KillZone Blog

The Daily Journal, Sunday, August 18

In today’s Journal * Tomorrow I’ll write * Topic: (Sigh) WITD One More Time * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Tomorrow I’ll write again. Today I’ll be off playing with my buddy for about half the day. I planned to spend some time with my novel this morning, but I ran across a comment on the PWW blog from yesterday. Rather than respond in full to the comment there, I decided to give my response a fuller, maybe more attentive and receptive readership here. So…. Topic: (Sigh) WITD One More Time In part, the commenter I mentioned … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, August 15

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Note on Dreams and Goals * Topic: Writing Setting and Scene Descriptions * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quotes of the Day “One advantage of being prolific is it reduces the importance of any one book.” Isaac Asimov Invaluable, that. Write it, publish it, write the next one. It’s all practice, and practice makes better. “Quantity and quality aren’t enemies.” Ryan J. Pelton A Note on Dreams and Goals Dreams are just that. Dreams. They’re things you would like to achieve or attain that are completely out … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, August 12

In today’s Journal * Topic: Time and Priorities * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Topic: Time and Priorities Karen Riggs posted in PWW on Sunday, August 11 (see “Of Interest”), about her process when her writing stalls. Especially if the stall is caused by interference from the conscious, critical voice. She mentions that some writers go do something else for awhile to rob the critical voice of its power. Then they come back to the writing. She also mentions that she might have “a set window of time to write” on a given day and “there’s a … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, August 8

In today’s Journal * As some of you look to me * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers As some of you look to me for writing advice, I owe you an explanation regarding my recent lack of focus on fiction writing. I’m going through an unusual life roll at the moment. Or you could look at it as a series of small, overlapping life rolls. This one is unusual because it consists of various events, some good and some less-than-good, that are converging at the moment. Two are medical. Neither is life-threatening like the one last year … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, August 7

In today’s Journal * Last Saturday * Topic: I Rescind My Topic Statement * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Last Saturday, August 3rd, I wrote about flash fiction. A respondent from Japan and I have been exchanging comments on that post. In one of them he metioned “100 Word Story” at http://www.100wordstory.org/. Interesting website. That put me in mind of 55 Story, a book I bought a long time ago that started me writing flash fiction. You can find the current edition here. If you’re interested in writing flash fiction, I recommend the following (though all of … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, August 1

In today’s Journal * Straight to it today * Topic: Every Story Needs an Editor…. * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Straight to It Today No lollygagging about. It’s time for a little tough love. Topic: Every Story Needs an Editor (and Other Stupid Blanket Statements) I read a blog post yesterday by a writer who has stopped learning because she apparently believes she knows enough. She even wrote, point blank, if you believe your story doesn’t need other eyes on it, you must believe your words are “precious.” Ugh. I really wish I hadn’t read that. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, July 31

In today’s Journal * Wow * I might have mentioned * Topic: Update—Keep Abreast of Your IP * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Wow. Already July 31. How’d that happen? We accomplished a lot at StoneThread Publishing in July with learning about licensing (and a ton of other things). Personally, as a fiction writer, not so much. I wrote upward of 40,000 words this month, but only around 7,000 of those were fiction. (A very far cry from my 110,000-word fiction months, eh?) We at STPublishing also made huge strides on getting my IP inventory under control … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, July 29

In today’s Journal * Your eyes * Topic: How to Get More Sales * Topic: Writing and Publishing * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Your eyes do not deceive you. Today is a two-topic day. Both are essential. (Well, if I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have written them. Duh) So let’s jump right in. Topic: How to Get More Sales I started to add “at Amazon” to the title of this topic, but it will help improve your sales in all venues. I’m taking a free Reedsy lessons-by-email course on Amazon algorithms. Not that I’ll try … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, July 28

In today’s Journal * Thanks * Quote of the Day * Another Recommendation * Topic: Why Google Play, Why All the Emphasis on Spreadsheets, and What About Length? * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Thanks for all the comments over the past couple of days. I appreciate knowing you’re out there. Besides, you guys offer up some valuable advice! You can always share here through comments. Quote of the Day “If you capture the right beginning, you’ve written a small version of the whole.” Les Edgerton Another Recommendation In case you missed it in yesterday’s comments, Bob … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, July 27

In today’s Journal * Because * Quotes of the Day * Topic: A Recommendation * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Because (according to MailChimp) so few of you click-through to items in “Of Interest,” I’m putting this early in the body of this post: See “Day Job Thinking” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/day-job-thinking/. This is a great, extremely important post. Please read it carefully, maybe a couple of times. By the way, I’m not complaining about the click-throughs. I like to believe you aren’t clicking through on “Of Interest” items because you’re already checking them on your own. But I … Read more