Harvey

The Journal: Trust Your Process

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Trust Your Process * Only a little over * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I have always read to be entertained, and have always written to return the favor.” John Gilstrap “I often tell people that I don’t want to think too hard about the creative process for fear of breaking a machine that I don’t know how to fix.” John Gilstrap “Remember always that the voice in your head is unique to you. Even a well-meaning teacher can ruin that voice if you’re not steadfast in your defense … Read more

The Journal: A New Nonfiction Book Is Coming

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Anyone can figure out * Are you one * Topic: A New Nonfiction Book Is Coming * I had a good day writing * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “One thing that apparently still has the power to infuriate people, though, is how many spaces should be used after a period at the end of an English sentence.” from an article sent to me by a friend via email “I’ve gotten lots of advice in my novel writing career. Some of it good. Much of it stupid. It just took … Read more

The Journal: A Mind-Control Technique

In today’s Journal * Topic: A Mind-Control Technique * Help Keep Me in Cigars * Be Wary * The Numbers Note: Today’s post is around twice as long as usual, but it’s very informative. Topic: A Mind-Control Technique (and Why to Use It) You’ve heard it here at least a few times: When you allow your POV character (not yourself) to describe a setting, it’s a good idea to let the character use all five of his or her physical senses: sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. I also recommend letting the POV character use his emotional senses: dread, elation, … Read more

The Journal: A Bestseller Goes Indie (and Why)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * See the rest * I wrote nothing * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Which brings us to the huge burning question: what will the publisher do for us that will be worth giving up 3/4 of our money forever? A publisher would have to make a very compelling argument and that argument can’t be just ‘We will give you a big advance.’ Here is why the advance argument falls flat on its face. “Let’s say we get an advance of $100,000 for a book price $4.99. The book sells 30,000 … Read more

The Journal: Decisions, Decisions

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * I started writing * Decisions, decisions… * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Traditional publishing and selling physical books are, in the 21st century, narrow-margin operations without a lot of room for error or financial difficulties.” The Passive Guy “[E]ven fools can often recognize a death spiral.” The Passive Guy, talking about the book business, but easily relatable to other endeavors as well “Leonard, we know you’re great, we just don’t know if you’re any good.” CBS Records President and CEO Walter Yetnikoff to Leonard Cohen, as reported by Joe Hartlaub … Read more

The Journal: Story Ideas

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Story Ideas * A slow start * The Numbers Quote of the Day “A government of, by, and for the people requires that people talk to people, that we can agree to disagree but do so in civility. If we let the politicians and those who report dictate our discourse, then our course will be dictated.” Donna Brazile (thanks to the Passive Guy) Note: Beyond hinting at censorship, the Quote of the Day has nothing to do with writing. I included it only because it is so closely related to … Read more

The Journal: A Run-on Sentence? Nope.

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * An alternate dictionary * A Little Fun * A Run-on Sentence? Nope. * No writing yesterday * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Noir is urban gothic—hopeless. Hardboiled is gritty and unsentimental.” Garry Rodgers For maybe the past 40 years or so, I’ve been slowly compiling an alternate dictionary of sorts as a mental exercise, something similar to The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. Despite its name, Bierce’s dictionary has nothing to do with Satan, by the way. If you’re not familiar with it, you can find a free copy at … Read more

The Journal: An Excellent Quote for Writers

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * About the quote of the day * “Vignette from a Third-Floor Window” * Playing catch-up with numbers * In an item that I finally chose * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You hear about how many fourth-quarter comebacks that a guy has, and I think it means a guy screwed up in the first three quarters.” Peyton Manning What an excellent quote that is for writers! How about writing your very best on the first pass, then send it to a trusted first reader to check for typos, then publish … Read more

The Journal: Most generations are given a fight

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Most generations are given a fight * Taking a Break with JPS Brown * Finished the novel * Thank you * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Traditional publishing has a highly-conflicted view of libraries. They have the idea that a high percentage of borrowers would buy their books if it were unable to conveniently borrow them from a library.” The Passive Guy “[T]he impulse to silence the opinions of or “deplatform” others has experienced a troubling resurgence of late, at least in some myopic intellectual bubbles in the United States.” … Read more

The Journal: What the Journal Is Not

In today’s Journal * What the Journal is not * Why I didn’t post yesterday * The Numbers This Journal is not a political blog and it will never become a political blog. Nor will I ever ambush you with political commentary here. You come here expecting to read my ramblings about writing fiction and, to a lesser degree, nonfiction and poetry and my personal life as a writer. And that’s what you should find when you get here. Why I didn’t post yesterday Some will notice I didn’t post at all yesterday. There are two reasons for that: One, … Read more