Daily Journal

In Today’s Journal * Echoes of Chandler Contest * What Makes a Short Story * Of Interest * The Numbers Echoes of Chandler Contest This thing is still wide open. I’ve received only seven entries thus far, and those are from only three writers. Around 200 folks subscribe to TNDJ, and I assume most of you are fiction writers. Don’t prejudge your work and assume it isn’t “good enough.” The writer who won first prize in the Echoes of Hemingway contest was shocked that I selected her work above all others, but it was absolutely excellent. Just sayin’. Believe in … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Note on Contest Entries * Your Morning Serial * Of Interest * The Numbers Note on Contest Entries Folks, if you enter any contest I sponsor including the current Echoes of Chandler Contest, PLEASE follow the manuscript format. As a bare minimum, please put your (real) name and email address in the upper left corner of the first page of your manuscript. Always make it easy for the editor to contact you. NOTE: Thus far, I’ve received only four entries in this contest. Submissions close on August 2. Just sayin’. Your Morning Serial Over at Your … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Note on Contest Entries * The Bradbury Challenge * What Is a Pantser? * Of Interest * The Numbers Note on Contest Entries Folks, if you enter any contest I sponsor including the current Echoes of Chandler Contest, PLEASE follow the manuscript format. As a bare minimum, please put your (real) name and email address in the upper left corner of the first page of your manuscript. Always make it easy for the editor to contact you. The Bradbury Challenge The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. There … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Sometimes I Just Have To * Echoes of Chandler Contest * Of Interest * The Numbers Sometimes I Just Have To In a comment on DWS’ post titled “Some Basics About Writing That I Believe,” another commenter wrote “The hard part for many/most writers — commercial fiction or darned near anything else — is having a big/perceptive-enough writer brain to keep the necessary mileposts in sight while writing. Even “pure pantsers” have some, unless they’re one of those just-explore-a-character’s-feelings-while-nothing-really-happens MFA graduates (if so, I don’t want to know about it and won’t read the result without … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Got a Good Start * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * Of Interest * The Numbers Got a Good Start Okay. Back in the day, driving a few t-posts, digging two 3-feet-deep postholes, building a new gate, stringing and tying up roughly 80 feet of fence, and taking out an old fence would have taken maybe all of a six- or eight-hour day. Yesterday morning, including measuring and remeasuring distances between t-posts, placing six of them, and driving three of them took close to three hours. Then I was back in the Hovel under … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Tracking Your Day * Echoes of Chandler Contest/Challenge * Of Interest * The Numbers I’m sending this issue out mostly for the items I linked to in Of Interest. Tracking Your Day Everyone starts with 24 hours in a day. If you want to write more or spend more time writing but day by day the days seem to slip away from you, try tracking your day in 15-minute increments. This will work better if you do it physically, actually listing the time increments down the left side of a sheet of paper, then carry the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Writing Fiction: Work or Play? * An Update on My Own Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Writing Fiction: Work or Play? Recently a writer friend sent me a link to an article that he thought might raise my blood pressure. It didn’t. To each his own, am I right? The article (see the link in Of Interest) had to do with prolific writers and how they view the writing of fiction. As I told my friend after I skimmed over the article, I didn’t see anything that annoyed me, but I was surprised at … Read more

In Today’s Journal * On Comma Usage “Rules” * Of Interest * The Numbers On Comma Usage “Rules” When I was in college we used the HarBrace College Handbook in English classes. It contained 19 PAGES of comma rules. In today’s Of Interest you’ll find a link to an article in Writer’s Digest listing the “10 Most Important Comma Usage Rules.” The article is mostly correct, but like HarBrace—as well as Strunk & White and pretty much anything else that regurgitates the “rules”—it’s also as dusty and dry and mechanical as an ancient bone bleached in the Arizona sun. Bleh. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * About Contest Entries * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot.” Robin Williams About Contest Entries Hey folks, I’m back in the Hovel and trying to get back into the swing of things. For anyone who missed it earlier, I’m running a new contest for short stories. It could result in an anthology titled Echoes of Chandler. You can find the contest rules here. In that post in “Notes” below the rules, I included … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge * On the Road * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. The only requirement is to write at least one short story per week. Feel free to jump in at any time. During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories: Erin Donoho “Gold Seeds,” 1800 words, historical literary suspense Loyd Jenkins “Fire Beneath the Land” 3200 Fantasy Vanessa V. Kilmer “Blue Folder” 2999 Mystery … Read more