Ask the Author: Larry Cowsert
Answered Questions (6)
Larry Cowsert
Just start writing. Sometimes, I just sit and start writing ... anything ... until something starts to jell. Other times, I take a walk and listen to a good book from Audible. (Being legally blind, Audible is nearly my best friend.) I try to walk three to five miles a day, anyway, and that helps me keep the blood flowing to the brain. I also find that, about a mile down the road, a great idea or a clever line will pop into my head and I have to make a note on my smartphone to include that when I get home.
Larry Cowsert
It is 14:17 hours (that's 2:17 PM for the civilians) on a Sunday afternoon as I type this. I woke up at about 7 AM. I haven't had anything to eat, yet, and I'm still in my pajamas! Tomorrow may be the same. My time is my own and I am far more relaxed, these days than when I was working in corporate America.
That is not to say that I don't take meetings or speak before audiences. I love doing that and it really feeds one's ego to hear the applause from a room full of people after you've read a passage from your book! But I choose when and where I want to do that stuff.
That is not to say that I don't take meetings or speak before audiences. I love doing that and it really feeds one's ego to hear the applause from a room full of people after you've read a passage from your book! But I choose when and where I want to do that stuff.
Larry Cowsert
Just write! And write in your own voice. If you are influenced by a writer, that's great! But don't try to be them. Be yourself. I am a huge David Baldacci fan, but I don't want to write like him. I just want to read his stuff!
During my consulting career, I wrote over 100 business plans. Everything from cryogenic blood banks to software companies to private gun ranges to mortgage banks to drive-thru coffee shops. It was hard to do because I had to learn everything there was about that industry, the overall and target markets, the financial forecasts, and the management of the company I was consulting with. Then, I had to put all that in writing in such a way that the company could obtain capital or launch a new product.
Writing my own work was far easier. Once I sat down and started tapping on the keys, the thoughts began to flow ... just like right now. This answer is getting too long and I'm becoming emotionally engaged in this answer!
Be YOU!
During my consulting career, I wrote over 100 business plans. Everything from cryogenic blood banks to software companies to private gun ranges to mortgage banks to drive-thru coffee shops. It was hard to do because I had to learn everything there was about that industry, the overall and target markets, the financial forecasts, and the management of the company I was consulting with. Then, I had to put all that in writing in such a way that the company could obtain capital or launch a new product.
Writing my own work was far easier. Once I sat down and started tapping on the keys, the thoughts began to flow ... just like right now. This answer is getting too long and I'm becoming emotionally engaged in this answer!
Be YOU!
Larry Cowsert
My next book is entitled "Is Fake News Fake News" and it is a historical study of the use of propaganda in U.S. Presidential elections since Adams vs. Jefferson in 1800. In it, I am exploring the effects of society and the medium by which the "news" was delivered. From newspapers distributed by horseback to the telegraph to telephone to the radio, television, cable news, the Internet, and smartphones and social networks. Spoiler alert -- most of what we get as news, these days, is packaged with a biased towards one party or the other and, in this book, I tell you why.
Larry Cowsert
My inspiration comes from watching the world around me. Politics, economics, social unrest, the racial division ... all of these things encourage me to find my voice. That voice may be one of compassion for a cause or it may be laughter at the stupidity of an action. Once I am emotionally invested, I am motivated to write. Food, clothing and shelter are also big motivators!
Larry Cowsert
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