In Today’s Journal
* A New Short Story
* Bradbury Reminder
* Conveying Your Characters’ Emotions
* Progress Report
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
A New Short Story
“But There Is No Corral” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free.
The story was excerpted from the novel Blackwell Ops 40: John Staple. It’s one of my favorite scenes of all time. Good description of characters and setting, and good dialogue. See what you think.
If you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both help with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else.
Bradbury Reminder
Today is Saturday. Just a reminder to get your Bradbury Challenge story info in to me before the Journal goes live on Monday.
Remember, if you finish a story earlier in the week, you can send the info to me early too. It never hurts to avoid pushing the deadline.
Conveying Your Characters’ Emotions
You can do all of that with description and dialogue. Remember to indicate interruptions with the em dash ( — ). Indicate halting speech with an ellipsis ( … ).
Yesterday Manisa asked me in a comment about how I’d convey a character speaking through clenched teeth. Do you have to show the character “unclenching” his jaw before he speaks?
That one’s easy. No, you don’t:
John clenched his jaw. “Damn, Mary, did you have to say that?’
There’s also an example of a man speaking through gritted teeth in the short story above.
She also asked about how to write a character wiping away a tear. That’s more complex, isn’t it? What caused the tears in the first place?
Whatever caused the tears will dictate the character’s actions to some degree, as will the character’s personality.
Is she hurt and sad, or is she angry? Or is she happy? What’s the reason for the tears?
If she’s hurt and sad (or happy), she might wipe away the tear more gently or slowly. If she’s angry, she might slap it away, or wipe it away more quickly.
So whatever caused the tears in the first place provides an excellent chance to convey the emotions of the character to the reader.
Here are the examples I sent her:
1. She flicked a hand up to brush a tear from her cheek. “I’m sorry, John. It’s just—I’m just so angry (or happy).”
2. She looked at him for a moment, then shook her head and brushed away a tear. “I’m sorry. I was just so upset with you.”
3. She whispered, “God” and looked at the floor. She wiped away a tear and shook her head, then looked up again. “If you don’t get it, John, I guess there’s nothing left to say.” She stepped past him and snatched her purse off the table.
As she opened the door, John spread his hands. “But Mary, I only—”
“Don’t wait up.” The door closed behind her.
Thanks for the question, Manisha. If this mini-scene is deep in your story somewhere, you probably know the reason for the tears. Write the character’s emotions and the actions that result from those emotions.
Progress Report
As I wrote yesterday, I’m getting lazy in my old age. I was able to put the gate together and faced it with a section of fencing.
I attached everything with screws, and took the time to form little circles from fence wire with needle-nose pliers to drive the screws through to hold everything in place. I like building things that last. Nails and staples tend to back out over time, even with pressure treated wood.
I finally got the hinges and the male half of the latch in place, but by then (about 9 a.m.) it was around 95 degrees and no breeze, so I didn’t hang the gate. I’ll do that this morning. Yesterday our temp reached 110.3.
In the desert, the temp is like the Richter scale. Every degree over 100 feels like an increase of ten degrees.
That made me think back about my USMC days, when I would think nothing of running three to six or more miles in 100+ degree temps in Yuma. Ah to be young and stupid again, eh? (grin)
Anyway, after I set the gate today (a day late), I’ll cut the old fence and connect it to the gate posts on both sides to keep the cats in the yard (and the coyotes and javelinas out) while I drive a couple more t-posts. I’ll probably string the new fence the next day. That’s a job in itself.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Rich Writer/Poor Writer (Continued)
Big Writem Updates… All about marketing opportunities.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 770
Writing of Blackwell Ops 47: Sam Granger | Special Duty
Day 1…… 3250 words. To date…… 3250
Day 2…… 1110 words. To date…… 4360
Fiction for August..………………….. 1110
Fiction for 2025………………………. 527757
Nonfiction for August………………… 5960
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 174360
2025 consumable words…………….. 694503
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 13
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 31
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 117
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 301
Short story collections……………………. 29