In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* From Diane Darcy
* More on Affinity Publisher
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“[T]he final product isn’t important to me. What is important is the fun of the process of telling a story. … I love writing. I can take or leave having written.” Dean Wesley Smith
“I don’t like every song [short story, novel] I write, but I like that I wrote it.” Jeff Tweedy
Professional indie fiction writer and Journal reader Diane Darcy recommends a book called Writing and Marketing Systems. You can find it at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B4MN9BJ/. Just thought I’d pass that along.
You all know I’m currently learning Affinity Publisher. Affinity itself has free tutorials, but for me, they’re confusing. Possibly, that’s because those who present the tutorials are the designers who put Publisher together in the first place. Still, your results might vary. I encourage you to give the free official tutorials a try. They’re included with Publisher.
But if the free official tutorials are as confusing to you as they are to me, I encourage you to check out Ally Anderson’s free introductory tutorial “Top 10 Things Beginners Want To Know” [about Affinity Publisher] at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py6fqmvlaqY. Frankly, Ally’s a little effervescent for me, but she seems to know what she’s talking about. Her instruction is clear and concise.
She also offers Affinity Publisher for Beginners, a complete comprehensive course that costs only $25 and covers every aspect of Publisher. You can find it at https://courses.affinityrevolution.com/p/affinity-publisher-for-beginners/. When you get to that URL, scroll down to see the full list of course features. As I wrote above, it’s comprehensive. I signed up for it immediately after I finished the “Top 10 Things…” video I mentioned above.
Most importantly (to me), the course comes complete with practice sessions (assignments). Also important, you can download all the practice files and videos. So you can complete the entire course online, but you can also complete the course (or revisit it for a quick refresher) offline.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “5 Ways Affinity Publisher beats Adobe InDesign” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd19DUrQfPU. A 7-minute video.
See “Making Writing Important” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/making-writing-important/. Just a reminder.
See “5 Songwriting Tips We Learned From Jeff Tweedy’s New Book” at https://americansongwriter.com/how-to-write-one-song-jeff-tweedy-book-interview/. All writing is writing.
See “Ten Tips on How (NOT) to Manage Your Email List” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/10/ten-tips-on-how-not-to-manage-your-email-list.html. Chock full of stuff I wish I’d done back when I was teaching at conferences around the nation.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 410 words
Writing of “Turnaround” (short story, probably)
Day 1…… 1092 words. Total words to date…… 1092
Day 2…… 1287 words. Total words to date…… 2379
Day 3…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXX
Total fiction words for the month……… 1287
Total fiction words for the year………… 336481
Total nonfiction words for the month… 5050
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 155440
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 491921
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 50
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 213
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31