The Passive Voice

The Daily Journal, Saturday, February 9

In today’s Journal ▪Topic: The Secret to Success… ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Probably another short edition of the Journal today. UPDATE: Nope. Long Journal entry, short writing day. (grin) Topic: The Secret to Success as a Writer (If You Define “Success” as Yearning to Get Back to the Story) Okay, that’s a crappy title. It’s too long and maybe too restrictive and it has nothing to do with money. At least directly. Bradbury and countless other luminaries have said if you write what you love, the money will come. I assume the corollary is … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, February 8

In Today’s Journal ▪ Short Journal entry today ▪ On cycling and first reading and how they’re similar ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Not a lot going on today. Got the gate moved and a new upright post in place on the latch side yesterday afternoon. Now I need to rebuild the gate itself. Probably this weekend. *** I was talking with a guy the other day (maybe in comments) about cycling. I don’t recall the whole conversation, but the take-away point was, cycling is all about Story. It isn’t about individual words or sentences. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, February 7

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ Dean’s Kickstarter funded ▪ One more note on first readers ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Wow. Dean’s Kickstarter funded (for about an hour before one guy pulled out). But he’s honoring both stretch goals anyway. That’s the kind of guy he is. So everyone who pledged at any amount gets all the rewards he offered in the Kickstarter stretch goals. Very cool. This is just one more reason I try to support him in his endeavors. *** One commenter on yesterday’s post mentioned that some folks (especially readers of … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, February 6

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ Tigritude ▪ First readers abound ▪ On process ▪ I didn’t keep a reverse outline ▪ The daily diary ▪ A LOT in Of Interest ▪ The numbers From The Passive Guy, “A tiger does not shout its tigritude, it acts.” ~ Wole Soyinka I’m not sure, but I believe “tigritude” is my new favorite word. *** I’m amazed (but very pleased) to report I had four positive responses to my request on the Pro Writers blog for first readers yesterday. Should any of them happen to read this, Thank You. Of course, I … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, February 3

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ On the challenge ▪ A brief topic on Productivity and Being Prolific ▪ Topic on What to Require of a First Reader ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers On the challenge, the good news is, after today I still have 1 day in the bank on my challenge. The bad news is I have only 1 day  in the bank. Not that I’m complaining At All. But what can be foreseen can be remedied. So in the back of my mind is the determination to spend a lot of time … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, February 2

Hey Folks, First, Welcome Aboard to my newest subscriber, whom I know (at the moment) only as Super Primitive. (grin) In today’s Journal ▪ Ramblings about setting up Hal 2 ▪ On the challenge ▪ The daily diary (more ramblings) ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Well, I got my new 11″ computer in yesterday. It’s a refurbished, solid-state drive HP (so no noise or overheating) and it cost me a cool $109.00. (That isn’t a typo and the decimal is in the right place.) So instead of casting about for the next novel idea I spent most of the … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, February 1

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ The Full Version of the Journal Is Back (topic). ▪ For those interested in the challenge ▪ Situation Solved released today ▪ Looking for a first reader ▪ The daily diary ramblings ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Topic: The Full Version of the Journal Is Back The excerpted version of the Journal was an experiment, as I said up front. Turns out it was a failed experiment. The specific purpose was to get readers to go to the website. Those who read in email don’t often go to the website to leave a … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, January 30

Hey Folks, Another pretty good “Of Interest” section and a topic on one way to lose readers. Be careful out there. Topic: One Way to Lose Readers I wasted a lot of time today writing a lengthy topic (around 1500 words) that, in the end, seemed inane to me. So I trashed it. The words weren’t “wasted” though because they brought me to this. So I’ll just say a few quick things, because my main job is to tell stories, to entertain, and I want to get back to it. My secondary job is to pass along what I know … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, January 29

Hey Folks, A rather troubling topic today, one of those things for which, before you pick it up, you should pull on a pair of latex gloves. And so much in “Of Interest” that I almost want to apologize. A thought struck me last night. Things are looking good so far for the challenge. I’m almost certain to finish this one before February 4, putting me ahead of schedule once again and keeping spare days in the safe. *** Topic: Crap, This Is All About Racism and (Other Forms of) Prejudice Racism, bias and prejudice, whether intentional or subconscious, run … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, January 27

Hey Folks, Be sure to click through and read the whole post. Some great “Of Interest” items, not to mention a topic and the other stuff. Yesterday, Scott Thrall commented that he hopes Dean keeps drinking the water in Vegas that’s making him go nuts with prizes for his KickStarter campaign. Apparently he drank another tall glass. Read about it in “Of Interest.” A great deal, not to be missed. *** Topic: Are You a Self-Saboteur? Have you ever sabotaged yourself? I don’t mean with the usual conscious mind stuff: doubting your abilities, feeling you’re a pretender, worrying about where … Read more