KillZone Blog

The Journal: Another Way to Think of Your Daily Word-Count Goal

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Another Way to Think of Your Daily Word-Count Goal * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[M]y editor and agent at the time felt strongly that a degree of ambiguity in the end made the story better. I never agreed, but it was my first book, and I was dizzy from the whole experience, so I said okay. I’ve regretted it for 25 years.” John Gilstrap Topic: Another Way to Think of Your Daily Word-Count Goal I happened on this while replying to Diane Darcy’s … Read more

The Journal: Quote of the Day (and Little Else)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I got tired of wading through discussions that had nothing to do with helping authors make a living with their words and everything to do with Proper Group Think and Virtue Signaling the appropriate amount of Woke.” C.D. Watson on why s/he left RWA No topic today, and very little else, but a good “Of Interest” section. And I had a pretty good fiction writing day. Talk with you again soon. Of Interest See “But It’s Important!” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/but-its-important/. This … Read more

The Journal: I’m All About Productivity

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Well, I’ve been remiss * Topic: I’m All About Productivity * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If, after that time, you feel stifled by your quota, don’t give it up. Just reduce the number to something easy. Like 250 words. Your ficus tree can write 250 words in a day. Don’t be shown up by your ficus tree.” James Scott Bell Well, I’ve been remiss recently, failing to welcome the few new folks who have joined us in the past couple of months: Ralph R, … Read more

The Journal: We All Have Days “Like That”

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: We All Have Days “Like That” * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I just go again, keep writing, and it all smooths out.” Dean Wesley Smith “My philosophy is it’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am, and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.” Anthony Hopkins, via The Passive Voice Topic: We All Have Days “Like That” You know, those days … Read more

The Journal: On My Goals and Ugh

In today’s Journal * On My Goals * Ugh. It’s going to be a full day * Of Interest * The Numbers On My Goals Another update. I never want my goals to limit me. That would just be stupid. Goals are there to make us reach, not to hold us back. Duh. So for the duration (now through June 2020) I don’t necessarily have to START a short story on or after a Sunday, but I have to have a new one finished every Saturday by midnight. Likewise, I don’t have to START a novel on or after the … Read more

The Journal: If I Could Dictate

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: If I Could Dictate * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Note: I had this post all ready to go yesterday, but forgot to hit Publish, so here it is today. I’ll publish another one later today (as an experiment) to see whether both of them post at 5 p.m. this afternoon. Quote of the Day “I tend to fly and finish a lot of words… I don’t like to stop.” Diane Darcy, USA Today bestselling romance novelist Topic: If I Could Dictate Diane Darcy brought up an interesting … 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

The Journal: Translation, and the POV Character’s Opinion

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Translation * Topic: The POV Character’s Opinion * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “If the character had more of a colorful opinion, I might see the reason for the description-to … give insight into the character.” Jordan Dane, the Kill Zone blog “Translating from one language to another is the most delicate of intellectual exercises; compared to translation, all other puzzles, from bridge to crosswords, seem trivial and vulgar. To take a piece of Greek and put it in English without spilling a drop; what … Read more

The Journal: Trusting the Process

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Have you ever blown an entire morning noodling with a single paragraph or, worse, a solitary sentence? Resistance has outfoxed you. You have hung up an entire battalion trying to capture an outhouse.” Steven Pressfield Had a good writing day today. This is a really twisted novel, but the disparate parts are starting to come together. Folks, this is the truly great thrill of writing into the dark: to just write the next sentence and let the story unfold as … Read more