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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 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: Writer Seeks Actual Publisher

In today’s Journal * Topic: Writer Seeks Actual Publisher * Wimped out a little * The Numbers Topic: Writer Seeks Actual Publisher A couple days ago I posted about numbers, and yesterday I posted about priorities. Who knew I was building up to posting about Heinlein’s Rule 4: “You must publish” (in today’s parlance)? I just read another post about organizing, or rather the consequences of the lack of organization. And I was moved to leave a brief comment. I wrote “For me, at least, that’s why Heinlein’s Rule 4 is so easy to fall off of.” (Yeah, I know. … Read more

The Journal: A Thought on Priorities and Writing

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: A Thought on Priorities and Writing * Another Note on Numbers * A decent day yesterday * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You don’t need more time, you need more focus.” FS Blog Topic: A Thought on Priorities and Writing When I was a child in New Mexico, I heard a Realtor’s spot on the local radio station: “There will always be more people, but there will never be more land.” The Realtor in question most often dealt in large tracts of land: farms, ranches and the like. And … Read more

The Journal: Writing “Fast”

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Writing “Fast” * A dismal day * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Professional writers think of stories or novels as just one continuous thing they write, never making one or another more important.” Dean Wesley Smith “I usually write a play in six days. A novel takes a month.” William Saroyan Topic: Writing “Fast” Again today I saw a writer trying to define “fast,” as in “Are you a ‘fast’ writer?” To me, this is like defining heat and cold or light and dark. Really, there is no such … Read more

The Journal: MOM (Moaning Over Misery)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Lot Slower Yesterday * In a continuation of my MOM * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Being a writer does not make you an editor. And being an editor definitely does not make you a writer.” me A Lot Slower Yesterday Well, my progress on my recast novel was a lot slower day yesterday. I ran into the part of Book 4 that I kept, the thread that had nothing to do with the death that caused me to recast the novel. A cautionary note: If I had it … Read more

The Journal: Just Rambling

In today’s Journal * Just Rambling * On the other hand * The Numbers Just Rambling I’m constantly amazed by other “professional” writers, and all too often in a negative way. That sense of amazement makes me feel really blessed that I have my particular attitude and personality. I’m glad I can actually achieve and not simply talk about achieving. I’m glad, as a writer, I understand that actually writing is a thousand times better and more fun than talking about writing or the dreaded “deciding to be more proactive and assertive about writing.” I know a lot of people … Read more

The Journal: Opening Up a World Early

In today’s Journal * Opening up a World Early * Good day * The Numbers Opening Up a World Early A few days ago, one of my first readers emailed to say he’d awakened that morning with “an idea for another [FOH] storyline that could be interesting.” Then he asked whether he should “pitch it” to me or “write it up” like I offered with the Galaxy stories. I told him to go ahead and write it if he wants. So I’ll open that world up to others too. To save me reinventing the wheel, here’s the note I sent … Read more