Hi Folks, Last day of the month. I’m hoping for a really good day to close this one out and give me some momentum going into the last month of the year. But it’ll be what it’ll be, and I’m not overly worried about it. The novel’s moving along smoothly and that’s all that matters. I’m also going to work walking back into my schedule. I always get lax when the weather turns colder, and I … Read more
Hi Folks, Well, four good days in a row thus far. Before today. Missed my daily goal of 4,000 words per day on all four days, so not excellent, but good. With over 3,000 words per day on those days, that’s failing to success. Maybe I’ll tip 4,000 today. I’ve found that several times in the (now) five days I’ve been writing this novel I’ve had to remind myself that it isn’t important. It can be … Read more
Hi Folks, Not really much going on today, as you’ll see below. I almost let my head back into this one for a little while. You know the drill. Feeling like I needed to “figure out” something or other. Ugh. Anyway, it turned out it was two of my characters (from different parts/times in the story) vying for my attention. (More on this below.) Once I remembered there was nothing for me to “figure out,” that … Read more
Hi Folks, Okay, here is Part Two of what might be the most valuable post you’ll ever read about writing fiction. Again, I’m not kidding. (Even got the same pic in case you want to share.) The necessary preliminary stuff was in the previous post, so if you missed that one, I suggest you go back and read it first. In summary — To write a story (any length) you need only to write an opening. … Read more
Hi Folks, This might well be the most valuable post you’ve read about writing fiction. I am not joking. I even put a picture on here so you could share it to Pinterest if you want. (grin) Okay, first, the necessary preliminary stuff. To start a story of any length, you have to write an opening. The opening most often will consist of 300 to 500 words. In the opening, you introduce a character, give him … Read more
Howdy Folks, How many times has some pundit told you to “write what you know”? Uh, no. That is bad advice. Maybe the baddest advice ever, and I mean that in the old sense of “baddest,” before we started dumbing down the language. I mean “worst.” It’s bad advice because the connotation is that you should write ONLY what you know. So what? You’re supposed to write what you DON’T know? Yes. Of course. You should … Read more
Rolled out a little before 3. I had forgotten how much “little work” would be necessary to create a new publisher website. This morning I created folders for covers. I filled one with covers that are 150 x 225 pixels, another for 180 x 270 pixels, and another for 300 x 450 pixels. That and sorting them took three hours, but it’s necessary when you have to upload covers for 9 novels, 20 short story collections, … Read more
Okay, coming to you a little earlier again. This one is set to go out at 6 now. My short story of the week will go out at 5 every Monday from here on out. Well, I didn’t get up this morning. Wide awake, I looked at the clock and thought it said 1:45 a.m. That’s close enough to 2 to start a normal day (for me) so I got up. But in actuality, it was … Read more
The Journal, Monday, 9/28: How I Write Rolled out a little after 3, having stepped outside to watch some of the lunar eclipse last night. More than likely I won’t get a lot of writing done today, at least on the novel. I do have to write the short story of the week. It posts tonight at 6 p.m. But I also have to take my pickup to Sierra Vista again to finish the repair I … Read more
Rolled out right at 2, anxious to get back to the novel. Every now and then I check up on my lists and purge them. On this weak little list, I had only 31 subscribers. Of those, six had never opened the email when they received it. This blog has been running from my main site since July 1, pretty much every day. I think that’s a long enough time to indicate interest. So I unsubscribed … Read more