KillZone Blog

The Journal: Know What Stuff Is

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Know What Stuff Is * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” Marcel Proust I like that quote. I’ve often told others that memoir is closer to fiction than to nonfiction because it’s a writer remembering what happened at a point in time. Fiction is a writer remembering something that could have happened at a point in time. “If you’re a good writer and want to write literary magazine material, start a blog, tell all your friends … Read more

The Journal: Responsibility, Some Don’ts, More King

In today’s Journal * Today’s post * The Fiction Writer’s Responsibility * Don’t Be Critical * Studying King * Of Interest Today’s post, as my posts so often do, started as a response to a post on the Kill Zone blog. At the end of the post, the author asked a series of questions. The first was, “Are you a ‘rules were made to be broken’ sort of writer, or do you prefer to stick with convention?” That question deserves a separate answer: Writers who have learned that fiction writing is all about Story (not grammar or syntax or punctuation) … Read more

The Journal: Your Unique Voice, Part 3

In today’s Journal * Topic: Your Unique Voice, Part 3 * Of Interest Topic: Your Unique Voice, Part 3 Thanks for your patience. Here are my final thoughts (for now) on “Your Unique Voice.” You can click these links to read Your Unique Voice: Part 1 and Your Unique Voice: Part 2. I recommend reading the posts in sequence. Finally, understand the difference between “your” story and your characters’ story. Your story is the life you’re living. In your story you’re currently reading a blog about writing. You can revise your story at will. You can choose to do one … Read more

The Journal: Your Unique Voice, Part 2

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Your Unique Voice, Part 2 * AI For Audiobooks? * D2D Acquired Smashwords! * Of Interest Quote of the Day “I’m only the author. I don’t know anything. And I mean that honestly when it comes to my own work.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: Your Unique Voice, Part 2 In my previous post I mentioned that to take advantage of your unique, original, authorial voice—to relax and let it flow—you must trust yourself. That’s the simple truth. In this post I’m going to break that truth down to help you … Read more

The Journal: Your Unique Voice

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Your Unique Voice, Part 1 * Of Interest Quote of the Day “There’s a certain slice of writer who bristles at any suggestion that their beautiful art won’t carry the day on its own.” Nathan Bransford Topic: Your Unique Voice, Part 1 Yesterday in my post on critiques and critiquers, I briefly mentioned that there’s much to be said for maintaining your unique, original authorial voice. Difficult as you might find this to believe, any reader is much more likely to enjoy your work and buy more of your books … Read more

The Journal: Be True to the Story

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Be True to the Story * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “I never consciously place symbolism in my writing. That would be a self-conscious exercise and self-consciousness is defeating to any creative act. Better to let the subconscious do the work for you, and get out of the way. The best symbolism is always unsuspected and natural.” Ray Bradbury “Symbolism? Symbolism is what critics search for and readers sometimes believe they discover. But it has nothing to do with me. I just write the stories.” Gervasio Arrancado, writer of … Read more

The Journal: Discipline, Study, Keep Coming Back

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Discipline, Study, Keep Coming Back * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill “Not everything warrants description—only details that matter to the character.” Joe Ponepinto “There are no shortcuts to success on the field or in life.” Tom Brady, in his retirement message Topic: Discipline, Study, Keep Coming Back Some writing lessons today from James Scott Bell over at the Kill Zone blog, taken from how the now-retired quarterback Tom Brady lived … 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: Cover Design and Publishing

In today’s Journal * Topic: Cover Design and Publishing * Of Interest Topic: Cover Design and Publishing A writer emailed to ask about cover design. He’s starting from scratch. As I told him, it’s a massive question with several facets. First, you’ll need cover art. Via Dean Wesley Smith, for fiction it’s better to use illustrations than actual photographs. (Perusing the covers of best-selling novels at Amazon or in other venues bears this out.) You can find and download either kind of image at any of several places. My favorite paid sites are Deposit Photos, CanStock Photos, and BigStock Photos. … Read more

The Journal: The Series Bible

In today’s Journal * A great deal of good information * Topic: The Series Bible (and the Reverse Outline) * Of Interest There is a great deal of good information in today’s “Of Interest.” I strongly recommend you get your beverage of choice and settle in to read. You might even want to try a few of the things they recommend in the different articles as you go. Topic: The Series Bible (and the Reverse Outline) One of my favorites in “Of Interest” today is James Scott Bell’s post on the creation and use of a series bible. As some … Read more