the writing life

The Journal: Diary Continued

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Diary Continued * Rules for Dealing with Traditional Magazine Editors * The Numbers Quote of the Day “A year from now you will wish you had started today.” Karen Lamb Diary Continued Yesterday I got quite a bit done. I designed (or redesigned) 13 covers for novels (I cheated in that 11 of those used the same art for branding), wrote sales copy for 9 novels, republished two to D2D and Amazon, published one new one to D2D and Amazon (The Journey Home: Part 3) and scheduled one for preorder to … Read more

The Journal: A Diary Entry

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A diary entry and a “day off” * For goodness’ sake * The Numbers Dean seems to enjoy writing diary entries and some folks seem to enjoy them, so for today I thought I’d post a diary entry: The Diary of Yesterday. First, I didn’t get up until 4 a.m. yesterday. Guess I needed the rest. Then, for the first time in a long time, I decided to step back from the writing computer. I felt comfortable doing so because it’s necessary and I could use a brief break from the … Read more

The Journal: Post 5 on Heinlein’s Rules

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A friend brought a truism home * Topic: Post 5 on Heinlein’s Rules * The Journey Home: Part 8 is finished * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Nine months later, I’d written and published 500,000 words and learned more from that process than I could have imagined.” Cat Sole in the AuthorsPublish article linked to below on writing FanFic (I suspect she was able to write so much so quickly because since it was fanfic it was easy to think of it as unimporant… just sayin’) A friend brought a … Read more

The Journal: Post 4 on Heinlein’s Rules

In today’s Journal * Topic: Post 4 on Heinlein’s Rules * Not a great day * The Numbers Topic: Post 4 on Heinlein’s Rules A lot of this one is about the most controversial of Heinlein’s Rules: Rule 3. Q: Ok, my next question is about Rule #3: Refrain from rewriting except to editorial order. So, if a story is good enough to be accepted by a publisher, and they give you feedback on what needs to be changed, you should make those changes (within reason). But you shouldn’t do revisions on your own. Q (cont.): I agree with the … Read more

The Journal: Post 3 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Post 3 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series * It’s no secret * For an update * The Numbers Quote of the Day Fun quote of the day: “After I saw a bumper sticker that read I’m a veterinarian so I drive like an animal, I realized how many proctologists I see on the roads.” Anonymous meme Topic: Post 3 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series Today the topic is mostly about Rule 4: You must put it on the market. Q: I want to dive right in to some of my … Read more

The Journal: Post 2 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Post 2 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series * For an update * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[B]y pushing productivity, we may actually be creating a generation of better storytellers.” David Farland Topic: Post 2 in the Heinlein’s Rules Series Actually, more introductory stuff today, with some specifics on Heinlein’s Rules mixed in. Q: To provide context, how long have you been using this process, how many books/stories have you been able to write, and what kind of success have you achieved? Harvey: I first discovered Heinlein’s Rules and … Read more

The Journal: Awhile Back: An Introduction

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Awhile Back: An Introduction to a Series on Heinlein’s Rules * For an update * The Numbers Topic: Awhile Back: An Introduction to a Series on Heinlein’s Rules Awhile back, I received a note from a writer who wanted to interview me about my adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. The purpose was so the writer could put up a blog post on the topic. Later, the writer decided the post would be too long for their format. I agreed. But the questions the writer asked, and the indicental comments the writer … Read more

The Journal: The upcoming topics and a short tale

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * That third quote * The upcoming topics and a short tale * The Journey Home: Part 8 * The second quote * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The common denominator of success — the secret of success of every man who has ever been successful — lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.” Albert E. N. Gray “The courage to take the first step. The discipline to take the next one.” FarnamStreetblog.com “It is hard to believe that a … Read more

The Journal: Great Topics Coming

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Great Topics Coming * Another good day * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If there ain’t a rock in my boots when I pull ’em on in the morning, I know it’s gonna be a good day. ‘Course I make a point of dumping my boots before I pull ’em on.” Wes Crowley” Great Topics Coming Again today, I almost didn’t post an entry to the Journal. Today it was for a different reason. I altered my schedule a bit and moved over to the writing computer a little earlier. … Read more

The Journal: Why I won’t write…

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Why I won’t write… * A pretty good day * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan….” The business that preserves the author’s (Dr. Seuss) legacy, as reported by CNN (there’s a shock) Note: Doesn’t sound like “preservation” to me. Cancel culture can bite me. Bunch of disgusting brave fighters of blind kittens….. “PG predicts that, in the long-standing tradition of human nature, one hundred years in the future, someone, somewhere will be loudly condemning the … Read more