the writing life

The Journal, Wednesday, April 25

Hey Folks, Well, I guess I’m nothing if not an experimenter. It would be more than easy for me to take a day off today and do nothing but read and maybe even nap. I don’t nap. And I don’t mean as a general rule. I mean at all. I guard against it. I shudder at the thought. The inability to avoid napping, for me personally, will signal the beginning of old age. Had a rough night. I doubt I got more than two hours’ sleep in total. And I checked the clock every time I woke up, or had … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, April 24

Hey Folks, Great “Of Interest” section today. Don’t skip over Lee Lofland’s blog post just because maybe you aren’t a crime/police/detective writer. Using all the senses is a skill you need in ANY fiction. Topic: Aging as Excuse A young Marine Corps friend of mine recently posted on Facebook that he’s met 40 year olds who are old and 80 year olds who are young. I agree. In fact, I commented there that “I still tell people I’m 26, but I was rode hard and put away wet. Plus I have 39 years’ experience at being 26, so I’m REALLY … Read more

The Journal, Monday, April 23

Hey Folks, Well, let’s start today off with a Topic: If You’re a Writer and I’m a Reader, You Owe Me Something There were a lot of good comments on James Scott Bell’s “Editing is Dying, Grunting Soon to Follow” in the Kill Zone blog. You can find the post and the comments at https://killzoneblog.com/2018/04/editing-is-dying-grunting-soon-to-follow.html. Reading the comments was an eye-opening experience. Someone, a writer no less, actually advocated for the spelling of “all right” as “alright,” which, honestly, is just laziness. It’s the same reason some folks write “enuff” instead of “enough” or “no” instead of “know” (I’m not … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, April 22

Hey Folks, Well, I’m posting this very early today. The sun has almost come up. (grin) Today will be a non-writing day, but some good items in “Of Interest” below. After a very short night of sleep, I still managed to get out to the Hovel early, as I’d hoped I would. I continued the current story/chapter, then hit a snag and cycled back to repair it. That took me almost to the beginning of that chapter, so I settled in and read through the whole thing, still cycling. I added a few hundred words, but not enough to count … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, April 21

Hey Folks, Well, surprises happen. Last night not long after I’d gone to bed, my wife came in to say my son and his wife and three of my grandchildren were on their way down from Flagstaff for the weekend. I got up and we got things ready. Still, I was determined to get up earlier than usual to get as much done on The Storytellers as possible. The story is really running. The structure is interesting too, as it’s developed. There’s an introductory section, which is the beginning of the overall story that wraps the novel. Then there’s a … Read more

The Journal, Friday, April 20

Hey Folks, Wow. I have to admire Dean’s tenacity. He started a challenge to write 30 stories in 30 days while moving. But also, his wife, friend and life partner is physically hundreds of miles away. Even with the availability of phone calls and emails, not having the energy of that physical presence around has to be a trauma. Plus he’s giving up a beautiful home he’s lived in for a very long time. That’s a major trauma. Plus his responsibilities at WMG Publishing, and the workshops, and the emails etc. etc. ad nauseam. And on top of all that, … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, April 19

Hey Folks, Another very long post today. Get your beverage, settle in and enjoy. Way back on January 7, I started a story called “The Storytellers.” On the first trip to the Hovel this morning, I happened across it while looking for Versailles. An idea occurred to me last night, and I was going to apply it this morning. Remember yesterday I mentioned I wished I could work on both of them (Versailles and Pulp 9) back and forth? Be careful what you wish for. Curious, I opened “The Storytellers” and glanced over it. As I read, naturally, I did … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, April 18

Hey Folks, A long post today, so you might want to grab a beverage. (grin) Topic: The Power of Streaks Revisited I talked here awhile back about the power of streaks. A “streak” means repeatedly hitting a certain regularly scheduled goal without missing. When you miss, the streak ends. For example, say you’re determined to write 1000 words per day every day. The more days you do that in a row, the more powerful the streak becomes because you won’t want to miss. As a nice aside, and if you did do that for 100 days in a row (just … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, April 17

Hey Folks, Well, I finished the edit at about 8 a.m. after a final few hours of editing. Then I ran over it again with Find & Replace just to double check on a couple of global changes, then ran a spell check. I finally sent it off at around 9:30 a.m. I didn’t plan to write today. I usually need to wind down after an edit, especially a lengthy one. I planned to start reading a novel today. I’d heard of a really good crime author from James Scott Bell. The critics rave about this author (I won’t mention … Read more

The Journal, Monday, April 16

Hey Folks, Well, I don’t have a lot to report today, but a really good “Of Interest” section. I was determined today to have less than 25% of the edit left to finish tomorrow. With that in mind, I leaned into it from around 4 a.m. until I stopped at around 3 p.m. So a good 11-hour day, with a few breaks here and there. As I write this I have 15% of the edit left to do, so I should finish it tomorrow. Then, unless the gods frown on me. I should be able to return to my WIP. … Read more