Professional Writer Series

The Journal: Journaling, Focusing Down and More

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Birthday thoughts * Thank you * For those of you interested * Whale Sharks * Focusing Down * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “If you’re only going to mention something once, and it has no other significance to the story, choose one specific detail, and that’s it.” James Scott Bell “In a way we’re stenographers. The story’s being told to us.” Stephen King Happy Birthday to my wife. Today she turns 36. No, seriously. 36. Happy birthday, Honey. Oh, and happy 245th birthday to the USA. Thank … Read more

The Journal: Good Days

In today’s Journal * I like days like this * Dean mentioned * Watch for my posts * Of Interest * The Numbers I like days like this when I have little to say on the Journal and few items in “Of Interest.” Those days enable me to post this Journal early and get back to the novel sooner. Just a hint: if you get anything out of these posts, I would appreciate a comment on that. Your comments keep this Journal going. Dean mentioned he got around 5000 words on the first day of the new novel in his … Read more

The Journal: Cigars Are on the Way Out

In today’s Journal * June slipped away * My Cigars Are on the Way Out (sigh) * Of Interest * The Numbers Wow, June slipped away from me. For some reason I confused it with July and thought it had 31 days. My spreadsheet’s all fixed now, after I pawed frantically at my keyboard before I’d even had my coffee. Well, apparently either I or my cigars are on the way out. My BP has my doc worried, so yesterday I canceled my email newsletter from my cigar providers, etc. (My take? It’s always been high, so whatever.) Anyway, my … Read more

The Journal: On Taking Your Time and Focusing Down

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: On Taking Your Time and Focusing Down * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I asked him how he described himself on his passport. ‘I bet you call yourself an Author,’ I said. He agreed, with a shade of reluctance, perhaps because he scented sarcasm on the way. ‘Just so,’ I said. ‘Well, I describe myself as a Writer. There are authors and artists, and then again there are writers and painters.’” Ian Fleming “There is only one recipe for a best seller and it is a … Read more

The Journal: Gems About Writing

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Dean Wesley Smith * John Gilstrap * Confidence Matters * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “In this line of work, every moment we live and every person we interact with is a moment of research. More times than not, I find that the really good stuff comes less from studying books than it does from passive listening and watching. It doesn’t take work so much as it takes paying attention.” John Gilstrap “Want to write about quilting? Go where quilters go and then shut up and listen.” … Read more

The Journal: Whalin’s 10 Publishing Myths

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Whalin’s 10 Publishing Myths (a review) * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “A Lisbon, Portugal court just ruled that rather than the ‘official’ 17,000 COVID deaths reported by the health ministries, only 152 actually died of COVID.” Russell Blake Now there’s a current story idea if I ever saw one. “Experience the place through your characters’ eyes [ears, nose, etc. and] … Speak to the senses.” Erika Liodice I recommend Blake’s post on the push to vaccinate children too, especially now that the president seems to be … Read more

The Journal: On the Use of Language

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: On the Use of Language * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Polish-American scientist and philosopher Alfred Korzybski remarked that ‘the map is not the territory’ and that ‘the word is not the thing,’ encapsulating his view that an abstraction derived from something, or a reaction to it, is not the thing itself.” Wikipedia On the Use of Language Most if not all nouns and verbs and phrases in the English language have at least two meanings: the actual definition(s) (the denotation) and the implied meaning in … Read more

The Journal: Marketing and Promotion

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Thanks * Topic: Marketing and Promotion * There’s also a link * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I believe it was Shakespeare, or possibly Howard Cosell, who first observed that marriage is very much like a birthday candle, in that ‘the flames of passion burn brightest when the wick of intimacy is first ignited by the disposable butane lighter of physical attraction, but sooner or later the heat of familiarity causes the wax of boredom to drip all over the vanilla frosting of novelty and the shredded … Read more

The Journal: Weird and Weirder

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Weird and Weirder * The monsoons are here * Topic: Deciding Who You Are * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If you could go on a no-return trip into the future, say hundreds of years, would you? And why would you do that?” story prompt from Dean Wesley Smmith Weird. I couldn’t help but notice the novel wrapped on Writing Day 14. That seems to happen a lot. Talk about an active creative subconscious! It even crossed my mind that maybe my creative subconscious was jerking me … Read more

The Journal: NOW the novel is wrapped

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Happy Father’s Day * I added two chapters * Recently some overzealous writer * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Those are great days, when you’re writing, when something happens that you know works and you don’t have any self-doubt about, and you never saw it coming.” Dean Koontz “One of the biggest keys to success at anything hard is believing that you can figure it out as you go along. A lot of people won’t start until they figure it out. And because most hard things can’t … Read more