Month: April 2026

In Today’s Journal * Conversation with a Writer Conversation with a Writer A very good fiction writer and mentoring student emailed me recently to send me a story she’d written a few years ago. She wanted to know what I thought of it. After I responded, she asked a series of questions about that particular story. I thought some of you might benefit from reading that overall conversation. Today I’ll give you the actual back-and-forth conversation, then finish it tomorrow with general advice and an example. First, to put the rest into context, here’s my email to her after I … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * I’ve Reached the End * Of Interest Quote of the Day “I’ve never written to please other people. … “I just write. You either do it, or you don’t.”” Larry McMurtry in a 2015 interview (see Of Interest) I’ve Reached the End The quote of the day is appropriate. For a very long time, I’ve written, and now I won’t. After a dozen years at the helm of TNDJ plus delivering numerous writers’ conference sessions, copyediting bouts, and private in-person seminars on the glories of writing fiction, the end of my … Read more