The Journal, Saturday, November 4

Hey Folks, In “Of Interest” below, I mention a Smashwords podcast. It’s all about how to work with beta readers. As such, it extolls the virtues of letting readers into your work and (I’ll bet) mentions none of the downsides. You all know that I often employ a first reader. That’s one avid reader who knows exactly what to look for (specific places where confusion ensues, inconsistencies, and OBVIOUS wrong-word issues IF they pop out at him) and what to leave alone (literally everything else). Sometimes, with some stories, I ask Kenneth to look for certain overall things: Is there … Read more

The Journal, Friday, November 3

Hey Folks, Yesterday after I posted the Journal, I noticed it looked as if it read “Thursday, One and One-Half.” So I’ll try to remember to spell out the month from now on. More on writing… In my ongoing mental-morphosis, I’m coming to understand more of what’s going on. Nothing. Nothing’s going on. (grin) Well, nothing sinister. Maybe. I got so used to a daily word count and then other goals that it feels odd not to be writing constantly. That’s all. I’ve become comfortable with storytelling, and comfortable with knowing stories will come. At least that’s what I think … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 11/2

Hey Folks, Hmm… a meandering, personal-thought journey in today’s Journal…. I’ve still been thinking about challenges, but I think that’s almost over. I thought about a challenge in which I would write at least one opening per day during the month of November. If the opening took off, I’d write it. If not but if it piqued my interest, it would go into my Openings file. Either way, I’d still have to write a new opening every day. But something didn’t feel quite right about that. Mostly it felt too contrived, probably because it was. The main thing, I think, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 11/1

Hey Folks, Wow. November already. For that matter, 2017 already. What happened to 1978? Just sayin’. I failed to mention yesterday that we had a little visitor. In the pre-dawn pitch, I was at my outside desk when I heard a sound that seemed not part of the usual early morning sounds. I grabbed my torch (I like the Brit “torch” so much better than “flashlight”) and went looking for my kitten. As I stepped past the southeast corner of the house, I shined the light to the west. Toward the southwest corner of the house, something was sniffing at … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 10/31

Hey Folks, Happy Hallowe’en. I’d planned to return to my WIP novel today, but didn’t. Other things took priority, but it was still a good day. No more pushing it. I’ll write when it’s time. In the meantime, a brand new bundle launched today. The Trouble Comes Calling bundle contains my mystery novel, The Platinum Blond Perturbance. You can see the ad for the bundle at the top of the left sidebar on my website. The photo will take you to the bundle page. *** “I’m not really that knowledgeable about police work. The real story is in the psychology … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 10/30

Hey Folks, This morning, in a piece I was reading online, I saw this: “In my opinion, less is more, just as it is when you’re writing, period.” Oh dear god. I can almost see him primping. Every time I hear a writer say “Oh, in writing, less is more,” I want to suggest they write nothing at all then. Based on their reasoning, their canon of work should expand exponentially. But I can’t bring myself to do it. The vacant-eyed, slack-jawed stare that would ensue as the moron wondered whatever in the world I was talking about might be … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 10/29

Hey Folks, Well, I didn’t stay up for the whole game last night but I still woke up later than my usual time. Sorry to see that Houston lost their first home game in the post season. Plus although I’d like to watch a seven-game series, I was also kind’a hoping Houston would wrap it up at home. This morning I tweaked my website again. Most notably, I changed the home page back to the ProWriters Blog, moved the bundles into the left sidebar, and moved Writer Resources onto a dedicated page. And frankly, that’s about all I did today. … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 10/28

Hey Folks, Getting back in the habit of walking every day. Only a mile, but still. I’ll increase that later to maybe as far as three, but I won’t go nuts with it like I did a couple years ago. Today started out pretty good. Had to clear a clogged outside drain. That was okay, but then it turned into a lot of other stuff that was mostly unnecessary. Had to do it to see that it was unnecessary though. So I had a few of those wasted hours, where I might as well as rolled them into a ball … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 10/27

Hey Folks, I’m slow on the uptake lately. For example, I feel bad when I don’t have a lot of writing to report in this Journal. But I realized, finally, that’s just silly. A lot of writers (most, even?) intentionally take time off between projects. Well, we assume they’re taking time off. In reality, we don’t know whether they’re just busy with other things, are in a slump, or are fighting some other battle. The difference here is that I’m slathering great gobs of my writing life (and my regular life as it affects my writing life) in public. Probably … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 10/26

Hey Folks, Well, I did some work on my website today and thought about a few more things I’m considering doing but not sure about yet. Also took care of a client’s website for her and chatted with a friend about holding tanks in camper trailers and things like that. Got another Stephen King (Richard Bachman) book in the mail today. I recently bought (or re-bought) a few of his Bachman books. As long as I’m still working through this problem I might as well have something good around to read. I’m not intentionally putting off my writing, but there’s … Read more