Writing weather at last.

I never used to write in the summer.

It usually took a grey weather spell in September to really kickstart me -- like today.  That and the memory of school makes the fall season prime writing time.

The weather was so hot this year that I closed up the house and loitered near the air conditioner and just wrote all season.



Meanwhile, I've been trying out some things about writing and publishing -- and then researching them later.  Which might seem backward, but I've learned that I have to try things first to see if they work, and then later find out if other people think I should have done that.

"Don't touch that stove!"

Most of the advice I'm talking about is a little more subtle than that, and you really can't know who is giving you good advice and who is giving you bad advice until you've tested it.

Then you can find out who knows what they're doing and who are just bullshitters.  I'd say the bullshit ration is at least 10 to 1,  maybe 100 to 1.

I found only one small business book that correlated with my own experience and that was Growing a Business by Paul Hawken.  And I only knew that he was right because I'd already made half the mistakes he was warning against.

But I managed to avoid the other half!

Anyway, there is undoubtedly some good advice out there but you don't know until you've tested it.  By which time you don't need the advice. 

I've found it best to use my own common sense, and then adjust later.  There usually isn't a right or wrong answer, but a 60/40 answer and I may actually prefer the 40, if that makes sense.