A Good Question, and Punctuation

In today’s Journal * A Good Question * Punctuation * Of Interest A Good Question In a comment on “An Email, and You Who Disagree,” Chynna P wrote “[D]oes this mean you’ll stop writing the Journal soon?” I doubt many read the comments, so I thought I’d respond in today’s edition of the Journal. (I hadn’t planned to post an edition today at all.) First, thanks to Chynna for the question. She read the post correctly, but the answer is, I honestly don’t know. I’m not getting any younger, and I’d really rather fashion an intentional end to my contribution … Read more

Fear

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Fear * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.” Billie Jean King “In Heinlein’s Rules, Product Focused writers have trouble with Rules #1,#2, and #3. Process Focused writers have a horrid time with Rules #4 and #5.” Dean Wesley Smith Welcome to my hometown friend Leslee E. and several other new subscribers since I started posting to Substack. Fear Most writers who are steeped in the myths are also mired in the fear of rejection. They are what … Read more

Dr. Jerry Pournelle on Writing and Heinlein

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Topic: Dr. Jerry Pournelle on Writing and Heinlein * The Magnetic Drive * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” Muhammad Ali “Unless you wrote your book exclusively for your own satisfaction, once your creative vision is on the page, it’s time to zoom in on how the book works for readers.” Lisa Poisso, Resident Writing Coach at Writers in the Storm (Um, I suggest asking how the … Read more

The Journal: Best Writing Practices

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Best Writing Practices * So What’s the Problem? * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.” Lauren Bacall “You don’t want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior to my critics for the simple reason that they haven’t done what I do. Most book reviewers haven’t written 11 novels. Many of them haven’t written one.” John Irving “[S]uccess or failure is all about how we navigate the challenges that arise.” Felix Torres in a comment on a post … Read more

The Journal: How to Get Here, Part 1

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: How to Get Here, Part 1 * Of Interest Quote of the Day “[T]he absolute best promotion for your books, proven through history and thousands of surveys and studies, is your next book.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: How to Get Here, Part 1 If you want to be a professional fiction writer, there are two ways to go about it. To my mind, they are the hard way — following the myths and turning what should be fun into labor — and the easy, fun way: Writing Into the Dark, … Read more

The Journal: Why Most Fiction Writers Will Never Get Here

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Why Most Fiction Writers Will Never Get Here * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they’ve been fooled.” Mark Twain “But they are amazingly hard to follow—which is why there are so few professional writers and so many aspirants, and which is why I’m not afraid to give away the racket!” Robert A. Heinlein on his “Business Habits” “What [Heinlein’s Rules] did for me was to finally get me out of the stupid teaching from school and allow me to … Read more

The Journal: Enough with “Pantser” — A Rant

In today’s Journal * Enough with “Pantser” — A Rant * Of Interest Enough with “Pantser” — A Rant Over at the Kill Zone blog today, James Scott Bell wrote that he’s often asked, “What do I do if I’m in the middle of my novel and there are so many things happening, so many characters running around, that I’m losing my way? [What do I do to get back on track?]” Well, if you’re asking me (and many have), shrug, I suggest you trust the characters enough to just write the next sentence. Then write the next sentence and … Read more

The Journal: Always Be Learning

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Always Be Learning * Of Interest Quote of the Day “There is nothing like the death of a moneyed member of the family to show persons as they really are, virtuous or conniving, generous or grasping.” Jesse Dukeminier and Stanley M. Johanson, estate planning attorneys. (Possible story idea?) Topic: Always Be Learning The old salesman’s mantra, the ABC of selling, is Always Be Closing. For the serious fiction writer, the mantra is Always Be Learning. Over at Kill Zone today, Garry Rodgers discussed Dieter Rams’ ten design principles and theorized … Read more

The Journal: A Turning Point

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Lot in “Of Interest” Today * A Turning Point * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “For me, the witchcraft that is writing rarely rises to the front of my mind. When it does, I seem to screw up. I go to work, pound out words and pages, and somehow, when it’s all over, I’ve got a finished manuscript.” John Gilstrap “A good friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move a body.” Steven J. Daniels, Weeds in The Garden of Love … Read more

The Journal: Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * First, welcome * Second, today’s post * Let’s Talk Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed, Part 1 * Let’s Talk Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed, Part 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “A Pulp Speed writer loves to just tell stories, one right after another.” Dean Wesley Smith “The crap rules the traditional publishers forced on writers are gone for writers smart enough to escape them. [W]riters are free to write stories again at whatever pace they want to write. … The second pulp era is upon … Read more