The Journal, Thursday, October 31

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Genres and Audiences * I’m writing again! * Yesterday * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Don’t ever write anything you don’t like yourself and if you do like it, don’t take anyone’s advice about changing it. They just don’t know.” Raymond Chandler For a great series of descriptions of the commercial genres and appropriate audiences by age, download my free Genres and Audiences at https://harveystanbrough.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Genres-and-Audiences.pdf. Note: this was derived from “Genre: A Novel’s Flavor” ©2019 Modupeh Duncan for AuthorsPublish.com *** I’m writing again! This morning I started … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, October 29

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Learning Revisited * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Everything that happens is destined for the past tense, and the way we render it into human comprehensibility is storytelling.” John M. Williams I’ve never read a better or more concise definition. Topic: Learning Revisited Everyone learns in different ways and at a different pace. Remember the stages of a fiction writer? If not, check out my take in the topic at https://hestanbrough.com/the-daily-journal-tuesday-july-/. I recommend you read it before continuing to read this topic. (You can … Read more

The Journal, Monday, October 28

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * I wasn’t going to * Topic: In My Personal Restructuring… * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.” Robert Collier I wasn’t going to post today. Need to give my left hand a few more days of healing time. But today’s “Of Interest” is important. Topic: In My Personal Restructuring… yesterday I figured out a few things: 1. How to Climb Back on Heinlein’s Rules Daily word count goal = 2500 wpd (on average). This is … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, October 26

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Always believe in courage, virtue and honor, that good always triumphs over evil, that true love never dies — because those are things worth believing in.” Hub in the film, Secondhand Lions *** Yesterday, despite my best intentions, I didn’t even return to my WIP to figure out what to do with it. I let too many other things get in the way. I did take a good 2-mile hike, so there’s that. Today and for the next … Read more

The Journal, Friday, October 25

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Humility and Epiphany * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “One of the widest gaps in human experience is the gap between what we say we want to be and our willingness to discipline ourselves to get there.” Harry Emerson Fosdick Topic: Humility and Epiphany In an email exchange, another writer wrote something that shocked me to my core. The statement was nothing earth-shattering. It was one of those casual sentences-in-passing that carries almost no weight at all. It was about process, about something the … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, October 24

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Welp, I won’t * Still a spot open * Microsoft Word for writers * Yesterday I was reminded * There’s an article * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If we listened to our intellect, we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go into business, because we’d be cynical. Well, that’s nonsense. You’ve got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.” Ray Bradbury And what quality must you possess in order to … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, October 23

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Show of hands * Topic: Warning—Safeguard Your IP * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Jesus, where the hell is everybody when they first deliver the typing paper? Where are all the ‘helpers’ when those boxes full of silence come in? Blank. Both sides. No clue, no instructions enclosed on how to take just twenty-six letters and endlessly rearrange them so that they can turn them into a mirror of a part of our lives. Try it sometime.” Larry Gelbart First, a ahow of hands—How many … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, October 22

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Horrible Quote of the Day * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” Robert A. Heinlein Horrible Quote of the … Read more

The Journal, Monday, October 21

In today’s Journal * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Today I’m posting here mostly to pass along the stuff in “Of Interest.” After working on my email a little last night and a lot this morning, I finally got through what had accumulated while I was gone. Dan and I had a great time escaping life in general, social media, Home Shopping Network and all the other mind-numbing stuff that washes over us all in everyday life. I posted a few pics on Facebook. If I can figure out how to download it from my camera, I might … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, October 17

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: On “IP Accelerators” and Other Ridiculous Notions * Chances are * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day First, some preparatory remarks. Back on October 8, I came across an article titled “Amazon Intellectual Property Accelerator.”  I listed it in the “Of Interest” section that day. When I mentioned the article to a knowledgeable friend, he shook his head. “Yup. Lawyers now making money off of baby writers. Go figure.” His comment stuck with me, so I figured it was time to write a topic on the subject. … Read more