Harvey

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Something Silly * On Being Busy * A Few Words on False Pride * A Very Short Story * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “As I wrote in ‘A Note on Pacing’ (see Of Interest), what causes readers to turn pages has nothing to do with speed. The formula is Depth + Tension = Anticipation. Anticipation is what causes readers to turn pages, and you can create tension with a slower pace just as you can with a faster pace.” Harvey Stanbrough … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * How to Achieve Your Goals * Updates * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.” William Hazlitt How to Achieve Goals The other day, I set what might appear to some of you to be pretty lofty goals. But I did not set them lightly. I didn’t set any goals I can’t reach. But if I focus on the annual goals themselves, (19 novels, at least two new nonfiction … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Audio Lectures Giveaway Extended * No Mentorships for Now * The Writing * Updates * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” Robin Sharma Audio Lectures Giveaway Extended For two weeks, I’ve been giving away any or all of my audio lectures to any subscriber or reader of the Journal who emails me to ask for them. There’s a reason for that. Some of them are going away. I’m extending the offer for today only. I will … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Correction * 2023 in Review * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” Rudyard Kipling “All my important decisions are made for me by my subconscious. My frontal lobes are just kidding themselves that they decide anything at all. All they do is think up reasons for the decisions that are already made.” Rex Stout, in Life magazine (Dec. 10, 1965) “New Year’s Day. Now is the accepted time to make your … Read more

In today’s Journal * Adios, 2023 * They’re Doing It Again * Audio Lectures Adios * Reminder * Of Interest * The Numbers Adios, 2023 I have most of my “year in review” post written. I had planned to post that today. But my year, like yours, won’t end until well after this edition of the Journal is published. And I write fiction AFTER I publish the Journal each day. Duh. So if I published my year in review today, it would be my year-minus-one-day in review. An’ ‘at just ain’t right. So you’ll see the year in review post … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * This Morning * I Love This Age of Publishing * Genres and Sub-Genrea Redux * A New Story * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I agree. Its THAT you write that is important, not what. I’m currently writing a very personal project, a family history (it will be a series given the amount of info I have on both sides), which I put off for a long time since I worried it would interfere with my ‘real’ projects. … Now that I’m knee deep … Read more

In today’s Journal * POV and POV Indicators * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers POV and POV Indicators I had a very interesting email discussion with my first reader yesterday, whose input is always invaluable, about POV indicators. Russ made some very good catches as he read the novel. This is why I recommend strongly either finding a good first reader or reading your work aloud before you publish it. A good first reader is one who only reads and notes what pops out at him or her, not one who tries to tell you how s/he … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Give a man a fire and he’s warm for a day, but set fire to him and he’s warm for the rest of his life.” Terry Pratchett The Writing The novel wrapped with another 3700 words. It also proved to be a Blackwell Ops novel instead of the genesis story for a new series. You can see the cover and the description at StoneThread Publishing. Most of my Blackwell Ops novels seem to wrap at around 35000 words. This … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Rare Advertisement * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “You write something and it can cause you to take pause. Or at the very least, you need to catch your breath and get some air because it’s then you realize you are not in control of your art. Something very spooky and invisible is. You’re just the conduit.” Vin Zandri “There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.” Terry Pratchett Ridiculous, inane, stupid statement of … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Remain Vigilant * Fan Fiction Writer or Reader? * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Stephen King writes on Christmas because why not? If we eat and sleep and brush our teeth how is this different?” George Kordonis (So good I decided to repeat it.) “As usual, personal conversations from those at the tables filled the air. The din was so thick you could almost walk across it. But you would have to take care not to stumble over a chuckle or be … Read more