In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On Authorial Integrity Quote of the Day “Never share your work in progress with anyone until it’s finished.” Not attributed to anyone in particular, but passed along by pretty much every creative writing instructor ever. On Authorial Integrity or Tricks of the Creative Subconscious This is for those of you who implicitly trust your characters and yourself and who write into the dark (and those who aspire to WITD). A couple of days ago my friend Authorial Integrity slapped me hard across the face and told me to wake the hell … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Presentation-Process Post * Don’t Get Wrapped Around the Wheel * Of Interest Quote of the Day “When you write from truth, criticism lands differently. Sure, it might sting…but it doesn’t shatter you, because you know what you made is real. You were there. You put something honest into the world.” Jaime Buckley I excerpted the above quote from a must-read post Jaime wrote recently for Writers in the Storm. For the link, see Of Interest. A Presentation-Process Post Interesting how my writing process—or rather, my presentation process—has changed since I … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Report * On Writing TNDJ and Literary Criticism * Of Interest The Bradbury Challenge Report Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer. The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know the title, word count, and genre per the format below. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories: Vanessa V. Kilmer “Wired To Burn” 3029 Mystery Christopher Ridge “Christopher Ridge vs. Corporate Zombie Bastards” 1899 comic horror Dave Taylor “Generation’s Day” 2,281 Paranormal … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Convey Everything * Come Sundown * A Most Unusual Day (Update) * Of Interest Quote of the Day “After you learn to write your whole object is to convey everything, every sensation, sight, feeling, place and emotion to the reader. To do this you have to work over what you write.” Ernest Hemingway Convey Everything every sensation, sight, feeling, place and emotion—to the reader. Sound familiar? That’s how you invite the reader in, pull him in, and let him be present in your story. It’s also how you make it impossible … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Dean Wesley Smith * July 31st Already * Hemingway Again * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Nobody really knows or understands and nobody has ever said the secret. The secret is that it is poetry written into prose and it is the hardest of all things to do….” Ernest Hemingway, from Mary Hemingway, How It Was, p.352 Dean Wesley Smith was kind enough to leave a comment on yesterday’s post. If you haven’t read the post yet, you can scroll up from the comments to read it or find it … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Most Unusual Day * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Writing is something that you can never do as well as it can be done. It is a perpetual challenge and it is more difficult than anything else that I have ever done—so I do it. And it makes me happy when I do it well.” Ernest Hemingway A Most Unusual Day That’s the title of the novel I’m currently serializing free over on Stanbrough Writes. A new serial installment pops up every other day. Chapter 11 went live yesterday, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Audiobook Narration: A Follow-Up Quote of the Day “Rejection is just a landing pad for your next takeoff.” Dame Helen Mirren Audiobook Narration: A Follow-Up Writer Bob B. left a great comment on Part 3 of the Audiobook Narration series of guest posts: “If Harvey or anyone else is able to achieve a positive income flow from audio books, it would be a great guest post to read and learn from. I’m all for it if it can be proven to work.” Bob makes a great point, and of course I … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Report * Coming Tomorrow * Of Interest The Bradbury Challenge Report Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer. The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know the title, word count, and genre per the format below. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories: Vanessa V. Kilmer “Cat Wrangler” 3117 Farce Christopher Ridge “Married to A Corpse” 2135 supernatural horror 2135 Christopher Ridge “Thank You For This Food I’m About To Eat” 1785 … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On Audiobook Narration, Part 3 * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Never let your fear decide your future.” Unknown, via Jaime Buckley On Audiobook Narration, Part 3 Working with an Audiobook Narrator, for Indie Authors A guest post by Jason McGinty, an audiobook narrator Options ACX has two options for you to choose from for distribution: exclusive or non-exclusive. Exclusive means ACX has the exclusive rights to distribute your audiobook, and you are not legally allowed to publish it anywhere else. Non-exclusive means you do have the right to distribute … Read more

In Today’s Journal * On Audiobook Narration, Part 2 * Of Interest On Audiobook Narration, Part 2 Working with an Audiobook Narrator, for Indie Authors A guest post by Jason McGinty, an audiobook narrator What to do after you find a narrator? Once you’ve found a narrator, the narrator pretty much takes it from there. If they’re just pretending to be a professional like me, they’ll probably do all of the editing and production themselves, or they might hire a producer of their own, but that’s all up to them. ACX (and I would assume the other platforms too) have … Read more