Topic

The Journal: Censorship in the Name of Inclusivity

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Censorship in the Name of Inclusivity * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “For a writer’s voice to resonate, it must be true to the writer. Twenty-five years ago, when my first novel was about to drop, I took the one writer who gave me early advice out to dinner in a very nice restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. It’s one of those old-money places where people speak in hushed tones and eat baked Alaska for dessert. “The writer in question was then and is now a huge … Read more

The Journal: Write. Or Don’t. Whatever.

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Write. Or Don’t. Whatever. * Happy Hollowe’en * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.” Raymond Joseph Teller “How do you cope when almost no one notices? … How do you keep going when nothing seems to help? … Is it worth it to keep on keeping on?” anonymous past commenter at Kill Zone blog Topic: Write. Or Don’t. Whatever. In the first item in “Of Interest” today, James Scott Bell takes … Read more

The Journal: Rewriting and Hemingway

In today’s Journal * Topic: Rewriting and Hemingway * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: Rewriting and Hemingway Once again, a writer gave me a topic to write about here. Screenwriter MGP wrote to ask, “Why do you think rewriting is so embedded in the writing community?” He went on to talk about Hemingway and the allegation that the great writer “rewrote the last few sentences of Farewell to Arms 39 times.” Then MGP wrote, “in the article itself the writer uses that as ‘inspiration’ to allow himself to write sloppy and ‘fix’ it later.” My response to the direct … Read more

The Journal: Writing Into the Dark: Part 2

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Writing Into the Dark: Part 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “It’s all a matter of process vs. product. I like the writing. I like telling a story. I like being stuck and not knowing where I’m going. I love that process. If you want to write more, practice, and care about the process [vs. the individual story]. Having fun telling the story is what matters. Don’t worry about the end product. Readers will buy it or not, and there’s nothing you can do about … Read more

The Journal: What Is Writing Into the Dark?

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * “Of Interest” Is Back * Topic: What Is Writing Into the Dark? * Almost Writing Again * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “To see the blue color go right by you and now you’re staring into blackness, that’s the thing.” William Shatner, trying to convey his experience on Blue Origin “Of Interest” Is Back Yeah. I was silly to get rid of it. I’ll happen across things that might be of interest to you as writers of one genre or another or as writers in general, and … Read more

The Journal: Desperately Avoiding the Adverb

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Desperately Avoiding the Adverb * On Tidbits * Marketing Tidbit * Of Interest * The Numbers ​​​ Quote of the Day “On a different subject, “… head shaking with rue” sounded odd. Is this just me or is the author desperately avoiding the adverb?” Mike Hall, in a comment on a post on The Passive Voice Topic: Desperately Avoiding the Adverb For many years, I’ve kept a running list of verbs writers use in dialogue tags to replace “said” and thereby, they reason, to “spiff up” the tag and make … Read more

The Journal: Three Kinds of Fiction Writers

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Three Kinds of Fiction Writers * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Being ‘good at things’ is not the point. Enjoying the ride is. [R]emember to take joy in the process.” PJ Parrish “Given the growth in the audio market, I use far more dialogue tags than I used to. On the page, I believe they become invisible, and on audio, it keeps the listener on track.” John Gilstrap Topic: Three Kinds of Fiction Writers I used to say there are two kinds of fiction writers, but … Read more

The Journal: More on Ideas, and Introducing Tidbits

In today’s Journal * More on Ideas * Topic: Introducing Tidbits * Of Interest * The Numbers ​​​More on Ideas Excerpted from an email to a potential new mentoring student. In his email he told me he was deluged with story ideas: I’m glad you’re deluged with ideas. I get so tired of would-be writers asking “Where do you get ideas?” My typical response is “Where do you NOT get ideas?” Just this morning during my walk, I passed through several swarms of flying ants. My imagination immediately went to an alien invasion. A little later, as I was eating … Read more

The Journal: Writing Routines

In today’s Journal * Writing Ritual and Routine * Of Interest * The Numbers​​​ Writing Ritual and Routine Over on TKZ today, Sue Coletta posted an article on writing ritual and routine. Interesting post, and she asked toward the end about others’ rituals and routines. I thought mine would make a good post over here on the Journal. I rise at 2 or 3 a.m. (I take my 6-8 hours from a different part of the day), grab a mugga coffee, and walk about 150 feet to my Hovel, an adobe shack with 3-foot thick walls. That gives me the … Read more

The Journal: Critical Mind: A Diagnosis

In today’s Journal * Topic: Critical Mind: A Diagnosis * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: Critical Mind Diagnosis I’m seemingly never immune to intrusions from the critical mind. Yesterday, as I wrote in the current story, that niggling, quiet little voice (creative mind) kept telling me I was forcing things and going in the wrong direction. By “wrong” I mean I was telling the story per what “made sense next” instead of just giving the characters their head and writing what they gave me to write. You would think by now I’d know better, and I do. But really, … Read more