In today’s Journal * How Ernest Hemingway Wrote * The Writing * Of Interest How Ernest Hemingway Wrote That’s the plainest, best title I could have given this topic. Had I seen that title at ANY time during my life, I would have shoved through crowds to be sure I was allowed to read what was below it. Yet dozens of writers will glance at the title and not bother to read the text. Oh well. That’s why God invented Jim Beam and Jameson & Sons Irish whiskey. If you would like to learn a LOT about how Ernest Hemingway … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * I Keep Forgetting * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.” Golda Meir “Prompt engineering is the imminent future. Do you have it in your arsenal of skills?” from an advertisement for classes on Skillshare—This would be an excellent line of dialogue in an SF story. “Peggy Dean’s ChatGPT for Creatives is a great start for anyone who wishes to learn how to integrate this AI tool seamlessly in their workflow and increase productivity.” … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Looking Into ALLI * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” Mark Twain “The avant-garde group … revelled in constraint. In 1947 Raymond Queneau, the collective’s co-founder, had imagined a single short story in 99 different ways in his ‘Exercises in Style’. In 1969 Georges Perec wrote a novel that omitted the letter ‘e’. Three years later he produced a novella in which … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * It’s Monday! * Keeping Track * Writer friend Aldred G * And from Chynna P * The Writing * Of Interest Quote of the Day “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Benjamin Franklin It’s Monday! and below are the results from the Challenge Writers for this week. You can still join in the challenge at any time, of course. There’s no cost, and it’s a great way to have some fun, jumpstart your writing, and let others see what is possible. Tony DeCastro “A Man Named Silk” 4200 words, … Read more

In today’s Journal * Social Media * The Purpose of My Bradbury Challenge * Short Story Prize Opportunity * The Writing * Of Interest Social Media Well, I established a MeWe account. Immediately it felt a lot “cleaner” than Facebook. Not sanitized by any means, but not riddled with disease and unreasoning hatred either. And MeWe doesn’t manipulate the snot out of everything the way Facebook does. All of that said, I honestly don’t know whether or how long I’ll stay on MeWe either. It isn’t that I’m not social at all, but I realized two things: One, my primary … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Cycling Redux * Bradbury Challenge Report, and Going Back to Monday * The Writing * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Stop worrying about your lack of sales of your five novels, take a deep breath, and go write. And remember to have fun.” Dean Wesley Smith “The question is not what you look at but what you see.” Henry David Thoreau “I experimented by turning off all my device notifications and staying in the groove for hours. The experience was like being deep in prayer at the altar … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Social Media Alternatives Redux * Cycling * Of Interest Quote of the Day “I tell would-be writers that there are three things to forget about. First, talent. I used to worry that I had no talent, and it compelled me to work harder. Second, inspiration. Habit will serve you a lot better. And third, imagination. Don’t worry, you have it.” Octavia Butler Social Media Alternatives Redux Yesterday I asked for input from anyone who has been using any Facebook alternatives. (Nothing yet.) In today’s “Of Interest” see the article about Substack’s … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Correction * MeWe? Other Facebook Alternatives? * Bradbury Challenge Report * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “No one is discontented at not being a king except a discrowned king … unhappiness almost invariably indicates the existence of a road not taken, a talent undeveloped, a self not recognized.” Blaise Pascal “I always wanted to be someone better the next day than I was the day before.” Sidney Poitier Correction In a recent post I inadvertently omitted a link to download a free annotated copy of Heinlein’s Rules. You can get … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Turbulence * Cycling * A Reminder * My Little Baby Cat * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.” Franklin D. Roosevelt “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Kurt Vonnegut “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein (Think about that before you resort to the myths to write.) “Brittney Griner to pen memoir about her 10-month … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Dealing with a Situation * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Merely providing an AI tool with a prompt, without extending creative control over how the tool interprets the prompt and generates expressive material, will fail to meet the standard for copyright registration.” US Copyright Office Guidance, March 17, 2023 “The registrant must identify the “traditional elements of authorship” that were executed by a human author and explicitly disclaim the AI-generated content in the application.” US Copyright Office Guidance, March 17, 2023 All of that (and the other guidelines) said, one … Read more