Writing Archives - BabyBoomerCashNow

Paul Lloyd has had a successful marketing business for many years and at the same time has been a prolific writer. Today, he reveals the secrets to becoming a successful writer.

Alan: Today we are talking with Paul R. Lloyd. Someone that has had a successful career in marketing and at the same time been a successful writer. Today we’re going to learn his insights into writing. Paul, thanks for talking to us.

Paul: Glad to be here.

Alan: Let’s get right into it. Why did you start writing?

Paul: It started back in grade school and continued into high school and even the army. I’ve always been a writer and an avid reader. I was an English major in college. I read a lot of genres, both fiction and non-fiction. I began my writing career as a reporter for a daily newspaper. I worked for international corporations for seven years before I started my own marketing business.

Alan: How does one get started writing?

Paul: Start out writing a blog. It is less intimidating than to attempt writing a novel or a non-fiction book from scratch. Later, you can reformat the blog posts into an article or an ebook.

Alan: When was your first book published?

Paul: 2011. I wrote one in the 1970s, but it wasn’t published.

Alan: Now you have written fiction and non-fiction, correct?

Paul: Yes. I’ve written 3 non-fiction books and 6 novels. I have 3 more novels in-progress. I also have a blog and other writings.

Alan: What type of fiction do you write?

Paul: I was drawn to the type of horror fiction that Stephen King writes, so I write horror fiction with a twist of humor. I call it “scary humor.” My background includes poetry, so my word play has a poetic feel to it.

Alan: What lessons have you learned from writing? If you were to start writing now, is there anything you would do any differently?

Paul: If I was starting out writing today, I’d do more research in the genre I wanted to write in. Also, be aware of who you are as a fiction writer. You write the way that feels comfortable to you. Stephen King has his style, John Grisham his style, Patricia Cornwell her style. My style is noir but with an upbeat, positive message at the end. As I was saying earlier, I like to play with words in a poetic way and spice the scary parts with humor. My gift includes writing for emotion so readers should expect to laugh and cry while staying alert for the sound of bumps in the night.

Be aware of what the marketplace wants. While writing gives great enjoyment and is very fulfilling, selling of books brings great pleasure as well. Understand what your readers want.

Alan: You’ve been running a business for many years; how did you find time to write?

Paul: It takes daily commitment to move a book forward. It is too easy to put it aside for a week of two then having to spend hours figuring out where you were, what you want to say next. Just start with a daily commitment of 15 minutes. That first 15 minutes will be tough, but it will get easier and easier as you get into the daily flow. When you’re writing, especially fiction, you are telling a story, so you need to know how to tell a good story. The writing will naturally expand to 20-45 minutes a day. A good pace to have is an hour a day of writing.

Alan: What do you feel is your best book and why?

Paul: Steel Pennies. It’s a thriller set in 1960 in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania. The story takes place in a mixed race working class neighborhood during the early days of the civil rights movement so readers get a feel for how the young people interacted in that kind of environment. The story features racial tension, but is primarily a love story set in the midst of murder and mayhem. The main characters, a small group of teens, have to figure out who the killer is before they are picked off one-by-one. I’ve had several readers reach out to me, but none have said they were able to solve the murder before the end of the book. It’s great to hear from readers.

Alan: What was the most difficult task on your first book?

Paul: In writing a novel, I know the beginning, the end and the title. The challenge is getting from point A to point B. I enjoy the writing part more than the editing, but of course, that is part of the process as well. An editor is an essential part of the book writing process, but I’ve been a professional writer since 1974, so I do the editing myself these days. I’m also part of a writer’s group which is a big help in that I have a critique from a group of people. Getting the perspective from several people makes for a better book.

Alan: What advice would you give a first-time writer?

Paul: Write every day. Read about writers and what they have went through to succeed. Get to know your writing heroes. When you write, have your work evaluated by a professional editor that you pay. They have the background to provide valuable feedback. Also, finish the novel before editing the story. If you start editing as you go, you will be stuck halfway through the process and potentially give up. If you edit as you go. you may find that you rewrote chapter 2 six times and you end up throwing it away the chapter, because it doesn’t fit with the rest of the story.

Alan: How do you come up with new story ideas?

Paul: Just by going through life, reading and thinking, I constantly come up with ideas for stories. I make sure I capture them for future reference. As long as I live, I will continue to write. I love it!

Alan: What is next for you?

Paul: The fourth book in my Snpgrdxz (pronounced Snip-grid-ix) time travel series. More to come on it.

Alan: Looking forward to it. Thanks, Paul for your insights. We really appreciate it.

I’ve had the privilege and honor to interview Dr. Russ Riendeau about the benefits of Writing. Dr Riendeau explains how one can get started quickly and how, through his writing, doors were opened to him that helped him in his other businesses. It is my hope that the tips you learned from Dr. Reindeau will encourage you to start on your journey to writing.

Dr. Russ Riendeau is a successful entrepreneur, national speaker and award-winning executive search professional. He has turned his ideas, passions and talents into million-dollar business with ideas that have enriched the lives of thousands, as well as a rewarding personal and professional life. Russ is also the creator of the Rusty & Pogo comic series. His ideas, writings and art work have appeared in thousands of media outlets including, TEDx Talks, The Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal Radio, ABC News, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, Boston Globe, Artprize 2014, Sales & Marketing Magazine, Training Magazine and CIO Magazine.

Alan: How did you get started in writing?

Russ: I started writing at a very early age. Jim Bouton, a Yankees pitcher in the 1960s, decided to keep a diary of a Yankee’s season that detailed the player’s shenanigans and then published the diary as a book. The book was a big hit and a big influence on me. As a 13 year old, I decided to keep a diary of that summer’s activities. My friend John, after reading excerpts of the diary, said I should write a book. While I didn’t write one right away, the idea of writing a book stayed with me.

Alan: Being an author is not your only business. Has writing helped your other businesses?

Russ: I found that writing was a great format to establish my competence and expertise in business. Writing enables me to demonstrate how I could help others. I was in the homebuilding business, early in my career and I started to write how-to articles and I would get them published in industry newsletters. This was well before the Internet. After that, I started to write articles on sales training and those were published as well. At that time I wasn’t paid for articles, but it enabled my business to grow. Writing was a very worthwhile investment.

Alan: What was your first book?

Russ: My first book was Thinking on your Seat, and the target audience was those that worked in the executive search industry. The book was also field guide. It was published in 1996 and sold for many years. It was priced at $39 and I sold the first 100 copies in 30 days. The initial printing run was 450 books and it sold out in a couple of months. I made back my investment pretty quickly.

While I had been writing articles for years and felt very comfortable writing them, I knew writing a book was at whole different level. I wrote the book to see if I could get through the writing process. Did I have the discipline and drive to consistently write? I wanted to prove that to myself.

Not only did publishing that book give me a sense of accomplishment, it also opened other avenues for me as well. I landed speaking engagements and started a series of training seminars which have continued till today.

As my circle of influence grew, I was able to reach out to well-established authors to have them write forewords and to-date seven of the forewords have been written by best-selling authors. As of today I have written 11 books and even though the money from book sales is good, I focus on writing what I enjoy. A few years back I created a comic called Rusty, Pogo and Soup and have loved every minute of writing it.

Alan: What did you learn from writing the first book?

Russ: First, there is such joy in writing. We put ourselves into the writing and it is very fulfilling to write. The fun is in the creating. The feedback you receive on your book is not so much fun, it actually creates tension. You’ve put yourself out there, revealing what you think and this creates tension in yourself. You ask yourself, “Will they like what I write? What if they don’t like it?” It can be difficult to handle the feedback. But, people will read what you write. There will be some that don’t like it and others who love it. Getting the first book under your belt opens up a whole new world for you.

Alan: What advice would you give to someone that wants to write? Someone that wants to have a second career as a writer?

Russ: There are a few things you must do.

First, write. Get your idea on paper quickly. Write down everything you think that is related to the topic.

Second, can you write from different perspectives? Can you see both sides of an argument and write about each of them? That is, can I write from an unbiased approach? Try to write from both sides of an argument and see if you are able to do so. You will get better at being able write from more than one perspective as you work at it.

Third, you have to be willing to accept there may be people that don’t like what you write. That’s okay. Writing is quite personal and you must be willing to put yourself out there and accept feedback on what you write. Doesn’t mean you agree with their opinion. Don’t take the criticisms personally.

Fourth, don’t plan to write the great American novel the first time you write. Build up to it. Write articles, 1500 to 2000 words each. Give the article to people; get their feedback on it. Write 20 articles. You might be able to turn those articles into a compilation which turns into a book.

Years ago people wrote pamphlets to get across a point, such as in the time of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. These pamphlets were expanded into books in many cases.

Fifth, be willing to pay for editing. I’m good at turning a phrase and developing great content, but having an editor has been a boon to my writing and my business.

A good book to read is Stephen King’s On Writing. He talks about how he goes about writing. Anyone serious about writing should read it.

Alan: What’s next for you?

Russ: A third volume of my single-panel comic, Rusty, Pogo and Soup will be coming out. In addition, I focus on my executive search business, Jobplex. As you know, I’ve created several original music compositions and continue to compose today.

Alan: Where can we reach you?

Russ: I can be reached at russriendeau@gmail.com

Alan: Thanks for sharing this advice with us.

Get Russ’s latest book, The Big Swing: What the Chicago Cubs are teaching Business Leaders about Capitalism, Commitment and Culture.

Learn from the Best – Interview with engaging author Paul R. Lloyd

Interview with National speaker and writer Russ Riendeau