After I finished my last non-fiction book, I promised myself I'd focus on fiction. And I did. I spent a lot of time developing the outline, working on worldbuilding, character development, and story arcs. Let me know what you think. Chapter One. Balad Air Base, Iraq Technical Sergeant Virgil R. Mason set his coffee cup down next to his Rubik’s cube and wiggled his computer mouse to wake his computer. The large, black mirror glowed to life. His desk was cluttered with papers in loose piles. The office he shared with Master Sergeant Edmund Erwin was in an old Iraqi military building. There was no way to know why the Iraqis built, or what it was used for. But it was ideall for this small Air Force detachment. “Don’t forget we have the assignment brief at zero-nine,” said Master Sergeant Erwin. “I think she’s sending us to FOB Colfax this week. I heard her mention it to Captain Carlisle the other day.” Virgil’s computer came fully to life and he double-clicked the Outlook icon. He remembered years before they used to say that if you wanted to beat the air force, all you’d need to do is shut down the phone system. These days it was Outlook. “And if you want to do the half-marathon, let me know,” said Sergeant Erwin. “I haven’t done any distance like that in ages and I could use the running buddy.” Virgil nodded and grunted quietly, slowly sipping his coffee. This morning he was having Starbucks’ Veranda – the one with the little hummingbird on the bag. Previous teams who had been through this office set up a collection point for coffee from care packages. If he had to guess, there was maybe seventy or eighty pounds of coffee – mostly Starbucks. His favorite was the Veranda, and he was running low. There was plenty of the Pike’s Place and whatever other dark or medium roast coffees they made – some bags of whole bean and some ground. One thing that hadn’t come in a care package yet was a grinder, so the bags of ground coffee, especially Veranda, were under his personal protection.

I have some news, and I want you to hear it from me directly. The Wordsmiths' Guild is growing up. Over the next few months, I'm finishing the full Journeyman curriculum — eight lessons, each one built around a concrete, nameable craft skill, each one including a writing assignment that I read personally and send back with feedback. When it's done, the Guild moves to a formal tier structure: Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master levels, each with its own curriculum, its own price point, and its own completion rewards. That goes live September 1. Between now and then, I'm building this in public — and you're invited to be part of it as it takes shape. Every course I'm developing, every mentorship session I host, every piece of curriculum in progress is available to you right now, at no cost. Come learn. Come ask questions. Come watch the thing get built. Here's what I want to offer you specifically, as a founding member: Submit proof of publication before September 1 — anything you wrote, finished, and put in front of readers; a blog post, an article, a book, a piece submitted somewhere — and you earn Founding Apprentice status. That means lifetime free access to all Apprentice-level curriculum, for as long as the Guild exists. No monthly fee. No expiration. Grandfathered in, permanently. Your free membership isn't going anywhere. Nothing is being taken from you. I just want to give you the chance to step into something more before the door closes. For the full picture — tiers, pricing, what's included at each level, and the completion rewards — head to the Classroom and open "The Wordsmiths' Guild: How It Works." To claim Founding Apprentice status: reply to this post or send me a direct message with your proof of publication before September 1. I'll see you in the sessions. — Shawn

When I work with Claude to help me write, I've developed a voice instruction so there's less line editing to do later: "Master Sergreant Reverend E.B. White with a slightly dark sense of humor, writing a paper for my high school English teacher, Mrs. Cox who is strict about punctuation and founding member of PETOP (People for the Ethical Treatment Of Participles) and she is HIGHLY allergic to "AI-isms" and doesn't carry and epi-pen." It took a lot of practice to find this as a description of my natural writing voice. What might yours be?

I'm on my way to Hopewell, New Jersey today. I took a day off of work to go there. In my novel, Away To The World, there's a pivotal scene that takes place in an old church. The novel is deeply rooted in New Jersey, so I started scouring different towns, using Google Earth, looking for just the right church. What I found is far better than what I wanted. More to come.

Inside a recent thread, I was asked about the pros & cons of both NovelCrafter and AutoCrit, two platforms I spend a lot of time using. Here are my current thoughts. NovelCrafter is a powerful, highly customizable AI-assisted (though this is optional, it's best to have it) novel writing platform tailored for fiction authors. It stands out for its deep world-building capabilities and model flexibility, though it has a steep learning curve and requires some initial technical setup. As a former database geek, my brain works in the style of NovelCrafter. The Codex is a powerful relational database which can supply context at need, with lots of the decisions about what to include in a prompt taken care of by the NC software; you don't have to think about most of this side of prompting, once you've populated your Codex. There are other platforms that can assist the writing side, and some are likely better than NC in this area; but I stay for the Codex. Pros - The Codex: It features a highly advanced, dynamic story bible. You can store character profiles, locations, and lore. The AI uses this to maintain near-perfect continuity and detail consistency across massive, multi-book series. - Model Flexibility (BYOK): Unlike all-in-one tools that lock you into one AI, Novelcrafter uses a "Bring Your Own Key" (BYOK) system. This allows you to connect to platforms like OpenRouter and choose exactly which AI models (such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini) you want to use for outlining versus drafting. - Deep Control: You can completely customize prompts, system instructions, and workflows to match your specific voice and genre. - Cost-Effectiveness: Because you pay separately for the AI models you use, it can be significantly cheaper than fixed-price, credit-based AI platforms—especially if you utilize lighter, cheaper models. Cons - Steep Learning Curve: The interface and the setup process are not for the faint of heart. Learning how to connect API keys, navigate model settings, and organize the Codex can be overwhelming for non-technical beginners. - Setup Friction: You have to do a lot of configuration work and data entry (like populating the Codex) before the AI becomes genuinely useful. If you are importing an existing draft, this setup can feel tedious. One area that must be addressed regularly is customization of prompts and controls in the (back-end) Prompt System. - Requires Separate AI Accounts: You must set up and manage an account on a third-party AI bridge/provider, such as OpenRouter, to connect the AI models. Or, you must bring API keys from specific LLM suppliers, one at a time, and connect them in. (This is true of many other writing platforms, though.) - Output Quality Depends on the Model: Because NC provides the interface rather than the AI itself, the quality of the prose or brainstorming is only as good as the underlying model you choose. Additionally, output quality is sensitive to how sophisticated you populate the Prompt System’s controls and prompts. - Formatting for Publication is Weak: While NC is a powerful writing platform, it is very weak (even bad) as a formatting application for print. You will have to use Word (or equivalent), Atticus, or Vellum (Mac only!) to get a print-ready upload for paper books. It also can’t generate eBook formats, such as the KPF file required for Kindle.