The Passive Voice

The Journal: WITD and Writing Again

In today’s Journal * Holiday Sale * Writing Into the Dark * Writing Again * Of Interest * The Numbers Holiday Sale With the holidays coming up quickly, I thought I’d remind you of the half-price sale over at WMG Publishing’s Teachable account (https://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com/). Workshops and lectures and classes make excellent gifts for writers, even if the writer is yourself. For details, see “3 Days Left in the Holiday Sale” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/3-days-left-in-the-holiday-sale/. Of the lectures, the knowledge you’ll glean from Heinlein’s Rules (Lecture 1 if I remember right) is absolutely priceless. That lecture is literally what started me on this … Read more

The Journal: A “Fresh New Voice” Revisited

In today’s Journal * Happy Thanksgiving * A “Fresh New Voice” Revisited * Of Interest * The Numbers Happy Thanksgiving I’m posting today mostly so I can wish you an enjoyable Thanksgiving tomorrow. I hope it’s a good one for you and that you get to share it with friends and family. A “Fresh New Voice” Revisited Not quite a week ago, I posted a topic titled “Agents Want a Fresh New Voice.” Yesterday, I received an email on the topic from another prolific fiction writer, Dawn T. Her anecdote added so much to my original post that I wanted … Read more

The Journal: All Knowledge is Pertinent

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * All Knowledge is Pertinent to WITD * Moaning No Longer * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy.” Ambrose Bierce “November, n. The eleventh twelfth of a weariness.” Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary Welcome to Lexy, and any others who subscribed recently. Good to have you all aboard. If I can do anything to help, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or email me. All Knowledge is Pertinent to WITD The Kill Zone blog has made … Read more

The Journal: Agents Want a Fresh New Voice

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Agents Want a Fresh New Voice * Don’t look * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Great writers make their stories authentic by allowing us to experience what their characters hear, see, smell, taste, and touch—capturing the senses so we are fully involved.” Ellen Buikema at Writers in the Storm “When agents are asked what they are looking for, their typical answer is ‘a fresh new voice’.” Steve Hooley in “That Special Sauce” at the Kill Zone blog Agents Want a Fresh New Voice Agents and publishers want … Read more

The Journal: A Turning Point

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Lot in “Of Interest” Today * A Turning Point * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “For me, the witchcraft that is writing rarely rises to the front of my mind. When it does, I seem to screw up. I go to work, pound out words and pages, and somehow, when it’s all over, I’ve got a finished manuscript.” John Gilstrap “A good friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move a body.” Steven J. Daniels, Weeds in The Garden of Love … Read more

The Journal: The DeepL Translator

In today’s Journal * The DeepL Translator * Some Great Stuff in “Of Interest” * Of Interest * The Numbers The DeepL Translator I failed to mention last time, when Norbert W in Austria emailed me, he used a translator to translate his Austrian (German language) email into English. I tried the same thing later, and I believe DeepL is a very good translation program. I’ve added it to my Writers’ Resources over on my author site. You can find the free version of the translator at https://www.deepl.com/Translator. The development of this translation program also seems to be heading in … Read more

The Journal: Another DWS Kickstarter

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A couple of comments * Another DWS Kickstarter * Back to NaNoWriMo * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I’ve never written a novel in 30 days (as if!) but I did do NaNoWriMo to write 500-1000 words a day of my then-WIP and it really got me over a hump.” Kathleen McCleary A couple of comments The above quote is from an article that says if you want to “win” NaNoWriMo, it’s easy: Just change the definition of “win.” That advice is right up there with taking … Read more

The Journal: More on IP and Going to Print (Paper)

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * More on IP and Going to Print (Paper) * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “We need to be aware that there is no frontlist or backlist anymore. There’s just the work.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch, in “IP Is The New Frontlist (Part Two)” “If new-to-you is the model, then most indie writers are going about promotion all wrong. Instead of always focusing on the real new product, writers need to focus on the project that makes the most sense to promote.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch “We’re writers. We produce … Read more

The Journal: Two Very Important Posts

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Important Post 1 * Important Post 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “There are nearly 20 million titles available for delivery tomorrow in today’s world; there were certainly well under a million available 20 years ago. And with most customers not reached through inventory in stores, it is usually not relevant where a potential customer is: in your country or someplace else.” Mike Shatzkin “[T]here really are only two companies that define the book business today. … Amazon and Ingram comprise the global infrastructure of the … Read more

The Journal: Nothing Really

In today’s Journal * Nothing really * Of Interest * The Numbers Nothing today, really. I suspect this will be the shortest post I’ve ever put up. I’m posting today only to send you the “Of Interest” links below. I hope you will find them helpful, hopeful or amusing. Talk with you again later. Of Interest See “Offend Me, Please!” at https://danbaldwin.com/f/offend-me-please. See “Twitter Tutorial – From Zero to 12K” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/10/twitter-tutorial-from-zero-to-12k.html. If marketing is important to you, this is a good article. See “7 Simple Social Media Tips for Successful Authors” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/7-simple-social-media-tips-for-successful-authors/. See “Blue Origin unveils plans to … Read more