the writing life

The Journal: Decisions, Decisions

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * I started writing * Decisions, decisions… * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Traditional publishing and selling physical books are, in the 21st century, narrow-margin operations without a lot of room for error or financial difficulties.” The Passive Guy “[E]ven fools can often recognize a death spiral.” The Passive Guy, talking about the book business, but easily relatable to other endeavors as well “Leonard, we know you’re great, we just don’t know if you’re any good.” CBS Records President and CEO Walter Yetnikoff to Leonard Cohen, as reported by Joe Hartlaub … Read more

The Journal: Story Ideas

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Story Ideas * A slow start * The Numbers Quote of the Day “A government of, by, and for the people requires that people talk to people, that we can agree to disagree but do so in civility. If we let the politicians and those who report dictate our discourse, then our course will be dictated.” Donna Brazile (thanks to the Passive Guy) Note: Beyond hinting at censorship, the Quote of the Day has nothing to do with writing. I included it only because it is so closely related to … Read more

The Journal: A Run-on Sentence? Nope.

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * An alternate dictionary * A Little Fun * A Run-on Sentence? Nope. * No writing yesterday * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Noir is urban gothic—hopeless. Hardboiled is gritty and unsentimental.” Garry Rodgers For maybe the past 40 years or so, I’ve been slowly compiling an alternate dictionary of sorts as a mental exercise, something similar to The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. Despite its name, Bierce’s dictionary has nothing to do with Satan, by the way. If you’re not familiar with it, you can find a free copy at … Read more

The Journal: An Excellent Quote for Writers

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * About the quote of the day * “Vignette from a Third-Floor Window” * Playing catch-up with numbers * In an item that I finally chose * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You hear about how many fourth-quarter comebacks that a guy has, and I think it means a guy screwed up in the first three quarters.” Peyton Manning What an excellent quote that is for writers! How about writing your very best on the first pass, then send it to a trusted first reader to check for typos, then publish … Read more

The Journal: Most generations are given a fight

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Most generations are given a fight * Taking a Break with JPS Brown * Finished the novel * Thank you * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Traditional publishing has a highly-conflicted view of libraries. They have the idea that a high percentage of borrowers would buy their books if it were unable to conveniently borrow them from a library.” The Passive Guy “[T]he impulse to silence the opinions of or “deplatform” others has experienced a troubling resurgence of late, at least in some myopic intellectual bubbles in the United States.” … Read more

The Journal: What the Journal Is Not

In today’s Journal * What the Journal is not * Why I didn’t post yesterday * The Numbers This Journal is not a political blog and it will never become a political blog. Nor will I ever ambush you with political commentary here. You come here expecting to read my ramblings about writing fiction and, to a lesser degree, nonfiction and poetry and my personal life as a writer. And that’s what you should find when you get here. Why I didn’t post yesterday Some will notice I didn’t post at all yesterday. There are two reasons for that: One, … Read more

The Journal: What We Keep

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * There are links to several * Topic: What We Keep * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Hahahahahaha!! What??? Me and you grumpy?” anonymous, a friend responding to yesterday’s Journal post “I have no trouble accepting my own flaws. It’s other people who have a problem with that.” Wes Crowley There are links to several very good articles in today’s “Of Interest” section. I hope you’ll take the time to click through and visit some of them. Topic: What We Keep For close to a year after I learned the technique … Read more

The Journal: Feedback and Thinking Out Loud

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * One astute reader noticed * Feedback on my negativity * I didn’t have as good a day * Just thinking out loud * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I think some aspects of writing can be taught. Obviously, you can’t teach vision or talent. But you can help with comfort.” Toni Morrison (via The Passive Voice) One astute reader mentioned she noticed that although I finished the recast of Book 4 of the FOH series earlier this month, my novel total for 2021 still indicates 0. That’s true, but it … Read more

The Journal: Dialogue Tag vs. Brief Descriptive Narrative

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * An extremely good post link * I lost a subscriber on the 12th * The purpose behind the Journal * Trigger Alert (joking) * I expect a good day * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Be ruthless about protecting writing days…. Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance.” J.K. Rowling (via The Passive Voice) “Jenny told me that the eye passes over ‘said’ and ‘asked’ and … Read more

The Journal: An Opportunity to Learn

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * An Opportunity to Learn * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “[A]void using an abundance of clunky “ly” words.” Lee Lofland “The best crime stories are not about how cops work on cases. They’re about how cases work on cops.” Joseph Wambaugh An Opportunity to Learn See “Five Tips For Writing to a Large Audience (48 minute video)” at https://mystorydoctor.com/get-the-five-tips-for-writing-to-a-large-audience/. I suggest listening to this free video by David Farland. For one thing, it will help with good ways to think about your IP, not only the stories themselves but parts … Read more