In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Report * How Other Pro Writers Write * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “You can’t leave [a situation] too unexplained. Readers want your version. They don’t want a prompt. They want you to do the work and tell them the story.” Lee Child in his “How I Write” interview “If you give the characters free will, the characters go places you don’t anticipate. The characters start having their own thoughts that surprise you. What I learned over the years is ‘trust the character’.” Dean Koontz in his … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * My Own Reading ‘Process’ * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Life is a precious coin, and you can only spend it once.” Martha Woods, as attributed by her son, actor James Woods My Own Reading ‘Process’ I could have also called this My (Extended) Quote of the Day. A young very good writer emailed me a couple of days ago with some questions. She and I enjoy talking with each other about writing fiction. I won’t include her specific questions, but here’s my much expanded response, which … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Structure of Literary Genres… * Of Interest * The Numbers The Structure of Literary Genres and the Modes of Delivery of the English Language The Premise As I mentioned in the bit on the history of poetry in America, that poetry must be “interpreted” to be understood is a modern phenomenon in which some English Literature professors were (and maybe still are) complicit. But those poets and the aforementioned tenure-seeking crowd of the 1970s also were complicit in breaking the structure of the poetry genre in the English language itself. They somehow managed to convince themselves … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Why We Don’t Read Poetry 3 * Of Interest * The Numbers Why We Don’t Read Poetry 3 Well, I’ll tell you something. As I wrote earlier, the knot-headed notion that good poetry must be “interpreted” to be understood is self-centered, haughty, and self-defeating. It’s also foolish. That and the complicity of the “publish or perish” English-Literature tenure-seeking crowd of the 1970s is what drove away the poetry audience. To that end, you’ll never hear novelists or short-story writers say the reader must interpret their work in order to understand it. In fact, you’ve never heard … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Brief History of Poetry in America * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Poetry, which before had been words and emotion which I love, was suddenly presented as a puzzle to be decoded—one that a peon kid like me could not possibly understand.” Violet, in a comment on yesterday’s post. (She absolutely nailed it.) A Brief History of Poetry in America To lay a foundation of sorts, let me provide a brief history of which many are unaware. I should say up front that I admire well-written … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Why We Don’t Read Poetry * Of Interest * The Numbers “I urge you to give me the few minutes necessary to read these posts even if you don’t typically read poetry.” Harvey Why We Don’t Read Poetry Pre-Introduction If you stop a hundred people on the street and ask them whether they read poetry—not including the occasional greeting card—most or all of them will say No. If you ask them why, most will say they can’t understand it. There’s a concrete reason for that. First, notice they won’t say they “don’t” understand it. They say … Read more

In Today’s Journal * I Fix Flats * Guest Posts Welcome * Of Interest * The Numbers I Fix Flats An AI-Generated Opportunity for Ghostwriters A guest post by Dan Baldwin You’ve seen those side-of-the-road square white placards with crudely-scrawled words in red: “Flats Fixed.” Savvy “authors” who “wrote” their book using AI-generation are now seeing red with the discovery that the book they’re so proud of is not a real book. Instead it’s a dry, flat, tedious assembly of words and phrases very unlikely to produce the emotional impact needed to inspire or motivate readers. “Authors” who only want … Read more

In Today’s Journal * My Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Report * A New Short Story * Story Idea? * A Couple of Reminders * Of Interest * The Numbers My Quote of the Day “We who write into the dark abstain from conscious mind revision and rewriting, not because our words and stories are precious, but because we prefer to present the character’s true, authentic story instead of our own ego-driven fabrication.” You didn’t miss anything yesterday. I didn’t post an issue of TNDJ. The Bradbury Challenge Report Participating in any challenge is a great way to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * In an Email * Becoming the Character * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Bobby has an invisible process. He becomes the character.” Sissy Spacek on Robert Duvall (Sound familiar?) In an Email One accomplished writer said she “just finished listening to Fahrenheit 451 on Audible. Wow. I’ve read it several times but probably the most recent was 10 years ago. What I listened to was the 60th anniversary edition. At the end of the audible version they included an afterword and coda of his. Both are gems. I … Read more

In Today’s Journal * What Is a Story Idea? * Of Interest * The Numbers What Is a Story Idea? Note: This is a much deeper take on a topic I originally posted on March 6, 2020. Some would-be writers believe story ideas are rare and wonderful things, that they arrive on the wings of a muse as the result of some kind of quasi-magical “inspiration” that only visits the gifted. And even some who consider themselves gifted believe that so-called inspiration strikes rarely, with roughly the frequency of thunderstorm driven lightning bolts in the Sahara Desert in the midst … Read more