In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Laugh of the Day * Expansion of a Novel * Cycling Isn’t Only to Check Your Work * If I Haven’t Mentioned It * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The original is unfaithful to the translation.” Jorge Luis Borges Put another way, don’t translate what happens in your characters’ world. Write the authentic story. “Writing Into The Dark scares many writers, and I believe 99 times out of 100 those are the writers who haven’t tried it. … It’s natural to fear the dark at first [but] … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * The Value of Challenges * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why. All great discoveries are made in this way.” Albert Einstein, Forbes Quotes: Thoughts on the Business of Life (Thanks to Dan Baldwin for the quote) The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting To take part, write … Read more

In today’s Journal * Bradbury Challenge Reminder * About “Soft as a breeze” * Of Interest * The Numbers Bradbury Challenge Reminder Today is Sunday. You who are in or want to join the challenge, please be sure to get your story info in to me before the Journal goes live on Monday. Setting a personal deadline earlier in the week is the easiest way to ensure that. Remember, the whole point of the challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer even as you expand your IP inventory. (grin) About “Soft as a Breeze” Other than when … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A New Short Story * A Conversation About Writing Fiction * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Everywhere I go I’m asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them. There’s many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.” Flannery O’Connor “You can’t learn to write in college. It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do—and they don’t.” Ray Bradbury “To be a champ, you … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Excellent Questions, Answered * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Excellent Questions, Answered A couple of days ago, I received an email in which the writer asked a few excellent questions. My response, a little expanded, is below with thanks to HG, who is close to finishing his first novel, which he wrote into the dark. The first thing to know is that when it comes to writing, age is irrelevant. Seriously. I started writing novels in October 2014, a month before I turned 62, so not quite ten … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On Understanding Others, and Characters * Two Excellent Posts * Just Sit Down * Music, White Noise, or Silence? * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “In the end it is important to remember you cannot become what you need to be by remaining what you are.” Max De Pree (from the signature in DT’s email) On Understanding Others, and Characters As a response to Dr. Mardy Grothe’s most recent post (see Of Interest), this thought sprang to mind: “You can never understand another human being, and you … Read more

In today’s Journal * Re the Contest * If Anyone Else * Scam of the Day * I Got Nothin’ * Of Interest * The Numbers Re the Contest Got a good question. The word limits for the contest are per my definition of a short story, so 2000 minimum to 7999 maximum. (Under 2000 is a short-short and over 7999 is a novelette.) But yes, you can send a story that’s too short or too long for the contest. I’ll still read it, but it will be disqualified from the prizes. I’ll still consider it as a submssion for … Read more

In today’s Journal * Correction * A final reminder— * Flash Contest Continues * Of Interest * The Numbers Correction Turns out George Kordonis HAD sent me the story info for this week, and I apparently missed it. He forward the email to me. So he’s officially still in the Challenge: George Kordonis, “The Vault in the Other Room 1025 Horror Thanks, George, and my apologies for not finding your original email yesterday. A final reminder— Today is the last day for the sale on Writing Better Fiction. Click the link to get your copy for only $9. Tomorrow, May … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * WITD Is Not the Only Way * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The really great writers are people like Emily Brontë who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.” James A. Michener Just a reminder— I’ll run this reminder from now through April 30 to be sure everyone has the opportunity to read it. Writing Better Fiction is still on sale for only $9 for all eformats, including printable PDF. On May 1, the … Read more

In today’s Journal * Note * The Right Equipment * Writing Past the End * Of Interest * The Numbers Note Yesterday I was running on too little sleep, so I didn’t write anything new for the Journal. So today I offer up two more partial “old posts” I’d written sometime along the way. I thought I’d posted them before, but in a cursory search of the Journal, I found nothing. You will see them below. Just a reminder—I’ll run this from now through April 30 to be sure everyone has the opportunity to read it. Writing Better Fiction is … Read more