Tina Haapala, Excuse Editor

Writers and entrepreneurs have a lot in common. If you are a writer who plans to achieve any kind of financial success from your talent, you have to play the business game. If you are an entrepreneur who wants to get people excited about your product or service, you have to play the sales game. If you are like a huge majority of people, this may make you cringe. Watch a few minutes of “ Shark Tank ” on TV and you will see true rejection in action. Inventors, business owners and dreamers have put their sweat, tears, and often a whole lot of money into an idea they believe will both change the world and make them rich. Usually, someone tells them how wrong they are. It doesn't help that one of the guys is sarcastically called “Mr. Wonderful.” As a writer, you are standing in front of that panel of critics every time you submit new work for consideration. No matter how great your product is, it is not for everyone. You could have the most amazing slant on zombie-aliens from Krypt...

If you work on deadlines, either from your employer, client, or self-imposed, you have probably figured out your “racing” style. You may be best writing under pressure, forced to open up the creative muse with mere minutes left to submit your work. You may have learned that kind of pressure puts you at a complete standstill. Writer SK Walker said on my Facebook page recently, “This is creativity, not boxing chocolates on a conveyor belt”. So instead of the pressuring procrastination, you keep a slow and steady pace, arriving at your deadline rested and on-time. I'm not here to say what is best, I'm here to remind you to discover what works best for you. I recently finished up a “bootcamp” program at my local YMCA. It involved some running , in the almost brutal North Texas heat. The last day was the big hoo-rah, as we were scheduled to take a 4 mile run. I think about 100 people had signed up for the class 6 weeks prior; there were 10 of us for that final run. ...

A year before George Carlin died, he appeared on The View. Like most writers, whenever anyone within earshot starts discussing the creative process, I pay attention. In the first few minutes of this interview, Carlin explained the influence a mindset shift had on his work: he said he had transformed from a "comedian who wrote his own material" to a "writer who performed his own material". He felt this reflected a maturity in his work, and he was able to delve deeper into his subject matter. Of course, his subject matter has been controversial for years (even prompting a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court ), but whether you loved or hated him, you can't deny that his voice touched the hearts, minds, and funny bones of many. I recently finished his book, " Last Words" , which was published after he died. I suppose it's technically an autobiography, and you gain an understanding of how his views were formed from an early age. However, with my...