Month: March 2023

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Yet More Comments * Why I Talk About This Stuff * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Self-esteem is the prison of the pampered. Self-confidence is the realm of the practiced.” Harvey Stanbrough Yet More Comments There are yet more comments in an exchange between me and another commenter (Felix Torres) on “How to Make Backstory Work for You” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/how-to-make-backstory-work-for-you/. A lot of food for thought. I recommend reading it. Understand, I don’t bring this up for purposes of argument, but only as a springboard to pass along something that … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * MLB Opening Day 2023 * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “These would-be censors are monsters. And they will always be with us because the two most common things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” a misquote attributed to Harlan Ellison “I don’t so much mind that they pirated it, but what does honk me off is that they never get it right. They render it dull and imbecile by phrasing it thus: ‘The two most common things in the universe are…’ / Not things, you insensate gobbets of ambulatory … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Bowing to (and Actually Defending!) Unreasonable Fear * Writing * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “”If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people.”Virginia Woolf’” “Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.” David Ogilvy “Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” William Pollard “Swim upstream.” Sam Walton “A satellite has no conscience.” Edward R. Murrow Bowing to (and Actually … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * So Much Easier * Bradbury’s “Full” Challenge * Some Publishing Nostalgia * Writing * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “A writer should have this little voice inside of you saying, ‘Tell the truth. Reveal a few secrets here.’” Quentin Tarantino “Writing is my job. Selecting what to read and judging it is the reader’s job. I like my job better.” Me, in a comment on yet another article on AI at The Passive Voice So Much Easier Although I read only the first five (very short) paragraphs of the article … Read more

In today’s Journal * Bradbury Challenge Participants * TKZ Revisited * Finished “Sinister Intent” * Of Interest Bradbury Challenge Participants This will be a recurring weekly feature of the Journal, at least as long as those who are involved in the challenge keep letting me know how many stories they finished each week. (grin) Yesterday I emailed all particpants and asked them to send me their info. What you see below is from those who responded. A few others in the challenge set their deadline days later, so I hope to report their stories and numbers next week. Anyone can … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Contradictions in Writing Advice * Still Working into a Routine * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “I often get questions about what it takes to become a long-term, full-time fiction writer. My answer is never quit, and when you do fall down, get back up and keep going. My answer is also get everyone out of your writing and your work and keep learning.” Dean Wesley Smith “We didn’t exactly believe your story, Miss O’Shaughnessy. We believed your two hundred dollars….I mean that you paid us more than if you’d … Read more

In today’s Journal * Another New Story * A Final Note on the Challenge * A Final Note on Generative AI * Another New Story, Part 2 * Of Interest Another New Story My previously unpublished science fiction short story “Fifth Mind” went live yesterday over at Stanbrough Writes. To read it free, visit https://harveystanbroughwrites.com/fifth-mind/. The story also went out to a list of subscribers in the Stanbrough Writes substack. To subscribe, visit https://stanbroughwrites.substack[dot]com/p/fifth-mind and click the Subscribe button that appears just below the story. A Final Note on the Challenge Apparently there have been some misunderstandings. The Bradbury Challenge … Read more

In today’s Journal * One More Post on the Bradbury Challenge * My First Story * Come On In * Of Interest One More Post on the Bradbury Challenge This is to follow up on two earlier posts. If you haven’t read those, I recommend you read them now: First see “A New Personal Challenge” at https://hestanbrough.com/a-new-personal-challenge/ and then “Fears About the Challenge” at https://hestanbrough.com/fears-about-the-challenge/. So why one more post on the challenge? Mostly for fun. I really had to laugh. After my second post (above) I received a few comments and several emails yesterday and this morning asking how … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Fears About the Challenge * Of Interest Quote of the Day “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Albert Einstein Fears About the Challenge Yup, I’m not exempt. Yesterday, I announced a personal challenge to write at least one short story every week for 100 weeks. My personal report date will be Sunday at midnight every week, beginning with this coming Sunday, March 26. I invited others to join me in the challenge. … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A New Personal Challenge * What Is A Short Story? * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “A new piece of work will drag the old piece of work after it. … Sometimes you’re just tired. You’ve done a thing too often. … I go do another short story. The energy I borrow from that, I go back to the novel, and boom, everything comes into focus again. So you borrow energy. Find ways to borrow energy.” Ray Bradbury “The intellect is a great danger to creativity . . . because … Read more