The Journal: Why Helping Writers is Important

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday (and the Day Before) * Topic: Why Helping Writers is Important (and So Frustrating) * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day (Still bingeing on Bradbury) “Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.” Ray Bradbury “The first thing a writer should be is — excited.” Ray Bradbury On the day before yesterday, I was … Read more

The Journal: Bradbury, Halifax, and More Food for Thought

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday * Food for Thought * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day (Still gorging on Bradbury) “Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t “try” to do things. You simply “must” do things.” Ray Bradbury “Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.” Ray Bradbury Yesterday, as it turned out, I wrote very little. Not really enough to even count, so I don’t consider it a writing day. I think I was too … Read more

The Journal: Food for Thought

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Food for Thought * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day (I’m gorging on Bradbury) “The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling and tiger-trapping.” Ray Bradbury “Dandelion Wine, like most of my books, was a surprise… I simply got out of bed each morning, walked to my desk, and put down any word or … Read more

The Journal: A Very Short Topic

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday * Today * Topic: A Very Short Topic * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.” Ray Bradbury “Eventually, everyone will be quarantined to their houses with no sports to watch… and in nine months a boom of babies will be born… and we will call them Coronials.” Creative Talent Agency (via The Passive Voice) … Read more

The Journal: A Bit of Silliness

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Writing Bundles Kickstarter * A Bit of Silliness * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.” Ray Bradbury According to Dean Wesley Smith, the Writing Bundles Kickstarter has hit the third stretch goal and is closing in on the fourth. As a result, everyone who backs the Kickstarter with at least a $5 donation will get * the First Quarter of Tips … Read more

The Journal: “Can’t” vs. Critical Mind Excuses

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Can’t vs. Critical Mind Excuses (in which Harvey gets mouthy) * Welcome * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Can’t never did anything.” Shirley Stanbrough (my mom) Topic: “Can’t” vs. Critical Mind Excuses In “Of Interest” today is an article titled “10 Ways to Feel Like a Real Writer When You Can’t Write Thanks to Coronavirus.” Normally I wouldn’t even link to this silly article, but some of the 10 activities on their list are still things writers need to do, so I … Read more

The Journal: Apropos of Nothing

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Apropos of nothing * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I Love to write. It’s all I do.” Ray Bradbury Apropos of nothing, I thought I’d share this little bit of wisdom from a friend’s post on Facebook from a week or so ago. One more glaring example of why natural selection is a thing. Yesterday, after I posted the Journal (that’s always the first hour or two of the day) I was about to start on the novel. Then I decided to apply … Read more

The Journal: Why I Don’t Talk Much About CoVID-19

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday * Topic: Why I Don’t Talk Much About CoVID-19 * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If it’s not on the page, your reader doesn’t know it.” Nathan Bransford Yesterday, I got sidetracked for awhile by a new (to me) source for royalty free photos. See Visual Hunt at https://visualhunt.com/ (via Jane Friedman). The daily word count continues to decrease (see Day 4, sigh). I’ll have to see whether I can do something about that. (grin) It has nothing to do with the novel. The … Read more

The Journal: Think

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday * Topic: Think * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Nothing will stop you from being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.” John Cleese (from KillZone blog a day or two ago) Yesterday, I got up early to give myself more time on the novel, but that didn’t really work out. I was tired much of the day, and I wasn’t thinking quite right. Lesson learned. Maybe. I got just over 3600 words (see Day 3). At the end of the … Read more

The Journal: Short Post Today

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Authors Give Back Sale * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” Albert Einstein (via The Passive Voice) For anyone who’s interested, I’ve just enrolled all my books at Smashwords in the Authors Give Back Sale. All my books are marked at 60% off through May 31. That means, again, that many of my short stories there are free. But all of my books there are at least 60% off. Great time to jump into a series or sample some … Read more