Professional Writer Series

The Journal, Monday, April 23

Hey Folks, Well, let’s start today off with a Topic: If You’re a Writer and I’m a Reader, You Owe Me Something There were a lot of good comments on James Scott Bell’s “Editing is Dying, Grunting Soon to Follow” in the Kill Zone blog. You can find the post and the comments at https://killzoneblog.com/2018/04/editing-is-dying-grunting-soon-to-follow.html. Reading the comments was an eye-opening experience. Someone, a writer no less, actually advocated for the spelling of “all right” as “alright,” which, honestly, is just laziness. It’s the same reason some folks write “enuff” instead of “enough” or “no” instead of “know” (I’m not … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, April 21

Hey Folks, Well, surprises happen. Last night not long after I’d gone to bed, my wife came in to say my son and his wife and three of my grandchildren were on their way down from Flagstaff for the weekend. I got up and we got things ready. Still, I was determined to get up earlier than usual to get as much done on The Storytellers as possible. The story is really running. The structure is interesting too, as it’s developed. There’s an introductory section, which is the beginning of the overall story that wraps the novel. Then there’s a … Read more

The Journal, Friday, April 20

Hey Folks, Wow. I have to admire Dean’s tenacity. He started a challenge to write 30 stories in 30 days while moving. But also, his wife, friend and life partner is physically hundreds of miles away. Even with the availability of phone calls and emails, not having the energy of that physical presence around has to be a trauma. Plus he’s giving up a beautiful home he’s lived in for a very long time. That’s a major trauma. Plus his responsibilities at WMG Publishing, and the workshops, and the emails etc. etc. ad nauseam. And on top of all that, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, April 18

Hey Folks, A long post today, so you might want to grab a beverage. (grin) Topic: The Power of Streaks Revisited I talked here awhile back about the power of streaks. A “streak” means repeatedly hitting a certain regularly scheduled goal without missing. When you miss, the streak ends. For example, say you’re determined to write 1000 words per day every day. The more days you do that in a row, the more powerful the streak becomes because you won’t want to miss. As a nice aside, and if you did do that for 100 days in a row (just … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, April 17

Hey Folks, Well, I finished the edit at about 8 a.m. after a final few hours of editing. Then I ran over it again with Find & Replace just to double check on a couple of global changes, then ran a spell check. I finally sent it off at around 9:30 a.m. I didn’t plan to write today. I usually need to wind down after an edit, especially a lengthy one. I planned to start reading a novel today. I’d heard of a really good crime author from James Scott Bell. The critics rave about this author (I won’t mention … Read more

The Journal, Monday, April 16

Hey Folks, Well, I don’t have a lot to report today, but a really good “Of Interest” section. I was determined today to have less than 25% of the edit left to finish tomorrow. With that in mind, I leaned into it from around 4 a.m. until I stopped at around 3 p.m. So a good 11-hour day, with a few breaks here and there. As I write this I have 15% of the edit left to do, so I should finish it tomorrow. Then, unless the gods frown on me. I should be able to return to my WIP. … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, April 15

Hey Folks, Well, happy Shearing Day. No fiction writing yesterday or today, as expected. Yesterday I edited for a few hours in the early morning, then a little more later on. I was going to publish an edition of this Journal yesterday, but I had nothing even for the “Of Interest” section so I didn’t. This morning too I edited for a few hours. I should finish the edit over the next two days. *** Back when I presented sessions at writers conferences and conventions and in private seminars, every now and then I’d hear some version of “Well, the … Read more

The Journal, Friday, April 13

Hey Folks, Sometimes it feels specifically like I make plans so I’ll have something to change later. Remember how I said a few days ago I was going to write in the early morning and then edit later in the day? Yeah. I worked on my WIP for a few minutes this morning, just enough to put my hand in. Then I thought about the copyedit waiting on my business computer. My gut tied in a knot. The client was even good enough to prepay the balance for the edit. Then, thankfully, I read Kris Rusch’s current Business Musings article … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, April 11

Hey Folks, Sorry I took off yesterday from posting the Journal. The first day of a copyedit is always the most difficult with the most concentrated effort. As a result, I totally spaced posting an edition of the Journal. So to today… Well, I’m writing again. The current copyedit is a long one. It will probably take me the better part of two weeks, and I didn’t want to go that long without writing. In fact, on my recent two and a half-day camping trip, I was already jonesing to write on the morning of the second day. So this … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, April 8

Hey Folks, Hmm. Somehow, I was thinking Friday’s post was Saturday’s post and hadn’t gone out yet. So I amended Friday’s post. Mark it up to a very good case of exhaustion. Anyway, we didn’t get back until yesterday (Saturday) morning and then I didn’t post a Journal. Not a lot going on today. Weird. The morning of the second day of the camping trip, I was jonesing for writing. From now on when I go, I’ll take my laptop along. Just in case. But now I’m back, and this morning I didn’t feel like writing. Since it’s Sunday, I … Read more