J.B. Sommerset

I moved back to the woods recently. I come from the woods, somewhere way out there, in Idaho. As a kid I spent most of my time among the trees and the wildlife. Then as I grew up I decided there was more to life than that. For some stupid reason, I moved to the village, then to the town, and then to the city. There was nothing in any of those places for me.  Now that I have aged, and I am a lot older, and a little bit wiser, I realize that it’s not about the state you are in, the place you reside. It’s about the state of mind you are in. I was never in a healthy state of mind in the city. All around me was unhealthy noise. It got old as I got old.  That being said, living in the woods comes with it's own set of challenges. It can be lonely, it can be too quiet at times, there is isolation here, and isolation is not always easy to bare. One must have the tools to deal with it. Loneliness is also a very trying experience, but it helps you to recognize the value of a visit, the import

Here's an oldie, but goldie, from the book of "the bees in my brain". This one has been tumbling around in my head for a while, it is even paraphrased in " Ego Strata ". I wrote this one morning when I was standing in the nude, in my basement, confused and tired (There's a story there, which we will tell at another time).  "As it turns out, the highest purpose to which mankind has evolved, to which we have grown into beings of intellect, is so that we can have rock'n'roll!"  J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

Sometimes, it's important to remember that writing is about transmitting ideas and the audience receiving them. If we are writing an academic paper it is best to be technical with what we are saying and concise- to the point. If we are writing an instruction manual it is best to be orderly and descriptive. etc. If we are telling a story, we need to show the audience what the characters and events mean. The reader or the person listening to the story must go on a journey with the characters.  We need to show them, not tell them, telling them takes something away from the journey.  Sometimes in my YouTube wanderings and explorations, I find videos that I see as particularly useful for developing skills. I then sometimes post them so all of you don't have to spend 40 years in the desert looking for a home. I hope this one helps some of you develop your skills, enjoy! Cheers!

Wow, it's been too long my friends! On the upside, my house is almost done! Yeah, moving back to the woods. In the meantime, and to keep all of you read-a-holics occupied, here is the bi-weekly audio book... er books. Its a collection of short stories and literature from one of my favorite authors Phillip K. Dick . One of the most prolific and underrated science fiction writers ever. Hope you enjoy this one, you salivating read-a-vors.  Cheers!

In another life, I learned and taught martial arts. My Sensei had a number of books he wanted us to read, some made more sense than others. The one that always seemed to make no sense to me, at least until I was in the moment during a match, was " The Art of War " by Sun Tzu . It's one of those layer books that have more meaning the more they are read, also they get new meanings as time goes by. Unlike the other books I read, The Art of War was something I never fully got, and don't think I ever will.  Every few years I go back and read it, and I am also pleasantly surprised to glean more lessons from it- I no longer wonder why it can sometimes be found in the business section at Barns & Noble . So today, the biweekly audiobook is The Art of War. I know some of you won't be into this, and I know some of you will- it's an acquired taste. Cheers!

As writers, I hope all of us also read. Reading is the foundation of writing, at least for most authors, and it's important to recognize crap from cream. Sometimes other writers make us feel small with their skill and prowess. Some, not so much, sometimes we are revolted by the works of other writers. Sometimes we have to put a book down because it made us throw up in our mouths a little.  As a writer, I can safely say that nothing turns off my reading boner like poorly thought-out stories. Especially ones where the plot holes are big enough to fly a plane through. Sometimes, it seems the writer didn't try. Some of the telltale signs of lazy writers are lousy character development, hideous syntax, poor descriptions, weak development of themes and continuity, super thick plot armor, or MacGuffins. All of which are reasons to put a book down and forget about it. And god, do I hate me some MacGuffins- the sure sign that a person is a lazy writer. That being said, there is one mist

I've talked about this several times before, I've posted videos about it, and almost every time I come across an article or a video about it, I think about it all the time. You guessed it, I am going to rail on getting to know the seven major plots .  I simultaneously hate and love them. I hate them because I am an anti-establishment kind of guy. But I also love them because they help me structure my stories. So I do what most quasi-philosophical types do- keep my enemies closer than my friends and get to know them well. Use them like the tools they are. It is not that there are only seven major plots; I just wish there were more. And before you say anything, I've looked and looked for some magical eighth plot line, I haven't found one yet, and I doubt I will. I will not rehash them here in this article because I have been over them several times. What I am going to do is use this as a reminder to all of you. Rather than lament that there are only seven, let's try a

I have said this before, and I will most likely repeat it; the older I get, the more I appreciate the works of Stephen King . Not so much his early works but his post-cocaine, post-alcoholic bender works. Even more so, his post-road-waffle works. There is something about his sober and mortal works that make them even better than his early stuff. Don't get me cliched; his early stuff is great. As I age, put down my own vices, and look both ways before I cross the street, I think there is a deeper understanding of the mechanics in his books. I was watching the green mile the other day, and I suddenly remembered how good the books were. Originally they were released as a series of books, a parcel if you will. I looked forward to each and every one of them. In the end, I collected and read them all, then packed them away when I moved- to my dismay, I still haven't found them. But I can remember how good they were, but now that I am older, I think back to the plots of each one, and

I was rooting around on youtube as one does when they are bored, listening to my usual echo chamber, when I came across a striking video. This one challenged me. Not because it was wrong, not because it was spot on, but because it was a completely different take on why people write- it also challenged me. I did a long hard look at my love of writing and asked a few basic questions to see if my motive for writing aligns with what is suggested in this video. I have to say, this video has some merit. Sometimes I write for the reasons this video talks about, and there is nothing wrong with that. It does, however, explain my book "Midlife Mike." That book was written as a direct result of what this video talks about. At the time, my life directly reflects a sense of isolation, among many other things. I assume it's the same with other forms of creative talent. I also assume that therapists recommend journaling for the same reasons. I hope this provides some insight into why yo

As a younger man I really fought it, that is, liking Stephen King's work. I resisted his work for a minute. It was just too damn trendy. It took me a while to figure out that sometimes something is trendy because it really is good. As I have stated before, from the descriptions on the dust jackets, a good deal of his work shouldn't be good. Case in point, a summation of " It ": Pan-dimensional spider beast returns to dear to eat fear." It just doesn't sound as good as it is. I had some catching up to do when I finally succumbed and started reading his work, then I learned what made him special. I have been over that before, and I will touch on it again at some point.  Anyway, I dug out some more advice from him. I was letting the almighty algorithm pick my videos, and this one popped up. I thought I would share it with all of you. Hope you all find it worthwhile.  Cheers!

This one is not only for the writers out there, but also the spoken word junkies, the coffeeshop screenwriters, and even some of the songwriters out there. Karl Iglesias is a writer, teacher, and storyteller, and he has some valuable insight into why storytelling is so important, what its purpose is, and how to build a story that really moves people. I thought I would share it with all of you because I feel that what he has to say is important, especially what he has to say about the purpose of your story. Enjoy! Cheers, and keep on creating!

One of my all-time favorite books, and movies, come to think of it, is Fight Club . It's one of the few books I saw the movie for before I read the book- and still loved it! From that moment forward, I started reading all of the author's ( Chuck Palahniuk ) works. I chewed through them as fast as he could write them. Even now if there is a new one, I guarantee I will pick it up. Every now and then I listen to a new interview and rediscover him all over again. This week I found a new (at least to me) interview and thought I would share it with all of you. So cheers, and enjoy it!  

Last week I posted some tips that I found useful when I first started writing. These tips were simple. In one of the tips, I mentioned to "keep cranking the shit and diamonds crank until you start to find diamonds". This might have been taken the wrong way, and I also said I would explain. In that section, I thanked " Struthless ". Struthless is one of my favorite creators on Youtube. He makes animations, tells stories, and gives some good advice. Some of that advice he wrote down in his book: " Your head is a houseboat. " Which, if you are interested, you can get on amazon.  Struthless is where I first heard about the "shit and diamonds machine". Originally it was in reference to what is known as impostor syndrome , but I feel it applies elsewhere too, which is why I co-opted it. I thought I would let him tell you in his own words what it means.   Cheers!

I am back again with some tips, and as always I give them in threes.  This week, because it's been a long time since I last posted some tips for the upcoming writer I am going back to the basics. As always I will break them down and also emphasize why they are important.  1) Starting at the beginning, one of the best tips I ever received was this; writing is a practice . If you want to make a living at writing, you have to turn it into a study and a practice. Like so many other things in life, unless you are some sort of autistic savant, you need to practice to get good at something. A musician usually practices, an artist creates ten steaming piles of shit before they squeeze out something someone wants to look at. A home builder doesn't build a mansion first, they build a little bang-shack on the outskirts of town. It's the adage of Shit and diamonds  ( Thanks Struthless ); the more you turn the crank the higher your chance of finding a diamond in that shit you keep churn

I have always said that a talent that is never used, never released to the world, and never seen is a wasted talent. It's a truth that we all need to make a living, at least for most of us, and as much as we would like to sit around in coffee shops writing and drawing, there are still bills to be paid. In other words, we simply cannot take the time off to write the next great novel.  We all hope, we wish, and we dream, that we will write a book or screenplay that the world will recognize, and then proceed to throw some money at us. At the very least, enough to get us out of the 9-5 lifestyle.  The hard part is making sure the right people see it and then proceed to buy it. For most of us, that is the dream- to work at what we love and not have to stress about bills in the meantime.  A friend of mine emailed me a video, he always thinks that I need to better market my work and always has good advice. This little gem is from " Gary Goldstein ", and it has some good advice a

First off, welcome to 2022! I hope this year is better than the last one.  Normally, I don't really feel the need to post what I got from friends and family during the holidays. This year there was a winner, something I will use and fully enjoy. Something I have wanted for a long time, and have had plans to get when the time is right. Christmas time, I guess, was that time! This, my fellow creatives, is my first dalliance into CNC laser burning and cutting. Good things are coming!      Cheers!

I was perusing the interwebs, as one does when one has some extra time. So there I was sitting on the crapper scrolling through my newly created Twitter account. I am still adjusting to Twitter when I came across a rabbit hole. This particular rabbit hole is a controversial one when it comes to art, music, and the crafts of writing and storytelling. But nonetheless, I recognize it as one of the most expressive mediums to work in and have even dabbled in it from time to time.  If a person knew where to look and could dig deep enough, they might even find some of my old work buried between the dark web and the deepweb- not to date myself. I am of course speaking of video games as a storytelling medium. If there are some older folks reading this I understand your trepidation, but I would argue that some of the best storytelling ever has been done on game consoles and PCs. Between consuming Tolkein and  Conan Doyle Some of my favorites were the likes of Square enix and Capcom. In fact, I m

Sometimes we (as writers or readers) notice the antagonists in a story more than we notice the protagonists. There is something delicious about a good piece of evil, a bad guy that meets our standards better than the rest. This is true throughout many of the greatest stories in history, from Lago to Tyler Durdon . In many cases, we know the bad guy better, because he or she is human and flawed. We identify with them more, and that makes for compelling storytelling. If we dig deep enough we will usually find a part of ourselves in the best of bad guys- and that is truly scary and also exhilarating.    Cheers, and keep on creating! 

Richard Walter here has a realistic, and some would say sobering, look at the craft. I want to share his words with all of you because sometimes us dreams need to put our feet on the ground.  Cheers, and keep on creating! 

One of the hardest parts about writing a book, or creating great art or music is getting discouraged with the work.  Most of us start with a great idea, that is, "in short"- meaning we have the summary, and the "meat" of the story needs to be added to make it into a full-length novel. Ninety-Nine percent of us don't have the whole idea in our heads when we sit down to let the work possess us.  Instead, most of us channel the demons inside to make our work complete. We fight with the monsters. We ride the winds and light the fires. We try and keep up with the waves of struggle and capture the emotions in our words or paintbrush strokes. We cut our flesh and insert ourselves into what we create. And as the process unfolds, it slowly murders us with its purpose, so we build it up.  Consequently, it breaks us and weighs us down, yet we struggle to lift it with our very souls even if it drowns us.  As we push, the pressure builds and builds until we explode, are spen