The Secret to Being Prolfic

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: The Secret to Being Prolfic * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “If you wish to advance into the infinite, explore the finite in all directions.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “Sure you can, Harvey. ‘Can’t’ never did anything.” My stepmom, about 65 years ago when I complained that I couldn’t do something. I owe her my Marine Corps career, and I owe her my writing career. “May your future be limited only by your dreams.” Christa McAuliffe Topic: The Secret to Being Prolfic First, the secret to being a prolific … Read more

The Journal: Recognizing the Critical Voice

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * I expect the novel will wrap today * Topic: Recognizing the Critical Voice * Of Interest * The Numbers I had a pretty good day of writing yesterday once I pried my head out of my butt and realized what was screwing me up: the conscious, critical mind. It’s always the conscious, critical mind. Always. Every time. As an added bonus, I think the novel’s going to wrap today. All that was required was that I stop worrying about it. Can’t believe I made such a rookie mistake. (grin) I even … Read more

The Journal: Finished an Edit and the Critical Voice

In today’s Journal * Finished an edit * Topic: WITD, Cycling and the Critical Voice * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Well, I finished the copyedit I was working on, and Oh Wow was it ever a great read. The thing was so fast-paced I kept wishing it had already been copyedited so I could ‘just read’ it. I don’t usually announce new releases of any work but my own here, but I think I’ll announce this one when it’s published. It’s just that good. Topic: WITD, Cycling and the Critical Voice A writer wrote to ask me … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, June 29

In today’s Journal * Recap * Quiet the Critical Voice (and Write Fiction) and Change of Plans * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Yesterday I attended the Adding Suspense workshop and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s more of an awareness workshop than anything else, bent toward teaching the writer how to study the suspense element in other works. For the workshop, DWS broke suspense down into five major elements, yet those elements are intertwined when at work in the novel. It was interesting to see how they interact (and are interdependent) on the micro level. No telling how … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, June 28

In today’s Journal * Thanks * Recap * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Thanks to Diane Darcy and Phillip McCollum. Both for their comments on yesterday’s post and for spreading the word about the book. Phillip actually plugged it on his blog. (grin) If any of you bought the Amazon version of Quiet the Critical Voice (and Write Fiction) and found it doesn’t have a table of contents, I’m not sure why they did that. If you email me, I’ll send you a Kindle version that DOES have a TOC. A table of contents is valuable in … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, June 27

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Recap * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quote of the Day “The … published book, is not the holy grail. The story, the thing that the writer has created, is the holy grail. Before publication of any kind. Because publication is a license.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch (see “Of Interest”) KKR’s post today is nothing short of earth-shattering. Let s/he who has ears listen. *** I really thought I’d get the Critical Voice book finalized and distributed yesterday. Didn’t happen. So I’ll do that today. Had trouble finding cover … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, June 26

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: I Almost2 (Squared) * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quote of the Day “All generalizations are dangerous, even this one.” Alexandre Dumas *** Topic: I Almost2 (Squared) 1. I almost tossed out the Critical Voice book this morning. After all, pretty much everything in the book flies in the face of one lie or another (DWS calls them “myths”) that writers have been taught over the years. But if you’re one of the minority who were looking forward to the book, don’t sweat it. I will publish … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, June 2

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Today you’ll see * Thanks to those who * Yesterday I asked * Topic: Quieting the Critical Mind (Chapter 13) * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quote of the Day In response to my request for feedback on the Journal, one writer wrote, “I have not given much feedback because some of my impressions are not universal, just personal.” My response: “The longer I’ve lived, the more I’ve noticed that what I or others believe to be personal is also personal to some 80% of other people (so … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, June 1

In today’s Journal * Thanks for the comments * By the way, Blackwell Ops 6 * By the way (again) * By the way, Part 3 * It’s already June 1 * Topic: Quieting the Critical Mind (Chapter 11) * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Thanks for the comments, Diane and Karen. They not only encouraged me (see what you did?), but they also help the Journal’s visibility on search engines. Interesting to me that Diane Darcy is a USA Today bestselling author and that Karen Riggs is a relative beginner. Yet neither is willing to accept … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, May 31

In today’s Journal * Lazy day today * Topic: Quieting the Critical Mind (Chapter 11) * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Lazy day today for some reason. Well, I know the reason, really. I’m writing, but I’m piddling, taking my time, allowing distractions. This has never happened to me before, and I’m certain the WIP is behind it. Well, I’m certain my feelings for the WIP are behind it. I’m both anxious to write this story and wary of writing it too fast. I want to write it but I don’t want to approach the end. So … Read more