Daily Journal

The Journal: If I Could Dictate

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: If I Could Dictate * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Note: I had this post all ready to go yesterday, but forgot to hit Publish, so here it is today. I’ll publish another one later today (as an experiment) to see whether both of them post at 5 p.m. this afternoon. Quote of the Day “I tend to fly and finish a lot of words… I don’t like to stop.” Diane Darcy, USA Today bestselling romance novelist Topic: If I Could Dictate Diane Darcy brought up an interesting … Read more

The Journal: Sigh… Old Stuff Revisited

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday * Topic: Sigh… Old Stuff Revisited * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, via David Farland Yesterday I had a good writing day (4253 words). I wrote a little over 3100 words on the novel plus a little over 1300 words on the short story. If I’m able to write on both again today, I should finish the short story. I might go back to posting the Journal later in … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday and Today

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “You will never hear James Lee Burke speak at a conference about how to market a novel, how to brand one’s work, or the importance of co-op money to the success of one’s sales. My father talks about writing not as a commercial enterprise, nor even as a craft or as art, but as a destiny.” Alafair Burke Via The Passive Voice, “We protest against unjust criticism, but we accept unearned applause.” Jose Narosky Odd to me that … Read more

The Journal: Preaching to the Choir (I Hope)

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Preaching to the Choir (I Hope) * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called “mad” and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called “writers” and they do pretty much the same thing.” Ray Bradbury “I have some goals, but I’m going to mostly keep those to myself. Some of them are very high reaching, and I’ve learned that voicing them just gets criticism… … Read more

The Journal: My Head Is Full

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: My Head Is Full * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Writers write. Professional writers publish their works.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch “There’s a lot of value to learning how to do a clean one-draft novel. It allows the writer to make the story the important thing, not the words. It also frees the writer up to write, not contemplate every tiny detail.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch Topic: My Head Is Full Ever get the feeling your head is full? Mine is. That’s one reason I write … Read more

The Journal: A Diary of Days, and Feedback

In today’s Journal * A Gap-Filling Diary of Days * Topic: Feedback * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers A Gap-Filling Diary of Days I thought it might be useful to make notes on these few days when I’m not publishing the Journal January 2 — Got a lot done in moving offices in preparation for transitioning StoneThread Publishing to a licensing company. And wow, am I ever excited! As always, tasks that are necessary but peripheral to the actual writing fill me with a strong desire to get back to the basics: * Learn more (learning the craft … Read more

The Journal: Fun with Numbers and a Blast from the Past

In today’s Journal * Topic: Fun With Numbers and a Blast from the Past * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: Fun With Numbers and a Blast from the Past Recently on a blog I follow now and then (the writer doesn’t post often), a writer listed her fiction numbers for the past several years. I like that, so I stole the idea. (Thanks, L.) Now, I’m not comparing myself with L or with anyone else. We all have different lives with different priorities and with different time requirements levied on us. So I’m just jooking back to … Read more

The Journal: If It’s That Easy…

In today’s Journal * A quick roundup * The Coming Year * Topic: If It’s That Easy… * How I Came to Writing Into the Dark * Yesterday and Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Well, first a quick roundup since I was reporting fiction numbers a day late: Total fiction words for December……… 55128 Total fiction words for 2019………………… 452693 Total nonfiction words for December… 21570 Total nonfiction words for 2019………… 324830 Total words for 2019 (fiction and this blog)…… 777523 Calendar Year 2019 Novels…………………… 10 Calendar Year 2019 Novellas……………… 1 Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories… 4 Novels … Read more

The Journal: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post) * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If you’re not productive in this new world, you’re done. You’re just done.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post) I had a few questions about this, so I thought I’d revisit it. My daily word count goal is 3000 words per day beginning on January 1. Yesterday, I practiced. I started a short story that didn’t pan out, and I missed my goal. In fact, I … Read more

The Journal: On Daily Word-Count Goals

In today’s Journal * Topic: On Daily Word-Count Goals * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: On Daily Word-Count Goals In case you don’t read the “My Own Getting Ready” in today’s “Of Interest,” I found it very interesting (and pleasantly surprising) that both Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch still use word-count goals. As I learned from Dean back in early 2014, a daily word-count goal is indispensible for several reasons: Whether you fall short or go way over on a particular day, the next morning the goal resets to zero and it’s a new day. … Read more