Harvey

The Journal: Started a New Novel

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Started a new novel * From David Farland (Dave Wolverton) * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. Mark Twain (via The Passive Voice) “This is what Stephen King would write like if Stephen King could really write.” One reviewer of a Richard Bachman novel “‘Master your instrument,’ Charlie Parker once advised. ‘Master the music and then forget all that and just play.’” Michael Hall in Texas Monthly … Read more

The Journal: On Getting Paid in Copies

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday * On Getting Paid in Copies * Speaking of writing * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.” Harlan Ellison “I get so angry about [people expecting writers to work for nothing] because you’re undercut by all … Read more

The Journal: All Caught Up

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * All Caught Up * Topic: The Pulp Writers * Turns out I’m lazy * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I write for the joy of writing. It is the air I breathe and the joy of my life.” Charlene Iverson “There is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident.” H.L. Mencken “In Sarasota, Florida, Stephen King reminded me of the joy of just writing every day.” Neil Gaiman All Caught Up I went ahead and published Book 8 of the FOH series too, early this morning. … Read more

The Journal: Diary Continued

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Diary Continued * Rules for Dealing with Traditional Magazine Editors * The Numbers Quote of the Day “A year from now you will wish you had started today.” Karen Lamb Diary Continued Yesterday I got quite a bit done. I designed (or redesigned) 13 covers for novels (I cheated in that 11 of those used the same art for branding), wrote sales copy for 9 novels, republished two to D2D and Amazon, published one new one to D2D and Amazon (The Journey Home: Part 3) and scheduled one for preorder to … Read more

The Journal: A Diary Entry

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A diary entry and a “day off” * For goodness’ sake * The Numbers Dean seems to enjoy writing diary entries and some folks seem to enjoy them, so for today I thought I’d post a diary entry: The Diary of Yesterday. First, I didn’t get up until 4 a.m. yesterday. Guess I needed the rest. Then, for the first time in a long time, I decided to step back from the writing computer. I felt comfortable doing so because it’s necessary and I could use a brief break from the … Read more

The Journal: Post 5 on Heinlein’s Rules

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A friend brought a truism home * Topic: Post 5 on Heinlein’s Rules * The Journey Home: Part 8 is finished * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Nine months later, I’d written and published 500,000 words and learned more from that process than I could have imagined.” Cat Sole in the AuthorsPublish article linked to below on writing FanFic (I suspect she was able to write so much so quickly because since it was fanfic it was easy to think of it as unimporant… just sayin’) A friend brought a … Read more

The Journal: Post 4 on Heinlein’s Rules

In today’s Journal * Topic: Post 4 on Heinlein’s Rules * Not a great day * The Numbers Topic: Post 4 on Heinlein’s Rules A lot of this one is about the most controversial of Heinlein’s Rules: Rule 3. Q: Ok, my next question is about Rule #3: Refrain from rewriting except to editorial order. So, if a story is good enough to be accepted by a publisher, and they give you feedback on what needs to be changed, you should make those changes (within reason). But you shouldn’t do revisions on your own. Q (cont.): I agree with the … Read more

The Journal: Post 3 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Post 3 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series * It’s no secret * For an update * The Numbers Quote of the Day Fun quote of the day: “After I saw a bumper sticker that read I’m a veterinarian so I drive like an animal, I realized how many proctologists I see on the roads.” Anonymous meme Topic: Post 3 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series Today the topic is mostly about Rule 4: You must put it on the market. Q: I want to dive right in to some of my … Read more

The Journal: Post 2 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Post 2 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series * For an update * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[B]y pushing productivity, we may actually be creating a generation of better storytellers.” David Farland Topic: Post 2 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series Actually, more introductory stuff today, with some specifics on Heinlein’s Rules mixed in. Q: To provide context, how long have you been using this process, how many books/stories have you been able to write, and what kind of success have you achieved? Harvey: I first discovered Heinlein’s Rules and … Read more

The Journal: Awhile Back: An Introduction

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Awhile Back: An Introduction to a Series on Heinlein’s Rules * For an update * The Numbers Topic: Awhile Back: An Introduction to a Series on Heinlein’s Rules Awhile back, I received a note from a writer who wanted to interview me about my adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. The purpose was so the writer could put up a blog post on the topic. Later, the writer decided the post would be too long for their format. I agreed. But the questions the writer asked, and the indicental comments the writer … Read more