Month: February 2024

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Writing * Writing the Character-Driven Story: Chapter 3, Part 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “What I turn away for one of the 20 or so reasons I have written about in this series, [another] editor might snap up. Does not mean they are less an editor or have lower standards, it simply means they are looking for something different than I am. Nothing less and nothing more. That’s why you send stories to lots of markets, one right after another.” Dean Wesley Smith Ah. … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Note * Writing the Character-Driven Story: Chapter 3, Part 1 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Even when an outline was a homework assignment, I’d write the story, then do the outline to turn in.” KC Riggs “If you ground the reader as you run through the story with the characters, write the truth of what happens and write the truth of how the characters react and what happens as a result of that reaction, you cannot write a bad story.” from Chapter 6 of the forthcoming … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Writing the Character-Driven Story: Chapter 2, Part 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Be honest about the words and actions of your characters, and they will not lead your story astray.” Stephen King Chapter 2, Part 2: BEING the Almighty Writer on High First, if you do not outline and simply serve your characters as their Recorder or Stenographer or Friend with a Keyboard, you can skip this part of the chapter. There is no reason to subject yourself to the horrors that will follow. (grin) … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Writing the Character-Driven Story: Chapter 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Be honest about the words and actions of your characters, and they will not lead your story astray.” Stephen King Chapter 2, Part 1: Determining Your Role in the Story This is a difficult concept for many writers to grasp. Why? because of the myths of fiction writing that have been drummed into us during our entire life. The big myth here is that writing fiction is some sort of high calling. It isn’t. I’ll … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Clarification on the Blackwell Ops Sale * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * A Great (and Helpful) Comment * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The soil of a man’s heart is stonier, Louis. A man grows what he can, and he tends it. ‘Cause what you buy, is what you own. And what you own… always comes home to you.” Gravedigger to Louis Creed in Stephen King’s Pet Sematary “There’s a trite old saying that people are meant to blossom where they’re planted. I’ve come to believe … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Congratulations * Writing the Character-Driven Story: Chapter 1 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “It’s been a wonderful decade. My first book published two weeks before my 50th birthday, my seventh three months before my 59th.” Anonymous from Twitter Whatever “works,” eh? Every writer’s different. “Doing it well now is much better than doing it perfectly later.” Seth Godin in his blog Congratulations Congratulations to Erin Donoho on the publication of her first novel in print and ebook. To see the paperback, Click Here. The book is … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A New Story * Writing the Character-Driven Story: Introduction * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” Madeleine L’Engle “What’s preferable, to struggle with a paragraph for days or to finish a story in the same amount of time and move on to the next story and get more experience by writing more?” Adam Kozak in a Substack Note to another writer … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Novel Wrapped * The Sale Continues * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” Madeleine L’Engle Novel Wrapped Blackwell Ops 19: Soleada Garcia: Trying Times wrapped early yesterday afternoon with a little over 3600 words. This morning I’ll create the cover and the promo doc. I’ll start on Blackwell Ops 20 in the next day or two. As soon as I get … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Artificial light at night confuses insects’ internal navigation senses, with video revealing they attempt to face away from the source; study overturns long-held belief flying insects are attracted to lights.” from FIU News Okay, so you can officially ignore all those dead moths in the upturned light fixture on your floor lamp. Apparently, they either backed into the light or aren’t actually there. 🙂 “Life is not a spectator sport. If you’re going to spend your whole … Read more