Daily Journal

In today’s Journal * 10 Lesser Mistakes Writers Make, Part 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers 10 Lesser Mistakes Writers Make, Part 2 4. Using Likely as an Adverb (sigh)— I’ll get this one out of the way first. “Likely” is an adjective, albeit one that ends in “ly,” as do many adverbs. Despite its widespread misuse because it sounds cool or whatever, “likely” is synonymous with “probable,” another adjective. It is not synonymous with “probably,” an adverb. “Snowfall is probable” means exactly the same thing as “Snowfall is likely.” (In the second sentence, the unspoken but implied “to … Read more

In today’s Journal * A Foreword * Why “Lesser” Mistakes? * 10 Lesser Mistakes Writers Make, Part 1 * Of Interest * The Numbers A Foreword This post was getting long, so I broke it into two posts. Back in the day at writers’ conferences all over the nation and in Canada I presented a two-hour session on “Common Mistakes Writers Make.” At least once in every session, a writer would dismiss as unimportant the value of learning not to make those mistakes. The typical response was, “Why bother? Readers will know what I mean.” Every time, that comment left … Read more

In today’s Journal * A Foreword * The Top 7 Mistakes Writers Make, Part 2 * An Afterword * Of Interest * The Numbers A Foreword Yep, another foreword. This is the much-updated second half of on an article I originally posted over on my author site way back in 2013. I brought it forward again in 2022, and now here it is again. Even if you believe you’ve seen it before, please read it again. If you missed yesterday’s post, you can read it here. This post negates nothing I’ve said about allowing the characters to tell the story … Read more

In today’s Journal * Misplaced Modifier of the Day * A Foreword * The Top 7 Mistakes Writers Make, Part 1 * Of Interest * The Numbers Misplaced Modifier of the Day “[Name withheld] dies at age 31 while biking after being struck by a suspected drunken driver.” news tidbit, 1440 DailyDigest What’s wrong with that statement? (Try moving “while biking” to the end of the sentence.) A Foreword This is an update on an article I originally posted over on my author site way back in 2013. I brought it forward again in 2022, and now here it is … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Re Marketing * The September Challenges * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Thought I’d take today to play a little catch-up with things that have been going on. The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting To take part, the only requirement is to write at least one short story per week. Then, if you want to share your success, submit the story title, word count, and genre to me each week for publication in the Journal on Monday. (Yes, you can also write a longer story and submit your … Read more

In today’s Journal * Carving Out Time for Your Writing * Time Mapping Exercise * Priorities Matter Too * WITD and the September Challenges * Of Interest * The Numbers Carving Out Time for Your Writing To give credit where credit is due, this is a trick I first learned from Dean Wesley Smith. I’m sure he probably learned it from someone else. Yesterday, I mentioned if you really want to write authetic fiction, you need to build a routine, a habit of writing fiction. To do that, you have to carve some time out of your day, preferably every … Read more

In today’s Journal * Note 1 * Note 2 * A New Short Story * First Things First * Of Interest * The Numbers Note 1 If you missed yesterday’s post, “The Inexorable Rule of Writing Fiction,” I’ve added it to the Gifts & Archives page on the Journal website. Or you can now download it right here in pdf. Note 2 Because I inadvertently failed to say yesterday that this series of posts will be only for paid subscribers, I’m sending this one to everyone too. If you’d like to continue receiving this series of posts, please consider switching … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Inexorable Rule of Writing Fiction * On the Other Hand * How-To Books for Suckers * A Simple Test * Of Interest * The Numbers The Inexorable Rule of Writing Fiction 1. If you want to be a fiction writer, you must write fiction. That’s it. That is the only inexorable, inviolate rule. That rule alone will knock out of the ring probably 95% of all those contenders who say they want to write fiction. If you’re still IN the ring, then you only have to decide whether you want to write AUTHENTIC fiction—what actually … Read more