The Journal: On the Use of “Blue” or “Bad” Language

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The novel continues, combined * Topic: On the Use of “Blue” or “Bad” Language * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees Is my destroyer. And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.” Dylan Thomas Appropos of nothing, this is probably my favorite poem of all time. “It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right … Read more

The Journal: How do you know which story idea to write?

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * PQ Topic: How do you know which story idea to write? * The novel continues * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” Ernest Hemingway “It is only when you open your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader.” Paul Gallico “Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.” Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at … Read more

The Journal: How Do You Get So Many Ideas?

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * PQ Topic: How Do You Get So Many Ideas? * The current story * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” J.K. Rowling via The Passive Voice “The best way to improve your ability to think is to spend time thinking.” Farnam Street blog, in an article titled “How to Think: The Skill You’ve Never Been Taught.” It dawns on me that at one time, university was where one went to be taught how to think. Now university is where students … Read more

The Journal: Standard Writer Think

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Standard Writer Think * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day From The Passive Voice, “I try to write two pages a day, every single day until that first draft is done, no matter how terrible those pages are. I rarely use any of those pages later, but it feels good to fill up a blank page.” Author Anjali Enjeti Yeah, I’m just gonna take off on that quote above. Because unfortunately, it’s Standard Writer Think. If you don’t believe me, look at some of the comments at “Reader … Read more

The Journal: Audio—It’s Not What’s for Breakfast

In today’s Journal * Topic: Audio—It’s not what’s for breakfast. * Anything Goes * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: Audio—It’s not what’s for breakfast. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that audio, at least in its current iteration, is a fad. I understand it’s all the current rage. Everyone’s talking about how to do it, or how to have it done. But I think it’ll pass. Not only because I don’t personally listen to audiobooks (I don’t), but because people far more expert and attuned to business than I believe it isn’t cost effective. Also, … Read more

The Journal: Rider Jones is back

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Rider Jones is back * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” Winston Churchill Well, that was a quick hiatus. Rider Jones is back. Apparently the guy wasn’t finished telling me his story. This is a little like deja vu. Before I wrote my first novel, Leaving Amarillo (chronologically Book 4 in the Wes Crowley series), I’d never imagined writing a western novel of any kind. But … Read more

The Journal: Rider Jones Wrapped

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Rider Jones wrapped * Took a day off * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I didn’t write what I thought people wanted to read. I didn’t research what might be popular — what might sell — and write that. I wrote stories that felt personal to me, that I enjoyed completely from writing to reading.” Kristen Ashley Yes. This is how you set trends rather than following them. “Scene is where the pace of the story slows to ‘real time,’ and we’re privy to every word, gesture, … Read more

The Journal: IP Valuation

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: IP Valuation * Rider Jones * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Intellectual property is the oil of the 21 century.” Mark Getty “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.” Thomas Jefferson Topic: IP Valuation I was going to talk in-depth about IP valuation this morning. To that end, I did a Google search for “IP Valuation,” downloaded a promising-looking PDF document, and clicked a button on the … Read more

The Journal: The Missing Days

In today’s Journal * The Missing Days * Just dinging along * Of Interest * The Numbers The Missing Days Well, I think the matter with the Journal subscriptions is resolved. I ran a validity check on my RSS feed and found it was broken and why. So once I got rid of the problem (about 9:30 yesterday morning), the Journal posted at 10. To make it a little easier to read the issues you might have missed, here are the links: Apr 19: The Origins of Rider Jones—Bragging just a little and why I’m writing about Rider Jones in … Read more

The Journal: Fiction Lengths and Much More

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Brief Introspection * A reminder * A heads-up * Fiction lengths * Fairly good day * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” Marilyn Strathern If you set a solid goal, chances are you will fall short. You want something to reach for, not something to obtain. “Most readers will subliminally appreciate the specificity even if they don’t know the reference.” James Scott Bell “No pressure, no diamonds. Little pressure, little diamonds. Great pressure, great … Read more