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The Journal: Promotion — Read This Post

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Promotion — Read This Post * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Adam [Croft]’s book, The Indie Author Mindset, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FZ3X349/ is a MUST-READ for any indie who intends to ‘make it’ in this biz.” Garry Rodgers Topic: Promotion — Read This Post From a promotion standpoint, this might be the most important post I’ve ever written for the Journal. I mention several invaluable resources below. But be forewarned: reading about the resources or even reading the actual resources themselves won’t help unless you actually do what they recommend. Good luck. … Read more

The Journal: Talking Kickstarter Again

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Talking Kickstarter Again * * * * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “There is money in publishing. A lot of it. It just doesn’t flow to the writers. Because, frankly, writers are stupid.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch “Dean and Loren offer a free class on crowdfunding on Teachable.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” Andy Warhol Topic: Talking Kickstarter Again This will be brief. See “Brandon’s Kickstarter” at https://kriswrites.com/2022/03/09/business-musings-brandons-kickstarter/. Amusing excerpts “[From] the company town newspaper (The New York … Read more

The Journal: Why I Don’t Recommend Outlining…

In today’s Journal * Topic: Why I Don’t Recommend Outlining… * Of Interest Topic: Why I Don’t Recommend Outlining… A few days ago I discontinued my mentorships. This topic sprang from one part of my former Becoming A Writer mentorship. I hope it helps. Actually, this could be titled “Why I Don’t Recommend Outlining and Other Prewriting Structures” like separate world-building, character sketches, etc. But that title is far too long. Oh, and while I’m at it, I’ll also discuss briefly why I don’t recommend rewriting. So why don’t I recommend outlining and the rest? The short answer is “Because … Read more

The Journal: Ten Tips for Healthy Writing

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Ten Tips for Healthy Writing * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.” Benjamin Brewster Wow, does THAT ever pertain to writing! “‘To write’ is an active verb. Thinking is not writing. Writing is putting words on paper.” Roberta Jean Bryant’s first law of Writing from her book Anybody Can Write In writing, “practice” also is putting words on paper. Topic: Ten Tips for Healthy Writing In the first item in “Of Interest” today, Debbie Burke … Read more

The Journal: Turn the Fear Around

In today’s Journal * February’s Gone Already * Topic: Turn the Fear Around * Of Interest February’s Gone Already Wow. February was like a streaker at an old folks’ home. It flashed by, I hardly noticed it, and I didn’t really care. Also it dawned on me that I’m keeping my hand in writing (fingers and keyboard limber, etc.) with this little Journal. Of course, that doesn’t add to my fiction output, but with every passing day, that day is drawing closer. Anyway, with today’s Journal, I’ve written 42143 publishable words on the year, though most of that is nonfiction. … Read more

The Journal: The Inappropriate Use of “Gave”

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: The Inappropriate Use of “Gave” * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “[T]he old Hollywood wisdom still applies: Just tell the story. If you want to send a message, go to Western Union.” James Scott Bell on writers who inject their political opinion into their fiction “‘Said’ is not a dirty word: But ‘argued,’ ‘whined,’ and other dialogue descriptives usually are. A typical rookie mistake.” Marilynn Byerly Topic: The Inappropriate Use of “Gave” A few days ago, the topic here was “Glitches in Writing.” That was based on James Scott … Read more

The Journal: Glitches in Writing

In today’s Journal * A Bit of Fun * Topic: Glitches in Writing * A Storyteller * Of Interest A Bit of Fun For a bit of fun, check how well you really observe. See “The Changing Room Illusion” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXk-Oc35oN4. It’s a very short video. Topic: Glitches in Writing This topic is based on James Scott Bell’s post (see “Of Interest”) and his question: “What little things bug you when you see them in a book?” I’ve talked before about studying the language and the craft and using both to convey the story to the best of your current … Read more

The Journal: Know What Stuff Is

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Know What Stuff Is * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” Marcel Proust I like that quote. I’ve often told others that memoir is closer to fiction than to nonfiction because it’s a writer remembering what happened at a point in time. Fiction is a writer remembering something that could have happened at a point in time. “If you’re a good writer and want to write literary magazine material, start a blog, tell all your friends … Read more

The Journal: Responsibility, Some Don’ts, More King

In today’s Journal * Today’s post * The Fiction Writer’s Responsibility * Don’t Be Critical * Studying King * Of Interest Today’s post, as my posts so often do, started as a response to a post on the Kill Zone blog. At the end of the post, the author asked a series of questions. The first was, “Are you a ‘rules were made to be broken’ sort of writer, or do you prefer to stick with convention?” That question deserves a separate answer: Writers who have learned that fiction writing is all about Story (not grammar or syntax or punctuation) … Read more

The Journal: The Snowflake Guy and Stephen King

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Snowflake Guy * Topic: Stephen King * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “If you like to know approximately where you’re going before you start writing, then the Snowflake Method is designed for you. If you don’t, then it’s not for you.” Randy Ingermanson, AKA The Snowflake Guy “The Three Rings of Power [for marketing] are useless unless you also master the One Ring that Rule Them All. That One Ring is copywriting. The ability to write good headlines, strong sales copy, and a compelling call-to-action, all without smelling like … Read more