Jane Friedman

The Journal: More on Shared Worlds

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: More on Shared Worlds * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The toughest thing we do as artists is trust our own vision. If we don’t, we will not end up with a long career. … What good writers do is make familiar stories new, so new in fact that they seem breathtakingly original.” — Kristine Kathryn Rusch And for those of you who write in series, this one really struck me: “When you’re writing in your own world, you don’t go for the details … Read more

The Journal: The Internet

In today’s Journal * This is me, griping. * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers This is me, griping. You might want to skip it and goe straight to “Of Interest.” Apparently, an al-Quaeda operative (or other bad guy) deep in a cave in Afganistan can talk clearly on demand by cell phone to a contact on the planet Jupiter. Yet if a gnat passes gas in Mississippi, my internet doesn’t work in Arizona. For the past two days, the internet’s been down in the Hovel. It’s hard-wired with a cable that isn’t supposed to be affected by moisture … Read more

The Journal: From our friend

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * From our friend * In the second item * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Oh that tricksy critical mind. My biggest challenge. The only cure is writing anyway.” Karen Riggs, novelist From our friend Bob B re the 20BooksTo50K writers’ conference in Vegas this week, They’re already starting to post videos from this year’s conference at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTrqmZBt-FWUWnxWD2x5Ucg/videos. Their Facebook Group is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/20Booksto50k/. Take advantage of this, folks. Tidbits like this don’t come along every day. *** In the second item in “Of Interest,” the … Read more

The Journal: Sorry to have been away

In today’s Journal * Sorry to have been away * Update on the Master Business Class * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Sorry to have been away for a couple of days. Honestly, there just wasn’t much to report, even in “Of Interest.” I’ve been working mostly on a lengthy copyedit and doing some things for my mentoring student, as well as working on the bible for the shared world I’ll reveal around the first of the year. Update on the Master Business Class Kris Rusch let slip in her most recent Patreon post (I’ll link to the … Read more

The Journal: Update: Game On

In today’s Journal * Update: Game On * Topic: Inventory * More and more patrons * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Update: Game On I reached out to a writer who has attended the Master Business Class and asked him whether anyone there talked politics during the sessions. His answer was a resounding No. He wrote “at the beginning of both Vegas workshops I attended, they announced that there was to be absolutely NO discussion of politics or religion inside or outside of the classroom. They said they have sent people home for doing so.” Good enough. I … Read more

The Journal: Rethinking, Rethinking

In today’s Journal * Rethinking ways to rethink the future * I’m also rethinking * Some days are downers * Of Interest * The Numbers Part of the creative person’s ongoing task is to experiment, plan, rethink, and adjust. Regrettably, I’m rethinking a couple of things today. The first is rethinking ways to rethink the future of our business. Only yesterday, I was certain I wanted to attend the Master Business Class in Vegas next October. Today, not so much. It would be an invaluable investment in our business. What we could learn there — if the instructors and students … Read more

The Journal: On Efficiency and Establishing Habits

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: On Efficiency and Establishing Habits (and a Bit on Today) * Yesterday I picked up * Toward the end of the day * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I’m not a young man. I’m old, tired and full of no coffee.” Raymond Chandler, in Playback I can totally relate. (grin) Topic: On Efficiency and Establishing Habits (and a Bit on Today) Yesterday, Mona noted that the recurrent theme in my personal notes over the years has been scheduling. She’s right, and that was an epiphany for … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, October 31

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Genres and Audiences * I’m writing again! * Yesterday * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Don’t ever write anything you don’t like yourself and if you do like it, don’t take anyone’s advice about changing it. They just don’t know.” Raymond Chandler For a great series of descriptions of the commercial genres and appropriate audiences by age, download my free Genres and Audiences at https://harveystanbrough.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Genres-and-Audiences.pdf. Note: this was derived from “Genre: A Novel’s Flavor” ©2019 Modupeh Duncan for AuthorsPublish.com *** I’m writing again! This morning I started … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, October 23

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Show of hands * Topic: Warning—Safeguard Your IP * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Jesus, where the hell is everybody when they first deliver the typing paper? Where are all the ‘helpers’ when those boxes full of silence come in? Blank. Both sides. No clue, no instructions enclosed on how to take just twenty-six letters and endlessly rearrange them so that they can turn them into a mirror of a part of our lives. Try it sometime.” Larry Gelbart First, a ahow of hands—How many … Read more

The Journal, Monday, October 21

In today’s Journal * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Today I’m posting here mostly to pass along the stuff in “Of Interest.” After working on my email a little last night and a lot this morning, I finally got through what had accumulated while I was gone. Dan and I had a great time escaping life in general, social media, Home Shopping Network and all the other mind-numbing stuff that washes over us all in everyday life. I posted a few pics on Facebook. If I can figure out how to download it from my camera, I might … Read more