In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Another Video, a Little More Advice
* Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“Surveillance techniques familiar to authoritarian dictatorships have now been repurposed to target American workers.” Wired Magazine
Another Video, a Little More Advice
I made a spur of the moment video yesterday from my little writing ‘puter. Oops. After the fact I found the sound was out of sync with the video. (If you restart the vid a time or two, the sound syncs.)
The vid ran about 12 minutes. You can see it at https://www.youtube[dot]com/watch?v=n8-MJlraaqg&t=36s.
I want the picture and sound to be clearer, so I’ll be investing in an external camera soon. I’ve done a little research.
My new camera will broadcast 1080p at 60 frames per second. That should fix the video quality issue so it isn’t so grainy. Ideally the camera will also have a stereo mic and maybe even a light ring.
There were a couple of places in the video where it jumped back a few seconds and repeated. I don’t know whether that was because I used the older computer or was a glitch of YouTube.
Anyway, that has me thinking I might record videos in advance, then upload them and schedule them for release on YouTube. I’m not sure whether I’ll do that. I’m still thinking about it. If you have any insight on the matter, please share.
I’m also thinking in the longer term about recording some videos specifically for writers. Maybe a series of best practices videos that will comprise a shortcut for those who are serious about the craft and want to be long-term, prolific professional fiction writers. If that comes to pass, of course I’ll announce it here first.
I do enjoy the spontaneity of livestreaming. But either way I need to establish a schedule and, more importantly, re-establish a routine. Having a relatively firm routine with a daily word-count goal and certain working hours is why I was able to write as much as I did in such a short period of time.
Highlights of the Video—
- I think my mourning period is almost over so I can finally get back to my writing.
- I revamped the menu at StoneThreadPublishing.com.
- I recently published the chronological reading order for my novels at my Stanbrough Writes website and added a menu-item link to that page at both this Journal and my author site
- A bit on where I get ideas and a few story starters (see the vid at about 8:19)
Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting
You can still join in the challenge at any time. There’s no cost of course, and it’s a great way to have some fun, increase your inventory, and jumpstart your writing. It’s also a great way to get more practice pushing down the critical voice.
During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported their progress:
- Erin Donoho “Habit” historical fiction 3400 words
- Balázs Jámbor “Premonition of the Ruby’s Nihghtfall” 3400 words Fantasy
- George Kordonis “Missed Flight” 2739 words Ghost Story
- Alexander Nakul “Last Years’ Wolf” 1303 words Erotic Fantasy
- Chynna Pace “The Cereal Box Conspiracy” 8067 words Humorous Fantasy
- Christopher Ridge “Rambling Redneck Babes VS. Ragin’ Cajun Tapeworms” 28000 words (novella) Horror/Bizarro
- K.C. Riggs “Letter to my Eight-year-old Self” 1585 words General/Memoir
Talk with you later.
Of Interest
See “Military-grade AI being used to spy on American civilians” at https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/military-grade-ai-may-now-be-spying-on-american-civilians. One of those things that will be nothing until suddenly it’s something.
See “Talking about AI in human terms is natural—but wrong” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/talking-about-ai-in-human-terms-is-natural-but-wrong/.
See “Niche Marketing Part One” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/niche-marketing-part-one/.
See “How to Quick Pitch Your Book in a DoorDash World” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/how-to-quick-pitch-your-book-in-a-doordash-world/. I link to this only for the time stamp stuff. I do not endorse or recommend “pitching” your book to anyone but a reader through publication.
See “Soldiers Don’t Go Mad” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/soldiers-dont-go-mad/. About two of my favorite poets.
See “YouTube is testing an AI-powered dub tool to translate creators’ videos” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/youtube-is-testing-an-ai-powered-dub-tool-to-translate-creators-videos/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 670
Writing of Rose Padilla (WCG10SF5)
Day 1…… 4283 words. Total words to date…… 4283
Day 2…… 3963 words. Total words to date…… 8246
Day 3…… 1463 words. Total words to date…… 9709
Day 4…… 2445 words. Total words to date……12154
Total fiction words for June……… 12154
Total fiction words for 2023………… 110022
Total nonfiction words for June… 19120
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 128540
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 238562
Calendar Year 2023 Novels to Date…………………… 2
Calendar Year 2023 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2023 Short Stories to Date………… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 73
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………… 221
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark, adherence to Heinlein’s Rules, and that following the myths of fiction writing will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.