Dean Wesley Smith

The Journal, Thursday, December 21

Hey Folks, From The Passive Guy: Barbara Walters: “But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?” Isaac Asimov: “Type faster.” *** I started the day with a good walk, which was more wandering aimlessly about in the desert out back. Then back home for breakfast and to work on the copyedit. Those of you who wrote regarding the villanelle that Stanley Grill will include in his composition, thank you. I appreciate the kind thoughts. Here’s the poem, in case you want to see it: Roses? When pink and red entwine, their dreams to … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, December 20

Hey Folks, Probably thirty years ago, right out of the blue, I received an email from a young filmmaker at UCLA. He requested permission to make a short film based on my flash fiction story “At Confession.” Then several years later, so maybe fifteen or twenty years ago, a different filmmaker wrote me with the same request. And it was about the same story. How cool is that? So imagine my thrill when lightning struck for the third time early this morning. Oh, and if you’re a lover of classical music, you’re going to like this. Have you ever heard … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, December 5,

Hey Folks, A few days ago, a friend sent me an email: “You think too much.” I could only respond with a smiley face. I do understand why “you think too much” would appear to readers of this Journal to be true. After all, the point of the Journal is to bare the most intimate details and thought processes of my writing life, with the ultimate goal of maybe cutting the learning curve a bit for you, the subscribers. But I assure you, I only think “too much” here, in this Journal. And really, I don’t know that I’m thinking … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, December 2

Hey Folks, I didn’t plan to post again this soon. With my return feeling imminent, though, I figure what harm could it do. A friend wrote to me privately. In his email, he mentioned the desk, said he’d like to see it and wondered whether maybe it has magic powers. Actually, it might have. I thought I’d share my expanded response to him with you. My Desk As I mentioned yesterday, my desk is walnut, stained naturally in a warm medium brown. The finish on the leading edge of the large surface shows some wear, primarily in four places: where … Read more

The Journal, Friday, November 17

Hey Folks, Topic: On Describing Setting How much description in setting is “too much”? Here’s a rule of thumb: If the description is something you, the author, are adding, it’s too much; you’ll bore the reader to death. If it’s the POV character’s opinion of the setting that he absorbed through his own physical senses, it will be just right and the reader will be hooked. Every character (like every human) has a unique POV that is determined by his or her physical senses (including any limitations or enhancements of those senses) and filtered through his or her past experiences. … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, November 16

Hey Folks, Okay, so my challenge is a copycat of Dean’s current short-term effort. UPDATE: Not a copycat, not quite. My short-term challenge is at least one short story per day for the rest of November. If I miss one day, my challenge is busted. Dean’s challenge apparently was to write 20 short stories in the last 20 days of November. Not quite the same thing as having to write one per day. If he misses a day, he can simply make it up later. (See “Of Interest” below.) In my case, I’m doing this primarily to jumpstart my writing … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, November 15

Hey Folks, I started the day (and this Journal) with a brief write-up about an interview with Andy Weir, best-selling author of The Martian and now Artemis. Some of his responses in the interview put me in mind of the film Idiocracy. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend it. More of the world that’s conveyed in it becomes real every day. But the write-up sounded curmudgeonly even to me, so I replaced it with this. Frankly, I thought the guy sounded like a moron, and I decided I probably don’t want to risk buying his books. But you … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, November 14

Hey Folks, Well, again today I’m not going to publish my upcoming challenge. Frankly, I’m not certain yet what form it will take. For the new folks who’ve recently joined us here on the Journal, welcome. To bring you up to speed, I’ve been a very prolific writer (by most standards) but have experienced something of a slump off and on for the past few months. This morning, like a jolt of electricity, I realized the reason for the slump. More on that in a bit. The last story I finished was a novel titled Loose Ends. That was in … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, November 12

Hey Folks, Well, the last day of the visit of two of my sons, their wives, and five grandchildren (3 knights-in-training, 2 warrior princesses). It’s been something akin to exhausting, but also great fun watching the cousins run and romp and play together. On the adult side, we’ve all shared good visits, mixing and matching and drifting among each other. Today will be a day of final visits and hasta-la-laters, then laundry etc. to move back toward a semblance of normalcy. For what’s left of the day, I’ll watch Casablanca for the billionth time (and enjoy it). Tomorrow, my life … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, November 11

Hey Folks, To all the veterans out there and the spouses who support them, I hope you have an enjoyable and thoughtful Veterans Day. Or as we in the Marine Corps call it, Hangover Day. (grin) I’ll be back with regular, longer posts beginning on Monday, so thanks for hanging in there with me. It’s been something around 3 years since I started this, and most of you have been here from the beginning. Then I broke the streak (not sure how long it even was) and started again almost two years ago. In 16 more days, this blog will … Read more