Pro Writers Writing

The Journal: Thanks

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * What Bradbury said * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You see, all my characters write the book. I don’t write the book. All these characters come to me and say, ‘Listen to me.’ And then I listen to them and I put it down, and the book gets written. That’s how I write, you see. All these lovers surround me, and they love life and they tell me about it.” Ray Bradbury on the writing of Fahrenheit 451. Yes! What Bradbury said. Yes! … Read more

The Journal: What’s Going On

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday and what’s going on * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great. The Emperor angrily demanded of him, ‘How dare you molest the seas?’ To which the pirate replied, ‘How dare you molest the whole world? Because I do it with a small boat, I am called a pirate and a thief. You, with a great navy, molest the world and are called an emperor.’ St. Augustine thought the pirate’s answer was ‘elegant … Read more

The Journal: What Readers Want

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday * Topic: A Few Extra Thoughts on What Readers Want * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (via The Passive Voice) Yesterday I attended class. I was one of the smart ones who backed one of Deans’s Kickstarters for $5. And the Kickstarter funded and then reached two or three stretch goals. I feel a little bit like a pirate. For a lousy $5 … Read more

The Journal: Dylan Thomas and Dorothy Parker

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * From David Farland * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (via The Passive Voice) From David Farland, “I have a free writing workshop that I teach with award-winning authors Orson Scott Card and Tim Power, based upon our popular Writers of the Future Workshops. Find it online at https://www.writersofthefuture.com/register/online-workshop/.” I signed up for this workshop to see what it’s about. It feels to me like … Read more

The Journal: On Goals, and a Challenge

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday and Today * Topic: On Goals, and a Challenge * More Shared World Stuff * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” Unknown (via The Passive Voice Yesterday I submitted the clean final copy of For the Good of the Galaxy: The First Nine Days to Amazon and D2D. It’s still available for preorder until June 1 when it goes live. To take a look, visit https://stonethreadpublishing.com/ftgotg-the-first-nine-days/. Today I’ll begin reading over FTGOTG: … Read more

The Journal: A Lot of Stuff

In today’s Journal * Kris Rusch’s Birthday Party * Also in “Of Interest” * The Next Few Days * More Shared World Stuff * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Dean Wesley Smith is doing something really great for his wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, for her upcoming 60th birthday. He’s throwing her a card party, and all of you can be part of it. For details, see “Of Interest” below. Also in “Of Interest” is an article on how to “survive the chaos point” in a novel. A bit melodramatic, isn’t it? You aren’t charging across open ground under … Read more

The Journal: Finished My 50th Novel

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Little Richard * Yesterday, and Done * Topic: On Cliffhangers… * Shared World Stuff * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “If only we could remember that fame and money are gifts given us only after we have gifted the world with our best, our lonely, our individual truths.” Ray Bradbury “What The Subconscious is to every other man, in its creative aspect becomes, for writers, The Muse.” Ray Bradbury God bless the family and loved ones of Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman), who passed away … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday and Today

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday and Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “By living well, by observing as you live, by reading and observing as you read, you have fed your most original self. By training in writing, by repetitious exercise, imitation, good example, you have made a clean, well-lighted place to keep the Muse.” Ray Bradbury Yesterday was a very good day (see Day 15) even though I didn’t make my new word count goal. The end of the novel is in sight. In fact, I expect to finish … Read more

The Journal: Yet Another Use for a Reverse Outline

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Thanks to my patrons * Topic: Yet Another Use for a Reverse Outline * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Conjure the nouns, alert the secret self, taste the darkness. Your own Thing stands waiting ‘way up there’ in the attic shadows. If you speak softly, and write any old word that wants to jump out of your nerves onto the page, your Thing at the top of your stairs in your own private night may well come down.” Ray Bradbury A special thanks … Read more

The Journal: A Stuffed-Sausage of a Chihuahua

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Jesus, where the hell is everybody when they first deliver the typing paper? Where are all the ‘helpers’ when those boxes full of silence come in? Blank. Both sides. No clue, no instructions enclosed on how to take just twenty-six letters and endlessly rearrange them so that they can turn them into a mirror of a part of our lives. Try it sometime.” Larry Gelbart Yesterday I fell short of my new word-count goal by around 900 words … Read more