KillZone Blog

The Journal: Here Come the Fatalists

In today’s Journal * Here Come the Fatalists * Of Interest Here Come the Fatalists Fatalists? Do I have the term right? Isn’t that what you call people who focus on telling you what you will surely never be able to do so you shouldn’t even try? Whatever you call them, I don’t like them. People have called me negative before, but I’ve never told writers a bunch of things they can’t do: I’ve always focused on what they CAN do, on how much they CAN achieve, on their positive capabilities. Believe in yourself and you can do anything. Trust … Read more

The Journal: More Brandon Sanderson

In today’s Journal * More Brandon Sanderson * Mentorships Discontinued * Of Interest More Brandon Sanderson Another very short but important post today, primarily to mention two things: First, I took the time to look around and find Brandon Sanderson’s “318-R” course, the course on writing that he teaches at BYU. It’s free online (with his blessing) in a series of YouTube videos. I encourage you to watch at least the Course Overview (58 minutes) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4ZDBOc2tX8&list=PLH3mK1NZn9QqOSj3ObrP3xL8tEJQ12-vL. If you go to that particular URL, you’ll see not only the Course Overview video, but the list of the other videos on … Read more

The Journal: Not a Good Day

In today’s Journal * Oh Well… * BundleRabbit Is Now PubShare * Of Interest I’m a little grouchy today. My apologies in advance. If you don’t want to put up with my grousing, I suggest you skip down to the “Of Interest” section. Oh Well…. Although he “love[d] the book idea and cover” for my SF novel For the Good of the Galaxy:The First Nine Days, Dean declined to include it in the upcoming StoryBundle. The reason? I don’t have a large-enough social-media presence, and therefore don’t have the platform to promote the bundle widely enough to be fair to … Read more

The Journal: Aliens Among Us

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Aliens Among Us * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Lessons here? Sure. Show up every day, every minute. When you make a promise to write and you don’t do it you are letting yourself down, not to mention whoever would have benefited in however many ways by reading your efforts. You’re never too old to start until it’s too late. It’s not too late today.” Joe Hartlaub (see the second item in “Of Interest”) Aliens Among Us Outside of a workshop, I’ve never seen Dean Wesley Smith put out a … Read more

The Journal: Ten Tips for Healthy Writing

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Ten Tips for Healthy Writing * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.” Benjamin Brewster Wow, does THAT ever pertain to writing! “‘To write’ is an active verb. Thinking is not writing. Writing is putting words on paper.” Roberta Jean Bryant’s first law of Writing from her book Anybody Can Write In writing, “practice” also is putting words on paper. Topic: Ten Tips for Healthy Writing In the first item in “Of Interest” today, Debbie Burke … Read more

The Journal: Turn the Fear Around

In today’s Journal * February’s Gone Already * Topic: Turn the Fear Around * Of Interest February’s Gone Already Wow. February was like a streaker at an old folks’ home. It flashed by, I hardly noticed it, and I didn’t really care. Also it dawned on me that I’m keeping my hand in writing (fingers and keyboard limber, etc.) with this little Journal. Of course, that doesn’t add to my fiction output, but with every passing day, that day is drawing closer. Anyway, with today’s Journal, I’ve written 42143 publishable words on the year, though most of that is nonfiction. … Read more

The Journal: Trademark Stuff

In today’s Journal * Topic: Trademark Stuff * Who’s the Projectionist? * Of Interest Topic: Trademark Stuff Not much in today’s post. It’s all pretty much an expanded “Of Interest” section. According to Dean Wesley Smith (awhile back in one class or another), registering a trademark for practically anything is a waste of time and money for a writer. Primarily that’s because if you have a trademark, you are required to defend it, and defending it can get costly. Especially in addition to the original cost of filing for trademark in the first place. Besides, in any trademark dispute, first … Read more

The Journal: The Inappropriate Use of “Gave”

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: The Inappropriate Use of “Gave” * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “[T]he old Hollywood wisdom still applies: Just tell the story. If you want to send a message, go to Western Union.” James Scott Bell on writers who inject their political opinion into their fiction “‘Said’ is not a dirty word: But ‘argued,’ ‘whined,’ and other dialogue descriptives usually are. A typical rookie mistake.” Marilynn Byerly Topic: The Inappropriate Use of “Gave” A few days ago, the topic here was “Glitches in Writing.” That was based on James Scott … Read more

The Journal: Nora Roberts (AKA JD Robb)

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Missing the Point * Nora Roberts (AKA JD Robb) * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “So who do I listen to? I listen to the characters–and myself. If I listened to the readers I’d go slowly mad as it’s impossible to please all as one readers says this, another says that. Often with equal passion.” Nora Roberts on readers’ opinions “[T]he big (and simple) and sweeping thing is this: If I didn’t think of it, I’m not going to write it.” Nora Roberts in response to “Can I share my … Read more

The Journal: Glitches in Writing

In today’s Journal * A Bit of Fun * Topic: Glitches in Writing * A Storyteller * Of Interest A Bit of Fun For a bit of fun, check how well you really observe. See “The Changing Room Illusion” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXk-Oc35oN4. It’s a very short video. Topic: Glitches in Writing This topic is based on James Scott Bell’s post (see “Of Interest”) and his question: “What little things bug you when you see them in a book?” I’ve talked before about studying the language and the craft and using both to convey the story to the best of your current … Read more