The Journal: Taking a Step Back

In today’s Journal

* Taking a Step Back
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Taking a Step Back

Hey folks, I’ve been publishing this Journal off and on almost every day for about six years. Doing so was/is my attempt to pay forward what I’ve learned during my journey as a fiction writer.

I hope to get back to publishing the Journal regularly, but for now it’s time to take a step back. For the foreseeable future I’ll publish much less frequently, more like JA Konrath or Neil Gaiman than Dean Wesley Smith.

In the meantime, I strongly recommend you get in the habit of visiting certain sites every day. It won’t take more than several minutes and it really is worthwhile.

My apology for not making the links “live,” but all you have to do is copy/paste them into your browser and then save them one at a time to your bookmarks.

Some of the more informative blogs include

https://DeanWesleySmith.com
https://kriswrites.com
http://www.thepassivevoice.com/
https://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/
https://mystorydoctor.com/blog/
http://prowriterswriting.com/
https://killzoneblog.com
https://draft2digital.com/blog/
https://strandmag.com/category/writing-tips/
https://blog.reedsy.com/
https://www.janefriedman.com/blog/
https://www.thebookdesigner.com/ (see articles)
https://www.thecreativepenn.com/blog/
https://crimereads.com/

Note: My listing these URLs in no way implies my complete endorsement of them. Most of them are hit or miss at best, and some provide awful information more often than they provide good information. You’ll have to be discerning.

Thanks to all of you for following along for however long you’ve been there.

Talk with you again when I can.

Of Interest

See “Watership Down author’s estate wins back all rights to classic novel” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/watership-down-authors-estate-wins-back-all-rights-to-classic-novel/. Sometimes the good guys win.

See “Business Musings: Book Promotion 2020” at https://kriswrites.com/2020/06/03/business-musings-book-promotion-2020/.

See “Practicing Your Craft – No Joke” at https://prowriterswriting.com/practicing-your-craft-no-joke/.

The Numbers

Fiction words yesterday…………………… XXXX
Nonfiction words today…………… 260 (Journal)

Writing of (novel)

Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for the month……… XXXXX
Total fiction words for the year………… 309655
Total nonfiction words for the month… 2080
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 118200
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 427855

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)………………… 208
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31