Creative Penn

The Journal: A Very Short Post

In today’s Journal * First, here’s the pic * Quotes of the Day * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers First, here’s the pic I meant to include yesterday. This is a photograph of the print of the painting by Vivian Flasch on which I based the short story “Silence Is Better.” Quotes of the Day “I don’t mind if you don’t like my manners. They’re pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings. But don’t waste your time trying to cross-examine me.” Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep “Overhead … 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: A Hodgepodge

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * I’m gonna harrass you a little * Dean’s writing in public again * Update on the Street Team * The 50%-off sale continues * Smashwords Presents * If you enjoy podcasts * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “There is always something, and something else, to discuss.” Joe Hartlaub Hey folks, I’m gonna harrass you a little bit here. Please bear with me. As I write this, I have in mind a few specific friends of mine whom I know would benefit greatly. In fact, I … 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

The Journal: A Medium-Length Post and Mentoring

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * I’m time-limited today, but in a good way * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “This is what Stephen King would write like if Stephen King could really write.” A review from an anonymous (and clueless) reviewer of a Richard Bachman novel Not a lot to write about today, or much time. I started the day with a session with a new mentoring student, one I think I’m going to enjoy a great deal. The guy seems honest to a fault and forthright and one who … Read more

The Journal: More Boredom with Time Management

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: More Boredom with Time Management * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I write high-standard, quality fiction, not slop. Why the hell would I spend even one hour writing slop? I wouldn’t do that even to ‘just get it on the page’ so I could rewrite it later.” Harvey Stanbrough Topic: More Boredom with Time Management Yep, I screwed up big time so here I am again to try to fix it. A 30-day month has 720 hours (not 1800). Duh. I had a senior … Read more

The Journal: When Rewriting Is (Maybe) Appropriate

In today’s Journal * Getting close * Topic: When Rewriting Is (Maybe) Appropriate * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers At almost 52,000 words, I finally have a sense that I’m nearing the final scenes of my WIP. The end isn’t in sight (thankfully) but probably within another 10,000 words or so. So it looks like I’ll finish it in February. Woohoo! Topic: When Rewriting Is (Maybe) Appropriate Yeah, I actually said the R word. But I didn’t really mean it. What I actually meant was Cycling After the Fact (after a book is published). I actively teach (and … Read more

The Journal: Big “Of Interest” Section

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Info-packed “Of Interest” today * Today and critical mind * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “That which horrifies me interests me, and those things that horrify me the most sometimes become a book.” Douglas Preston, suspense author (with Lincoln Child) I like to think what I pass along in “Of Interest” is good every day, but today is a little special. During some research yesterday I stumbled on Strand Magazine. They have a blog. Within that blog they have a “Writing Tips” category. A lot of the … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, February 14

In today’s Journal ▪ Topic: An Apology ▪ A new blogger ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Topic: An Apology Yesterday in “Of Interest” I posted a link to “Nine Lessons from a Small Indie Publisher.” Had I read it first (I usually do), I wouldn’t have posted it. IMHO, this is not a “small indie publisher.” This is a traditional publisher doing his best to make indie publishing look bad, and he’s doing such a bad job at it that the attempt is transparent. How low will they stoop? Yes, in true indie publishing the … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, January 30

Hey Folks, I meant to post this yesterday. I really did, but there wasn’t a lot to talk about. Mostly I worked on the copyedit yesterday, as I will today and tomorrow, and took care of a few household chores. *** Well, the hits keep on coming. On the tail of losing a paternal uncle a few weeks ago, yesterday I lost another one. I am now officially the Old Man of the Stanbrough clan. Clifford Jerry Stanbrough was a tin-can (destroyer) sailor, a gunner’s mate, in the early 1950s. After that, he enjoyed a long career as a photographer, … Read more