Dean Wesley Smith

The Journal: My Head Is Full

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: My Head Is Full * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Writers write. Professional writers publish their works.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch “There’s a lot of value to learning how to do a clean one-draft novel. It allows the writer to make the story the important thing, not the words. It also frees the writer up to write, not contemplate every tiny detail.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch Topic: My Head Is Full Ever get the feeling your head is full? Mine is. That’s one reason I write … Read more

The Journal: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post) * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If you’re not productive in this new world, you’re done. You’re just done.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post) I had a few questions about this, so I thought I’d revisit it. My daily word count goal is 3000 words per day beginning on January 1. Yesterday, I practiced. I started a short story that didn’t pan out, and I missed my goal. In fact, I … Read more

The Journal: On Daily Word-Count Goals

In today’s Journal * Topic: On Daily Word-Count Goals * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: On Daily Word-Count Goals In case you don’t read the “My Own Getting Ready” in today’s “Of Interest,” I found it very interesting (and pleasantly surprising) that both Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch still use word-count goals. As I learned from Dean back in early 2014, a daily word-count goal is indispensible for several reasons: Whether you fall short or go way over on a particular day, the next morning the goal resets to zero and it’s a new day. … Read more

The Journal: Question Everything (and Safeguard Your Credibililty)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Question Everything (and Safeguard Your Credibililty) * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “In the face of misuse, it’s much easier to write a new definition than to teach the old one.” Me, on the dumbing down of English language usage America If you love the language and enjoy “tangential discussions,” see “Priorities” and the comments at https://prowriterswriting.com/priorities/. Topic: Question Everything (and Safeguard Your Credibililty) Yesterday (and through to this morning) I got into a discussion with some other folks about something silly. Is the … Read more

The Journal: Nonfiction Topics

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Nonfiction Topics * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[D]on’t let your opinion get in the way of sales.” Dean Wesley Smith You are the worst judge of your own work (we all are) when we think a work is “bad” as well as when we think it’s “good.” Hence, the quote above. Topic: Nonfiction Topics Now and again, professional fiction writers have complained to me, albeit mildly, that they find it difficult to come up with a new topic for a blog post every … Read more

The Journal: Paper or No Paper

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Paper or No Paper * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.” Robert Benchley, via The Passive Voice Topic: Paper or No Paper In today’s “Of Interest,” DWS talks about the fear of publishing. It’s a good article, and I recommend it. However, his article is tied to his Great Publishing Challenge. Seems he received a lot of comments that (to him) indicate fear of some aspect of publishing as … Read more

The Journal: Dual Days and Making Your Goals Public

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Dual Days * Topic: Making Your Goals Public * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The only unacceptable short story is one that misses the deadline. A bad story is OK as long as it’s turned in – write a better one next week. No one cares about your bad story – and next week you [w]on’t have time to care about it. Read the bad story later and it probably turns out it’s not as heinous as you thought – besides, no one cares what … Read more

The Journal: A Lot of Stuff, and 2020 Goals

In today’s Journal * Thinking Out Loud * Pressure (Fear) * My Personal Writing Goals * The Rules and Caveats * My Patrons * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Thinking Out Loud If you’ve been thinking about jumping into Dean’s short story challenge (or the novel challenge, for that matter), be sure to see the first item in “Of Interest” below. Both challenges are an absolute win-win. Yes, it costs $600 to buy-in. But if you drop out anywhere along the line, you get $600 worth of credit toward his workshops. So you lose nothing. You also get … Read more

The Journal: Picking Up Again and Censorship

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Picking Up Again and Censorship * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Writing into the Dark isn’t just putting down random happenings and letting your characters wander about blindly.” Terry Odell She’s right, it isn’t. WITD is trusting your subconscious to use the knowledge it’s absorbed over the years. It’s the writer allowing the characters to tell the story that they, not the writer, are living. Topic: Picking Up Again and Censorship Usually when I return to a story, even after a few days away … Read more

The Journal: A Cautionary Tale

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: A Cautionary Tale * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[I]t’s equally important to put the book aside and write another.” Mark Alpert Topic: A Cautionary Tale Author Mark Alpert, in the Kill Zone blog today, posted what he calls the “Lesson of the Decade.” Please go read it now. The first three paragraphs have to do with nostalgia rather than writing. That’s fine. But those and the lesson he imparts in paragraph four (see “Quote of the Day” above) are the best parts of … Read more