Charles Kunken

A good input metric is one that enables us to monitor and change our behavior. It should have the following characteristics: (1) Focus – it measures one thing; (2) Ownership –a specific person is accountable for its performance and accuracy of the measurement; (3) Benchmark – there is a target which informs whether or not performance is satisfactory.

Data is an investment, just like any other asset. This is why we have to think about it as such.

Whose responsibility are they and why should we treat them more like tennis than football? Just take a look at Johnsonville Sausage.

When you are first starting out you want to make a huge impact. It can be tempting to seek out the biggest problem and dive in. Caution. That’s not the purpose of your first deliverable. The purpose is to set an impression.

Please judge.

The most important book published by a Kunken this year.

Chaos ensued, and it was not my fault. Chase first fourth = an all-timer.

Three weeks and counting…

This is the third and final installment of our New Adventure Series capturing the thoughts and feelings following the birth of my children. (ref: Next Adventure, Lila 2019; New New Adventure, Ciara 2021). Now Ciara’s a big sister too. So let the games begin in this Last Adventure into parenting with the addition of blessing #3, baby Chase. As my cousin Tim said, it’s a full house, Queens over Kings…

You're only as good as the last envelope....THE MANUSCRIPT IS COMPLETE!

I still think it’s a good idea…

I recently learned the difference between story and plot. Thats what I’ve been working on for the past 2 years…

1960's Harlem and a Pulitzer Prize winner enters the genre with 'HARLEM SHUFFLE'. Here's some lessons.

Why they are a litmus test and have resulted in more re-writing than any other editing aspect.

This will solve everything for your novel. At least that’s my hypothesis.

In some heists the floor is hot lava. In others you can scamper right across the lobby. Here are 5 misc. things I’ve learned thus far on the genre and the process of writing.

3 Lesson about writing emotions from ‘The Emotional Craft of Fiction’ by Donald Mass.

And why does everybody keep saying you need to find it? My thoughts...

Three (plus one) hidden gems I uncovered this week from circa 1983, for anybody on their grind; from John Gardener's 'On Becoming A Novelist'

Three writerly ninja moves I've collected this week.

A list of my research books with cool tidbits before I retire them. (It’s my attempt to move on from toiling away on Act 1).

How often do best selling authors tell you what the character is thinking? (Spreadsheets inside.)

There are three states of information in a book. You either know: (1) More than the hero; (2) Less than the hero or; (3) The same as the hero.

And there’s one more state in a heist.

Here is some more research into why this is taking so long: I've unintentionally been tackling this story in three stages.

Today I have three small lessons I’ve collected and observed lately. In other words, three more things I am in the process of overthinking.

This post is a really long way of describing all about how I eventually stepped away from using spreadsheets to do the actual writing (and finally finish) my manuscript.

Here are two tools I’m trying that keep me engaged as a reader.

Not in real life, unfortunately. We're talking about book (of course).

What’s the proper order of descriptions? And when are you supposed to tell readers how tall a character is? These are the questions I never knew I’d have.

“Ask yourself what makes you happy.” - Van Tran, Amazon Treasury, Capital Markets