The Journal: A Turning Point

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Lot in “Of Interest” Today * A Turning Point * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “For me, the witchcraft that is writing rarely rises to the front of my mind. When it does, I seem to screw up. I go to work, pound out words and pages, and somehow, when it’s all over, I’ve got a finished manuscript.” John Gilstrap “A good friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move a body.” Steven J. Daniels, Weeds in The Garden of Love … Read more

The Journal: Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * First, welcome * Second, today’s post * Let’s Talk Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed, Part 1 * Let’s Talk Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed, Part 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “A Pulp Speed writer loves to just tell stories, one right after another.” Dean Wesley Smith “The crap rules the traditional publishers forced on writers are gone for writers smart enough to escape them. [W]riters are free to write stories again at whatever pace they want to write. … The second pulp era is upon … Read more

The Journal: The DeepL Translator

In today’s Journal * The DeepL Translator * Some Great Stuff in “Of Interest” * Of Interest * The Numbers The DeepL Translator I failed to mention last time, when Norbert W in Austria emailed me, he used a translator to translate his Austrian (German language) email into English. I tried the same thing later, and I believe DeepL is a very good translation program. I’ve added it to my Writers’ Resources over on my author site. You can find the free version of the translator at https://www.deepl.com/Translator. The development of this translation program also seems to be heading in … Read more

The Journal: On Writing Scenes Out of Sequence

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Welcome, and on Writing Scenes Out of Sequence * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If criticism from outside proves devastating, it is because it so readily joins forces with an infinitely more strident and more aggressive form of criticism that has long existed inside of us.” The School of Life via Farnam Street blog In other words, external criticism only serves to reinforce one’s lack of trust in one’s own abilities. Welcome to Norbert W of Innsbruck, Austria. Norbert knows the freedom of writing into the dark, … Read more

The Journal: Stomping on Chandler’s Good Advice

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Happy Veterans’ Day * DWS * Stomping on Chandler’s Good Advice * I started writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “You can’t have guys with guns running around loose in your novel and surprises popping up like Whac-A-Mole.” Elaine Viets “Um, why not?” Me, in the back of the class, arm raised, waving frantically Happy Veterans’ Day or as we used to call it, Marine Corps Hangover Recovery Day. Yesterday, your United States Marine Corps celebrated its 246th anniversary. Semper fi to my brothers and sisters … Read more

The Journal: Why Do You Write?

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Why Do You Write? * Time to Start Considering Goals? * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “[T]he world I create in the writing compensates for what the real world does not give me. … I write because I’m scared of writing, but I’m more scared of not writing.” Gloria E. Anzaldúa “Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself.” Harper Lee “Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” Gloria Steinem “Real writers don’t write … Read more

The Journal: All About Items of Interest

In today’s Journal * All About Items of Interest * Of Interest * The Numbers Today’s Journal is all about items I thought you might find of interest. As a result, a bit ironically, there’s nothing in the actual “Of Interest” section again today. Anyway, I hope you find one or more of these items useful. From Jane Friedman’s weekly blog digest, I culled “NFTs: What Are They and How Much Should Writers and Publishers Care?” just in case any of you are interested. You can find the full article at https://www.janefriedman.com/nfts-what-are-they-and-how-much-should-writers-and-publishers-care/. In the interest of full disclosure, I personally … Read more

The Journal: Atticus to Rival Vellum

In today’s Journal * Happy Birthday * Atticus to Rival Vellum * Impostor Syndrome: The Wes Crowley Saga vs. Lonesome Dove * Of Interest * The Numbers Happy Birthday Happy 36th birthday to my youngest son, Roy. (grin) Feel better soon, Son. Atticus to Rival Vellum I wanted to get this out there in case it interests any of you. Apparently Atticus is a new cross-platform writing and formatting software program that rivals Vellum, which is only for Macs. At the moment, the program is still relatively inexpensive, and all updates, etc. are free. See “Atticus – New Formatting Software … Read more

The Journal: Censorship in the Name of Inclusivity

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Censorship in the Name of Inclusivity * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “For a writer’s voice to resonate, it must be true to the writer. Twenty-five years ago, when my first novel was about to drop, I took the one writer who gave me early advice out to dinner in a very nice restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s one of those old-money places where people speak in hushed tones and eat baked Alaska for dessert. “The writer in question was then and is now a huge … Read more

The Journal: Another DWS Kickstarter

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A couple of comments * Another DWS Kickstarter * Back to NaNoWriMo * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I’ve never written a novel in 30 days (as if!) but I did do NaNoWriMo to write 500-1000 words a day of my then-WIP and it really got me over a hump.” Kathleen McCleary A couple of comments The above quote is from an article that says if you want to “win” NaNoWriMo, it’s easy: Just change the definition of “win.” That advice is right up there with taking … Read more