The Passive Voice

The Journal: Garbage Runs in Cycles

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Garbage Runs in Cycles * Great start * The Numbers Quote of the Day “We often think we need to open with a huge bang, something that’ll catch the reader’s attention and play out like a blockbuster movie. But here’s the thing about those high-powered opening scenes: readers don’t care because they don’t yet know the characters or the baggage….” Becca Puglisi Topic: Garbage Runs in Cycles This morning was weird in two ways. Like so many other natural phenomena, garbage seems to run in cycles. One: I just realized … Read more

The Journal: The Shared World short story

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Shared World short story * Still looking for a publisher * And where do I leave a legacy? * The Numbers Quote of the Day “There is only one place to write and that is alone at a typewriter. The writer who has to go into the streets is a writer who does not know the streets. . . when you leave your typewriter you leave your machine gun and the rats come pouring through.” Charles Bukowski (via The Passive Voice) Well, yesterday I stopped writing the short story with … Read more

The Journal: Today, Yesterday, Sometime Later

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Today * Yesterday * Sometime later * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Saying that taste is just personal preference is a good way to prevent disputes. The trouble is, it’s not true. You feel this when you start to design things.” Paul Graham “It takes confidence to throw work away. You have to be able to think, there’s more where that came from.” Paul Graham Topic: Today in “Of Interest” is a link to an article that purports to list “12 Signs You’re Still in the Learning Phase of … Read more

The Journal: Writer’s Block and Coming Up with Ideas

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Writer’s Block and Coming Up with Ideas * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You can not do this from critical voice. You must learn it by reading and typing in openings of top bestsellers (stage four writers) and pay attention to what they are doing. Then you just trust your creative voice to add what it has learned into your stories over time.” DWS on learning pacing Note for any RSS readers: I added the above Quote of the Day after I initially posted today’s edition of the Journal. … Read more

The Journal: Fact or Fiction Indeed

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Fact or Fiction Indeed * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The words are maps, and the map is not the territory. The map is static; the territory constantly flows. Words are always about the past or the unborn future, never about the living present. The present is ever to quick for them; by the time words are out, it is gone.” Polish scholar named Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski (via The Passive Guy) Topic: Fact or Fiction Indeed In today’s “Of Interest” there’s a link to an article titled “Fact … Read more

The Journal: Quotes, Comments and an Email

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Quotes of the Day by Ray Bradbury (and one from me) * Thanks * Topic: Email, the “writing zone,” and whose story is this, anyway? * Public Service Announcement * The Numbers Quote of the Day “By the end of the third day [at a writing retreat], I find myself waking up eager to write.” David Farland Quotes of the Day by Ray Bradbury “The great fun in my life has been getting up every morning and rushing to the typewriter because some new idea has hit me.” RB “My stories … Read more

The Journal: Practice in Writing

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Question for You * Topic: Practice in Writing * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” Louis L’Amour “Fiction writing can be learned, if one studies diligently and keeps practicing.” James Scott Bell “I don’t know how to tell if my writing’s any good while I’m writing it.” Greer Macallister A Question for You Given today’s topic. I have a question, and I’m serious. One of the most clichéd sentences in the writing profession is … Read more

The Journal: Character with a Problem, Part 3

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Character with a Problem, Part 3 * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” Joan Didion “The arrangement of the words matters, and the arrangement you want can be found in the picture in your mind. The picture dictates the arrangement. The picture tells you how to arrange the words and the arrangement of the words tells you, or tells me, what’s going on … Read more

The Journal: Character with a Problem, Part 2

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Ooh I was so tempted * Censorship * Pro Writers Writing * Topic: Character with a Problem, Part 2 * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “One of the things Dean Wesley Smith talks about is how he learns himself through teaching. I feel that this has been as much about me learning as anything. Putting down my thoughts about things I’ve learned over the years has helped to crystalize and solidify them for me.” Sean Monaghan in a comment on Pro Writers Writing “For those of you who have already … Read more

The Journal: Character with a Problem

In today’s Journal * Topic: Character with a Problem * Additional References * The Numbers Topic: Character with a Problem Yesterday, I received a complimentary email from a writer. In it, he initiated two topics, one intentional and one peripheral. The more important is the peripheral one, so I’ll talk about that today. Many times, I’ve said all you need to start a story is a character with a problem in a setting. In his email, the writer wrote, “I have no trouble with the setting part. That’s what comes to me first. (Like the painting that has given you … Read more