laptop in.

My discovery was that while there are many distractions (the people, the drinks) that I am a better writer. When at home, it becomes so easy to get up and do something. The distractions you feel when trying to write can come from anything and it won't really go away unless you stop and do something about it. When writing somewhere else like Starbucks, the distractions tend to disappear on their own.

It is however not always possible to go somewhere else other than your home to write. My suggestion, and what I plan to do, is to write things at home that take a little less focus or intensity on your part and save the more difficult parts of your writing until you can remove those personal distractions. I find it much easier to get in the zone as it were when not at home.  

Choose carefully who you work with

A bit of frustration this week for me and my publishing company. We have a book scheduled to come out soon and are in the final phases of editing right now. The problem is the author is worried that with our edits that he might be losing his voice from the work and he will come off as not knowing the subject well (its non fiction). This proved to be a sticky situation. We had to try and convince him that we would take care to make sure that his work was representative of him and not what the editors had decided. This was particularly hard as this is his first book, and we are really just doing what is in the best interest of both parties. It can be one of those things that if it can't be worked out to the satisfaction of both parties, it can ruin the relationship.

For me, this has reinforced the idea that you must always be cautious of who you do businesses with. This is true for both parties, the writer and the publisher, because if you don't have the same vision, things can get a bit rough. Always be sure you are getting what you want.

That being said, we are getting ready to release a book in a few weeks, and then two (and maybe three) novels within the next two months.
Check out Outfox Digital Publishing for more information about what I do, and upcoming books.