See below. Great to have all of you here.

On The Home Front

Not too much to see here. It is going to be somewhere flirting with the nineties in most of Iowa over this coming weekend and it is a travesty to have such high temperatures during the last weekend of September/first weekend of October. It reminds me too much of my wedding nearly 26 years ago when Laura and I wanted to get married on a pleasant October fall day and wound up sweating to death in a heavy tuxedo and wedding dress in 80-plus degree weather.

This is why Iceland sounds like a good idea right now.

What I’ve Been Writing

I’ve continued to work on The Yank Striker 2 this week. I took a brief break from the section I discussed last week and decided to add another scene intended to further develop the main character of the series, DJ Ryan.

I recently reviewed a book entitled The Barcelona Complex here on The Writing Life. I was hoping for at least a very good read about the history of FC Barcelona and the great players and coaches which populated that history, and I got what I was looking for. However, I had also hoped the book would be a resource of practical information on life inside a professional soccer club and prove useful in the writing of The Yank Striker 2. As it happened, there was one tidbit in the book that ended up being very useful indeed.

I continue to be embarrassed over the years regarding my ignorance of the game at times. I remember when I had a FIFA game for my PC back around 2000, choosing Manchester United as my team, and then having no idea what UEFA was or why I would be playing UEFA games that were different from the Premier League games. I was definitely a Yank back then.

I even remember this feeling when, in past years, I ended up coaching youth soccer, first for my own kids when they played YMCA soccer, and then just a couple of years ago when I did a favor for my wife and coached for our local youth city league. I knew a few things about proper technique and coaching, but there was so much I didn’t know about the game. For example, if I had done a little more digging, I would have found out about rondo exercises, like I did in The Barcelona Complex.

The rondois essentially a game where a group of players gathers around in a circle, or some other shape, and attempt to pass the ball to each other while a smaller group of people in the middle attempt to stop them. In the game, players have to work together, make rapid decisions, think creatively, and have a good touch in making passes both on diagonals and with balls through the opposition, as well as the conditioning benefits. Basically, it allows you to develop every sort of skill you would need on a soccer field except for shooting. I know if I had known more about the exercise, I would have my players doing that even more than scrimmaging.

In learning more about the rondo and the culture behind it, it called to mind a piece of advice I’d received much earlier in the development of The Yank Striker series from a friend and fellow writer from Muscatine named Misty Urban. (You should absolutely check out her site.) She reminded me it was not going to be too interesting from a character development standpoint for a lead character to be able to be good at everything they did and not have struggles. I thought my character DJ did go through some struggles – I mean, he didn’t even win all of his games in the first book – but I thought it was a very valid concern and something I needed to keep in mind since I wished to make it a series.

A few days ago, I saw a conversation with Clint Dempsey, a former forward player for Tottenham, Fulham, the Seattle Sounders, New England Revolution, and a couple others. The co-leading scorer for the US Men’s National Team, he is now an analyst at CBS Sports. He was talking about coming from Nagadoches, Texas, and not having the opportunity to benefit from great youth coaching like his broadcast colleague, the great French striker Theirry Henry. Dempsey, who all the USMNT fans knew as Deuce, said he was at peace with the success he’d had as a player, but that he’d always wondered what progress he might have made in his career if he’d had high quality coaching in his youth.

I realized DJ was in a similar situation as Deuce was at the start of his career, even though the former had more obvious physical gifts than the latter. So, I wanted to have a situation where even a great natural goal-scorer like DJ would not only be challenged by but actually struggle with. What better struggle to face than an activity where goal-scoring isn’t the point of the activity? It was then I realized I had a perfect symbol of how far he had to go before mastering his craft. Now all I have to do is manage not to butcher the scene when I write it. 😁

What I’ve Been Doing Having to Do With Writing

I should be looking over my recommendations on Substack and starting to add more to them. But to be honest, I’ve been concentrating on getting my writing quota and more done rather than the accessory stuff. Maybe I’ll get to it this weekend? Maybe during my time at this book fair this Sunday (read further down to hear more)¹.

Writing Advice for the Week

This week I’ll be tackling the second of George Orwell’s six rules of writing. Like I said last week, Orwell has long been one of my literary and writing heroes growing up, not just for his novels, but also for his essays on language and writing itself. Along with Stephen King’s On Writing, his essays on writing were a great instructional resource as I reeducated myself in later years.

So, number two on the list is:

Never use a long word when a short word will do.

We want to have a variety of words available to us as writers to properly express our message to readers, what we want to describe and let our audience be aware of. Having a variety of tools is a very good thing. My son, the heating and air conditioning technician and maintenance man, would say the more tools you have available for your use, the better.

Whether you use all those tools on a regular basis, however, is another matter entirely. That is what Orwell is warning us about with this second rule. In the words of Ann Wright’s analysis of this rule:

Here are some examples: use “start” not “commence”, use “buy” not “purchase”, use “save” not “conserve”, use “used to” not “accustomed to”, and use “walking” not “proceeding along the carriageway”.

This is not an exhortation to use boring or repetitive language – just to avoid the impression in your writing that you have swallowed a dictionary!

In everything else, as Orwell would say, moderation is the key. It’s all right to display a rhetorical flourish every once and a while, but don’t rely on it to carry your story.

What I’ve Been Reading/General Recommendations

I already hyped this up on Notes a little while back, but this piece by Sarah Fay got me thinking about how I could improve what I’m doing online and with my writing. I’m sort of tempted to book a Zoom meeting with her myself and see what I can be doing better. If you’re writing out on the Internets, maybe you should, too.

Where I’ll Be and Where You Can Find my Books

You are probably a bit weary of me promoting my appearances, but I did want to get the word out. Today will actually be the last day I can get the word out for the first one, and when I put out my next weekend newsletter, I’ll most likely be on site at the second stop, so it won’t be as bad next week, I promise disregard this, I can’t count 😂.

So, here we go:

• [THIS IS TOMORROW]
  From 12-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct 1, I’ll be at the Windsor Heights Book Fair, 1141 69th St., Windsor Heights. I’m really looking forward to seeing the other authors there and having a great event.
• From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at MERGE, 136 Dubuque St., Iowa City, as part of the Iowa City Book Festival that week.This is just a small part of a week-long festival throughout Iowa City from Oct. 8-15. I’ve always been proud of my former school, the University of Iowa, cultivating a worldwide reputation as a supporter of literature, and the community of Iowa City also plays its part. Go ahead and click on the link in this paragraph to check out the festival.
• And from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, I will be at the Elwell Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds as part of the 8th Annual Indie Author Book Expo. It will be the first time I’ve spent any time at the Iowa State Fairgrounds after more than 40 years of living in Iowa.

I’ve got links to my books in paperback and ebook format in the sidebar here, but you can get them in person at these fine Iowa bookstores:

• Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave # S1, Des Moines
• Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella
• The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.
  
  All three are great independent bookstores who deserve your support.

Writing Quote(s) of the Week

Well, it appears Dr. Seuss also might agree with the writing advice for this week.

It has often been said
there’s so much to be read,
you never can cram
all those words in your head.

So the writer who breeds
more words than he needs
is making a chore
for the reader who reads.

That’s why my belief is
the briefer the brief is,
the greater the sigh
of the reader’s relief is.

And that’s why your books
have such power and strength.
You publish with shorth!
(Shorth is better than length.)

Dr. Seuss

Final Thoughts

I always appreciate hearing from readers, whether its in the comments in these newsletters, in Substack Notes, or by email. Let me know what I’m doing well and what you’d like to hear.

– 30 –

1. This is twice in a row I’ve complained about this. Don’t worry, it’s going to be the last time for a while, since you all shouldn’t have to hear me repeat myself all the time. ↩︎

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Like last week, I’m going to be spending much of this weekend on the road¹. However, I got some writing done over the week, so I’ve got some stuff to share. Since things are slow on the home front stuff, we’ll get started on that.

What I’ve Been Writing

I’ve been making some more progress on The Yank Striker 2 this week. Started on a scene where DJ and a close friend of his head out on the town after a game, looking for a good time… and they’re a bit surprised to find it.

The following is a minor spoiler for The Yank Striker (which the vast majority of you probably haven’t read yet) so if you are seriously against spoilers you may want to stop reading here and totally skip this next part.

(Unless you are like me and couldn’t care less about spoilers (as I talked about in this article²), which in that case, keep reading.)³

Anyway…

DJ is not the only young LGBTQ footballer on his team, and not the best one either. He’s gone from being a star player on his father’s college football team to just another American kid looking to prove himself. But he and this other player, a Brazilian player his age, have become good friends and supporters on the pitch, and DJ also wants to watch out for him off the pitch as well. This will be the first time they’ve been out on the town together, and London is sometimes considered the LGBTQ capital of the world.

One of these party scenes is always a tricky thing to do. My view is you don’t ever want to just have a scene where people are just relaxing and having fun unless there’s another purpose for it. In this case, I wanted to see how the local LGBTQ community are paying attention to two new potential stars. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Okay, spoilers over…

Other stuff I’m writing includes this newsletter, maybe another Poetry Night at the Writing Life entry this weekend (should I have this be a monthly thing? I’m leaning toward it), and some random fanfic to keep my productivity moving.

I’ve been getting into a good rhythm when I get home from teaching at the end of the day. If I don’t have any night meetings and get home at a normal time, my schedule looks pretty much like this:

4:45-7 p.m.: Get home, walk and feed dog, get my random things ready for the morning, and dinner.

7-8:30 or 9 p.m.: Writing and occasionally writing related things.

9-10 or 10:30 p.m.: Relaxing for the evening and settling in for the night.

I might not have as much time to be productive as some of my writing friends who are retired from their work and can do this whenever I want, but I do manage to get stuff done. That’s only because I’m compelled to do this even when it seems not too many people are reading it, and even when I’m not in the mood to write, I keep asking myself why I’m not writing. Such is my life circa 2023.

What I’ve Been Doing Having to Do With Writing

I need to just sit down one evening and curate my Substack recommendations and do more with them. There’s a lot of great writing others are doing out there and I want to spread the word about them because I know I’d want someone to do the same for me.

Of course, that would take some time for me to do, time I could be spending getting more writing done. Thus is the paradox of a writer who finds himself doing things not having directly to do with writing.

Writing Advice for the Week

At some point on this site, I need to talk a bit about George Orwell was one of my literary heroes growing up. As a kid, I was fascinated by the stories he wrote, but when I got older, I got more out of his later work on the craft of writing. If I was going to have to say who the best writer in the English language was in the 20th century, I’d likely have to settle on Orwell⁴.

I recently ran across an article by Ann Wright for Rough House Media back in October 2022 on the subject of Orwell’s six Rules of Writing. I appreciated Wright’s analysis and interpretation of these rules as well. From my understanding, I believe Orwell might have shared my point of view of seeing writing “rules,” with the exception of basic grammar and mechanics, as more guidelines than hard and fast rules.

With this in mind, I decided to take a look at each of Orwell’s rules in turn. Number one on the list is:

Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print

This is Orwell trying to steer us away from sounding like everyone else. If you are saying everything in the fashion many other writers use, how are you going to stand out? Why should people keep reading your work? It’s like watching a presidential primary debate in Iowa or New Hampshire and watching ten look-alike candidates agree to the very same political stances (and the same catchphrases as well). Why choose any of them?

Now, Orwell would be absolutely in favor of using vivid, original metaphors and other figures of speech. While he would absolutely caution a reader from using a metaphor needing an entire paragraph of explanation, he would be in favor of a balance of originality (as he indicates with this guideline) and simplicity and clarity (as we will see with his other guidelines later).

What I’ve Been Reading/General Recommendations

Ugh, it’s been too long since I’ve shouted out any stuff on Substack and/or WordPress. But…

From my feed on the new Substack app (and thanks to the author I’m about to plug, Erik Hoel , for letting me know about the updated app), it seems like a lot of my recommended writers here on Substack are liking this next piece. I liked his breakdown of how first Facebook and now Twitter (forget X) have moved away from being active social networks and more their own ecosystems (the walled gardens of the title). It also talks about why Substack and other similar systems like Reddit might have more durability than what Facebook and Twitter have turned into. It’s a really good read.

Where I’ll Be and Where You Can Find my Books

Here’s my upcoming appearances:

• From 12-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct 1, I’ll be at the Windsor Heights Book Fair, 1141 69th St., Windsor Heights, and it is their second annual event. I’ll be joining 20 other local authors appearing there. This is also going to be a fund-raiser as well, a free-will donation to one of the local food banks in the area. I talked about this earlier, and I’d love to see people there.
• From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at MERGE, 136 Dubuque St., Iowa City, as part of the Iowa City Book Festival that week.
  This fair is going to be part of a week-long festival throughout Iowa City from Oct. 8-15. Among the authors and artists hosting events throughout the week are John Irving, Jonathan Lethem, and Werner Herzog. I won’t be able to make it to many of the events because it’s a school week, and I’m far to far away in south central Iowa to casually visit Iowa City. Please, click on the link in this paragraph and check out everything going on at the festival.
• And from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, I will be at the Elwell Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds as part of the 8th Annual Indie Author Book Expo. It will be the first time I’ve spent any time at the Iowa State Fairgrounds after more than 40 years of living in Iowa.

I’ve got links to my books in paperback and ebook format in the sidebar here, but you can get them in person at these fine Iowa bookstores:

• Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave # S1, Des Moines
• Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella
• The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.

I highly recommend all three places.

Writing Quote(s) of the Week

I haven’t done too many quotes about poetry in this space. Here’s a couple that interested me. First:

A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.

Dylan Thomas

I usually don’t post writing quotes I’m still trying to figure out, but it’s Leonard Cohen so I’m making an exception.

Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.

Leonard Cohen

Final Thoughts

Whoever has either left a comment or even and email, know I’ll get back to you as soon as I can⁵. I always love hearing from people in the comments or by email, so say hi or let me know what made you push the subscribe button or what might tempt you to do so.

– 30 –

1. Is anyone honestly interested in what it’s like to drive halfway across the state twice in a row? I mean, there are plenty of pretty spots around Iowa, even near my current home of Chariton, but it’s not like the Rockies, California, or the Pacific Northwest. Then again, it’s not as flat as Kansas. I wouldn’t recommend driving across Kansas unless a professional is driving you because that can be a long trip. ↩︎
2. The article is one of my paid subscriber exclusives from a year back, but it’s actually a good read, I’d like to think. I talk a little bit about my childhood experiences with an old-time movie theater was a decent read. Plus, I even revised it and everything. ↩︎
3. The non-sequiturs in this newsletter are a bit heavy this week. ↩︎
4. There is absolutely no way I will ever have a “best ever” short list of authors or books numbering less than two dozen in each category. And if I’m talking about all genres? 100 books and/or authors, minimum. ↩︎
5. If I don’t answer email right away, keep pestering me. There’s a lot of newsletters flooding my inbox now. ↩︎

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

I’m on the road this weekend, but let’s talk.

Home Front Stuff

It’s starting to get closer to classic Iowa early fall weather, which means you have to wear your coats to school in the morning and leave school with them tied around your waists in the afternoon. Eventually I might be able to turn off the air conditioners, but not yet.

Our family is headed back to Muscatine this weekend to attend the celebration of life for my brother in law, Rick, who passed recently. I hope everything goes as well as can be expected, especially for my sister in law and her kids. My wife Laura is quite close with her sisters and I appreciated my kids having a chance that I didn’t have, growing up near an extended family.

What I’ve Been Writing

I’ve finally gotten past the infamous sequence in The Yank Striker 2 I’ve talked about for the past few weeks where my main character makes his debut for his team. I’m also going to have to write the after party, which I think is going to be a proper night out when it’s all written down. All I have to say is the revising process will be at best an interesting process and at worst a brutal one. I’ll probably end up cutting the pre-match activities I portrayed in the rough draft by as much as two-third. Now, however, is not the time to reduce my word count, heh heh.

Many authors look at their rough drafts and want to write as much as possible. In my experiences with fan fiction, for example, there’s a tendency to write for as many words as possible, especially since there’s no cost to making your stories bigger than others online. However, I often found, even in fan fiction situations, it is a benefit to make your chapters shorter so the story doesn’t drag on forever. Breaking your story up into bite-sized pieces can help keep interest in your story. It also gives you an advantage of having a whole series of books, potentially, rather than just one big book.

(This Next Bit Could be Considered My Writing Advice for the Week)

Although this is a book based in the world of sports (specifically, the world of association football/soccer/football), one of the good questions about sports fiction is how much sport you should actually show in the story. If you base your story inside the world of sport, with athletes as main characters, it stands to reason some of this story needs to take place during either games or training for games.

However, as my friends from my writing group in Des Moines, the Iowa Writers’ Corner, put it, we read stories for the people and who they are, and not what they do. The majority of athlete’s lives are not spent either at the stadium or on the training ground, so it’s important to see them in other environments as well. One of the things I concentrated on during the revisions for The Yank Striker was trying to make the main character, DJ Ryan, into someone who was something more than just another athlete. I’d like to think I managed that from the feedback I’ve received so far, and I’d like to continue this throughout the series. So, finding a blend between all sport action (people can just watch television if they really want to see games) and no action is a delicate mix.

[HERE THERE BE SPOILERS FOR THE YANK STRIKER, SO WATCH OUT IF YOU HATE THOSE THINGS (I DON’T)]

I counted up the sports action in The Yank Striker. There’s about five different scenes of football (the gridiron/handegg kind), including both games and practices. There’s also about five scenes of games and practices involving soccer/football, as well. Most of them aren’t lengthy scenes, so that’s an advantage. So, ten scenes in all.

For the sequel (The Yank Striker 2), I’m thinking the number of these scenes needs to decrease slightly. For one thing, (BIT OF A SPOILER HERE) with one exception, all of the sports scenes will involve soccer. Another factor is the difference in time covered in both books. The Yank Striker’s story ran over the course of more than a year. Its sequel will cover somewhere between six and nine months, so I will have less room to leisurely cover soccer action in Part Two.

After all, I can always add scenes in the revisions if I really want to.

What I’ve Been Doing Having to Do With Writing

Does anyone else on this platform feel pressure to post on Substack Notes all the time? I mean, it is useful to get the word out, even if it might not have the same reach as Twitter in the old days or even Threads¹ nowadays. However, I don’t think I need to be on there every day. It’s not like I have profound thoughts to write about at all hours.

I might get used to it someday. Sometimes I just need to kick back and get on a Substack Notes binge. But I need the writing time, especially on days when it takes me a while to get a hard 500 words written before heading off to bed.

What I’ve Been Reading/General Recommendations

I’ll get back on this more eventually, but I saw this interesting three-part series starting on the On Substack page about how to create a consistent writing habit. I believe I’ve done a far better job with this than I did as a younger man, but I’m curious to hear what advice they have.

Where I’ll Be and Where You Can Find my Books

Here’s my upcoming appearances:

• From 12-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct 1, I’ll be at the Windsor Heights Book Fair, 1141 69th St., Windsor Heights, and it is their second annual event. I’ll be joining 20 other local authors appearing there. I also need to mention this is also going to be a fund-raiser as well, as there will be a free-will donation to one of the local food banks in the area. I talked about this on Wednesday, and I’d love to see people there.
• From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at MERGE, 136 Dubuque St., Iowa City, as part of the Iowa City Book Festival that week.I really should mention this fair is going to be part of a week-long festival throughout Iowa City from Oct. 8-15. Among the authors and artists hosting events throughout the week are John Irving, Jonathan Lethem, and Werner Herzog. I’m a bit chuffed I won’t be able to make it to many of the events because A, it’s a school week for the most part, and B, I’m far to far away in south central Iowa just to bop on up to Iowa City. I’d urge anyone who might be able to make it to Iowa City that week to click on the link in this paragraph and check out all of the different activities throughout the week.
  I will be there at the book fair, and I do look forward to seeing all of you who are able to make it.
• And from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, I will be at the Elwell Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds as part of the 8th Annual Indie Author Book Expo. Shockingly, this will be the first time I’ve spent any significant time at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. After more than 40 years of living in Iowa, I’ve only really driven past them a few times. I’m not sure if that makes me a bad Iowan or a contrary one.
• More events will be here if they come up, although they’ll likely slow down during the winter months.
  
  I’ve got links to my books in paperback and ebook format in the sidebar here, but you can get them in person at these fine Iowa bookstores:
• Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave # S1, Des Moines
• Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella
• The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.
• I highly recommend all three places.

Writing Quote(s) of the Week

This week, how about we go with a couple of inspirational writing quotes, in a general sense. You may be familiar with them, or you may not. Here they are, anyway.

My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.

Ernest Hemmingway

And…

Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.

Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Final Thoughts

I always love hearing from people in the comments or by email, so say hi or let me know what made you push the subscribe button or what might tempt you to do so.

– 30 –

1. By the way, every time I think of the word Threads, I think of the 1984 film shown on BBC television about the effects of nuclear war on Britain in a World War III situation. If you’re the person who thinks Cormac McCarthy is a bit too cheery, this is probably the movie for you. Personally, I think they should screen this for any world leader who has access to nukes. ↩︎

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.