  Mystery
This week: What To Do With Writing Advice Edited by: Jeff  
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"The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense
of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery."
-- Anaïs Nin
Mystery Trivia of the Week: Dennis Wheatley may not be a household name today, but he was one of the most prolific and successful thriller authors from the 1930s through 1960s. Prior to becoming an author, he was expelled from school for starting a secret society, medically discharged from British military service after surviving a chlorine gas attack, and lost his family's wine business in the Great Depression. His Gregory Sallust novels have been cited as extremely influential to Ian Fleming when he created the James Bond franchise.
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WHAT TO DO WITH WRITING ADVICE
A couple weeks ago, I read The Successful Novelist by David Morrell (author of First Blood, the book that was the basis for the Rambo film franchise). For years now, I've been reading "how to" books on writing here and there; I think there's some value to be had in reading about the experiences of others, particularly those who have already succeeded at the very thing you're trying to accomplish.
Overall, Morrell's book was just okay. It was painfully out of date when he discussed the both the publishing industry and the entertainment industry that adapted his books for the big screen. There were also several points where his bitterness and disillusionment with the business side of writing seeped into the words on the page and he made sweeping generalizations about how Hollywood always works like X, and every writer can expect Y from corrupt Hollywood executives.
There was a great part of the book, though, where he suggested you figure out your story (and beat writer's block) by having a conversation with yourself and typing your responses as a stream-of-consciousness type of activity that will get your brain thinking creatively and your fingers conditioned to generate words. I've been trying it out a little at a time, and it's already been a useful addition to my writing repertoire. I'm not sure whether it'll become a permanent fixture for my process or just an occasional approach to use when needed, but that's the great part about every writer's process being unique; it evolves depending on your own personal needs and habits.
When it comes to other people giving you tips and suggestions about how the writing process works, I'm of the opinion that you take what works for you and then discard the rest. Since each writer is different, no one process can be successfully applied to all writers. It's important to understand how other writers accomplish their goals (especially if you're struggling with your own process or are simply curious about alternatives and potential improvements), but no one writer or one system can guarantee your success, so you should feel free to experiment and try things out, then forget all the other stuff that doesn't necessarily apply to or help you.
Over the years, I've probably read over a hundred "how to" books on writing. In the vast majority of cases, I walk away with one or two new methods or topics to think about and the rest falls by the wayside. Otherwise, every time I read a new "how to" book, I'd be completely reinventing my writing process!
I think the lesson of carefully contemplating advice and then choosing the best option for you can equally be applied to reviews and critiques of your writing as it can your writing process. One of the most important skills we can develop as a writer is being able to separate the advice we find useful from the advice that we don't. Once we can do that, it becomes much easier to look at a piece of advice or feedback and figure out where (or even if) it fits with what we're looking to achieve with our process and our work. Of course, being contemplative about what will improve your writing and your process assumes you want to make changes, which I suppose is why people pick up how-to books and ask for feedback in the first place. 
Before you ask for feedback on your next story or pick up the next bestselling author's how-to book, I'd recommend really thinking about what it is you want to accomplish. What are you struggling with? What are you looking to improve? What are you pretty sure you're happy with? Having a better idea of your strengths and weaknesses and what areas you want to improve will help you narrow down and get specific with the advice you're seeking. And above all else, don't be afraid to try new things. If someone gives you some advice that intrigues you or gets your mind going in a different direction than you were anticipating, give yourself some latitude to explore new possibilities and see if there isn't a better version than the way you've been approaching it to this point.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
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I encourage you to check out the following mystery items:
EXCERPT: My boss, David, has me working on these particularly boring but easy obituary columns. Most of the cases are pretty typical, but once in awhile you get somebody famous - this is the Bay Area, after all - a huge corporate executive or well-to-do actor. I always liked the elderly women that came across my desk and passed away in their sleep - they had always accomplished so much, and witnessed the first Oreo/Neil Armstrong landing on the moon/Thurgood Marshall being elected to the Supreme Court of the United States.
EXCERPT: I wasn't impressed by the skinny specimen sitting across from us. Sallow skin turned slightly orange with overused tan cream. Thinning black hair topped a narrow face with close set, beady eyes. Top off this winning mix with a special something that makes you think of sweaty weasel. Even the nicely tailored suit couldn't balance the furtive glances that indicated a scavenger at heart. Somehow he managed to make the cheesy white duraplast bench at the food court look cheaper. Of course, my opinion could've been influenced by the faint scowl of disgust he aimed at yours truly as the uninvited slob joined us.
EXCERPT: Charlie Thornton dressed as always in a dark grey suit and designer shirt but no tie sets his stride across the yard towards them taking the last few puffs of his cigarette. He throws his dog-end to the ground and stamps it out with his foot as though he'd just extinguished a life itself. You only need to look at Charlie Thornton's face to see aggression, anger and frustration.
EXCERPT: Monika Reinke sat bolt upright. She knew eight-thirty was too early for bed, and that she would never sleep, but how else could she make her birthday arrive more quickly. She felt as she had as a child waiting for Christmas. Her head full of coloured tinsel and shiny packages; her body braced by a prickly sensation that zipped from the nape of her neck to the tips of her toes. She was now less than two hours away from her forty-fourth birthday. Why was this birthday different? Why did it feel so special? She had not felt this way about her fortieth birthday, and that was . . . well . . . her fortieth. The question surfaced again and again through the tinsel and the wrapping paper, as she pulled her 15 tog Silentnight Winter Warm duvet up close under her chin, and the light in the room receded.
EXCERPT: Malcom woke up before the sun appeared that morning. The excitement he already felt began to heighten, causing his stomach to tighten, with anticipation for the up-coming events. Today was not only Friday but also a very special day for Malcom. He respectfully withddrew his clean, blue Cub Scout uniform from the closet and dressed himself. He stood in front the mirror admiring his uniform that displayed the many badges that he had earned, including the Cast Iron Chef, First Responder, and Earth Rocks. He felt his pride mushroom as he loyally placed the gold double-strand Denner cord over his left shoulder.
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Feedback from my last newsletter about finding your niche:
DB Cooper  writes: You forgot about my idea a newsletter devoted to degrees {MB, DO, PhD, etc.}.
I still have your newsletter ideas in my notepad for when inspiration strikes. Unfortunately, I haven't found an interesting way into the discussion of college degrees or the value of unique goods and rare items so I haven't written a newsletter on those topics yet. I'm posting this response here, though, in case any other editors happen to see it and think of a way to do either topic that's not occurring to me. Thanks, as always, for writing in! 
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Mystery: July 01, 2015 Issue [#7079]
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