Pro Writers Writing

The Journal: Today, and All That Entails

In today’s Journal * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Today I’m posting this primarily to get the “Of Interest” items out to you. I’m not sure yet what the day will hold. Some learning, certainly, almost certainly more work on licensing projects and maybe on my shared world bibles. And a couple of new story ideas (and a couple of older ones) have been nagging me over the past few days. Decisions, decisions. And then there are things I want. Like I want to set or re-set some new goals. I’ve been wanting to start writing at least … Read more

The Journal: Quotes of the Day and Where Did It All Go?

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * It’s December 1—2019! * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Mail your first draft. Publish your first draft. That book you’ve rewritten 15 times? Go back to the first draft. Publish that one. Because that’s your authentic voice. That’s the one you haven’t interfered with at all.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch at the 20BooksTo50K conference “Behavior presents as it does for a reason. It’s more than complex. It’s the way a life goes.” Mauro Altamura, an extra on the set of the Netflix original, The Irishman, a … Read more

The Journal: Licensing and Everything Else

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Licensing and Everything Else * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I’m thankful there are people out there who read what I write and who like what I make. I’m very lucky, and I know it.” Neil Gaiman Topic: Licensing and Everything Else DWS has said many times that licensing is a process, one that takes time. It has occurred to me that how long it takes from concept to actual production seems even longer when compared to the ability of today’s writers to write … Read more

The Journal: More on Shared Worlds

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: More on Shared Worlds * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The toughest thing we do as artists is trust our own vision. If we don’t, we will not end up with a long career. … What good writers do is make familiar stories new, so new in fact that they seem breathtakingly original.” — Kristine Kathryn Rusch And for those of you who write in series, this one really struck me: “When you’re writing in your own world, you don’t go for the details … Read more

The Journal: Take Two on Writing Sloppy

In today’s Journal * OMG Alert * Topic: Take Two on Writing Sloppy * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Every now and then Dean mentions The Copyright Handbook by Stephen Fishman from NOLO. It’s an essential investment for a writer. At the moment, NOLO is having a 50% off sale on everything they offer, including The Copyright Handbook. Visit https://store.nolo.com/products/the-copyright-handbook-coha.html. Use the promo code BF50 when you order. Plus, at the moment the handbook is on sale for only $39.99. Which means if you use the code, you can get the book for only twenty bucks. Topic: Take … Read more

The Journal: Write Sloppy?

In today’s Journal * Yesterday * Topic: Write Sloppy? Umm, No. * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday, I wrote a few hundred words, then took a break. I meant to come back and write more, but I didn’t. I also read Dan Baldwin’s bloggette, “Advice Worth Ignoring, in which he related a tale about a successful author who advised beginning writers to “Just write a bad book. Start with something that’s subpar, and learn. It’s extremely fulfilling….” Honestly, that infuriated me. And it quickly gave rise to today’s topic. Topic: Write Sloppy? Umm, No. As a successful … Read more

The Journal: Writing Sales Copy

In today’s Journal * An excellent example * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers If you’d like to see an excellent example for now NOT to write sales copy (your book description), take a look at what the publisher did to describe Steven Pressfield’s latest novel, 36 Righteous Men. I saw an ad for the novel in CrimeReads, and I clicked through. What the hey? It’s Steven Pressfield, right? So I might as well at least read the blurb. And I did. And I won’t buy the book. Rather than enticing me to buy the book (that’s the job … Read more

The Journal: Some Thoughts on Structure

In today’s Journal * Getting back in the habit * Topic: Some Thoughts on Structure * A side note * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers I’m trying to get back in the habit of building this Journal through the day, writing fiction, and then posting everything at once in the afternoon. To that end, I’ve added the daily update for my WIP back into the numbers below. Hard as it may be to believe, I started Blackwell Ops 7 way back on August 7. Yet in all that time, yesterday was only the 17th writing day for that … Read more

The Journal: Story Gestation

In today’s Journal * Dean Wesley Smith * I actually wrote * Topic: Story Gestation * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Dean Wesley Smith has announced he’s going to shut down sign-ups for both the Licensing Transition learn-along and the Shared Worlds class on December 8. Just sayin’. I actually wrote 1700 words on the Blackwell Ops 7 novel yesterday. I keep thinking I could just set it aside and forget it, but the story’s too good to ignore. So I’m back at it again. I was going to share a comment I left on a post (see … Read more

The Journal: Writing Boards and Other Silliness

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Writing Boards and Other Silliness * From the Wow, That Didn’t Take Long Department * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Does anyone else feel imposter syndrome because they’ve had happy and stable childhoods and relationships?” Anonymous writer on a reddit writing board. For the record, I’ve never met any professional fiction writer, many more advanced than I, who does not succumb regularly to a sense of “impostor syndrome.” That’s just one more silliness the critical mind throws at us to keep us from writing. … Read more