Sean Monaghan

The Daily Journal, Monday, July 15

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: 12 Ways to Make a Critique Group Work * Update * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quote of the Day “I don’t think in terms of genres. I think in terms of story.” David Gerrold Topic: 12 Ways to Make a Critique Group Work Versions of this article have been posted on my writer site in August 2013 and September 2017. Everyone here knows I don’t participate in critique groups. Nor do I recommend doing so. After all, I constantly battle to keep my own conscious, critical … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, July 1

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Recap * Topic: On Writing This Journal and Teaching * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quote of the Day Via the Passive Voice, “People are always asking me, ‘What do you want people to say about you a hundred years from now?’ I want them to say, ‘Dang, don’t she still look good for her age?’” Dolly Parton *** Yesterday I updated my production spreadsheet to get it ready for July. Then I looked over my notes from the Pacing workshop and decided I didn’t need to view … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, June 24

In today’s Journal * Of particular importance * Topic: Brief, Grouchy Thoughts on Publishing * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers In her June 22 post on PWW, Michaele Lockhart wrote about the importance of word choice. It was an excellent post, one that I thought would serve as a catalyst for dozens of comments. It did not. Early this morning, I realized why. Word choice is a topic about which any group of craft-wise and craft-serious writers could talk for days—or weeks—on end and never say the same thing twice. So I left a comment on the … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, June 3

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Thanks * A new goal * Topic: On Sharing and Copyright * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quotes of the Day “They say ‘write what you know,’ which frankly I just find a dull truism. I say, write what you write. Write what engages you. What you know will just shine through.” Sean Monaghan “Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, May 20

In today’s Journal * A friend emailed me * Topic: How to Quiet the Critical Voice (Chapter 3) * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers A friend emailed me today to ask whether we wanted more readers over at the PWW blog. He said at hsi table at the RWA (Romance Writers of America) meeting on Saturday, everyone else at the table was talking about worthwhile blogs. But he kept PWW to himself because he didn’t know for sure whether we wanted more readers. Let me be a clear as I can: PLEASE spread the word about PWW. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, April 22

In today’s Journal ▪ Still downloading ▪ Too Important for “Of Interest” ▪ Topic: Life Wants to Live ▪ A note about “Of Interest” ▪ Daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers I visited Unsplash.com yesterday and downloaded more possible cover pics for Blackwell Ops 5, and this morning I continued and downloaded even more. And yes, as I scanned “women in shadow” pics (thousands of them) I also downloaded a lot of pics that appealed to me for future stories and/or covers too. Easy to get happily lost while doing that. (grin) But everything’s moving forward. I’ll get … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, February 15

In today’s Journal ▪ Update on Pro Writers Writing ▪ Topic: On Being “In the Zone” ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Update on Pro Writers Writing Last night I got started setting up the website for Pro Writers Writing. There isn’t much to see yet, beyond Robert Sadler’s excellent design for the logo that stretches across the top. I anticipate launching the new site in mid-March or a little later. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Pro Writers Writing will be a blog similar to the Kill Zone blog. However, whereas TKZ authors … Read more