In Today’s Journal * My Quote of the Day * Random, Roughshod Thoughts * Of Interest My Quote of the Day “Youth is that period of life during which you ‘pay your dues’ until you’re eventually rough-broke enough to be invited to sit at the grown-ups table without embarrassing anyone.” Random, Roughshod Thoughts Despite my attempt to anticipate and sideline the question, one person whose opinion I value emailed to ask why I’m ‘looking backward’ to ‘revise’ The Wes Crowley Saga. Back in early 2014, I learned about Heinlein’s Rules and Writing into the Dark. They work hand in hand, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * An Exciting New Project! An Exciting New Project! I hope you might find a gem or two in this, but primarily I just wanted to share this great news with all of you…. On October 19, 2014, I sat down at my writing ‘puter and wrote Wes Crowley leaned forward and poked at an ember that had popped out of the campfire a moment earlier. “Been a long trail this time, boys.” Those were the first 26 words (and the first paragraph) of Leaving Amarillo, my first novel and the first book of what would eventually … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Report * Faux Interview, Part 6 * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “You’re gonna start with zero in a scene and end with zero. You let the process take you to the result rather than going to the result. Come in with nothing and just see where it goes, like life.” Robert Duvall in the best, most concise explanation I’ve ever heard of the creative process and writing into the dark “Then if something good happens, something that’s really valid because you allowed yourself to not push … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A Fun Fact * Faux Interview, Part 5 * Of Interest A Fun Fact How to conceive of a trillion anything…. 1 million seconds is 11.5 days. 1 billion seconds is 11,574 days (31.7 years) 1 trillion seconds is 11,574,074 days (31,709.79 years) (Thanks, KC!) Faux Interview, Part 5 You explain that you once wrote under five personas and still publish some short fiction under names including Gervasio Arrancado, Eric Stringer, and Nicolas Z Porter. What does a pseudonym allow a writer to become? I don’t do that much anymore. But Gervasio Arrancado is very much … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Faux Interview, Part 4 * Of Interest Faux Interview, Part 4 Why teach writing publicly after spending decades learning it privately? I learned it “privately” even as many of my students learn it privately, but I learned it from various sources outside of myself just as they do: other fiction writers and poets, books and seminars on writing, and most importantly from my own process as I practice. Why teach it publicly? Because I enjoy helping other writers cut their learning curve. Teaching forces a writer to articulate instincts that may otherwise remain subconscious. Has teaching … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Faux Interview, Part 3 * Of Interest Faux Interview, Part 3 What if revision is sometimes the problem rather than the solution? Any conscious-mind revision, including rewriting, is ALWAYS a problem because every instance at least risks taking you further from the character’s authentic story. And it almost always does. But at what point does revision stop improving a story and begin removing the instinctive qualities that made the original draft work? See my previous response. Also, that’s why I “cycle”—a kind of revision that’s a function of the creative subconscious—instead of revising, which is a … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Some Fun * Faux Interview, Part 2 Some Fun I had a little fun revising my welcome page and bio yesterday on my author site. Check it out at HarveyStanbrough.com. Faux Interview, Part 2 Your approach also creates an interesting relationship between speed and quality. Writing 120 novels in just over nine years is a level of output that most writers would find difficult to imagine. Yeah, that whole speed vs. quality argument is also based in the myths, and the myths themselves are why some other writers find that level of output difficult to imagine. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Intro * Faux Interview, Part 1 * Of Interest Intro Late in September, I received a scam email from a guy who purported to host a podcast in Dallas. Of course he gushed about my work, my websites and newsletters and so on, and he invited me to participate as a guest on his podcast. The entire email was obviously generated by AI. But the boatload of proposed questions in the email comprised a great interview. So I copied and pasted most of the proposed questions into a Word document, deleted any duplicates, then wrote my … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Why Do They Keep Sending This Crap? * Of Interest Why Do They Keep Sending This Crap? A few weeks ago, I received an effusive email from none other than Lee Child, praising my work and proclaiming how glad he was that I was writing in Blackwell Ops in a manner similar to his Jack Reacher series. Of course, it was a scam. Had I responded, eventually “Mr. Child” would have recommended this or that book-promotion service because they do such a wonderful job with his series, etc. I know that would’ve happened because I received … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Report * Writing or Processing? * Of Interest Quote of the Day “I’m Looking for People Who Can’t Write Good, like Stephen King’s On Writing, is a must-have for authors serious about their profession.” Duke Southard, author of the award winning Fallacy of Closure, Tainted Justice, and the Detective Parker Havenot series (See Of Interest) The Bradbury Challenge Report Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer. The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then … Read more