Countercraft

The Journal: Dave Farland (David Wolverton)

In today’s Journal * David Wolverton * Of Interest David Wolverton I’m still here, and there are some good things in “Of Interest.” But my main reason for posting today is to pass along some sad news. John David Wolverton, better known as Dave Farland or David Wolverton, suffered a massive heart attack yesterday and passed away last night. Our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and fans the world over. Dave’s departure is a huge loss to fiction and to the world in general. He, Dean Wesley Smith and Kris Rusch were longtime friends. Dean posted a great pic … Read more

The Journal: Writing Fiction

In today’s Journal * I Fibbed * Topic: Writing Fiction * A Quick Look Back * Of Interest * The Numbers Welp, I fibbed. I said I wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, but here I am. I wanted to do a self-motivating recap of 2021, and I wanted to announce my first writing project for the new year. And it seemed silly to wait until tomorrow to do either of those. Also, it seemed wrong not to post on the first day of a new year. So here I am, wishing you the best year of writing you’ve ever had. … Read more

The Journal: The DeepL Translator

In today’s Journal * The DeepL Translator * Some Great Stuff in “Of Interest” * Of Interest * The Numbers The DeepL Translator I failed to mention last time, when Norbert W in Austria emailed me, he used a translator to translate his Austrian (German language) email into English. I tried the same thing later, and I believe DeepL is a very good translation program. I’ve added it to my Writers’ Resources over on my author site. You can find the free version of the translator at https://www.deepl.com/Translator. The development of this translation program also seems to be heading in … Read more

The Journal: Traditional Publishing Contracts: Derivative Rights

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * From Dan Baldwin’s Writing Tip of the Week * About Kris Rusch Licensing Books * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “There is only one thing you can do, I think. Log out of BookScan. Close Goodreads. Log off Twitter. And go write. I know it’s not a very original thought. But clichés can be true. Maybe it’s the only true thing.” Lincoln Michael “At the root of most fear is what other people will think of us.” Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday Below is reprinted most … Read more

The Journal: Making a Story Important

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Making a Story Important * A Fallacy * Prejudgment Stinks * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Full of bull on every page.” Jack Kerouac in a letter to Allen Ginsberg about Truman Capote’s writing “That isn’t writing at all. It’s typing.” Truman Capote about Kerouac’s On the Road I wasn’t going to post today at all, but then I read Kelley’s comment on my previous post, “Insanity.” I assume the comment referred to my subtopic on “how to keep writing a novel.” But as I was writing … Read more

The Journal: Got my new pickup

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * My New Pickup * Labor Day Weekend * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[T]hink like a publisher. I want to wholesale the books to someone like Little Passports because they [not I] work to acquire the end customer….” Darcy Pattison My bride was kind enough to take a couple of quick snapshots of my new pickup. Well, it’s new to me, and exactly what I wanted. Please pay no attention to the short, fat, slouchy, probably balding vagrant who wandered in to photo-bomb the second picture. (Like … Read more

The Journal: An Opportunity for Writers

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * An Opportunity for Writers * Of Interest * The Numbers ​​​ Quote of the Day “Hemingway … developed a technique that let him transfer from one point of view to another. He would simply start outside a character, describing the world and the character, and then move into dialog, which colors the world with emotion. Eventually, in a third paragraph, he would then move fully into the character’s thought processes. … To move out, he’d simply reverse the strategy.” David Farland For the record, this works, although I would argue that … Read more

The Journal: More on Ideas, and Introducing Tidbits

In today’s Journal * More on Ideas * Topic: Introducing Tidbits * Of Interest * The Numbers ​​​More on Ideas Excerpted from an email to a potential new mentoring student. In his email he told me he was deluged with story ideas: I’m glad you’re deluged with ideas. I get so tired of would-be writers asking “Where do you get ideas?” My typical response is “Where do you NOT get ideas?” Just this morning during my walk, I passed through several swarms of flying ants. My imagination immediately went to an alien invasion. A little later, as I was eating … Read more

The Journal: One Writing Process

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: One Writing Process * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I always tell people to just let a story or a book be what it wants to be. Sometimes I even forget my own lessons.” Dean Wesley Smith “Most of the ‘wisdom’ from members feels like advice we’ve all heard over the years presented as inviolable rules. Those of you who have hung around TKZ for a while know my opinion on the rules of writing: There aren’t any. Fiction writers need only to entertain their audience. … Read more

The Journal: Computers and Programs and Novels, Oh My

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Computers and programs and novels, oh my * Don’t ever write this * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The upsides of a few Twitter likes and a small honorarium that won’t cover rent are hard to weigh against the risk of harassment that can destroy your mental health, career, or even life.” Lincoln Michel Computers and Programs and Novels, Oh My Sometimes it seems like there are always ten more things to do. Before I moved over to the writing ‘puter yesterday, I decided on a whim … Read more