Professional Writer Series

The Journal, Monday, December 11,

Hey Folks, Well, before I even think about returning to my own fiction, I’ve decided to power-through the first half of my latest copyedit to get it finished. The author of the novel and I have agreed that I’ll finish the prepaid first half, then bow out of the project. It’s just too rough. In related news, I’ve recently added several “new” inappropriate tag line verbs to my list. I’ll be publishing those in a topic here soon, and in my ProWriters blog in the future. Not sure when this Journal will go “daily” again, if ever. But I do … Read more

The Journal, Friday, November 17

Hey Folks, Topic: On Describing Setting How much description in setting is “too much”? Here’s a rule of thumb: If the description is something you, the author, are adding, it’s too much; you’ll bore the reader to death. If it’s the POV character’s opinion of the setting that he absorbed through his own physical senses, it will be just right and the reader will be hooked. Every character (like every human) has a unique POV that is determined by his or her physical senses (including any limitations or enhancements of those senses) and filtered through his or her past experiences. … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, November 16

Hey Folks, Okay, so my challenge is a copycat of Dean’s current short-term effort. UPDATE: Not a copycat, not quite. My short-term challenge is at least one short story per day for the rest of November. If I miss one day, my challenge is busted. Dean’s challenge apparently was to write 20 short stories in the last 20 days of November. Not quite the same thing as having to write one per day. If he misses a day, he can simply make it up later. (See “Of Interest” below.) In my case, I’m doing this primarily to jumpstart my writing … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, November 8

Hey Folks, Well, I believe (knock on wood) the worst of the cigar madness is behind me. Something in my mind sort of snapped late yesterday, leading to a lot more clarity than I’ve enjoyed in a while. I hope it stays that way. *** I wrote for a little while, just some dialogue between two wise guys over a poker hand, something to get my hand in. One wise guy is complaining that his associates think he doesn’t understand the concept of LOL all that well. The other asks him for an example. The first one says, “Oh. Well, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 11/1

Hey Folks, Wow. November already. For that matter, 2017 already. What happened to 1978? Just sayin’. I failed to mention yesterday that we had a little visitor. In the pre-dawn pitch, I was at my outside desk when I heard a sound that seemed not part of the usual early morning sounds. I grabbed my torch (I like the Brit “torch” so much better than “flashlight”) and went looking for my kitten. As I stepped past the southeast corner of the house, I shined the light to the west. Toward the southwest corner of the house, something was sniffing at … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 10/30

Hey Folks, This morning, in a piece I was reading online, I saw this: “In my opinion, less is more, just as it is when you’re writing, period.” Oh dear god. I can almost see him primping. Every time I hear a writer say “Oh, in writing, less is more,” I want to suggest they write nothing at all then. Based on their reasoning, their canon of work should expand exponentially. But I can’t bring myself to do it. The vacant-eyed, slack-jawed stare that would ensue as the moron wondered whatever in the world I was talking about might be … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 10/14

Hey Folks, Just want to take a minute to say thanks for hanging in with me. When you write a daily blog like this, and especially when you’re determined to share the less-than-good along with the good, you’re going to have some off days. I’m kind of proud of what I’ve done here for the past two-plus years. I’ve written every single day, even when that writing was only in this Journal. Thus far, I’ve written one novel every month for this calendar year. (It isn’t lost on me that when I get back to writing on Monday, I’ll have … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 10/13

Hey Folks, Okay, I’m never again doing anything that’s personal-world earth-shattering while I’m in the middle of writing a novel. Losing a bunch of days to a magical, mysterious haze while writing a novel is not a good thing. A lot of the haze is gone this morning. So my thought that the primary part of the trial would take three days seems to have held up. However, I’m still a bit foggy headed, and it comes and goes. Another son and his family are coming to visit this weekend. They’ll arrive later today and stay through Sunday morning. So … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 10/9

Hey Folks, Well, we had a good visit with our youngest son and our oldest grandson. Also very much enjoyed watching the baseball games yesterday, especially Cleveland at New York. Even though Cleveland chose to put off sending New York home until today or until they make them travel back to Cleveland first. (grin) Today it’s back to writing. For anyone who cares about nominal personal nonsense, today is also my last day as a cigar smoker. I have three left, including the 1/3 that’s currently clenched between my teeth. I figured it’s only fair to my wife that I … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 10/8

Hey Folks, Not a lot to see here today. I thought I might return to the story today, but I’m not going to. It’s been a tiring and emotional day, just family stuff. Two big-deal (to me) baseball games coming on, so I’m gonna watch those. Back tomorrow. Of Interest See Dean’s “Anthology Workshop Surprise” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/anthology-workshop-surprise/. If you write short fiction, you could potentially earn enough from sales to editors at this workshop to make back your investment. Just sayin’. Fiction Words: XXXX Nonfiction Words: 100 (Journal) So total words for the day: 100 Writing of Pulp Novel 5 … Read more