the writing life

The Daily Journal, Monday, February 11

In today’s Journal ▪ For fun ▪ The challenge. ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers For fun (and with my friend Dan Baldwin in mind), see the excerpt from “A Love Story Between Business Managers, Written by a Business Manager” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/a-love-story-between-business-managers-written-by-a-business-manager/. Oh dear god, folks, please don’t write like this. *** The Challenge I’m currently on Day 9 of the third novel of my writing challenge (to write 10 novels in 150 consecutive days). When the first novel ended, I had three days in the bank. I quickly wasted two of those days, which left … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, February 10

In today’s Journal ▪ Barely caught a gotcha ▪ Topic: Marketing ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Special thanks to Mike Rom, one of my new first readers. Mike is a pure reader. He reads avidly, and as he does, things pop out at him. He notes those things and tells me about them. Perfect. Topic: A Marketing Thought That Many Miss We’ve all seen the pros and cons re marketing our work: ▪ Use social media ▪ Don’t use social media ▪ Be aggressive in your marketing ▪ Be passive in your marketing ▪ Have … Read more

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, Tuesday, February 5

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ First readers (revisited, briefly) ▪ Looking for experts ▪ On being a grouch ▪ Topic: How I Hit on What to Write Next ▪ I added the “Eight Tricks” link… ▪ The daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers As usual, I overexplained about first readers. Let me try to fix it. All it takes to be a good first reader is to read for pleasure, as if you aren’t supposed to give any feedback. You aren’t a teacher reading an assignment. You’re a reader, reading for enjoyment. You aren’t editing or proofreading. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, February 4

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ An opportunity for a free writing webinar ▪ Topic: Ramblings on a Minor Crisis ▪ The daily diary ▪ A LOT in Of Interest ▪ The numbers According to the latest Reedsy newsletter, there’s a new live webinar this Wednesday (Bebruary 6) at 2 p.m. eastern time. Ann Leslie Tuttle, who “spent over 20 years as an editor at Harlequin, the world’s leading publisher of romance,” will present “What Makes the Perfect Romance.” For more information or to register, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-makes-the-perfect-romance-registration-55070670859. Did I say it’s free? *** Topic: Ramblings on a Minor Crisis Yesterday … 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