Daily Journal

The Journal: The Journey Home: Part 6

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Journey Home: Part 6 * A Second (Very Short) Addendum * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Most cynics are really crushed romantics: they’ve been hurt, they’re sensitive, and their cynicism is a shell that’s protecting this tiny, dear part in them that’s still alive.” Jeff Bridges “No one expects a medical student to perform surgery correctly on his first try. And no corporate lawyer would be allowed to negotiate a merger without experience and years of law school behind her. Lawyers and doctors learn by doing. Writers feel we … Read more

The Journal: An Addendum

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: An Addendum * It will be interesting, * The Numbers Quote of the Day “My advice to writers who think they’re out of ideas is to tell them to write the word ‘The’ and then follow with another word and… bing-bam-boom straight to the Moon, Alice… there’s your idea.” Dan Baldwin Topic: An Addendum One addendum to yesterday’s post — Everything you are able to learn and absorb and put into practice about writing or anything else is dependent on whether you’re ready to learn and absorb the lesson. Much … Read more

The Journal: Writer’s Block and Coming Up with Ideas

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Writer’s Block and Coming Up with Ideas * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You can not do this from critical voice. You must learn it by reading and typing in openings of top bestsellers (stage four writers) and pay attention to what they are doing. Then you just trust your creative voice to add what it has learned into your stories over time.” DWS on learning pacing Note for any RSS readers: I added the above Quote of the Day after I initially posted today’s edition of the Journal. … Read more

The Journal: Fact or Fiction Indeed

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Fact or Fiction Indeed * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The words are maps, and the map is not the territory. The map is static; the territory constantly flows. Words are always about the past or the unborn future, never about the living present. The present is ever to quick for them; by the time words are out, it is gone.” Polish scholar named Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (via The Passive Guy) Topic: Fact or Fiction Indeed In today’s “Of Interest” there’s a link to an article titled “Fact … Read more

The Journal: Quotes, Comments and an Email

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Quotes of the Day by Ray Bradbury (and one from me) * Thanks * Topic: Email, the “writing zone,” and whose story is this, anyway? * Public Service Announcement * The Numbers Quote of the Day “By the end of the third day [at a writing retreat], I find myself waking up eager to write.” David Farland Quotes of the Day by Ray Bradbury “The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me.” RB “My stories … Read more

The Journal: Practice in Writing

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Question for You * Topic: Practice in Writing * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” Louis L’Amour “Fiction writing can be learned, if one studies diligently and keeps practicing.” James Scott Bell “I don’t know how to tell if my writing’s any good while I’m writing it.” Greer Macallister A Question for You Given today’s topic. I have a question, and I’m serious. One of the most clichéd sentences in the writing profession is … Read more

The Journal: My Recent Novels, and Numbers

In today’s Journal * My Recent Novels, and Numbers * The Numbers My Recent Novels, and Numbers Because the novels in my recent series have been coming in at around 50,000 words, I was totally stoked there for awhile that I might finish the current one in January. Meaning yesterday. (I’m actually writing this yesterday, on the 31st of January.) Why was I stoked? Because my best day on this one thus far was Day 6 at 6572 words. If I’d done 6500 words per day for 7 days, the novel (as of the 30th) would have stood at 52,000 … Read more

The Journal: Character with a Problem, Part 3

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Character with a Problem, Part 3 * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” Joan Didion “The arrangement of the words matters, and the arrangement you want can be found in the picture in your mind. The picture dictates the arrangement. The picture tells you how to arrange the words and the arrangement of the words tells you, or tells me, what’s going on … Read more

The Journal: Character with a Problem, Part 2

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Ooh I was so tempted * Censorship * Pro Writers Writing * Topic: Character with a Problem, Part 2 * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “One of the things Dean Wesley Smith talks about is how he learns himself through teaching. I feel that this has been as much about me learning as anything. Putting down my thoughts about things I’ve learned over the years has helped to crystalize and solidify them for me.” Sean Monaghan in a comment on Pro Writers Writing “For those of you who have already … Read more

The Journal: Character with a Problem

In today’s Journal * Topic: Character with a Problem * Additional References * The Numbers Topic: Character with a Problem Yesterday, I received a complimentary email from a writer. In it, he initiated two topics, one intentional and one peripheral. The more important is the peripheral one, so I’ll talk about that today. Many times, I’ve said all you need to start a story is a character with a problem in a setting. In his email, the writer wrote, “I have no trouble with the setting part. That’s what comes to me first. (Like the painting that has given you … Read more