[Travis McGee]

FR is many things. In my book's acknowledgements I call it the world's first and greatest virtual think tank and activism engine. It's also where I learned to really write.

FR gave me a place to practice quickly putting concise, pithy, sometimes witty thoughts into sentences and paragraphs. And then it gave me hundreds of readers, many of whom were always ready to comment, praise or damn what I said, challenging my written ideas and forcing me to improve them.

So Ward 19 was a little experiment, so what of it? Good for you for putting it down. It's just one class in your Writing 101 course. There are a hundred more classes to come.

But if a novel is your goal, I would suggest going the complete and detailed outline route. It's a rare writer that just puts each day's new ideas on top of yesterday's finished pages. That is for pros, and not even all pros, and certainly not for the first time novelist.

If a novel is too daunting, then aim for some short stories first. Think of the impact of Coffin Rodk! Aim to create such a short masterpiece, and you will have really done something.

Then when you have that under your belt, start writing the narrative of your novel, from the outline you are working on now.

Good luck,

Matt

[Elisha]

Thanks again, for your encouragement, and your rock solid advice.

Congratulations to you! I read that you were shipping out your books on Saturday.

I look forward to watching your rapid climb to the best sellers list, and someday, I can say, "I knew him when..."