Sue Coletta

The Journal: Just FYI

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Nothing much * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.” Richard P. Feynman “It’s easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled.” Mark Twain Nothing much to talk about today. I’m doing fine but still not doing much day by day other than reading and watching TV and urging all this mental fog to be over so I can get back to writing. I’m … Read more

The Journal: Today I’ll Finish

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story. But it isn’t like that. You work, and that’s all there is to it.” Harlan Ellison “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented from the successful is a lot of hard work.” Steven King Yesterday, I rolled out around 2, and by 10 … Read more

The Journal: Coherence

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Writers’ Conferences * Discoverability, how it happens * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Reading at meals is considered rude in polite society, but if you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered anyway.” Stephen King “When an author discovers coherence for the first time, … Read more

The Journal: Major Change in the Journal

In today’s Journal * For those who missed it, all of Dean’s lectures * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers All of Dean’s lectures, workshops, pop-ups, and even lifetime subscriptions are on sale for 50% off right now. But hurry. The sale ends on Friday (tomorrow) at 5 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time. Go to https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/, click “See All Courses,” and use the code SpringTraining2020 at checkout. You can buy more than one, but you have to get them one at a time because Teachable has no shopping cart. Yesterday, I did a lot of non-writing stuff, including … Read more

The Journal: A Very Short Post

In today’s Journal * First, here’s the pic * Quotes of the Day * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers First, here’s the pic I meant to include yesterday. This is a photograph of the print of the painting by Vivian Flasch on which I based the short story “Silence Is Better.” Quotes of the Day “I don’t mind if you don’t like my manners. They’re pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings. But don’t waste your time trying to cross-examine me.” Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep “Overhead … 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: What the Journal Is All About

In today’s Journal * I lost a whole day * What the Journal is all about * A new comment policy * About Atlas Obscura * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers I lost a whole day yesterday, but I brought it on myself. I’m out here in public, an easy target for anyone who wants to snipe, but that doesn’t mean I have to belabor you with the specifics. You might take a lesson from all of this though: People who don’t know you will hear whatever they want to hear, whatever suits their purpose and gives them … Read more

The Journal: Another Myth Revealed

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Update on my offer * Topic: Another Myth Revealed * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “We’re very lucky as prose writers. We can market our practice. We don’t see the reactions to it in real time.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch Update on my offer If you don’t know what offer I’m talking about, you can read all about it at https://hestanbrough.com/the-journal-writer-fear/. I know not everyone reads the Journal every day, so I’ll leave the offer open for a week. If you browse these posts less often … Read more

The Journal: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post) * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If you’re not productive in this new world, you’re done. You’re just done.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post) I had a few questions about this, so I thought I’d revisit it. My daily word count goal is 3000 words per day beginning on January 1. Yesterday, I practiced. I started a short story that didn’t pan out, and I missed my goal. In fact, I … Read more

The Journal: An Excellent Opportunity

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: An Excellent Opportunity * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I have always followed one bit of advice that echoes in my head, and it’s that as a writer … your number one job description is to communicate properly your idea. Being self-indulgent is for fine artists.” world-famous writer and cartoonist Bob Eckstein Topic: An Excellent Opportunity For anyone out there who wants to make money with your stories or the story bits that I call “internal IP” (settings, characters, items, gadgets, etc.), Dean Wesley … Read more