Daily Journal

The Journal: Absorbing Story

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Absorbing Story * The novel * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day a brief conversation between bestselling authors John Gilstrap and Jeffrey Deaver John Gilstrap: “What are you doing right that I’m doing wrong?” [Jeffrey Deaver] answered without pause, “Last time I counted, I was sixteen books ahead of you.” Yeah, okay. Fine. Perspective. Then he went on to say, “You know you have to keep writing. Stopping isn’t an option.” “What if I can’t sell anything?” I whined. “Nobody says you have to do it fulltime.” … Read more

The Journal: Four-Book Give-Away

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A give-away * StreetLib * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “In Heinlein’s Rules, Product Focused writers have trouble with Rules #1, #2, and #3. Process focused writers have a horrid time with Rules #4 and #5.” Dean Wesley Smith, in his reply to my comment. Another of those gems I talk about. In honor of Dean’s previous two excellent posts, I’ve decided to do another give-away. For a limited time, you can get Quiet the Critical Voice (and Write Fiction) and Writing the Character Driven Story free. … Read more

The Journal: Great Advice from DWS

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Dean’s current and previous posts * Meanwhile * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “[T]he advantage of writing 40,000 word novels. Readers can read them faster.” Dean Wesley Smith “[Fiction] implies the action of making, or rather, giving form. It is not inventing something that is not true, but giving shape to something that was already there.” Valeria Luiselli, Mexican author Well, I’m gonna add Dean’s current and previous post to my writers resources pages on my main website. Great, great stuff. The first post in today’s “Of … Read more

The Journal: The Saguaro Cactus

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Actually, no * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day A little misinformation from an article a friend sent me, featured on Yahoo News: “Saguaro are considered to be a ‘symbol of the American west,’ yet they are rare, NPS officials say. ‘These majestic plants, found only in a small portion of the United States, are protected by Saguaro National Park’ near Tuscon.” Actually, no, saguaros aren’t ‘rare’. 1. Saguaros are protected in Arizona, but so are almost every desert plant. If you don’t believe me, be observed trying … Read more

The Journal: Character Descriptions

In today’s Journal * Wow. Lately * I’d be remiss * Topic: Character Descriptions * Yesterday, and Memorial Day * Of Interest * The Numbers Wow. Lately “Of Interest” seems a feast or famine prospect. Today it’s famine. I’d be remiss if I didn’t pass along the info on “David Farland’s Advanced Fantasy and SF Writing Workshop” (at https://mystorydoctor.com/david-farlands-advanced-fantasy-and-sf-writing-workshop/). I’d also be remiss if I didn’t remind you of my mentorships and recommend a comparison. But that’s up to you. Topic: Character Descriptions It’s difficult to point to a “good” book on characterization. Not because they aren’t out there, but … Read more

The Journal: An Epiphany

In today’s Journal * An Epiphany * Of Interest * The Numbers An Ephiphany In an effort to help with your writing career, I’ve always tried to be up front and honest with you guys with both my blunders as well as my achievements. Boy do I have a doozie for you today. You know how I’m always saying Take Your Time with your writing? Bear with me here. Sixty-some novels into my fiction writing career as I wrote the final chapter of the Wes Crowley saga, I decided to see whether there was room for more Wes Crowley novels … Read more

The Journal: More Good Input

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * More good input * Thanks to Maggie King * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I’ve never followed the tide of popular opinion in the way I write my novels. I’m not going to start now. … I just make an effort not to write anything into my stories that would hurt or show contempt for someone because they’re male or female.” Haruki Murakami “Our job is to give new meanings and special overtones to absolutely ordinary words.” Haruki Murakami “When I’m writing, I write every day. It’s … Read more

The Journal: Opportunities, and Misinformation

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * StreetLib * Misinformation * Listening to Dean * Mentorships Revised * The Reading * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Our lives are but specks of dust falling through the fingers of time. Like sands of the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” Socrates Today’s Journal is filled with opportunities, and there’s a note to clear up some misinformation. Opportunity: StreetLib If you’re still looking for an aggregator or distributor for your books, you might check out StreetLib. I’ll be taking another look at them. StreetLib … Read more

The Journal: Mentorships vs. Nonfiction Books

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Mentorships vs. Nonfiction Books * The Fiction * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Q: I WROTE LESS THAN 200 WORDS TODAY. DO I STILL DEPOSIT THEM IN THE WORD BANK? A: Yes, because every word counts… (and you have written more than 99% of writers today).” FAQs at “THE 200 WORDS A DAY CHALLENGE.” Can this be true? Topic: Mentorships vs. Books I’m looking for feedback here. As I was looking over all the topics in The Writing Craft I mentorship, it dawned on me that … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday, and Computers

In today’s Journal * Yesterday, and Computers * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday, and Computers Well, I planned to spend the day yesterday reading Wes Crowley 1-12. I decided I didn’t need to create a separate reverse outline for each book—that would just be silly—but I will create a series bible as I go and maybe publish it as a “companion” book to the series. It will contain all the names, locations, physical descriptions of places and characters, etc. Don’t worry. I’m not going to offer to let anyone else write in the Wes Crowley world. For one thing, … Read more