Month: December 2024

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Bradbury Stuff * Another Way to Look at Cycling * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “My most rewarding (and unexpected) subplots showed up through my character’s creating ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ moments for me.” Dan Baldwin “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Bradbury Stuff Those of you in the Bradbury Challenge, remember the next report will publish on Monday, January 6. One hearty soul is challenging himself to write … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Writers Setting Goals * Nonfiction Book Giveaway * Writers Ask * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I’ve learned much more from my clients than I’ve been able to teach them.” Dr. Mardy Grothe in his Quotes of the Week on “New Year’s Resolutions” (Dec 28, 2024) True ‘dat. So keep those comments and emails coming in folks. You are the lifeblood of TNDJ. “No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference. It is that from which … Read more

In Today’s Journal * All About Characters * A Limited Time Giveaway * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers All About Characters Containing brief notes on Character archetypes, Creating vs. “crafting” (constructing) characters Learning about character traits and quirks, and Character Archetypes If you’re honest with yourself, every character you ever meet in real life is at first only an archetype. It’s true, and there’s nothing you can do about it. When you first encounter a person you’ve never met before, your brain instinctively leaps to two conclusions: The first conclusion is your perception of whether the person … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A New Short Story * Reminder * Dr. Mardy Asked * And Another Writer Asked * Of Interest * The Numbers A New Short Story “Draped Like Muga Silk” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. I don’t remember much about this story, but I remember the title and that the story felt good when I wrote it. If you enjoy it, please tell Everyone. If you don’t, shh! (grin) Reminder Today is Saturday. This is your friendly reminder to get your Bradbury Challenge story info in to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Looking Forward * A Really Helpful Post * A Note on Crowdfunding * Going Hybrid? * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Looking Forward It’s a fact that if you want to succeed at both writing and making money at it, you have to do your best to stay on the cutting edge of innovations in publishing and marketing. As we’re all gearing up for a new year of writing and publishing, I thought this would be as good a time as any to talk about some of those innovations and, of course, alternatives. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Wonder of the Day * Goals? * The Writing * A New Look at Critical vs. Creative Voice * A Diary of the Day * Of Interest * The Numbers Wonder of the Day A California writer (Thanks, RC) shared with me an ‘astute definition.’ This, he said, might be called ‘drawing into the dark’: Goals? If you like, as you form new writing or publishing goals for 2025, email to let me know what they are. You may even use me as a ‘place to report’ if you want to, either publicly or privately. Just … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Merry Christmas * The Numbers Merry Christmas I filed this edition mostly to report my numbers. Seems like most places are taking the next week or so off, so nothing today for Of Interest. Today I’ll work my weird early hours on the novel, then go up to the house at around 6 to spend the rest of the day with my bride. Like many of you, I’ll give and receive gifts, eat far too much, and maybe watch a football game. I hope your Christmas will be the best ever. Talk with you again soon. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Taking the Day Off * Wanna Be a Ghostwriter? Practical Tips * Of Interest * The Numbers Taking the Day Off I’m taking the day off from the Journal today to spend more time with my novel. My thanks to Dan Baldwin for the following guest post. Note: Dan has talked before in TNDJ about ghostwriting, but this is a decidedly different slant. Wanna Be a Ghostwriter? Practical Tips a guest post from Dan Baldwin “Hey! I got a great idea for a book. You write it up and we’ll split the profits fifty-fifty.” If you … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * I’m Excited! * Of Interest * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. The only requirement is to write at least one short story per week. During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories: Vanessa V. Kilmer “Fool of Love” 3981 Farce Harvey Stanbrough “No Call for Clocks” 5516 Western Dave Taylor “Escape to the Old Mall” 2,715 Horror/suspense Dave … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Happy Holidays * Dangling Participants * Of Interest * The Numbers Happy Holidays I guess I’m an odd duck. Most of the time, happily, I don’t even know what day of the week it is, much less whether it’s a holiday. I don’t intentionally ‘not notice’ like some old Grinch. I’m usually just happily lost in my characters’ worlds. I’m fortunate that way. When I need to know whether it’s a particular day for some reason, I ask my lovely wife, “Hey, is this Tuesday or Wednesday, or what?” Then she confirms or corrects my guess. … Read more