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The Journal: Take Your Time

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Take Your Time * “That” and other words of interest * Great writing day * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.” Pablo Picasso “My goal is to live my life in such a way that when I die, someone can say, she cared.” Mary Kay Ash (thanks to Sam T. for the tip) “In 1977, I wrote my autobiography. Since I was dealing with my favorite subject, I wrote at length and I ended with 640,000 words.” Isaac … Read more

The Journal: Election Day

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Today Is Election Day * Another great day of writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The cat sat on the mat is not the opening of a plot. The cat sat on the dog’s mat is.” John LeCarre “The thing I like best about being a writer is the escape it provides.” Yer Uncle Harv Today is election day. I know, old news. But if you live in the United States, this is probably the most important election day of your life. Today the citizenry and … Read more

The Journal: A Free Boot Camp for Writers

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Ralphie May’s Boot Camp * The novel is coming along * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Having a dedicated space is a signal to yourself that writing is not an idle hobby that you peck away at between household chores or doom-scrolling Twitter sessions. Ideally, there should be no Twitter allowed in this space. It is a place you go to work.” Kim Bullock That “no Twitter allowed” recommendation is why I also advocate a dedicated writing computer. This is kind of a special edition of the … Read more

The Journal: NaNoWriMo Approacheth

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: NaNoWriMo Approacheth, Slouching… * I’m writing again * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “It is the writer that creates a story that will sell … if the writer allows himself to be in the story with the character.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: NaNoWriMo Approacheth, Slouching Toward Keyboards Everywhere Forgive me the following. I’m going to get a little snarky. In an article in Kobo Writing Life yesterday, the author advised writers to “prepare” for NaNoWriMo. The article suggests writers 1. Plot their outline 2. Do a … Read more

The Journal: “Turnaround” and Links

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * “Turnaround” Finished * My friend Robert S. * Not a lot, but links * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The most regretful people on earth are those… who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.” Mary Oliver As advertised, I played a little yesterday and finished “Turnaround.” I wasn’t sure of the title when I started (it was just what occurred to me) but the reason for the title became clear as the story wrapped up. (grin) I … Read more

The Journal: Better Than Usual

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Update on my construction woes * Better than usual * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “A successful runner doesn’t see the finish line in a race; he sees ten yards beyond it. That’s his goal and the visualization keeps him moving beyond the expected end. A good writer does the same thing – pushes beyond the obvious limit to ensure a successful conclusion.” Dan Baldwin in “The Long and Short of Endings” (To subscribe free email baldco@msn.com.) “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let … Read more

The Journal: Dare to Be Bad and a Lot More

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * There’s a link * If you hadn’t noticed * I have a really cool problem. * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “[T]here are no real repercussions of mailing a story that fails. No editor reads anything that doesn’t work and no editor will remember your name if your story doesn’t work. … The reality is that no one notices, which I suppose for some people is worse. But there are no real risks.” Dean Wesley Smith “I would also turn every story in to a workshop [critique … Read more

The Journal: Flash Fiction and Being PC

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Flash Fiction and Shameless Self-Promotion * A New Font: Polite Type * Over the past two days * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “We are not trying to entertain the critics. I’ll take my chances with the public.” Walt Disney Flash Fiction and Shameless Self-Promotion In today’s “Of Interest” section I’m helping advertise a 4-week course on writing flash fiction. I visited the site and it looks like a good course, though I suspect in her definition of “flash fiction” the instructor includes what we used to … Read more

The Journal: Personal Update

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Big deals in Of Interest * Personal update * CovID-19 stuff * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Terror’s not ghosts flying through the walls, going woo-woo-woo. Terror is when the party is over and everyone has gone home and at last you can take a deep breath and you lock the doors and your place is finally empty and quiet, and you turn out the lights and then you hear the toilet flush upstairs. That’s terror.” Warren Murphy Okay, again I’m putting out this edition of the … Read more

The Journal: The Difference Between Rewriting and Cycling

In today’s Journal * How weird is that? * Topic: The Difference Between Rewriting and Cycling * Of Interest * The Numbers How weird is that? Two Journal entries in two days. I’m still not writing fiction, but I’m getting closer. I have a couple of major projects in mind. Once I settle on one, I should be off and running again. But for now, this Journal entry is necessary. Not for me or a handful of others I know, but for some of you maybe. Topic: The Difference Between Rewriting and Cycling This is a followup to the topic … Read more