Month: July 2023

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge * More on Stereotypical Speech Patterns * When I Teach WITD * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Your job isn’t to find ideas but to recognize them when they show up.” Stephen King “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” Stephen King The Bradbury Challenge Most of those who have joined in this challenge have written tens of thousands more words than they might have otherwise. You can still join in the challenge at … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Bradbury Challenge Reminder * On Writing Rich Settings, and WITD * A Story Idea * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Spontaneity is true to life. Anything else is fake and a manipulation.” Me “[T]rust your own writing and voice. Act like an artist instead of a doormat for heaven’s sake.” Dean Wesley Smith Welcome to Nadini and the several other folks who have recently subscribed to the (almost) daily Journal. I hope you will find what you need, and I hope you will come to … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Another Story, and a Contest * Whoop or Whip? * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I never don the glistening white Authorial robes or ascend into the ivory control tower. I just take a deep breath and roll off the parapet of the story. Then I run through the trenches of the story with my characters, recording what happens and what they say and do in response. Great fun and authentic, unmanipulated stories. Can’t beat it.” Me in a comment on a TKZ post Another Story, and … Read more

In today’s Journal * Almost There * Of Interest * The Numbers Almost There I’m actually typing this on a new (to me) computer, an 11.6″ HP x360 that converts to a tablet. Pretty cool. Now I can move my business computer out to the Hovel. I bought this little computer from Amazon’s Renewed store for only $107, complete with a 30-day return policy and a 3-month warranty. Hard to go wrong. I spent the afternoon yesterday setting this one up, installing my favorite browser, my Dropbox desktop app, and Microsoft Word 2010 just in case I need it now … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * New Business Cards * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I had eight weeks to finish my novel. Eight weeks. And I was on Chapter 10 – a long way from the end. If I wanted to finish on time, I’d have to write 4,500 words a week. I could do that. If I switched to extreme writing mode. In other words, ‘neglect everything else’.” A prominent, regular contributor to TKZ When I read “I’d have to write 4,500 words” I was expecting the next to words to … Read more

In today’s Journal * Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King * The Conscious, Critical Mind in Video * Doing Nothing * IP Valuation * Of Interest * The Numbers Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King I’m not much for wishing I’d written someone else’s work, but I really wish I’d written For Whom the Bell Tolls. It’s Hemingway’s best novel. When I read that one, it feels familiar, as if I did write it. It isn’t so much that I wish I’d actually put the words on the page in that exact order as that I had lived the experiences and in … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Bradbury Challenge * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” Arthur Ashe Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting Most of those who have joined in this challenge have written tens of thousands more words than they might have otherwise. You can still join in the challenge at any time. And if you’re a fiction writer, why not? There’s no cost, and the challenge is a great way to increase your inventory and jumpstart your writing. Chances are … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Preamble * The Essential Elements of a Story * The Challenge is Still on * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them.” Harold J. Smith Preamble Even while posting less often to the Journal, I still visit certain sites each morning. I’m always looking for gems of new (to me) knowledge, but more and more often I’m finding bad or partial advice that, in my opinion, requires some clarification. That was the case this morning … Read more

In today’s Journal * Talk Among Yourselves * Of Interest * The Numbers Talk Among Yourselves Part 1 I have to be away for awhile. I mean, I’ll be here, just south of beautiful downtown Saint David Arizona, but I’ll be away from the Journal. As I wrote a few years ago in some poem, it’s time to reconnect some frazzled ends. (And yes, I took a shot at doing this not long ago, but the attempt never got off the ground.) For several years, things ran very smoothly for me. I had an established routine, and I loved it. … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Holiday Recap * Of Interest * The Numbers Holiday Recap I hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day celebration, if you chose to celebrate at all. We spent much of the day in Sierra Vista, first shopping at our favorite antique mall, then lunch at Culvers right at noon, and then a stroll through the several rows of booths at the annual Sierra Vista celebration at the Veterans’ Park. The whole time, a band played marches and other patriotic songs. Later, at home in St. David, we watched the national Independence … Read more