Daily Journal

The Journal, Sunday, April 22

Hey Folks, Well, I’m posting this very early today. The sun has almost come up. (grin) Today will be a non-writing day, but some good items in “Of Interest” below. After a very short night of sleep, I still managed to get out to the Hovel early, as I’d hoped I would. I continued the current story/chapter, then hit a snag and cycled back to repair it. That took me almost to the beginning of that chapter, so I settled in and read through the whole thing, still cycling. I added a few hundred words, but not enough to count … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, April 21

Hey Folks, Well, surprises happen. Last night not long after I’d gone to bed, my wife came in to say my son and his wife and three of my grandchildren were on their way down from Flagstaff for the weekend. I got up and we got things ready. Still, I was determined to get up earlier than usual to get as much done on The Storytellers as possible. The story is really running. The structure is interesting too, as it’s developed. There’s an introductory section, which is the beginning of the overall story that wraps the novel. Then there’s a … Read more

The Journal, Friday, April 20

Hey Folks, Wow. I have to admire Dean’s tenacity. He started a challenge to write 30 stories in 30 days while moving. But also, his wife, friend and life partner is physically hundreds of miles away. Even with the availability of phone calls and emails, not having the energy of that physical presence around has to be a trauma. Plus he’s giving up a beautiful home he’s lived in for a very long time. That’s a major trauma. Plus his responsibilities at WMG Publishing, and the workshops, and the emails etc. etc. ad nauseam. And on top of all that, … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, April 19

Hey Folks, Another very long post today. Get your beverage, settle in and enjoy. Way back on January 7, I started a story called “The Storytellers.” On the first trip to the Hovel this morning, I happened across it while looking for Versailles. An idea occurred to me last night, and I was going to apply it this morning. Remember yesterday I mentioned I wished I could work on both of them (Versailles and Pulp 9) back and forth? Be careful what you wish for. Curious, I opened “The Storytellers” and glanced over it. As I read, naturally, I did … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, April 18

Hey Folks, A long post today, so you might want to grab a beverage. (grin) Topic: The Power of Streaks Revisited I talked here awhile back about the power of streaks. A “streak” means repeatedly hitting a certain regularly scheduled goal without missing. When you miss, the streak ends. For example, say you’re determined to write 1000 words per day every day. The more days you do that in a row, the more powerful the streak becomes because you won’t want to miss. As a nice aside, and if you did do that for 100 days in a row (just … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, April 17

Hey Folks, Well, I finished the edit at about 8 a.m. after a final few hours of editing. Then I ran over it again with Find & Replace just to double check on a couple of global changes, then ran a spell check. I finally sent it off at around 9:30 a.m. I didn’t plan to write today. I usually need to wind down after an edit, especially a lengthy one. I planned to start reading a novel today. I’d heard of a really good crime author from James Scott Bell. The critics rave about this author (I won’t mention … Read more

The Journal, Monday, April 16

Hey Folks, Well, I don’t have a lot to report today, but a really good “Of Interest” section. I was determined today to have less than 25% of the edit left to finish tomorrow. With that in mind, I leaned into it from around 4 a.m. until I stopped at around 3 p.m. So a good 11-hour day, with a few breaks here and there. As I write this I have 15% of the edit left to do, so I should finish it tomorrow. Then, unless the gods frown on me. I should be able to return to my WIP. … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, April 15

Hey Folks, Well, happy Shearing Day. No fiction writing yesterday or today, as expected. Yesterday I edited for a few hours in the early morning, then a little more later on. I was going to publish an edition of this Journal yesterday, but I had nothing even for the “Of Interest” section so I didn’t. This morning too I edited for a few hours. I should finish the edit over the next two days. *** Back when I presented sessions at writers conferences and conventions and in private seminars, every now and then I’d hear some version of “Well, the … Read more

The Journal, Friday, April 13

Hey Folks, Sometimes it feels specifically like I make plans so I’ll have something to change later. Remember how I said a few days ago I was going to write in the early morning and then edit later in the day? Yeah. I worked on my WIP for a few minutes this morning, just enough to put my hand in. Then I thought about the copyedit waiting on my business computer. My gut tied in a knot. The client was even good enough to prepay the balance for the edit. Then, thankfully, I read Kris Rusch’s current Business Musings article … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, April 12

Hey Folks, Wow. I woke up right at 2:30, which has become my recent norm. But for various reasons I went back to sleep and didn’t wake up again until 4. Problem is, that throws off the whole day. The ladies asked me to stay close so they could go out in the pre-dawn yard. So I didn’t get to the Hovel, which means I didn’t get to the novel. One drawback to having a dedicated writing space and a dedicated writing computer is that when I don’t get there, I don’t write. Then I spent a couple of hours, … Read more