Harvey Stanbrough

The Journal, Wednesday, December 27

Hey Folks, On Christmas Eve I created a test site I can use to try out new things before making them live here or on HarveyStanbrough.com. I was able to use a cloning engine, so I basically just moved HarveyStanbrough.com over there. Took about an hour to create a whole website. The technology amazes me. Anyway, while I was messing around on that test site, I noticed a few “drafts” of posts. I don’t use the Draft feature on WordPress, at least not intentionally, so I clicked one to have a look. Turns out it was an early draft of … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, December 23

Hey Folks, I’m psyched. Even yesterday, in 20° weather, I was thinking what a wonderful day it is to be alive. The same holds true today. I have some great things coming up in the new year. They have nothing to do with traditional new year’s resolutions — those always are losing propositions for me, invitations to fail — but the things I’m looking forward to do have a lot to do with writing (of course). And they’re made bigger and better and more fun by the fact that, other than a few vague ideas floating around in my brain … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, December 21

Hey Folks, From The Passive Guy: Barbara Walters: “But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?” Isaac Asimov: “Type faster.” *** I started the day with a good walk, which was more wandering aimlessly about in the desert out back. Then back home for breakfast and to work on the copyedit. Those of you who wrote regarding the villanelle that Stanley Grill will include in his composition, thank you. I appreciate the kind thoughts. Here’s the poem, in case you want to see it: Roses? When pink and red entwine, their dreams to … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, December 20

Hey Folks, Probably thirty years ago, right out of the blue, I received an email from a young filmmaker at UCLA. He requested permission to make a short film based on my flash fiction story “At Confession.” Then several years later, so maybe fifteen or twenty years ago, a different filmmaker wrote me with the same request. And it was about the same story. How cool is that? So imagine my thrill when lightning struck for the third time early this morning. Oh, and if you’re a lover of classical music, you’re going to like this. Have you ever heard … Read more

The Journal, Monday, December 18

Hey Folks, Mostly I’m posting today to pass along some stuff in “Of Interest” below. But as long as I’m here, I’ll give you an update on my personal writing stuff as well. My December’s slipping by with not a word of fiction so far. How weird is that? In a way, knowing I could start writing today and have a new novel finished by the end of the year is a liability. In a way. But that probably won’t happen, and it’s all right. I’m allowing everything else in my life to take precedence right now. But that’s by … Read more

The Journal, Monday, December 11,

Hey Folks, Well, before I even think about returning to my own fiction, I’ve decided to power-through the first half of my latest copyedit to get it finished. The author of the novel and I have agreed that I’ll finish the prepaid first half, then bow out of the project. It’s just too rough. In related news, I’ve recently added several “new” inappropriate tag line verbs to my list. I’ll be publishing those in a topic here soon, and in my ProWriters blog in the future. Not sure when this Journal will go “daily” again, if ever. But I do … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, December 5,

Hey Folks, A few days ago, a friend sent me an email: “You think too much.” I could only respond with a smiley face. I do understand why “you think too much” would appear to readers of this Journal to be true. After all, the point of the Journal is to bare the most intimate details and thought processes of my writing life, with the ultimate goal of maybe cutting the learning curve a bit for you, the subscribers. But I assure you, I only think “too much” here, in this Journal. And really, I don’t know that I’m thinking … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, December 2

Hey Folks, I didn’t plan to post again this soon. With my return feeling imminent, though, I figure what harm could it do. A friend wrote to me privately. In his email, he mentioned the desk, said he’d like to see it and wondered whether maybe it has magic powers. Actually, it might have. I thought I’d share my expanded response to him with you. My Desk As I mentioned yesterday, my desk is walnut, stained naturally in a warm medium brown. The finish on the leading edge of the large surface shows some wear, primarily in four places: where … Read more

The Journal, Friday, December 1

Hey Folks, An Accounting of Days I closed out this Journal on November 18. I didn’t want the unnecessary pressure of that daily deadline while I was working out whatever problem derailed my writing. That was only twelve days ago, but it seems as if months have passed. Anyway, for whatever it’s worth, it worked. Or more specifically, it’s working. Sometime in the last few days, I realized there is no specific one thing that “derailed” my writing habit. Instead, I seem to have reached a merging of life events and factors. I also realized that convergence has been building … Read more

The Journal, Friday, November 17

Hey Folks, Topic: On Describing Setting How much description in setting is “too much”? Here’s a rule of thumb: If the description is something you, the author, are adding, it’s too much; you’ll bore the reader to death. If it’s the POV character’s opinion of the setting that he absorbed through his own physical senses, it will be just right and the reader will be hooked. Every character (like every human) has a unique POV that is determined by his or her physical senses (including any limitations or enhancements of those senses) and filtered through his or her past experiences. … Read more