Daily Journal

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * One Writer’s Take on the Bradbury Challenge * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “No rules re grammar, punctuation, syntax, etc. really matter. You know, unless you actually WANT the greater number of readers to understand what you’ve written and take from it what you want them to take from it. In that case, you must learn the rules, not so you won’t break them, but so you can break them intelligently and intentionally to create a certain effect in the reader.” Me in a comment on a … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Still Here * A New Story * The Bradbury Challenge Reminder * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I don’t spend any time whatsoever thinking about what might have been.” Alex Trebek Still Here I’m still here, still putting some things together mentally, emotionally and physically. I hope to be back before too long. I feel like I’ve been saying that for the past 2 years, and it’s only kicked into high gear over the past three months. It’ll all work out. In the meantime, I wanted to … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Story Ideas * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela Story Ideas Nothing much today. I was browsing my “Blueprint,” the Interesting Engineering newsletter I receive almost daily, and it struck me that the current issue is chock full of story ideas. Many issues are. You don’t even have to read the articles, though I advise it. You can take one or more story ideas suitable for any (or all) of several genres from only the title of many of … Read more

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