Dean Wesley Smith

The Journal: Shared Worlds and Poetry

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Shared Worlds and Poetry * I thought the novel * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.” JRR Tolkein “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” JRR Tolkein “[What matters is] who you are and how you treat people, not what you signal.” FarnamStreetBlog.com. Dean announced in today’s post (linked below) that the Shared Worlds class is still open to anyone who wants to jump in and write for anthologies. And there … Read more

The Journal: In Protest of Hatred

In today’s Journal * Topic: In Protest of Hatred * Another good day * The Numbers Topic: In Protest of Hatred There are only two things I cannot personally tolerate: intolerance and hypocrites. But with that statement, when it comes to some writers, I repeat myself. I despise writers (and people in general), who lade themselves with tons of unearned guilt, primarily to call attention to themselves and how wonderful they are, and then attempt to project that guilt onto others. I despise writers who make absolutely certain they’re touching on all the accepted and expected social biases and preferences … Read more

The Journal: Garbage Runs in Cycles

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Garbage Runs in Cycles * Great start * The Numbers Quote of the Day “We often think we need to open with a huge bang, something that’ll catch the reader’s attention and play out like a blockbuster movie. But here’s the thing about those high-powered opening scenes: readers don’t care because they don’t yet know the characters or the baggage….” Becca Puglisi Topic: Garbage Runs in Cycles This morning was weird in two ways. Like so many other natural phenomena, garbage seems to run in cycles. One: I just realized … Read more

The Journal: The Shared World short story

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Shared World short story * Still looking for a publisher * And where do I leave a legacy? * The Numbers Quote of the Day “There is only one place to write and that is alone at a typewriter. The writer who has to go into the streets is a writer who does not know the streets. . . when you leave your typewriter you leave your machine gun and the rats come pouring through.” Charles Bukowski (via The Passive Voice) Well, yesterday I stopped writing the short story with … Read more

The Journal: Today, Yesterday, Sometime Later

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Today * Yesterday * Sometime later * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Saying that taste is just personal preference is a good way to prevent disputes. The trouble is, it’s not true. You feel this when you start to design things.” Paul Graham “It takes confidence to throw work away. You have to be able to think, there’s more where that came from.” Paul Graham Topic: Today in “Of Interest” is a link to an article that purports to list “12 Signs You’re Still in the Learning Phase of … Read more

The Journal: Writer’s Block and Coming Up with Ideas

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Writer’s Block and Coming Up with Ideas * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You can not do this from critical voice. You must learn it by reading and typing in openings of top bestsellers (stage four writers) and pay attention to what they are doing. Then you just trust your creative voice to add what it has learned into your stories over time.” DWS on learning pacing Note for any RSS readers: I added the above Quote of the Day after I initially posted today’s edition of the Journal. … Read more

The Journal: Fact or Fiction Indeed

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Fact or Fiction Indeed * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The words are maps, and the map is not the territory. The map is static; the territory constantly flows. Words are always about the past or the unborn future, never about the living present. The present is ever to quick for them; by the time words are out, it is gone.” Polish scholar named Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (via The Passive Guy) Topic: Fact or Fiction Indeed In today’s “Of Interest” there’s a link to an article titled “Fact … Read more

The Journal: My Recent Novels, and Numbers

In today’s Journal * My Recent Novels, and Numbers * The Numbers My Recent Novels, and Numbers Because the novels in my recent series have been coming in at around 50,000 words, I was totally stoked there for awhile that I might finish the current one in January. Meaning yesterday. (I’m actually writing this yesterday, on the 31st of January.) Why was I stoked? Because my best day on this one thus far was Day 6 at 6572 words. If I’d done 6500 words per day for 7 days, the novel (as of the 30th) would have stood at 52,000 … Read more

The Journal: Character with a Problem

In today’s Journal * Topic: Character with a Problem * Additional References * The Numbers Topic: Character with a Problem Yesterday, I received a complimentary email from a writer. In it, he initiated two topics, one intentional and one peripheral. The more important is the peripheral one, so I’ll talk about that today. Many times, I’ve said all you need to start a story is a character with a problem in a setting. In his email, the writer wrote, “I have no trouble with the setting part. That’s what comes to me first. (Like the painting that has given you … Read more

The Journal: Information

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Information * Yesterday turned out * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “You need to remember this. The cat sat on the mat,” said David. “That’s not a story. But the cat sat on a dog’s mat. Now that’s a story.” Kate Weinberg quoting David Cornwell (AKA John LeCarre) “The writing is a great palliative…” David Cornwell (AKA John LeCarre) Information I don’t think I’ve mentioned this “Colliding Worlds” Kickstarter here before, so I’ll mention it now. Seems like a great deal to me if you enjoy reading science fiction. See … Read more