Lee Lofland

The Journal: Peter Brandvold

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Here’s to Boring and Uneventful * Peter Brandvold * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” William Faulkner Here’s to Boring and Uneventful I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Ours was boring and uneventful, in a good way. Meaning there was no undue, unnecessary excitement and no drama. One more thing for which to be grateful. Unfortunately, Dean’s was something less than boring, as reported at … Read more

The Journal: Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * First, welcome * Second, today’s post * Let’s Talk Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed, Part 1 * Let’s Talk Fiction Writing and Pulp Speed, Part 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “A Pulp Speed writer loves to just tell stories, one right after another.” Dean Wesley Smith “The crap rules the traditional publishers forced on writers are gone for writers smart enough to escape them. [W]riters are free to write stories again at whatever pace they want to write. … The second pulp era is upon … Read more

The Journal: A Pair of Real Writers

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * I am not a writer * An email and some thoughts on WITD * Don Pendeleton and Michael Newton: A Pair of Real Writers * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.” T.S. Eliot via The Passive Voice “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch By my own definition, I am not currently a writer, much less a “real” writer. With all that I’ve written I suppose I could still lay claim to the title, but it … Read more

The Journal: A Day Out

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Day Out and a Short Progress Report * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Tell the Editor and Writer to take a walk and let the Child write whatever it wants.” Clive Matson “We’re writers. We write. If something gets in the way of the writing, it does not belong in our toolbox.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch Today we’re going out of town to estate sales, etc. More to spend a day out of our normal environs than for any other reason. A kind of treasure hunt. But … Read more

The Journal: A Few Tidbits

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A few tidbits * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “My problem isn’t piracy, it’s obscurity.” Cory Doctorow “Your next book is your best promotion.” Dean Wesley Smith “A writer is a person who writes. An author is a person who has written.” Dean Wesley Smith Yesterday as I watched and listened to Dean Wesley Smith in a few pop-up lectures, I was reminded of a few tidbits I’ve found to be true. I thought I’d pass those along: 1. The difference between writers who make it and … Read more

The Journal: Quotes and Of Interest

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Thanks to Matt * Joy Fielding * The last item * Of Interest * The Numbers ​​​ Quotes of the Day “Any coincidence is worth noticing. You can throw it away later if it is only a coincidence.” Agatha Christie, via The Passive Voice “[M]ost writers make less than ten thousand dollars a year, so you shouldn’t even be thinking of money. The odds are stacked against you, so you really need to love what you do. You need to be comfortable, even look forward to, spending hours every day—I recommend … Read more

The Journal: New Releases

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * New Releases * Of all the blogs I visit and read * Of Interest * The Numbers ​​​ Quotes of the Day “[Y]our words are how you see yourself, your actions are how other people see you.” Farnam Street blog “Talent sets the floor, character sets the ceiling.” Bill Belichick “If you’re too busy to read the fine print and figure out what it means, don’t enter the contest.” The Passive Voice New Releases Well, Wes Crowley: The Final Chapter went live yesterday. You can see it at https://books2read.com/u/3Lw9le. That’s the … Read more

The Journal: Feelin’ a Little Snarky

In today’s Journal * I can’t make this stuff up * The Perfect Society, the Perfect World * Of Interest * The Numbers Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up: “Jeff Bezos says flying in space changed his view of Earth.” from an article at Space.com Now there’s some news, eh? Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. That quote reminded me of line I heard one time in a presentation delivered by a meteorologist. He was talking about releasing weather baloons, and he actually said, “And as the balloon rises, it gets farther from the earth.” (grin) Of course, nobody’s immune to … Read more

The Journal: Unknowingly Trying?

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Unknowingly Trying? * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “That’s the beauty of copyright. It’s divisible. … Authors will be well served to think about protecting the rights in their characters when signing publishing contracts and licensing agreements.” IP Attorney Kathryn Goldman “The two books stalled and stalled and stalled. Each time I thought I had found a way to tell the story that I wanted to tell, I would hit another wall—or the same wall. And usually, that was because I was unknowingly trying to do … Read more

The Journal: On “Making” Good or Great Writers

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On “Making” Good or Great Writers * An Observation on “Pressure” * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “All things are difficult before they are easy.” Thomas Fuller On “Making” Good or Great Writers In today’s “Of Interest” I’ve included a “Reader Friday” from the KillZone, primarily because it’s based on a Stephen King quote. Here’s my response (expanded): I think the key word in this passage is “make” and King’s repetition of that. This quote runs alongside his thought that writing can’t be taught, but it can … Read more