38 thoughts on “Pushing the Envelope – Lighting Your World”

1. Excellent inspiration, Steve. I love to see how writers meet and then exceed readers’ expectations. Top writers first satisfied their chosen genre’s base requirements, then added something fresh to surprise and delight the audiences. For me, the many moving parts made this difficult at first, so I focused on each genre’s conventions and key scenes. Over time, as the structure felt intuitive, I focused on various techniques and literary devices. Now it’s fun mixing the genres, letting the story beats drum out the narrative, and playing with the prose, so I can finally write the stories I always wanted to read.

   • Thanks, Grant. Excellent answers and ideas.

     I like the way you describe first learning genre expectations, practicing until the process is intuitive, then mixing the techniques and genres until you find the recipe for the “stories I always wanted to read.”

     All of those elements are critical to success, and you certainly understand them. Best wishes for continuing success!

2. Hmmm, tough questions, Steve.

   1. When I first worked in offices, manual typewriters, carbon paper, and Witeout correction fluid were standard. In attorneys’ offices, I discovered IBM Selectrics that (gasp!) corrected! And magic Xerox machines that made copies.

   Generational fun fact: recently I talked with a 39 yo who didn’t know what a “Xerox” was.

   2. Most significant for me? #1 – Word processing with cut and paste cuz I remember actual cutting and pasting with scissors and tape. #2 – Kindle Direct Publishing that democratized publishing.

   3. Methods to speed up pacing and increase suspense and tension. Better ways to hide clues to keep readers guessing. I don’t experiment with new techniques as much as I polish existing ones.

   Steve, in your career in medicine, you must have seen incredible leaps. Wanna share some of those with us?

   • Great answers, Debbie. You’ve witnessed some huge leaps forward for writing and publishing.

     I like the techniques and methods you’ve used for your books. I have read them, and can vouch for some fantastic results. Keep using your discovered process.

     I can tell that you’ve learned how to delegate work to someone who tries to “dump” the work on you. I wonder who that would be. My wife would applaud your technique.

     You’re right that in medicine there have been incredible leaps in progress. The first thing that comes to mind is the understanding and use of genetics and immunology to custom build treatments for various types of cancer and other diseases. Unfortunately, there has also been an intrusion into the thinking process, where those who want to control everything have used computerization to collect all the data and leave many physicians incapable of thinking without their computer turned on. I’ll stop.

     Keep thinking! Keep looking for ways to keep readers on the edge of their seats (or reading into the night).

     Have a wonderful weekend!

     • LOL, Steve! You caught me!

3. #1. My beloved KayPro.
   #2. Shorter attention spans, cinematic and YouTube/TikTok culture, mean storytelling more visual and faster paced.
   #3. Thus, in my Romeo books, no chapters. Just scene after scene, set apart by drop cap/white space, as short or long as they need to be, like in a movie.

   • Great answers, Jim

     I had to look up the KayPro. Ah, yes, green print on a black background. Those were the days.

     The changes in readers. I wish there were a subset of them that we could somehow change, but that will never happen. I did see on the news last night that Elon Musk’s Neuralink did implant a computer chip in a paralysis patient. Maybe Elon would allow us to upload our books to his chip. Whenever the patient is not actively engaged in something else, we could keep them entertained.

     I like the chapter-less books idea. Have you had any way you could tell if that made a difference in sales or length of individual reading sessions?

     Thanks, Jim.

     • I don’t have any way of knowing if there’s a measurable difference in sales. I did have one reader say to me in person, “Your books are only one chapter!” He was astonished by this idea, but when I explained the strategy, he got it.

       • The first time I read one of your books sans chapters, I thought it was interesting, but I wasn’t sure. The more I read, the more I realized that this is the way I write my teen adventure stories. The chapter breaks are just an artificial separation. I might have to try this.

         It would be fun to use BetaBooks.co and do an experiment with this.

4. One day the discussion was how my degree fit my life. BS in Aeronautics in 1983. My primary job is Network Administration. A career that didn’t exist in 1983, using systems that were science fiction in 1983. My secondary career is with a global pizza delivery company. In 1983 they had fewer than 300 stores. The year I started, the 3,000 store opened. There are over 14,000 today.

   Since 1983 I have been pilot in command for one flight. Most of my classmates never flew non military after graduation.

   • Wow, Alan, how things do change.

     The crazy idea hit me, that your background and current work would make a very interesting main character. Jack Alan P Reacher, pilot and pizza delivery engineer, flies into the setting, parks his jet, and hops into a pizza delivery vehicle, where he can get an open-door look at house after house.

     Thanks for participating, Alan.

     • I am sure you know what happens when you tell a writer a story. It ends up in a book. Some of my stories have ended up in Elaine Viets books. My alter ego delivers pizza in Fire and Ashes. No flying pizza delivery yet.

       • There you go, Alan. Tell Elaine that you want an upgrade, a James Bond type that does it all, pizzas to jets.

     • I delivered for a time to St. Louis International Lambert Airport. A regular customer was a cargo pilot for Kalitta Air Freight. He would radio his base when he was entering the pattern to land. We would meet him at the Kalitta terminal. It was pre 9/11 and with the 30 or less days. Perfect for ordering 20 minutes from touchdown.

       • Now, that’s service. That would also make great advertising for your pizza company.

5. Terrific questions, Steve.

   1. Back when I began in library-land: Card catalogs. Americana, Brittanica, Colliers Encyclopedias. Cross-cross directories. Contacts Influential. Date due stamps. Red ink pens to strike out the dates. Coin-operated type writer for the public. Engraver you can borrow. Instant camera to use to capture program events.

   2. Most significant changes in story-telling/creation, to me: #A-Narrative distance in third person, ranging from a near omniscient third to a very deep third, and understanding that that distance can depend on genre. #B Word processing software and cloud storage. #C Digital self-publishing as a started by KDP and now available through a variety of other retailers and platforms.

   3. Something I hope to post about soon here at TKZ: that murder mysteries are also “suspicion fiction” and that there is an arc to that suspicion, much like a character arc.

   Thanks for a very thought-provoking Reader Friday. Have a wonderful weekend!

   • Great answers, Dale

     The “old” libraries. I guess I forgot the coin-operated typewriters. That brings back memories of an even earlier era, as an elementary student, visiting the tiny branch library in our little town, and the elderly librarian pulling me away from the Hardy Boys and telling me I needed to read some of the “great” literature.

     I agree with you on #2. And, I look forward to your future post on murder mysteries and the “suspicion fiction” arc.

     Have a great weekend!

   • I love it when I buy a used book and it’s got the old fashioned (i’m not sure it’s formal name) borrower’s card pocket on the inside front cover. A blast from the past!

6. My first job at The Evil Empire was working on their Internet server technical help documentation. The team had the brilliant idea to display the docs online instead of as a dedicated help app that shipped in the product. It was the caveman years of web pages, and very few authoring tools were available for writers (as opposed to code jockeys). We were expected to write HTML code from scratch in Notepad, if you can imagine! Of course, now virtually every company has documentation online for their products.

   I don’t know that I’ve experimented so much as I’ve honed. With the short attention spans of reader these days, I’d say that adopting the mantra “Keep the story moving relentlessly forward” has been the most significant improvement.

   Funny story. I recall reading a review for a British detective series. The reviewer bemoaned that the story started so slowly but said they wanted to give the author a chance to turn that around. They were glad they read the first 150 pages of slow, dull stuff, because that’s when things really took off. 150 pages??!! I want that reader!

   • Interesting stuff, KS

     That first job at the Evil Empire sounds like quite the way to learn HTML coding.

     Your answer on #2 seems to be the theme today: Readers’ attention spans have atrophied and we as writers must respond accordingly. So sad that there isn’t a cure for short attention spans.

     When you find that reader (#3), let us all know. We have some stories we want them to read.

     Thanks for your contributions.

7. Good discussion, Steve. For me:

   1. Probably the creation and implementation of desktop publishing. I was a designer and art director. You had to send out for various services in the production chain: typesetting, color separations… Then one day around 1988 I realized that I could MYSELF do all these things with the new applications and equipment. Mind-blowing. And that DIY approach spilled over into my current indie self-publishing.

   2. Shorter units. More sentence fragments. Fewer lengthy transitions.

   3. I’ve been leaning into more casual speech in my dialogue. More “gonna”s instead of “going to”s. More informal language. Plus, also experimenting with more visual formatting ideas: italics font, prologues, author notes, maps, whatever. All propped up with the DIY approach.

   • Excellent, Harald.

     Your work in designing and art directing certainly changed by leaps and bounds. If you ever write your autobiography or memoirs, your grandchildren will say, “Grandpa did what!”

     #2. I’m getting the message: Shorter. Faster.

     #3. I’ve thought about the casual speech. I’m on the fence. How much responsibility do we have to try to preserve the language vs. going with the flow? That’s a tough one. Your visual formatting ideas are very interesting. With the unlimited possibilities and DIY that is an idea that I haven’t seen exploited that much. Let us know how that goes.

     Thanks for your great ideas.

8. Great post, Steve.

   1. What major changes (inventions) have occurred in your occupation prior to becoming a writer?
   Like you, I was in the medical field, but not clinical at the beginning of my career. Started in 1988 on the office side of things, retired in 2020 from the clinical side. In 1988, I was the lead insurance biller.
   And guess what? We snail-mailed the claims! On paper . . . oy!

   2. What do you think are the most significant creations/inventions in story telling?
   Laptops and cell phones! We can take them anywhere, write anywhere.

   3. What experiments have you done (or do) to create improved ways to serve up a story for your readers?
   From our own JSB: his post entitled “The Trapdoor on Top of Your Skull”, January 14, 2024, has helped me dig in to the memories stored in that vault, drag them out, and use them to evoke emotion into my scenes. Take a bow, Jim!

   • Thanks, Deb

     I could tell you horror stories about what Anthem did with paper claims at the end of each week. Ever wonder why you had to resend so many claims?

     #2 Laptops and cell phones. Do you think we’ll move to implantable brain chips next? That would be nice in the middle of the night when you get a brilliant idea. “Make note in Notes about jet pack for MCs escape from roof chase.”

     #3 Great post by Jim in January! Memories and emotion.

     Have a great weekend!

     • Do tell me about those claims, Steve!

       I have some stories of my own about claims that went missing here in WA State, and the explanation I was given. 🤯

       • I’ll email you, Deb. Probably better not to air our dirty laundry in public.

9. Great topic, Steve.

   What major changes (inventions) have occurred in your occupation prior to becoming a writer? Oh, goodness. I started in software development in the age of mainframe computers and warehouses full of storage elements. I have more storage capacity on my iPhone than we had on the Air Traffic Control system I programmed for back in the stone age. While I love the ease of life in the computer age, I mourn the effect it’s had on people’s attention spans.

   What do you think are the most significant creations/inventions in story telling? Word processing obviously made it much easier to write. Self-publishing makes it easy to publish. The accessibility of information makes the creation of story a lot easier.

   What experiments have you done (or do) to create improved ways to serve up a story for your readers? Every story is an experiment for me as I learn this craft. I experimented with multiple points of view in the Watch series. The last book in that series included a secondary character who was written in first person while the rest of the book was third person. My last book was written entirely in first person, and I found that very satisfying.

   • Thanks for participating, Kay

     The changes in computers and computing is hard to imagine. The easier path to writing a story with the improvements in word processing and the access to information is truly enjoyable.

     I like your experiments in POV. I’ve made pretty much the same journey over the last eight to ten years.

     Good luck with future experiments.

     Have a great weekend!

     • My wristwatch has more computing power than the government lab in Andromeda Strain. My car has more computing power than the NASA control room during the Appollo days.

       The Starship Enterprise’s computer was supposed to contain the sum of human knowledge. So does my phone.

       • So, who needs 007. Tell Elaine that you are reporting for duty.

       • We used to have to be very careful with our code because of the limited resources. We even used “overlays” in code (a precursor to paging.) Although I wouldn’t recommend it, it forced us to think things through carefully. I’ve noticed a tendency toward sloppy software development and therefore sloppy analysis as computers became more sophisticated.

         • I guess power isn’t everything. The care with which the code is developed sounds more important.

           Thanks for that history.

10. What experiments have you done (or do) to create improved ways to serve up a story for your readers?

    I do a few things that have really upped my game. I leave every writing session mid-scene. It’s easier to finish a scene in the morning than start a new one. Once I hit The End of one book, while the fire’s still hot and the passion is spilling like hot lava, I write the hook of the next one.

    These tricks help me avoid staring at a blank page. And it works. I’ve never been more productive.

    • Thanks for sharing your discoveries, Sue.

      Those are great ideas. I especially like the idea of leaving a writing session in mid-scene. That helps me, too.

      Your hook for the next book, when you’ve just finished the previous book is a wonderful idea.

      Have a productive weekend!

11. Q What major changes (inventions) have occurred in your occupation prior to becoming a writer?
    A My earliest training and day jobs were in Astronomy and Aerospace Engineering. I determined the orbit of a comet, Slaughter-Burnham 1959a, using a desk calculator [Ka-chugga, ka-chugga, ka-chugga…] At Douglas, we had access to a Royal-McBee computer (mylar tape programs). Later, I worked in, yes, Plastics, Mr. McGuire! https://youtu.be/PSxihhBzCjk . Still later, Electronics, then Toxic Waste Remediation, and even later, Petroleum, on-shore and off-shore. During this time, computers went from nowhere to everywhere.

    Q What do you think are the most significant creations/inventions in story telling?
    A Next to the campfire, alcohol, circa 8,000 BC.

    Q What experiments have you done (or do) to create improved ways to serve up a story for your readers?
    A I’ve written computer manuals, programs, aphorisms, short stories, rhymed, metered poems, free verse, haiku, loku, (“There once was a man from Moline…”) novels, novellas, short plays, 3-Act plays, movie scripts, ad copy. I’ve studied writing at USC, LA Harbor College, Ventura College, Santa Barbara City College, and several on-line schools. I also studied acting at LAHC and have made two short films.

    • Thanks, JG. I was hoping you would stop by this blog. I knew you had a lot to report.

      Your training and past occupations are impressive. I can’t imagine the wealth of information that gives you for writing.

      Alcohol – the best invention for story telling. You had me laughing on that one. Can you come up with something that would draw people off social media and into our books – maybe digital alcohol?

      Your experimentation and writing should be an inspiration to all of us.

      Thanks for stopping by and contributing. I appreciate it!

12. Steve: Many thanks for your kind comments. My thriller, In the Mouth of the Lion, was based on my psychological analysis of that extremely rude Mr. Hitler. I’m now studying and writing mostly in the area of forensic psychology. I’ve recently taken on a coauthor-investigator who majored in neuroscience, which should speed things up a bit.

    Note that I said alcohol was significant in writing. Significant in both directions, alas! Using it to enhance creativity is, as we all know, risky and can lead to, as L.Sprague deCamp put it, “drinking more and more to write less and less.” [“Science Fiction Handbook” (1953)] The alcoholic area of the brain is the same area that promotes creativity. Small wonder that many good and famous authors end their days in an alcoholic morass. In vino veritrash!

    You pose the question, “Can you come up with something that would draw people off social media and into our books – maybe digital alcohol?” Social media are addictive. Readers read, get incensed, their Guardiennes get triggered, releasing adrenaline, etc., and they enter a manic* spell. There’s your “digital alcohol.” How do we turn knowledge of this process into book sales? Let me think about it. And we shouldn’t discount campfires, either!

    * This process emulates half of bipolar disorder. For the full process, replacing social media with the Guardienne, itself, see: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346137535

    • Congratulations on finding/partnering with a neuroscientist. I know you’ve been looking for such a person for a while. Good luck with your writing.

      Now to work on the digital alcohol – adrenaline connection.

      Thanks, JG!

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