The Journal: The Ornery Little Comma

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: The Ornery Little Comma * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The euphoria of self-publishing has worn off. … eBook Publishing, in general, seems to have stabilized.” Emily Harstone for AuthorsPublish. This is good news for those of us for whom writing and self-publishing is part of a business plan instead of a get-rich-quick scheme to make a quick buck. Topic: The Ornery Little Comma Note: I wrote this topic to fill a rotation slot in the PWW blog later this month, but I thought … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, October 29

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Learning Revisited * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Everything that happens is destined for the past tense, and the way we render it into human comprehensibility is storytelling.” John M. Williams I’ve never read a better or more concise definition. Topic: Learning Revisited Everyone learns in different ways and at a different pace. Remember the stages of a fiction writer? If not, check out my take in the topic at https://hestanbrough.com/the-daily-journal-tuesday-july-/. I recommend you read it before continuing to read this topic. (You can … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, July 15

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: 12 Ways to Make a Critique Group Work * Update * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quote of the Day “I don’t think in terms of genres. I think in terms of story.” David Gerrold Topic: 12 Ways to Make a Critique Group Work Versions of this article have been posted on my writer site in August 2013 and September 2017. Everyone here knows I don’t participate in critique groups. Nor do I recommend doing so. After all, I constantly battle to keep my own conscious, critical … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, July 2

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Recap * Topic: On Writing Fiction * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quotes of the Day “It’s not Dostoevsky. It’s not going to tax your mental capacities. It’s not ahhrtt.” Judith Krantz on her writing “I’ve been absolutely dead earnest and I’ve told the story I had in hand as best as I possibly could.” Herman Wouk on his writing “I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, July 1

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Recap * Topic: On Writing This Journal and Teaching * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quote of the Day Via the Passive Voice, “People are always asking me, ‘What do you want people to say about you a hundred years from now?’ I want them to say, ‘Dang, don’t she still look good for her age?’” Dolly Parton *** Yesterday I updated my production spreadsheet to get it ready for July. Then I looked over my notes from the Pacing workshop and decided I didn’t need to view … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, June 17

In today’s Journal * Camping along the Gila * Thanks * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Because I said I would post photos of my recent camping trip along the Gila River in the Lower Gila Box Wilderness in southwest New Mexico, I’ll add one pic to each post for awhile. You should be able to click on any photo to see a larger version. First, why I find it difficult to leave even for a few hours, much less a few days. My little girl planted herself on my bag and gave me two options: either … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, May 22

In today’s Journal * Subscriptions to the Journal * In light of that * Topic: How to Quiet the Critical Voice (Chapter 4) * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Subscriptions to the Journal might be changing soon. The thing is, I’m not some big marketing master. I’m just a writer who wants to share my experiences with other writers. Via Linda Mae Adams, see David Gaughran’s “Time To Ditch Mailchimp?” at https://davidgaughran.com/2019/05/16/mailchimp-alternatives-criticism-changes-pricing-plans/. I’ve been aware of this for a week or so and have read MailChimp’s new Terms of Use. If you don’t personally use MailChimp, no … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, May 20

In today’s Journal * A friend emailed me * Topic: How to Quiet the Critical Voice (Chapter 3) * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers A friend emailed me today to ask whether we wanted more readers over at the PWW blog. He said at hsi table at the RWA (Romance Writers of America) meeting on Saturday, everyone else at the table was talking about worthwhile blogs. But he kept PWW to himself because he didn’t know for sure whether we wanted more readers. Let me be a clear as I can: PLEASE spread the word about PWW. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, May 14

In today’s Journal Quote of the Day In the past two days Topic: How to Write “Complicated Stories” into the Dark Daily diary Of Interest The numbers Quote of the Day From The Passive Guy: “Writing well means never having to say, ‘I guess you had to be there.’” Jef Mallett *** In the past two days, I came up with two topics that are so huge they want badly to be nonfiction books. One is How to Quiet the Critical Voice, and the other is Writing High-Action Scenes. Of course, the former probably won’t sell five copies. (grin) The … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, May 13

In today’s Journal Welcome to Helen B Quotes of the Day When I came to work Topic: On “Quality” Writing Daily diary Of Interest The numbers Welcome to Helen B and a few others who recently joined us here at the Journal. I hope you will find it helpful. *** Quotes of the Day “I never had success as a goal. I had this drive to to write the stories that came to me.” Danielle Steel “Some of my ideas will start off as mundane, but as I write them they become magical—and I can never predict it.” Danielle Steel … Read more