the writing life

The Journal: Focus Down and Mentorships

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Focus Down and Mentorships * Update on my writing * WMG Workshops Half-Price Sale * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Fiction is a lie, and good fiction is the truth inside the lie.” Stephen King in On Writing “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” Mark Twain in Following the Equator “On the focus of a story, she writes ‘…the only remedy is resolutely to abandon the larger for the smaller field, to narrow one’s vision to one’s … Read more

The Journal: Critical Voice vs. Creative Voice

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Critical Voice vs. Creative Voice * Dean’s put out a call * In today’s post at the Kill Zone blog * * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “[N]othing important, or meaningful, or beautiful, or interesting, or great ever came out of imitations. The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” Anna Quindlen “I plucked hissing, thrashing, horned tomato worms off the plants and tossed them in a bucket, secretly terrified of their alien aggression. Every … Read more

The Journal: Not a lot

In today’s Journal * Not a lot * A decent-enough day * The Numbers Not a lot to talk about today. Dean posted Day 2 of his series “Writing a Novel in Half a Month,” but there were no gems, nothing spectacular. I got this from Dave Farland in an email and thought I’d include it here in case anyone’s interested: Announcement: Very exciting news for writers! This next week starting Monday is Fantasy Writers Week at ProWritingAid! Please do not miss out, put it on your calendar! There will be several guests and so much content for free. If … Read more

The Journal: Maybe an Exciting New Source

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Note: Gilbert Bassey * I’m writing again * Dean’s at it again * Sorry about the snow and ice * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Story is about emotional manipulation.” Gilbert Bassey “[S]tories are the most powerful creations of mankind.” Gilbert Bassey “In an era when Woke culture apparently has the power to turn business executives of all sorts into quivering and spineless pools of goo, a morals clause can be dangerous to a traditionally-published author’s financial and emotional health, both presently and in the future.” The Passive Guy and … Read more

The Journal: On Solitude, and Openings

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * On Solitude and Dismissive Attitudes * Openings * The Numbers Quotes of the Day from my Did She Really Say That? file “Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.” Jodi Picoult (via The Passive Voice) Note: Whatever the reason, I absolutely LOVE solitude, not that it would do any good to tell Ms. Picoult that, given her self-centered, audacious … Read more

The Journal: Kenneth Flowers, Yarmulkes and Tattoos

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Kenneth Flowers * Yarmulkes and Tattoos * Wrote an opening * The Numbers Kenneth Flowers A couple of days ago I was talking a bit about titles. Apropos of nothing, I wanted to remember my friend since high school, Kenneth Flowers. Kenneth was easily the kindest person I’ve ever known and among the most intelligent. He was one of those folks whom I wish everyone could have known. We lost Kenneth to COPD a few of years ago. Anyway, Kenneth came up with one of the best titles I’ve ever heard, … Read more

The Journal: WITD, the Novel and Dean

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Despite the playful * Wow. The novel * Yesterday I mentioned * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Don’t get so obsessed with writing advice that you fail to write.” JR Murdock “But how do I do this? How can I type words to a story when I’m not sure what’s happening?” JR Murdock (Harvey, in the back of the classroom, arm raised, hand waving frantically: “Ooh, ooh! Pick me! Ask me!” (grin)) Topic: Despite the playful, tongue-in-cheek jab immediately above this paragraph, reading JR Murdock’s post this morning (see … Read more

The Journal: Shared Worlds and Poetry

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Shared Worlds and Poetry * I thought the novel * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.” JRR Tolkein “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” JRR Tolkein “[What matters is] who you are and how you treat people, not what you signal.” FarnamStreetBlog.com. Dean announced in today’s post (linked below) that the Shared Worlds class is still open to anyone who wants to jump in and write for anthologies. And there … Read more

The Journal: Succinct Titles

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Succinct Titles * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something… You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.” JRR Tolkein “[T]hings that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.” JRR Tolkein Topic: Succinct Titles … Read more

The Journal: In Protest of Hatred

In today’s Journal * Topic: In Protest of Hatred * Another good day * The Numbers Topic: In Protest of Hatred There are only two things I cannot personally tolerate: intolerance and hypocrites. But with that statement, when it comes to some writers, I repeat myself. I despise writers (and people in general), who lade themselves with tons of unearned guilt, primarily to call attention to themselves and how wonderful they are, and then attempt to project that guilt onto others. I despise writers who make absolutely certain they’re touching on all the accepted and expected social biases and preferences … Read more