Daily Journal

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Going for an MFA? * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “You take people as far as they will go, not as far as you would like them to go.” Jeannette Rankin “I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don’t remember what I did before that. Just loafed, I suppose.” P.G. Wodehouse Going for an MFA? A writer asked me awhile back whether I would recommend attending an MFA program. No, I wouldn’t. Listen, if you’re thinking about going for an MFA so you can write fiction, … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * LaMotte vs. Hemingway * Comment Policy * Story Ideas Abound * Stay Tuned * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “When he could stand it no longer, he fired a revolver up through the roof of his mouth, but he made a mess of it.” Ellen N. LaMotte, opening sentence of “Heroes” from The Backwash of War “The strange thing was, he said, how they screamed every night at midnight.” Ernest Hemingway, opening sentence from “On the Quay at Smyrna” “That night we lay on the floor in the … Read more

In today’s Journal * A Day Late * And a Dollar Short * Good Comments * Women’s History Month * A Little More on AI * Of Interest A Day Late I was surprised to learn the 1st of March is St. David’s Day, though that matters mostly in Wales. However, since I live just outside a tiny town called St. David, I thought I’d mention it, albeit a day late. The “small but mighty nation” of Wales celebrated the Welsh saint’s day yesterday. From Updraft Plus—a company that designs WordPress plugins and many of whose employees live it Wales—yesterday … Read more

In today’s Journal * A Short Post * You Can’t Make This Shup * Of Interest A Short Post A short post today, mostly to pass along the “Of Interest” items and to let you know I probably won’t publish an edition of the Journal tomorrow. I’ll be at Schieffelin Hall on the main drag in Tombstone Arizona to take part in a book fair, an extremely rare occurrence for me. If any of you happen to be in the vicinity, please stop by. I’d enjoy chatting with you. Here’s the graphic my wife created for her Facebook announcement: You … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Changes to the Journal * More AI Stuff * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once.” Terry Pratchett “There are plenty of valuable (that is, profitable) use cases for this tech [AI] but faking human creativity ain’t it.” Felix Torres Changes to the Journal Owing in part to a pair of brief discussions recently with a couple of other folks, I’ve changed the appearance of the Journal. One discussion had to do with serif vs. sans serif fonts. In the latter, it’s … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Some More Thoughts on Ernest Hemingway * You Can’t Make This Shup * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Ernest Hemingway’s signature style broke the mold. His short, declarative sentences, intentional repetition, and general absence of adjectives were a departure from the style of every previous novelist.” Jessica Leader “It’s hard to imagine a writer who hasn’t been affected by him. He changed the furniture in the room.” Author Tobias Wolff “It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Roald Dahl Revisited * Short Stories * It’s Good to Be the King * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Following the publisher’s logic would be equal to transforming the M˜y Lai Massacre into a misunderstanding with unpleasant consequences that shouldn’t be discussed because it’s too upsetting for some people.” Jeffrey Herman in an article about so-called sensitivity readers (see “Of Interest”) “It costs much, much less to hire a literary attorney to examine the contract before you sign it than it does to hire that same attorney to get you … Read more

In today’s Journal * US Copyright Office * BookBub Ads * Of Interest Just sharing a little today. From 1440 Daily Digest “US Copyright Office rules artwork and images produced using artificial intelligence tools cannot be copyrighted (More)” BookBub Ads I recently attended a Getting Started with BookBub Ads webinar. I don’t think they would mind me sharing since doing so means more potential revenue for them. To watch the recording, click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucFV1PeDB-w To download the accompanying slides, click PDF Download. From a followup email I received from BookBub, “If you’re ever in need of a quick summary of the … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Happy Mardi Gras * We Among Aliens * Speaking of SF * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Selling has little if anything to do with it. Writers don’t write to sell, we write to tell stories.” Dean Wesley Smith in a response to a comment on his website “The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.” Vincent Van Gogh “[S]ometimes when I’m stuck coming up with a character in a setting with … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * You Can’t Make This Shup * Dean’s Post on AI * Roald Dahl * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “You can’t script the unexpected. Life is full of unexpected events. Scripted novels are not.” Dan Baldwin “Today, I only listen to what my characters tell me. … This approach to writing keeps me always in suspense. The same can be said for my readers.” Dan Baldwin “Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.” Jake Barnes to Robert Cohn in The Sun Also Rises “Genre is a … Read more