Thursday, September 1, 2011

Donald Bain: Murder He Wrote at Killer Nashville

Killer Nashville had a couple of very interesting keynote speakers. One was Donald Bain, author of the Murder She Wrote books.

Bain has written more than 100 books—mysteries, comedies, westerns, biographies and investigative journalism. Because of contractual obligations, he can’t publicly take credit for some of the novels and nonfiction books he’s ghosted.

Mr. Bain advised conference attendees to “Say no to nothing. Be open to everything.”

He also told us that “A good writer should be able to write about anything.”

One thing he keeps in his mind while writing is: “This is the most important thing I’ll ever write—and it may be the last.”

I like his philosophy—and the way he motivates himself. He said he used to be a morning person, but now he enjoys his leisurely mornings over coffee. (Me too, but since I gave up being a morning person, I've never quite found my writing groove.)  Bain writes seven days a week.

To learn more about Donald Bain, you might want to check out his autobiography: Murder He Wrote: A Successful Writer’s Life.

And remember: Be open to everything.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Jess, so glad to visit your blog and see all the cool things you have going on here! :) Shannon

Unknown said...

Be open to anything. Good writing philosophy, bad drug policy.

I still like Murder She Wrote reruns. I will have to read more of his work.

Charles Gramlich said...

I sort of agree that a good writer should be able to write about anything, although I might expect them to be better at some things than others