So, in effect, my first sale was actually two books. Stephen R. George More Quotes by Stephen R. George More Quotes From Stephen R. George Many of my short stories (all unpublished) were horror, and the novel I'd just finished was horror, too. Stephen R. George short just finished horror Trying to break into the horror market seemed natural. Stephen R. George market horror break trying So, I outlined a horror novel and started writing. Stephen R. George started horror novel writing I spent two months on the first draft, working 8 hours a day, five days a week. Stephen R. George days day week two A couple of weeks after that, Zebra Books phoned with an offer, and I accepted. Stephen R. George offer after books couple Actually, the 14 novels were written over a period of just over 6 years. Stephen R. George period over just years In the first year, 1988, I wrote and sold 3 novels. Stephen R. George wrote novels first year During that first year, I felt guilty that my wife was out working bringing in all our income, while I was at home playing on the computer, so I made myself treat writing like a job. Stephen R. George job myself wife home I got up with my wife, I sat down at the computer when she went to work, and I didn't stop until she got home. Stephen R. George computers wife work home For each book, the time is also broken up. Stephen R. George up broken time book The way I outline has changed quite a bit from when I first started writing. Stephen R. George first changed writing way For the novels I wrote before selling anything, I didn't outline much. I had a vague idea of the story. Stephen R. George anything before story selling When I decided to take writing seriously, I did a lot of reading and analyzing of the books I liked, and came up with what I thought were pretty sound plotting and structure basics. Stephen R. George thought reading sound writing The benefit of this kind of outlining is that you discover a story's flaws before you invest a lot of time writing the first draft, and it's almost impossible to get stuck at a difficult chapter, because you've already done the work to push through those kinds of blocks. Stephen R. George you impossible work time I've been reading horror since I was five years old. Stephen R. George old horror reading years When I was a teenager, I got into SF, quite heavily, and that too has had a major impact on my writing. Stephen R. George quite got impact writing Even the contemporary horror authors who have seriously influenced me are a disparate bunch. Stephen R. George seriously who me horror I'm a fan of short horror fiction... in fact, the most memorable horror I've read is of the short variety... but I have a hard time pulling it off myself. Stephen R. George short myself memorable time On the other hand, now that I'm not dependent on fiction for my income, I've been writing more short stories despite the fact that there's no real paying market for short horror other than Cemetery Dance. Stephen R. George short dance real writing I've devoted a lot of my time and effort during the past few years to developing my advertising copywriting business to the point of where I can support my family and don't have to depend on writing fiction for my income. Stephen R. George family business time past
