Lee Lofland

The Journal, Monday, October 29

Hey Folks, I had a thought yesterday… I never celebrate when I finish writing a novel. Never. It’s a vast sadness that leaves me feeling empty, and I mourn the sudden separation from my fictional friends. After all, do we celebrate the end of a friendship? The end of a marriage? The end of the life of a loved one? Of course not. But as with any other birth, I always celebrate starting a new novel. It’s the beginning of an exciting new journey — in my case, with old or new friends — and I love the wonderful anticipation … Read more

The Journal, Friday, October 26

Hey Folks, I’m actually writing this on Thursday afternoon (yesterday). Wow. I figured it would take at least a full day just to find the appropriate cover pics for the five publications I want to put out soon. Or longer. Didn’t happen that way. I got lucky. And I can’t say enough good things about Unsplash, a place where you can download high-resolution images FREE and use them for any purpose you like. Unsplash even tags each photo with the photographer’s name, so it’s easy to give them appropriate credit for their work. Anyway, I started searching for photos yesterday … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, October 24

Hey Folks, Over the past two days, I’ve written lengthy topics as part of my Journal posts. I’ve included another one today on The Reverse Outline. And I probably will include another one tomorrow on A Different Kind of Outline (for those who would like a safety net). These posts are mostly for new folks who have subscribed to the Journal or who follow along on Facebook. But I enourage those of you who’ve been with me awhile to read over them too. Even if it’s a topic you’ve seen before, you might pick up something you can use. It … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, October 23

Hey Folks, On this day in 1983, two suicide bombers in truck bombs attacked the Marine barracks near the airport in Beirut, Lebanon. The attack killed 220 Marines and 21 other service personnel. This was the deadliest attack against US Marines since the battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945. At the same time, another truck bomb attacked a building housing French paratroopers, killing 58. We will not forget. *** Now to writing…. First, a thought to ponder: When we look back at something we’ve written and think it’s good, our first thought is usually “But writers are the worst … Read more

The Journal, Monday, October 22

Hey Folks, Long post today, but a good one, I think. I’m in the Hovel as I write this. I got out here around 7 this morning, played a game or two of Spider Solitaire, then decided to write this stuff before moving back to the novel. I’ll probably finish the novel today, but as I’ve mentioned, I’m in no big rush. After I write the stuff below, I’ll probably delay writing on the novel for a little longer. I have to update my reverse outline. For those who don’t know yet what a “reverse outline” is, I’ll explain it … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, October 20

Hey Folks, Well, I didn’t roll out as early as I wanted to today. I’ll get some fiction done, but I have no idea how much time I’ll have. Depends. I started the day with a couple of free critiques. I’m not complaining. Hey, I offered, am I right? (grin) I hope even more folks will take advantage of it. To see what I’m talking about, look at http://harveystanbrough.com/pro-writers/new-services-offered/. This is a great opportunity to cut your learning curve. If your openings don’t immmediately grab the reader and ground him in your story, I urge you to take advantage of … Read more

The Journal, Friday, October 19

Hey Folks, Today’s post at the Kill Zone blog is a Reader Friday thing. I don’t often mention them, but today’s post is about cartoons and comics. It was fun looking back. See “Of Interest.” And regarding Lee Lofland’s posts… they’re full of great information for writers, but each post most often is a story of sorts in its own right. Just as writers can learn hard, cold facts from the posts, they can also learn descriptive techniques (writing setting). Today’s post is particularly interesting. Lee writes a great hook (in this case, the first paragraph), then not only mentions … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, October 18

Hey Folks, Watched an excellent baseball game last night and stayed up late (for me) to do so. I seldom watch baseball on TV through the season, but I almost always watch the division and league series and then the world series. I’m of the generation that remembers games being played only in the daytime, teachers allowing us to listen to the radio broadcast during class, etc. (grin) I’m old enough to remember men asking other men (as a test of their manhood) whether they knew who won the previous world series. I’m glad the custom didn’t persist; my memory … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, October 17

Hey Folks, In his post today, Dean talks again about how trying to “perfect” your writing project can ruin it. He cites the coaches on The Voice saying the same thing. But he casts a few very general nets regarding what we who read his posts believe. I can only assume he did so because he’s received a lot of disparaging comments over the years. Still, generalizations really annoy me, so I chose not to include his post in “Of Interest” today. So if you do go read it, please do so with a grain of salt. Guy probably has … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, October 14

Hey Folks, I hope I’ll be writing fiction again soon. Maybe not today. Possibly tomorrow. Almost certainly during the upcoming week. The Passive Guy today wrote a post (in “Of Interest”) regarding politics. It is compelling. It has little if anything to do with writing or politics, but it has a great deal to do with writers and with the political polarization that began almost twelve years ago and is currently ongoing in this nation. His post also keyed me to write a long post of my own. On reflection, I removed most of it to another, more appropriate venue. … Read more