In Today’s Journal * A Sample “Annual Production” Spreadsheet * There’s Always a History * The Writing * The Numbers A Sample “Annual Production” Spreadsheet Yesterday a writer asked for a “blank” spreadsheet showing the formulas I use, etc. Problem is, if the spreadsheet is blank, there won’t be any formulas. (grin) So I did a quick mock-up example derived directly from the Annual Production spreadsheet I use every day. It shows not only the formulas but how they work for both monthly totals and cumulative totals, day by day and month by month. I also wrote a fairly detailed … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Top Ten Things Every Writer Should Know * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. The only requirement is to write at least one short story per week. During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories: Vanessa V. Kilmer “A Stranger Storybook Ending” 3513 Fairytale Adam Kozak “North Side Racket” 3890 Noir Harvey Stanbrough “A New Threshold” 2390 Romance Dave … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day (and Commentary) * Correction * The Order of Narrative Bits and Dialogue * If You Don’t Follow Dean Wesley Smith * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “It’s not the process of writing I love, it’s discovering something new and then telling others about it.” Dr. Mardy Grothe (see Of Interest) Commentary Dr. Grothe went on to write, “For me, reading and researching is like panning for gold and writing is like sharing the nuggets.” He was talking about discovering, compiling, and sharing with others quotations on various topics. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Re Advice from 52 Authors * A Blast from Pro Writers Writing (2019) Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Apple agrees to settle $95M class action lawsuit … [which] alleges Apple’s virtual assistant Siri recorded users’ conversations without consent and shared them with third parties, contradicting the tech giant’s privacy commitments.” 1440 Daily Digest under “Quick Hits” (January 4, 2025) This is exactly why I’ve never allowed any Siri or Amazon Alexa, etc. into my home. Also great fodder for a story idea. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Challenge Reminder * 2025 TNDJ Archives? * My Schedule * The Writing * A Few Notes on Grounding the Reader in the Opening * Of Interest * The Numbers Challenge Reminder Today is Friday. If you’re in or beginning the Bradbury Challenge this week, your story info is due via email to me by Sunday midnight Arizona time (so 2 a.m. Eastern?). Here’s the format: Author Name “Story Title” 1234 Genre The 1234 is the word count. (grin) Might be a good idea to get it in sooner if you’re in the path of the heavy … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The 2024 TNDJ Archives Are Here! * Yesterday * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Writing is like driving at night. You can see only as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” E.L. Doctorow, in James McInerney, “Author, Author: An Interview with Doctorow,” in Vogue magazine (Nov. 1984) “You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Novel Wrapped * My Official Personal Goals for 2025 * The TNDJ 2025 Challenges * The Waller Files * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “My word average per day for the [December] challenge was less than 1K but I’m still proud of myself because I managed to complete a novella and the 23K story is now being proofed/proofread. I should have it up for sale on Amazon by the first or second week in January.” Magz “I’m planning at least 1 story a day for the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Bradbury Stuff * Another Way to Look at Cycling * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “My most rewarding (and unexpected) subplots showed up through my character’s creating ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ moments for me.” Dan Baldwin “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Bradbury Stuff Those of you in the Bradbury Challenge, remember the next report will publish on Monday, January 6. One hearty soul is challenging himself to write … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Writers Setting Goals * Nonfiction Book Giveaway * Writers Ask * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I’ve learned much more from my clients than I’ve been able to teach them.” Dr. Mardy Grothe in his Quotes of the Week on “New Year’s Resolutions” (Dec 28, 2024) True ‘dat. So keep those comments and emails coming in folks. You are the lifeblood of TNDJ. “No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference. It is that from which … Read more

In Today’s Journal * All About Characters * A Limited Time Giveaway * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers All About Characters Containing brief notes on Character archetypes, Creating vs. “crafting” (constructing) characters Learning about character traits and quirks, and Character Archetypes If you’re honest with yourself, every character you ever meet in real life is at first only an archetype. It’s true, and there’s nothing you can do about it. When you first encounter a person you’ve never met before, your brain instinctively leaps to two conclusions: The first conclusion is your perception of whether the person … Read more