The Day Rolled out right at 2. Like yesterday, I spent a short time on email and games to wake up. Then I turned to the writing computer and did a very short session of around 400 words to finish the big battle scene from yesterday. This is an extremely emotional scene. Whew. No walk this morning as I wasn’t feeling well. Nothing serious, just blah. Finally decided to hit Walmart early in the day to … Read more
The Day Rolled out at 2:40. Not quite as tired this morning. Spent a short while doing emails, etc. to wake up, then turned to the writing computer. Did a short session of around 700 words, then took a walk. Only went just under 4 miles, but it was over rocky, sloping terrain so it was a good workout. Also took time to get a lot of pictures as well as a few videos. Still learning … Read more
Hi Folks, In the previous post I mentioned the nuances of the stuff between the quotation marks. Here’s a second installment on dialogue tips. This is all about the nuances. If you have questions about any of these, please ask in the comments section. Thanks! Well-written dialogue should be colorful, especially the dialogue of flat or secondary characters, and even more especially if the flat or secondary character is used to foreshadow a later event. Strive … Read more
The Day Rolled out about 3. Checked email and did some other waking-up stuff. Good rain last night so no walk today. Not sure I can even get out of my driveway. (grin) No matter how the writing turns out today, more than likely I’ll be going on hiatus from this blog for a few days. I might post and I might not. I’ll be driving about 11 hours per day, so I don’t need the … Read more
The Day Rolled out about 2:30 after a rough night babysitting an ulcer. Definitely no walk today. Books 3 and 7 of the Wes Crowley saga came in from CreateSpace today. I order three or four copies of each major title I put out just to have a few on hand. Here are the covers of those two: I got some pretty good writing done today, but not fully up to speed. Took a lot more … Read more
The Day Almost 3 when I rolled out this morning. Checked emails and weather. No rain, so I’ll walk this morning. Had a great walk. Only about 5.5 miles but at a good pace despite shooting a few pics. Got a couple cover pics so it’s all good. The guy on the left is a baby cotton tail and he was naturally curious. Hopped just off the trail, then stopped and looked while I took pictures. … Read more
The Day Rolled out about 2, so back to normal. Checked emails and other things, including Dean’s blog for the past two days. I recommend reading his topic of the night Here and then Here. Great stuff if you want to see why I say you should NOT get an agent, and why you should publish your work and then leave it published. I also read a lot of the comments on Dean’s posts. Interesting stuff, … Read more
The Day Rolled out about 2. For some reason, still recovering from the camping trip. I might not walk tomorrow, or keep it short. Today again I messed around the house a bit, went for a walk and got some pics. I also posted a video of the place where Dan and I went camping. It’s a calm video, between rainstorms, to show people why we go there. Also posted a few pics from the trip. … Read more
The Day Rolled out just before 4:30 (Arizona time) in New Mexico, north of Lordsburg. No checking email. No Internet. Just reality. Great trip, but Dan and I experienced three days of excitement and adventure in about 8 hours. Topic of the Night: Refilling the Well I write from experience, as do most of us. Or at least near experience. I experience things, then put my characters in those situations, then extrapolate out from there. But … Read more
Hi Folks, There’s some old wisdom that says if you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves. It’s true for gas tanks. If you keep the top half full, the bottom half will take care of itself. It’s true for health. If you eat right and exercise, you won’t have nearly as many health problems as a lot of folks do. And it’s true for writing. Oh man, is … Read more