Asimov’s

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, August 7

In today’s Journal * Last Saturday * Topic: I Rescind My Topic Statement * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Last Saturday, August 3rd, I wrote about flash fiction. A respondent from Japan and I have been exchanging comments on that post. In one of them he metioned “100 Word Story” at http://www.100wordstory.org/. Interesting website. That put me in mind of 55 Story, a book I bought a long time ago that started me writing flash fiction. You can find the current edition here. If you’re interested in writing flash fiction, I recommend the following (though all of … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, April 3

In today’s Journal ▪ Dean’s “Great Challenge” ▪ My tutoring is still open ▪ Topic: Priorities ▪ Daily diary ▪ Of Interest (a lot of good links) ▪ The numbers Dean’s “Great Challenge” is still open for sign-ups. Frankly, I’m surprised. On the surface, the cost appears a little steep, but it’s basically free tutoring from Dean Wesley Smith. You can use your $600 for credit toward anything you want, and if you make at least 52 short stories in a row (one per week for a year) you get a lifetime subscription of your choice. If I was still … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, March 7

In today’s Journal ▪ Daily diary and challenge stuff ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Rolled out at 3 this morning, per my internal clock. So far it’s a great but slow morning. One of my first readers read Blackwell Ops last night and responded already. Very fast. I applied his corrections and one suggestion. Then I completed a quick first-page critique for another writer and got that sent off. (I do still offer a free critique of up to about the first 500 words of your WIP, if anyone’s interested. Just email me.) After that I read a lot … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, February 27

In today’s Journal ▪ Welcome and adios (almost) ▪ On yesterday’s topic ▪ Topic: About Numbers ▪ Daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Hello and welcome to Sherry and Kimberley, and a sad farewell (I thought) to another subscriber. When I emailed him to say I was sorry to see him leave, it was news to him. So he’s re-subscribing. (grin) *** Frankly, the topic I posted yesterday was half tongue-in-cheek. As I wrote somewhere in that article, if someone else outlines and plots everything to within an inch of its life, that’s fine with me. In the … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, February 8

In Today’s Journal ▪ Short Journal entry today ▪ On cycling and first reading and how they’re similar ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Not a lot going on today. Got the gate moved and a new upright post in place on the latch side yesterday afternoon. Now I need to rebuild the gate itself. Probably this weekend. *** I was talking with a guy the other day (maybe in comments) about cycling. I don’t recall the whole conversation, but the take-away point was, cycling is all about Story. It isn’t about individual words or sentences. … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, November 20

Hey Folks, I apologize in advance for the long post today. I hope you get something out of it. I hadn’t planned to write a topic today either, but then I wandered across PJ Parrish’s post “When Should A Story End?” (“Of Interest”) and came across this doozy: “…writers should strive to make each plot point arise organically from character.” Later, she talks about a character living an “unauthentic” life. I don’t wonder. Topic: Let Your Characters Live Their Own Lives I’ve seen too many Nationwide Insurance commercials lately. My first thought as I read the excerpt above was “Tiny … Read more