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The Journal: A Long Journey

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Faulkner * A Long Journey * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “When [the writer] begins to temper what he writes to who will read it, then I think the writing itself suffers.” William Faulkner “Sometimes the characters in my books surprise me, yes. They don’t surprise me in doing something that I never heard of or never imagined human beings doing before, but I hadn’t expected them to do it at that moment.” William Faulkner “I think that if the writer is going to write simply to express his own … Read more

The Journal: How to Indicate Unspoken Thoughts

In today’s Journal * Topic: How to Indicate Unspoken Thoughts * Of Interest Topic: How to Indicate Unspoken Thoughts There are generally two major ways to indicate the direct, unspoken thoughts (or internal monologue) of the POV character. Either is acceptable, depending on whom you ask and your personal preference as a writer: 1. Put the POV character’s direct unspoken thoughts in italics to visually differentiate them from narration. (I used to recommend doing this.) 2. Leave the direct thoughts in regular font like the narration. (I now recommend doing this.) Consistency Is Key — whichever way you choose to … Read more

The Journal: A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration

In today’s Journal * A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration * Of Interest A Lengthy Preface and a Reiteration Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt is a writer who suffers from a rare disease, an affliction that precludes her from being able to access her creative subconscious or to write from it. (Alicia, my apologies, but I can’t remember the specific name of the disease.) In a comment on “Another Brief Note on Critiques,” Alicia mentioned a few points to which I will respond here. But first a pair of disclaimers — 1. If you are unable to either access your creative subconscious … Read more

The Journal: Another Brief Note on Critiques

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Another Brief Note on Critiques * And Then There’s This * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Here’s a revelation for some people: the age of the audience is not a genre.” R.S. Mellette “PG has never read a book because he wants to impress anyone either positively or negatively and doesn’t think he would enjoy associating with someone who does.” The Passive Guy Topic: Another Brief Note on Critiques K.C.’s comment on yesterday’s post drew my attention, especially when I received a similar response to a comment I posted … Read more

The Journal: Reviews and Critiques

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Reviews and Critiques * Speaking of Which * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “As we all know, a reader’s opinion of a book is enormously subjective. The way [readers] approach a story can vary at different points in their lives, or even their day. They read things into it that you might never have intended—and they’re all going to have vastly different opinions about what worked and what didn’t.” Joe Moore, whom I believe is a founding member of The KillZone blog, on why he recommends not reading reviews. … Read more

The Journal: Reader Pet Peeves: Thin Stories

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Also from Kris Rusch * Topic: Reader Pet Peeves: Thin Stories * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “The hardest thing … are the writers whose work just stops. Not because Dean or I got tired of reading them or the writer veered into territory we weren’t interested in. But because something got in the way of the writing.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch (see “Of Interest”) “[Writers] who have long careers constantly work on their craft. They might be afraid — hell, they might be terrified — but they step beyond it.” … Read more

The Journal: Reader Pet Peeves

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * An Important and Informative Post * Topic: Reader Pet Peeves: Preconceived or Contrived Stories * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader. Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting.” Robert Frost “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.” Robert Frost The first item in “Of Interest” links to a very important and informative post. If you currently use video (Zoom, etc.) or audio … Read more

The Journal: Be Careful How You Present Yourself

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Affinity Product Sale * Topic: Be Careful How You Present Yourself * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Engineers have developed a glucose power source that could fuel miniature implants and sensors.” Jennifer Chu, MIT News Online (see “Of Interest”) via 1440 Daily Digest “I adore revisiting the characters I came to love in the first book. Sometimes, it’s like they’ve become my friends, welcoming me back to their worlds with open arms. At times, I can’t believe they aren’t real.” Melodie Campbell in “The Scoop on Writing Series” (see “Of … Read more

The Journal: Learning the Craft Revisited

In today’s Journal * FLASH! * Topic: Learning the Craft Revisited * Of Interest FLASH! See “Tami Hoag Giveaway – Two Free Registrations to the 2022 Writers’ Police Academy!” at https://leelofland.com/tami-hoag-giveaway-two-free-registrations-to-the-2022-writers-police-academy/. I’m not entering the drawing. If you do, good luck. If you win, please let them know you heard about the drawing through the Journal. (grin) Topic: Learning the Craft Revisited Matt’s keeping me in topics for the Journal. (grin) As a followup to the email that became “On Learning the Craft” in yesterday’s Journal, he asked two more questions. I thought I should share those with you. I’ve … Read more

The Journal: On Learning the Craft

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: On Learning the Craft * A Study in Suffering? * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.” Doug Larson “Making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using the rules of football.” Bill Bryson Topic: On Learning the Craft My friend Matt emailed me this morning and asked this question: “[D]o you think it’s possible one could learn about Craft solely by reading novels, short stories, screenplays … Read more