David Beers

Like thought provoking thrillers? You're in the right place.

Blogging

I used to blog all the time. In college I had a site that got pretty famous on my campus. And now that I'm writing novels, I don't blog at all. 

I hate the term blog, though. I don't update my thoughts on general issues, I suppose.

Today I started thinking about it, why I don't do it anymore. Something about gaining some level of fame with my books kind of made me shut up. I don't want to offend people. I don't want to talk about subjects that I enjoy, because what if a reader disagrees or doesn't like them? I don't want to be controversial.

I really used to enjoy writing on a daily/weekly basis about things other than fiction. I was thinking that if Stephen King blogged, I probably wouldn't ever write again because I'd be too busy reading. He's a raging liberal, but I'd still read it, because I love how he says things. I don't know if any of my fans will feel the same, but I think I'm going to start doing this again.

On Grammar

I almost never started writing, all because of grammar. In fact, this post may stop people from reading me due to the ignorance I'm going to show.

I've always been much, much better at understanding math rules than grammar rules. I suppose it's because math rules are concrete, they exist in all times and in all places. Grammar has a fluidity to it which I didn't appreciate before and consequently, never learned in the sense that primary education says we should.

I've published four novels and short stories on top of short stories. I still don't know what a gerund is.  (I just looked it up, apparently it's when you add -ing to something.)

When I started writing, and began thinking about doing it professionally, that was a big question for me: Should I try to do this, when grammar to me is kind of a fog? I went ahead and started writing because...well, because sometimes you just have to do stupid things.

What I've come to understand in the near decade since I started writing is that you don't need to understand the definition of gerund to write. One picks up grammar through speech, through reading, and through writing--or one should, if one is semi-intelligent. Now, I don't want to sound like a complete idiot; I understand what a sentence fragment is, etc., but the really intricate levels of grammar? The British-English version of grammar? Not a clue, and I'm okay with that. 

I tell stories and I understand the very basics. That's good enough to get started. So I got started, and after eight years, I'm selling a good number of books. You may feel something major is holding you back, but it's not real. It doesn't exist.

I started writing because I had to, and eight years later, I finally know what a gerund is. That's progress, no?

Enter: Shannaan Dawda

This is part of the Entrepreneurship Series that I'm creating. A lot of people ask me how I became a writer; and more so, independently, without the financial backing of a major publishing house. I've posted my thoughts before on this, but I've asked a friend of mine, Shannaan how he has managed to create his own business.

Yeah, I know he looks better than all of us. What can I do?

Yeah, I know he looks better than all of us. What can I do?

Shannaan runs a financial coaching company called True Financial. I've seen his work and the man is amazing at what he does--which is help people gain control over their finances, and consequently their life. I asked him to write up a column about what he thinks are the most important traits for an entrepreneur, and as always, my boy delivered.

Enter: Shannaan Dawda

5 Needed Traits to Be a Great Entrepreneur

Being an Entrepreneur has this glorified reputation in this country and it should because that it what the principles of business were founded on. When I tell people that I run my own business their eyes tend to light up as if they were saying “That is so awesome! I wish I could be like you." Being an entrepreneur is great! You get to work on something that matters to you, set your own hours (this really depends on your customers), etc. Along with positives there are some negatives such unpredictable income and that everything is dependent upon you.  What most people don’t realize is that being your own boss is probably the most challenging person to work for on the face of the planet because you will be harder on yourself than anyone else could ever be. Pushing yourself like that is good though. It is pushing through those barriers that develop great businesses. There are plenty of traits that most entrepreneurs need to be successful.  I will discuss 5 of those traits that I think are necessary to have if you want to be successful as an entrepreneur.

Discipline:

Discipline is one of the most important traits needed as an entrepreneur to be successful.  One of the definitions of discipline is a regimen that develops or improves a skill. If you want to be great at anything you have to constantly be on regimen that develops you and increases your ability or skill. Motivational speaker Eric Thomas said, "That he studied the top successful people in their respective fields and noticed that they typically wake up before 5 am, work out, eat breakfast and read the newspaper before the average person gets out of the bed. It is regiments like that that separate you from the rest. Discipline forms good habits and it's those good habits that lead to success.  As I always say, "Nobody likes discipline but we sure do like its results.”

Passion:

Many people start a business to just to make money or be their own boss. Making money is great but if that it just your sole purpose to be in business then eventually as quickly as you came into business is as quickly you will go out of business.  The truth is that a business should be built on a passion. Many people know their passion at a very young age but for some reason they close the doors on that passion due to parents, societal pressures etc. Combine that passion with a need in the market place that helps people and you have a business that has the potential to thrive. As humans we are emotional beings and we can sense when someone is passionate about what they do which gives the buyer more confidence in your product/service.  I encourage you to take time to rediscover your passion. A great book for that is "Quitter" by Jon Acuff.

Don’t reinvent the wheel:

Too many people try to create something that  doesn’t exist yet and never make progress because they are constantly trying come up with the "master plan" that they think is going to be amazing. How you go about it is what separates the successful from the unsuccessful. I am all for awesome unseen products or services but one should not reinvent the wheel. One of the greatest inventions in the first decades of the 2000's was the iPhone. What made the iPhone great was that it took two previously existing devices, a phone and an iPod, and combine the two together. Apple didn’t reinvent the wheel they just modified the wheel and gave it new awesome capabilities.  That is how we have to be as entrepreneurs.  Study what has already been done and figure out how you can improve it. It makes the road to creating your own business a lot easier instead of creating it out of thin air. As my barber says, “Study the blueprints of the successful then create your own so others will study you."

Failure is Necessary:

One of the most difficult challenges in life is facing failure. As an Entrepreneur the challenge goes even further because an entrepreneur must learn that failure is necessary to grow. It's through the failures that we further develop our product or service by making them more pleasing to the customer. Failure it what takes businesses to the next level otherwise they go out of business for never taking risk. You can't be afraid to fail in life or business. Within failure you is where you find the valuable lessons and gems that cause you to perfect your craft or product sadly most people experience failure and stop dead in their tracks never continuing the journey to becoming successful.

Serve Well:

This is a critical step that I think most people over look. Serving your customers well is what determines how successful your company will be and how long it will stay in business. What many tend to forget is that the overall experience a customer has when doing business with you not only impacts your transaction with them but with their network. In the world of social media a person can share a poor experience through various social mediums such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube etc. and instantly thousands have shared that experience. As an entrepreneur you have to be willing to go the extra mile for the extra mile to make sure your client is satisfied because word of mouth is not digital this day in age. The old saying “The customer is always right" is more relevant than ever these days with so many things being automated. 

As I previously stated these are not the only traits an entrepreneur will need to be successful however these 5 are detrimental to the growth and long lived success of your business. Stay strong, dig deep and keep pushing forward at some point you will reach your destination. 

David's Thoughts:

Two things that struck me here which are normally missing when a lot of people think about running their own business were: Failure is Necessary and Serve Well.

Personally, I hate failure. I look at it as a comment on me as a person, and I fear it. Shannaan's right here, though. It is necessary. Failure is the only way any of us are going to grow and the only way our businesses are going to find the correct path. Only Jesus walked on water, and I have serious doubts as to whether that ever happened. For the rest of us, we're going to sink until we're able to find the tree stumps hidden a few inches beneath the water.

Serving well is so important, and I loved the way he termed this. When you serve someone, you almost subjugate yourself to them, and I really dig that. You're working for someone; you're trying to make THEIR life better. That attitude is going to separate a lot of would be entrepreneurs from the pro's. Service is how you build clients who love your work. Don't forget that.

Now, if you have debt, don't know how to save, or are living paycheck to paycheck--I can't recommend checking out Shannaan's services enough. The man is a genius with money; he personally has over two years worth of expenses in savings, has paid off tens of thousands in debt, and if he never contributes another dime to his retirement, will retire a millionaire. He can help you get there too. You can email him at sdawda@truefinancialcoaches.com or contact him from his website above.

Jokers don't make plans; fools don't adjust them

These nootropics have me firing on all cylinders, for sure.

I'm writing 3.5 hours a day, which is the most I've ever done. This translates to an average of about 4,100 words per day, which is over 17 pages of writing a day. The most I've ever done before is 2,000.

What does this mean to any of you? Not much, I'm just OCD and legit track all of this shit on an excel spread sheet. Look:

There's more above and to the side, but you get the point--I take this pretty seriously. Anyways, with this increased productivity I think I should be able to finish a book every two months. If you add in two weeks for me to review others edits, I should have a book out ever 2.5 months. There will be some lag at the beginning, but that's due to administrative stuff, but as long as I'm writing that much each day, the books will start rolling out at a regular pace. That's the plan.

A lot of people have been asking for a sequel to The Devil's Dream

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When I finished the book, to me it was done. Then, the other day when I was in the gym, shaping these already bulging biceps, the sequel came to me. Maybe two more books. Rest assured, Matthew Brand is going to be more fucked up than you could imagine.

First though, I'm writing something unlike anything I've ever attempted before. It's a love story. It's horror. It's science fiction. I think, primarily, it's a love story though--and I'm not sure if anyone is going to like it. It'll be out by Mid may. It's called Against the Dark, and it's at least two books. That's a pretty good way to sell it right there--don't know if anyone will like it. I like it though. It's driving me crazy to see the way it will end.

Lastly, I'm going to write a serial novel. This will be available everywhere, just like the rest of my novels, but the difference here is--I'm not telling anyone. The only advertising or push this gets  is to the people on my mailing list. So if you're not checking my author page daily, or looking to see new releases when I'm not pushing them, you're not going to know about it--unless you're on the mailing list. I'm extremely excited about this serial novel (20-30 pages of a novel, broken out over a period of time). I've got a good idea of the overlying plot, and again, it's not like anything I've ever written. Sign up for the mailing list.

So, my plans--which I will adjust if necessary, because your favorite author is no fool, dearies--are to do the following. 1) Release Against the Dark, Book 1. 2) Release Chapter 1 of the serial novel (untitled as of yet) 3) Release The Devil's Dream, Part 2, 4) Chapter 2 serial novel 5) Against the Dark, Book 2, 6) Chapter 3 of serial novel, 7) Possible The Devil's Dream, Part 3 (depends on if part 2 can finish it).

That's a lot. A hell of a lot. My goal, and this is a stretch goal, no doubt, is to get through step 5. You'll hear about all the novel releases, but not about the serial novel (which I may be most excited about, honestly), so join the mailing list if you haven't. Also, the February novel was signed and sent out from someone off my mailing list, waiting to see if they received it. March will be going out soon.

My boy Morpheus told me a long time ago, there's a difference between knowing the path and walking it. I'm getting that now.