The Journal: A Few Brief Notes

In today’s Journal * A Few Brief Notes * Of Interest * The Numbers A Few Brief Notes Pearl Harbor Day—For those of you who are interested, may you experience a thoughtful and reflective Pearl Harbor Day. To commemorate one of the worst days in this nation’s collective memory, I recommend this article: “Rare photos capture the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective, 75 years ago” at https://mashable.com/feature/attacking-pearl-harbor#JMtgRVkmfkqZ. On Challenges—I also recommend reading the comments on Dean’s post from yesterday. You can find those at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/more-on-challenges-for-2022/#comments. Then see “Getting Ready for a New Year Or Challenge: Tracking Time” … Read more

The Journal: More on Challenges and Writing

In today’s Journal * Topic: More on Challenges and Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: More on Challenges and Writing Ironically, one of the big problems with being a prolific writer is publishing. You can’t make money on what you write unless you (or someone) publishes it. That’s why Heinlein’s Rule 4 exists, and that’s the one I almost constantly fall off of. Not that I care, but more on that later. Maggie King mentioned in a comment that a prolific writer might have a problem finding enough proofreaders (or first readers) to keep up. She suspects that’s … Read more

The Journal: Learning and Challenges

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Nothing about my nonsense * Topic: On the Process of Learning * Topic: On the Value of Challenges * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The halt on the road before the journey serves an important dramatic function of signaling the audience that the adventure is risky. It’s not a frivolous undertaking but a danger-filled, high-stakes gamble in which the hero might lose fortune or life.” Chris Vogler “[T]he difference between amateurism and professionalism is you have people looking after you and holding your hand as an amateur. … Read more

The Journal: Flip-Flop?

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A good article * Topic: Flip-Flop? * How About You? * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The first thing that I seek in a great story is originality.” David Farland (I had to laugh, given that Farland is one who advocates outlining, revising, editing and rewriting, all of which quickly obliterate any chance of originality. Here’s my recent post on originality.) There’s a good article today at The Passive Voice about who owns the copyright of derivative works in what amounts to shared worlds. Take a look … Read more

The Journal: Back to the Future

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * First, a quick welcome * Topic: Back to the Future (sigh) * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God.” Thomas Sowell (via The Passive Voice) First, a quick welcome to Leanna L, Philip, and anyone else who’s joined us recently. Very glad to have you aboard. (grin) Now on to the topic. Topic: Back to the Future (sigh) Sorry for the seemingly hokey title (grin), but as you will … Read more

The Journal: Going Wide vs. Exclusivity

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * StreetLib * A Slow Start * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Writing is a lot easier than getting up onstage and singing and dancing, I’ll tell you that.” Mel Brooks A Long Quote on Wide Distribution vs. Exclusivity In a comment, a reader recently asked Dean Wesley Smith, “[Can you explain] why authors should go wide instead of Amazon exclusive? I always click on the links of authors who comment here and noticed so many of us are devotees of most of your methods [but] we still … Read more

The Journal: WITD and Writing Again

In today’s Journal * Holiday Sale * Writing Into the Dark * Writing Again * Of Interest * The Numbers Holiday Sale With the holidays coming up quickly, I thought I’d remind you of the half-price sale over at WMG Publishing’s Teachable account (https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/). Workshops and lectures and classes make excellent gifts for writers, even if the writer is yourself. For details, see “3 Days Left in the Holiday Sale” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/3-days-left-in-the-holiday-sale/. Of the lectures, the knowledge you’ll glean from Heinlein’s Rules (Lecture 1 if I remember right) is absolutely priceless. That lecture is literally what started me on this … Read more

The Journal: “Fill a Stein….” Guest Post

In today’s Journal * “Fill a Stein and Grab a Bloody Haunch!” Guest Post * More on Peter Brandvold * Of Interest * The Numbers Fill a Stein and Grab a Bloody Haunch! a guest post by Peter Brandvold That, in a heraldic nutshell, is my approach to writing. Simple as a Zen painting and elemental as a pissed-off bobcat. In other words, when I pour that first cup of morning mud thick enough to float a lumber drey, wrestle onto the floor amongst my snarling curs, and pick up my Macbook Pro which I prop atop my knees while … Read more

The Journal: Peter Brandvold

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Here’s to Boring and Uneventful * Peter Brandvold * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” William Faulkner Here’s to Boring and Uneventful I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Ours was boring and uneventful, in a good way. Meaning there was no undue, unnecessary excitement and no drama. One more thing for which to be grateful. Unfortunately, Dean’s was something less than boring, as reported at … Read more

The Journal: Thanksgiving Sale

In today’s Journal * Thanksgiving Sale * Of Interest * The Numbers Thanksgiving Sale So Dean has decided to have another lecture/workshop sale. It runs from today through Thursday, December 2nd. The code is HolidaySale (one word). To use it visit https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/. There, “just find whatever class you would like, hit purchase, and then put in the code HolidaySale on the top of the next page to get 50% off the price.” You can get more than one class, lecture or workshop, but you have to repeat the process each time. Enjoy the rest of the day. Talk with you … Read more