Pro Writers Writing

The Journal: Dave Farland and Poetics

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Dave Farland and Poetics * Everything I’ve ever written * Topic: Sometimes Comparisons Are Useful * Yesterday and Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The most durable thing in writing is style, and style is the single most valuable investment a writer can make with his time.” Raymond Chandler “Scarcely anything in literature is worth a damn except what is written between the lines.” Raymond Chandler In his post today, Dave Farland talks about the importance of eloquence and originality in writing in “Poetics” at https://mystorydoctor.com/poetics-2/. … Read more

The Journal: Cave Creek and Update on Cycling

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Cave Creek Kickstarter * Street Team update * Kevin Tumlinson * Topic: Update on Cycling * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “‘No one will like this.’ ‘It’s not funny enough.’ ‘It’s too short.’ ‘It’s too long.’ [These] are projections into the future, which don’t actually exist because no one has read your book yet. Write your book, put it out there, and then don’t dwell in the past worrying about whether the book is good enough. Keep in the present and write that next sentence.” … Read more

The Journal: When a Novel Becomes Work

In today’s Journal * A Note to New Subscribers * Topic: When a Novel Becomes Work * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers A Note to New Subscribers First, welcome. I’m glad you’re here. Second, a bit about what you can expect from the Journal. I’m an open book, and a blunt, straightforward one. As most of my long-time subscribers know and have somehow survived, I don’t have (or employ) many filters when it comes to talking about writing. To me, storytelling is too important—THAT you write, not WHAT you write—to pull many punches. And I post here almost … Read more

The Journal: Standing Up a Street Team

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday * Just a reminder * The 50%-off sale continues * Topic: Want to be part of my street team? * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” Voltaire (via The Passive Voice) When the day was over yesterday I’d added around 1600 words to the novel and ended the day with a little over 5,000 words of fiction. So a good day. And I actually remembered to switch the posting time from … Read more

The Journal: Special Limited Time Discount

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Special Limited Time Discount * In the spirit * Writing with Depth and Advanced Depth * Yesterday and Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Literature is a textually transmitted disease, normally contracted in childhood.” Jane Yolen (via The Passive Voice) Special Limited Time Discount In the spirit of helping readers pass the time and helping writers learn something new, I’ve just discounted all of my titles—nonfiction books, novels, novellas, short stories, and short story collections—by 50% at Smashwords. This sale ends on March 31, 2020. To … Read more

The Journal: An Incredibly Generous Offer

In today’s Journal * An Incredibly Generous Offer * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers NOTE: The special offer below ends at 5 p.m. PDT on March 19! To be sure you have the opportunity to take advantage of it, I’ve even set the Journal to go out today and tomorrow at noon instead of the normal time. An Incredibly Generous Offer As we all struggle to get through the pandemic and the government and public reaction to it… Dean Wesley Smith and Kris Rusch are offering an incredible FIFTY PERCENT off everything on Teachable (see https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/), but only … Read more

The Journal: My Advice for Writers re CoVID-19

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: My Advice for Writers re CoVID-19 * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “For some people, curiosity will lead to greater stress, and that stress will cripple their creativity. Instead of focusing on their novels, they’ll be focusing on the spectacle.” David Farland Topic: My Advice for Writers re CoVID-19 Since everyone else seems to be handing out advice, I thought I’d take a shot at it too. This advice, naturally, is for writers. First, here’s the all-but-mandatory disclaimer: I am not, have never been, … Read more

The Journal: How to Manage and Expand Your Business

In today’s Journal * Kris Rusch’s Patreon page * Topic: How to Manage and Expand Your Business * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers I’m fortunate that I support Kris Rusch’s Patreon Page (at a lowly $5 per month). She posted two back-to-back posts today re the current Black Swan (herein after referred to as BS, no joke intended) event. They were extremely helpful. I’ll be posting them here in “Of Interest” when they go live on her site next Thursday (or at least that’s been her pattern). Topic: How to Manage and Expand Your Business Like any other … Read more

The Journal: Barely a Post at All

In today’s Journal * Thin today on fact, fat with opinion * Of Interest * The Numbers Today’s post is admittedly very thin. I’m posting it mostly to give you the opportunity to read the items in “Of Interest.” Thanks to Robert Sadler for the nod in his post on PWW today. Unfortunately, by the time his post goes live at five, I’ll be on the road, or close to it. So I won’t comment until later today, IF I have wifi at the hotel and it’s working, etc. In my humble opinion, I suspect anytime now wifi will be … Read more

The Journal: Life Rolls Happen

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Life rolls happen * Hey Media, shut up already * Be Sure to Check “Of Interest” * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Even the pandemic flu of 1918 only killed one to two percent of the people who were infected.” Anthony Fauci, via The Passive Voice Life rolls happen. I’ll be headed out of town tomorrow morning (Friday) for up to a few days. How fortunate am I, to be able to love my day job and take it with me? Thanks to … Read more