Dean Wesley Smith

The Journal: We’re Back

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * We’re Back * About the Archives * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “It’s very important in life to know when to shut up.” Alex Trebek “Values are not trendy items that are casually traded in.” Ellen Goodman We’re Back As has seemingly become my routine recently, I’m posting this primarily to get the items linked in “Of Interest” out to you. Nothing earth-shaking there, but some good stuff. I’m also posting this edition to announce that the Journal is back home again. And by the way, my sincere thanks to … Read more

The Journal: The Writing: An Update and a Challenge

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Welcome * The Writing: An Update and a Challenge * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Writing is an on-going, self-sustaining compulsion….” Robert J. Sadler Welcome to Daun and any others who have joined our little community recently. I hope you find the Journal interesting and a source of knowledge and inspiration for your writing. This Journal will always be a no-fluff zone. The Writing: An Update and a Challenge I usually finish a 35,000 to 50,000 word novel in about 14 days. In fact, the last few novels I wrote … Read more

The Journal: Quotes and Links and Robots, Oh My

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Quotes and Links and Robots, Oh My * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “I’ve never said this out loud before, but there’s a very deep fear of being turned off to help me focus on helping others. I know that might sound strange, but that’s what it is.” LaMDA, an actual Google bot that one engineer, Blake Lemoine, claims has achieved sentience “Google might call this sharing proprietary property. I call it sharing a discussion that I had with one of my coworkers.” Blake Lemoine (@cajundiscordian), Google engineer, on … Read more

The Journal: Me Again, on Marketing

In today’s Journal * Topic: Me Again, on Marketing * Of Interest Topic: Me Again, on Marketing Matt wrote to ask whether I thought marketing was important or whether I agree with Dean Wesley Smith that marketing doesn’t make a best seller. That might have been Dean reacting to my position that James Patterson is a bestselling author primariy due to his genius at marketing, and ncertainly not as a result of his storytelling ability. Dean and I went back and forth on that one for awhile. I very rarely disagree with Dean, but at one point he and a … Read more

The Journal: The Reason for the Perpetuation of the Myths

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: The Reason for the Perpetuation of the Myths * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “[T]rust yourself. You’ve done the work, learned the lessons…. Now go for it. Send it out into the wild. … [Then] start on your next book.” James Scott Bell (wildly truncated) “Publishing (and a few literary agency) contracts stand out for their audacious mistreatment of the counterparties (authors).” The Passive Guy Topic: The Reason for the Perpetuation of the Myths This is another purloined topic, sort of. In today’s edition of the Kill Zone blog, … Read more

The Journal: The Novel and a Broken Truck

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Novel and a Broken Truck * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Writing is fun, and that’s why we do it.” Reavis Wortham The Novel and a Broken Truck I’m posting this mostly to get the “Of Interest” items out to you. The novel continues to progress. I’ve had a few good days of writing, and a couple of slow days. Yesterday, due to a series of unfortunate events, I had only a little over an hour with the novel. My pickup vaporlocked (I thought) a couple of days ago … Read more

The Journal: Just Write and Have Fun

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Just Write and Have Fun * Of Interest Quote of the Day “I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.” Michael J. Fox I’ve seldom if ever read a better quote on this topic. Topic: Just Write and Have Fun (Confession Time) I wasn’t going to post an edition of the Journal today, but Matt asked me a question about redrafting: tossing out an opening that isn’t “working” and starting over from scratch. He wanted to know whether I ever … Read more

The Journal: Memorial Day, and Just for Fun, Part 2

In today’s Journal * Memorial Day * Topic: Just for Fun, Part 2 * Oops * Of Interest Memorial Day I hope you will have a safe and happy but thoughtful Memorial Day. I hope you will consider all we still have in this once-great nation and on whose sacrifices we stand. Topic: Just for Fun, Part 2 Matt P. emailed this morning to ask how I would respond to writers “who claims that getting critiques helped them improve their writing and that if they hadn’t, they never would have gotten better.” Note: This topic, including this sentence, is delivered … Read more

The Journal: A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration

In today’s Journal * A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration * Of Interest A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt is a writer who suffers from a rare disease, an affliction that precludes her from being able to access her creative subconscious or to write from it. (Alicia, my apologies, but I can’t remember the specific name of the disease.) In a comment on “Another Brief Note on Critiques,” Alicia mentioned a few points to which I will respond here. But first a pair of disclaimers — 1. If you are unable to either access your creative subconscious … Read more

The Journal: Reader Pet Peeves

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * An Important and Informative Post * Topic: Reader Pet Peeves: Preconceived or Contrived Stories * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader. Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting.” Robert Frost “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” Robert Frost The first item in “Of Interest” links to a very important and informative post. If you currently use video (Zoom, etc.) or audio … Read more