Anne R. Allen

The Journal: Mentorships Now Available

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Food for Thought * Mentorships Now Available * The Novel * A Few Words on Genre * Of Interest Quote of the Day “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” Herman Melville Food for Thought So I don’t forget, here’s a free copy of brand-new handout: Craft and Non-Craft Topics to Stir Thought. When you click the link, a blank screen will open and the document will download automatically. Mentorships Now Available Because it’s difficult for me to let go of a concept once I sink … Read more

The Journal: How do you know which story idea to write?

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * PQ Topic: How do you know which story idea to write? * The novel continues * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” Ernest Hemingway “It is only when you open your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader.” Paul Gallico “Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.” Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at … Read more

The Journal: Today, Yesterday, Sometime Later

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Today * Yesterday * Sometime later * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Saying that taste is just personal preference is a good way to prevent disputes. The trouble is, it’s not true. You feel this when you start to design things.” Paul Graham “It takes confidence to throw work away. You have to be able to think, there’s more where that came from.” Paul Graham Topic: Today in “Of Interest” is a link to an article that purports to list “12 Signs You’re Still in the Learning Phase of … Read more

The Journal: Bottom-Line Concerns

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Bottom-line concerns * Degrees of communication * Writing into the dark * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “In order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.” Bruce Lee “Bottom line concerns have all but decimated the publishers’ promotional efforts….” Paul Dinas on Anne R. Allen’s blog “Bottom-line concerns.” Yes. Because today the major traditional publishers increase the value of their corporation NOT by publishing and selling books but by paying a pittance for IP, then valuating that IP … Read more

The Journal: Putting a Cap on It

In today’s Journal * Putting a Cap on It * Of Interest * The Numbers Putting a Cap on It By way of clarification, in this case “it” is the craziness. And by way of further clarification, “the craziness” is my own and society’s. And this essay, I guess. So my own craziness, society’s craziness, and what some of you probably will see as the craziness of this essay. Feel free to substitute the word “insanity” for “craziness” at any point. Pain is relative. Inconvenience, too, and distruption of the norm are relative. I think everyone knows that. What you … Read more

The Journal: Half-Price WMG Workshop Sale

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Dean Is Doing It One More Time * Yesterday * Clarification * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “One of the widest gaps in human experience is the gap between what we say we want to be and our willingness to discipline ourselves to get there.” Harry Emerson Fosdick “Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.” Robert A. Heinlein (via his character, Lazarus Long) “Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. … Read more

The Journal: “Can’t” vs. Critical Mind Excuses

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Can’t vs. Critical Mind Excuses (in which Harvey gets mouthy) * Welcome * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Can’t never did anything.” Shirley Stanbrough (my mom) Topic: “Can’t” vs. Critical Mind Excuses In “Of Interest” today is an article titled “10 Ways to Feel Like a Real Writer When You Can’t Write Thanks to Coronavirus.” Normally I wouldn’t even link to this silly article, but some of the 10 activities on their list are still things writers need to do, so I … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday and an Offer

In today’s Journal * Yesterday * A lot of people * If you would like to taste-test * Finally, if any of my patrons * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday was a much better day of writing with well over 4000 words (see Day 7). The only thing that slows the process is stopping now and then to integrate the March novel with the current one. More than once I’ve felt like it would have been wiser (and easier and a lot more fun) to just trash the whole thing and start over like I was going … Read more

The Journal: Cave Creek and Update on Cycling

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Cave Creek Kickstarter * Street Team update * Kevin Tumlinson * Topic: Update on Cycling * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “‘No one will like this.’ ‘It’s not funny enough.’ ‘It’s too short.’ ‘It’s too long.’ [These] are projections into the future, which don’t actually exist because no one has read your book yet. Write your book, put it out there, and then don’t dwell in the past worrying about whether the book is good enough. Keep in the present and write that next sentence.” … Read more

The Journal: How to Manage and Expand Your Business

In today’s Journal * Kris Rusch’s Patreon page * Topic: How to Manage and Expand Your Business * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers I’m fortunate that I support Kris Rusch’s Patreon Page (at a lowly $5 per month). She posted two back-to-back posts today re the current Black Swan (herein after referred to as BS, no joke intended) event. They were extremely helpful. I’ll be posting them here in “Of Interest” when they go live on her site next Thursday (or at least that’s been her pattern). Topic: How to Manage and Expand Your Business Like any other … Read more