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The Reverse Outline Shines Again

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: The Reverse Outline Shines Again * Sigh… More Controversy * Of Interest Quote of the Day “October 1st… Climb back on. That’s what I will be doing.” Dean Wesley Smith “I finally get it now. There really is no danger of over-describing. If it’s coming from the [POV] characters instead of my own brain, it makes sense for the story because it’s what they’re feeling, sensing, experiencing.” Chynna Pace, mentoring student Topic: The Reverse Outline Shines Again I can’t forcefully enough express the importance and usefulness of the reverse outline. … Read more

Dr. Jerry Pournelle on Writing and Heinlein

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Topic: Dr. Jerry Pournelle on Writing and Heinlein * The Magnetic Drive * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” Muhammad Ali “Unless you wrote your book exclusively for your own satisfaction, once your creative vision is on the page, it’s time to zoom in on how the book works for readers.” Lisa Poisso, Resident Writing Coach at Writers in the Storm (Um, I suggest asking how the … Read more

The Short Story as Adjunct to the Novel

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A quick note * Topic: The Short Story as Adjunct to the Novel * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength, and conviction, the only thing that can stop you is you.” Ruby Bridges “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” George Orwell (Story ideas, anyone? Other than A Few Good Men, I mean?) A quick note—Please be sure to read Dawn T’s comment on yesterday’s post. She briefly … Read more

When a Story Stalls

In today’s Journal * Topic: When a Story Stalls * Of Interest Topic: When a Story Stalls This is another topic I’ve touched on before, but it bears repeating. One of my mentoring students mentioned that sometimes his writing bogs down. When that happens, I promise, the best thing you can do is trust your characters and just write the next sentence that occurs to you. Then write the next sentence, then the next and the next and the next, and soon the story will be flowing again. Simple as it sounds, this works almost every time. If it doesn’t … Read more

A Looking-Back Fairy Tale

In today’s Journal * A Looking-Back Fairy Tale * Threatened? Really? * Topic: Expect to Sweat * Of Interest A Looking-Back Fairy Tale Once upon a time I hosted a site called Pro Writers Writing (PWW). The idea was to do something similar to what they’re doing over at KillZone blog. At PWW, a bevy of professional writers, in rotation, would hold forth on writing, publishing, and marketing topics that interested them. To skip over the details, PWW ran successfully for about a year. Then, out of the blue, one of my weekly contributors quit. She cited her own weekly … Read more

Grasping the Most Difficult Basic Technique

In today’s Journal * Slow Start * A New Routine * Topic: Grasping the Most Difficult Basic Technique * Of Interest Slow Start With the daily news updates and the succession of events that will take place between now and Monday, September 19, I’ll make a slower start than I anticipated in getting back to writing fiction. No matter. It will come. I’d rather my progress is slow than not at all. A New Routine As part of my attempt to reboot myself as a fiction writer, I’m also starting something new with my own daily routine. Instead of researching, … Read more

Dare to Be Bad

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Dare to Be Bad * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work.” Stephen King (Amen. Preach it, brother.) “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Topic: Dare to Be Bad Anyone who’s followed Dean Wesley Smith very long has heard him use this admonition in his blog. According to Dean, it’s something he and Nina … Read more

The Secret to Being Prolfic

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: The Secret to Being Prolfic * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “If you wish to advance into the infinite, explore the finite in all directions.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “Sure you can, Harvey. ‘Can’t’ never did anything.” My stepmom, about 65 years ago when I complained that I couldn’t do something. I owe her my Marine Corps career, and I owe her my writing career. “May your future be limited only by your dreams.” Christa McAuliffe Topic: The Secret to Being Prolfic First, the secret to being a prolific … Read more

Response to a Mentoring Student

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Response to a Mentoring Student * On Paid Book Reviewers * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “[I]f your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything.” David Foster Wallace Topic: Response to a Mentoring Student Here’s a response I sent to one of my mentoring students yesterday morning. I did change it a little or add to it here and there. But since it was already largely written, I had only to copy and paste it, then schedule the post to release this morning. The whole process, … Read more

Getting It

In today’s Journal * Possibly A Brief Hiatus * Last Day of Dean’s Workshop Sale * Topic: Getting It * Of Interest Possibly A Brief Hiatus There’s a good chance I’ll take a brief hiatus from posting to the Journal for a few days to reset my fiction-writing schedule. I was reminded recently of how very prolific I was a year ago. I want to get back to that all-consuming joy. I also want to reset my Journal-writing, mentoring (seriously considering adding another level), and other-stuff schedule. Of course, I’ll continue to make my rounds of the internet, and sometimes … Read more