Daily Journal

In today’s Journal * Short Post * On Heinlein’s Rules 4 & 5 * Of Interest * The Numbers Short Post Only a short post today, mostly to pass along the stuff in Of Interest. I started a new novel a couple days ago, but I didn’t add to it yesterday. Did other things, and then a rare big thunderstorm came up so I went up to the house early. On Heinlein’s Rules 4 & 5 What Robert A. Heinlein called his “Business Habits for Writers” was first published in 1949. Rules 4 & 5 read 4. You must put … Read more

In today’s Journal * Thought of the Day * How to Continue Learning Craft * On Pacing * Of Interest * The Numbers Thought of the Day If any of you who read and enjoy or learn from Writing Fiction have a blog, please share the news about the book. It never hurts to help your fellow writers. As someone once said, a rising tide lifts all boats. If you want to write a review on your blog or leave a review at Amazon or Goodreads or wherever, I appreciate that too. Gracias. How to Continue Learning Craft As I’ve … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Thought of the Day * A Few More Notes on Writing Fiction * Write When You Are Able * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” William Pollard Thought of the Day According to Frank Theodat, a writer and Journal reader, In the Heart of the Fire (a Dean Koontz novella) is worth reading and then studying for hooks, openings and pulling the reader into … Read more

In today’s Journal * Note * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Special Journal-Only Promo for Writing Fiction * Promo Doc for Writing Fiction * Of Interest * The Numbers Note Yesterday under Numbers I added a line for “Additions to the nonfiction book” but I forgot to add the number. I corrected that omission in today’s Numbers. Also, one more major change to the book. I retitled it. The title is now Writing Fiction. I know. Haughty of me, isn’t it? I don’t care. All fiction is character-driven. Some of you probably don’t like me saying that, but it’s … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Reminder * Note * Updated TOC for Writing Character-Driven Fiction * That’s It! * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Welcome to my world. When it comes to climbing the sheer rock face of a mountain or sky diving or giving birth to another human being, would-be writers are fine, but faced with putting words on the page, they’re a trembling mass of fear. That’s how strongly imbued the myths are in society.” Me in response to a comment on yesterday’s post (also included in Writing Character-Driven Fiction) … Read more

In today’s Journal * Imortant Updates * Appendix C: Rules of Writing from Masters * Of Interest * The Numbers Imortant Updates In tomorrow’s post, you will see the vastly updated TOC of Writing Character-Driven Fiction. The current book is around 44,000 words. (Writing the Character-Driven Story was only 17,000.) I’ve added the difference (27,000 words) to my Nonfiction numbers below. I’ve finished writing the book. Only cycling and getting my first reader’s input remains, and I’m in no rush. (Yes, I’m cycling. I suppose it’s my Writing Instructor character. Conscious-mind editing is too exhausting.) The ebook version will release … Read more

In today’s Journal * Appendix B: Some Fiction Exercises * Of Interest * The Numbers Appendix B: Some Fiction Exercises Note for Journal readers: This is currently one of only three appendices in the older book, Writing the Character-Driven Story. It will become Appendix E (one of eight appendices or more) in Writing Character-Driven Fiction. What follows are two of the more important writing exercises I have ever learned or taught. I hope you will take advantage of them. First, an exercise to get you started actually writing. 1. On a sheet of paper, write down three character names. They … Read more

In today’s Journal * Appendix A: Examples of Hooks * Of Interest * The Numbers Appendix A: Examples of Hooks Note for Journal readers: This is currently one of only three appendices in the older book, Writing the Character-Driven Story. This appendix harkens back to Chapter 5: Writing the Hook. You might want to re-read that chapter, then come back to this. This appendix won’t appear in Writing Character-Driven Fiction. Instead I’ll include a few hooks in the chapter on Writing Hooks. But for now, since I already said I’d share these with you, here you go: All of the … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * This Is Overdue * Chapter 9: Writing the Ending, Part 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Excited for the plotting and outlining features? Can’t wait for collaboration with your co-authors, beta readers, and the rest of your author team?” from an email update from Atticus describing their new platform. I could only shiver. Well, and unsubscribe. Atticus will be of no use to me. Your results might differ. This Is Overdue BREATHE: Living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, written by my dear friend Kenneth Flowers, is … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Novel Wrapped * Chapter 9, Part 1: Writing the Ending * Of Interest * The Numbers The Novel Wrapped Blackwell Ops 20: Soleada Garcia: Into the Future wrapped (see Numbers below). As soon as the first reader returns his input to me, I will send it to all those who took advantage of the sale. I also probably will set aside writing fiction for a short while in order to finish Writing Character-Driven Fiction. I want to get it finished and out. Again, I will continue the sale on the … Read more