In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On Generative AI, Revisited * Sarah Connor (Terminator series) * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Chat gpt was able to give me keyword lists, tropes, blurbs, book launch plans, all those publishing and marketing things. Within seconds and free. It told me which genres out of the ones I selected were more competitive, which would be easier to break into. Pros and cons of each. “It can also give you a 30 day writing plan with word count goals and trackers if you want … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Just an Idea * On the Bradbury Challenge * On the Echoes of Hemingway Challenge * Super Great Challenges at DWS’ Website * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Just an Idea The first item in Of Interest turned me a little snarky. Maybe I should write an article for Writer’s Digest about How I Wrote 115 novels and 10 novellas and around 300 short stories and roughly a billion blog posts without an outline. (grin) Then again, I’m glad at least someone else out there is spreading the word about writing into the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge * In Case You Missed It… * I Get Questions and Comments * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “To do something well is so worthwhile…. life is measured in achievement, not in years alone.” Bruce McLaren “It’s so interesting how much you can do when you get out of your own way.” Dave Taylor “Write hard and clear about what hurts.” Ernest Hemingway The Bradbury Challenge The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Storytelling at Depth * The Elements of Pacing * Of Interest * The Numbers Storytelling at Depth Since I just announced a new short story contest, I thought I’d publish a new short series of three posts on Storytelling at Depth. In the first post, I talked about the Cliffhanger/Hook combo. In the second, I talked about Grounding the Reader. It works like this: The initial hook and opening get the readers into the story. Grounding them in the setting engages them and keeps them deep. The cliffhanger/hook combo and the pacing keep them turning pages. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Storytelling at Depth * Grounding the Reader * True Pulp Kickstarter Coming on June 3! * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities.” Sugar Ray Leonard A New Short Story “No Call for Clocks” went live Friday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. If you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both help with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else. Storytelling at … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Busy Morning Yesterday * Storytelling at Depth * The Cliffhanger/Hook Combination * The Introductory Hook * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” Emily Dickinson “Cliffhangers will make your books move faster and be unable to be put down.” Dean Wesley Smith Busy Morning Yesterday After I posted TNDJ, I prepped posts for the next two days, then uploaded The Darling Members Club in eleven installments to Your Morning Serial. Chapters 1 & 2 went live this morning at … Read more

In Today’s Journal * About the Potential Webinars * Short Story Contest! * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers About the Potential Webinars Okay, ain’t gonna happen. At least not yet. In case you missed the announcement, I was thinking about hosting a few writing seminars again, albeit virtually (so webinars), probably 2-3 hours long. But I had a very low response to that post. Like 3 out of around 200 subscribers. That isn’t enough to justify me spending the time and money necessary to make it happen. In the Meantime I’ve posted several “next level” topics in … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Point of Yesterday’s Post * Dean Wesley Smith * On Draft2Digital and Going Wide * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “WITD is not a method. It is a letting go of the methods. ‘Pantsing’ is writing sloppily; writing an exploratory draft; not writing a good novel or short story from the beginning to the end. In WITD you don’t let yourself write crappy things. You write the story as it happens.” Balázs Jámbor The Point of Yesterday’s Post In a perfect world, all viewpoints should be … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Writing Into the Dark * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “How can you possibly arrive at a destination if you don’t know how to get there? The trick, I soon learned, is to put your faith in your characters and trust them to take the lead. … I found the experience both liberating and thrilling.” Chris Saunders (see Of Interest) “I also found that the more I wrote into the dark, the easier it became to get back to the story the next day. Sometimes critical voice … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge * Learning How to Write Fiction * This Just In * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “When people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them, ‘No, I went to films.’” Quentin Tarantino I think this quote is a repeat, but it fits today’s topic too well to be ignored. The Bradbury Challenge The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. The only requirement is to write at least one … Read more