Page 93 - The Westerner Magazine Halloween 2018

(ScottHarrisWest.com) dealing with one of it. Doesn’t matter if you eventually hit

the many questions and issues first time “delete” and start over, at least you tried.
novelists have. In truth, I find writing it at
I guess in the very simplest of terms, the
least as valuable for me as I hope it is for
best way to write your first Western novel is
you. Again, this is all still new to me and
to read and write as much as you can.
though some of it has gotten easier, much of
Hmmm, maybe my mom was right.
it is still a little vague, a bit confusing. But—
and here is the key—the absolute only way I wish you good writing and if you have a
to overcome those fears, to tackle those question, or something you’d like to share,

challenges, is to start typing. send me an email at
Scott@scottharriswest.com.
Let me make two suggestions (other than
checking out all of the suggestions I make Thank you, enjoy and keep writing!
on the blog) to help you get started.

First, and hopefully you’ve read a ton of
Westerns, think about who your favorite
writers are. What style of Western do you
love? For me, as cliché as it sounds, it was
and is Louis L’Amour. Sure I have quite a
few other favorites, but I kept (and still do)
coming back to Louis. I’ve read every one of

his more than one hundred novels at least
three times. And it helped me start to
develop a style of my own. So, pick a
favorite author, or two, read everything
they've written and start taking notes. What
do you like? How do they open a book, a
chapter? How do they handle dialog?

Violence? And then, try to incorporate that
into your efforts. I don't mean copy, of
course, but there is nothing wrong with
using one of the greats for helping you
develop your own style.
Grab the latest Scott Harris hit “Caz:

Second, write. Just start writing. Doesn’t Vigilante Hunter” today by clicking here!
matter if it’s good, you’ll get there. Doesn’t

matter if the story makes sense, you can fix