In today’s Journal * Learning Craft Through Immersion (Guest Post) * Of Interest Learning Craft Through Immersion a guest post by Chynna Pace I enjoy learning foreign languages, and I have taught myself Korean for the past 9 years. Recently, it occurred to me that learning a language in order to communicate fluently with the natives of that language is a lot like learning writing craft in order to convey a story to readers. With writing, I wrote constantly for a solid decade before ever picking up a craft book. I didn’t know anything about deep POV, or the five … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Myths Are Very Much Alive * Of Interest The Myths Are Very Much Alive If you want to see the myths in action (strongly) read “Starting Over. It Never Gets Easier” at https://killzoneblog.com/2023/05/starting-over-it-never-gets-easier.html and the first couple of comments. I was amazed. This is a bestselling author (a pair of authors and sisters, actually) talking about how hard it is to start a new novel. How discouraging must a statement like that be to a new writer? Or is it ENcouraging? Maybe such statements enable the new writer to imagine girding himself or herself for … Read more

In today’s Journal * Do You Need a Copyeditor? * A Beautiful Time of Year * Of Interest Do You Need a Copyeditor? In response to yesterday’s guest post by Dan Baldwin, one writer (thanks, George K) emailed, “Dean said (in his 20booksto50 speech on youtube late last year) that his editor only corrects typos and thats it. They are ‘not allowed to change a word’. My question is when you said a good editor is essential are you talking about [only] searching for typos as well? What advice in your opionion do you accept from an editor?” I responded … Read more

In today’s Journal * Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Yeahbut (guest post) * Of Interest Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting You can still join in the challenge at any time. There’s no cost of course, and it’s a great way to have some fun, increase your inventory, and jumpstart your writing. It’s also a great way to get more practice pushing down the critical voice. Balázs Jámbor “I wish I lived” 2700 words Literary Fiction Balázs Jámbor “Annabell” 2500 words Literary fiction Christopher Ridge “Service Call” 3400 words Splatter Punk George Kordonis “Haunted Memory” 6265 words Science Fiction Chynna Pace “We … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Six Ghosts of Fear * A New Short Story * Readers and the Myths * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Before you can put any portion of my seventeen principles into successful use, your mind must be prepared to receive it. The preparation is not difficult. It begins with study, analysis, and understanding of three enemies you have to clear out. These are indecision, doubt, and fear. Members of this unholy trio are closely related; where one is found, the other two are close at hand.” Napoleon Hill in … Read more

In today’s Journal * Dean’s Special WMG Workshop Sale * About the Journal * Of Interest Dean’s Special WMG Workshop Sale I’m posting today primarily to make you aware of this: Dean Wesley Smith is offering everything on Teachable at 50% off but only for three days in honor of Memorial Day Weekend. The sale runs until Monday night at midnight west-coast time. For details and the code, See “Paying Attention Sale” at https://deanwesleysmith.com/paying-attention-sale/. But as long as I’m here anyway… About the Journal Writer friend Loyd J in a comment wrote, “I don’t blame you for limiting your Journal … Read more

In today’s Journal * Different Strokes * Memorial Day Weekend * Of Interest Different Strokes If you’d like to see how pervasive the myths can be, you might want to read the comments at https://hestanbrough.com/well-fix-it-in-post-production/#comments. Folks, if you have a different process for writing fiction than I do, that’s fine. If you believe “thinking” your way through a story is the best way to write it, knock yourself out. It seriously doesn’t matter to me. You may even choose to edit (a critical-mind process) and then call it “cycling.” That’s fine too. Different strokes and all that. But please make … Read more

In today’s Journal * On the Value of the Bradbury Challenge (guest post) * Of Interest On the Value of the Bradbury Challenge This is a guest post by Chynna Pace. See Chynna’s bio below. Up until about four years ago, when I first heard about indie publishing and realized I could put my stories out there and begin the writing career I always dreamed of, I always wrote freely, without any fear or anxiety. I wrote the stories I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted, and I didn’t care one iota how the stories turned out, or whether … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * “We’ll Fix It in Post(-Production)” * Trust the Story to Unfold as it Should * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “As a somewhat bemused, non-writer outside observer … it occurs to me that there must be quite a number of misguided, myth-believing individuals for whom it’s more important to be able to say ‘Oh, how I’ve suffered for my art!’ than actually to have produced any. Go figure.” Russ Jones “The best way to improve your craft is to trust the characters and record their story as they live it. … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Memorial Day * Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * New Schedule for the Journal * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “About the last of April, the attention is drawn to other things besides writing and by now (end of May) writing has mostly been forgotten, or something to be done later.” Dean Wesley Smith Umm, taking part in the Bradbury Challenge can help alleviate this. If you want to be a writer, you have to write. Just sayin’. “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken … Read more