Harvey

In Today’s Journal * Update on Writing and Other Stuff * Writing Books for Sale * Of Interest * The Numbers Update on Writing and Other Stuff Welp, I put the fencing project on hold for a few days (I designated it “good enough”) thanks to the fact that we’re currently anticipating rain and watching the skies expectantly. We’re even leaving our cloth cushions on our patio furniture in an attempt to entice the rain to fall. Out here, anticipating rain is almost as good as getting rain. But there’s always another project. For those who’ve never seen the Hovel—a 20′ long … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A Little Clarification re the Contest * Of Interest * The Numbers A Little Clarification re the Contest I told a couple of writers some of this yesterday: 1. None of you “disappointed” me with your stories. You’re all in various stages of learning. If you don’t fall short now and then, you don’t learn. 2. I’m proud of all of you for having the confidence to submit short stories to a contest, whether it was your first time or whether you’ve been doing it for a while. 3. If you’re thinking about purchasing a line … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge * Echoes of Chandler Contest Results * Of Interest * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge 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. Feel free to jump in at any time. During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories: Erin Donoho “Knowing Is Enough” 2000 literary Vanessa V. Kilmer “What Roosevelt Felt” 3003 Speculative Christopher Ridge “The Roach … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Contest Results Are Coming Soon * How to Win a Short Story Contest * Progress Report * Of Interest * The Numbers Contest Results Are Coming Soon I’ve heard from a few writers who wonder why it’s taking me so long to get back to you with contest results. I did read the opening of every story the day after the contest closed. If I wasn’t hooked or pulled into the story and therefore wasn’t enticed to keep reading, I closed the story and put it into the Rejected folder. If I was hooked and pulled … Read more

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 … Read more

In Today’s Journal * New Anthologies Added * Read Your Work Aloud * Progress Report * The Numbers New Anthologies Added Yeah, I know. I haven’t gotten back to you on your submissions for the contest yet. Soon. I promise. Probably later today. In the meantime, I’ve added a new Anthologies section to my StoneThread Publishing online store. If you enjoy anthologies, click the link to visit the store. Then click the Anthologies tab in the menu. There you’ll see the recent Echoes of Hemingway anthology. It contains twenty short stories in the style of or inspired by Ernest Hemingway. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * How Important Is an Opening? * One More Blatant Example… * The Numbers How Important Is an Opening? Well, I’m Back Already I just can’t ignore a chance to teach the obvious. I’ve been at this stuff so long that goofy errors pop right off the page at me. Read on…. As I keep saying, the opening is all-important. The opening is where you include the hook to your story and then draw the reader deeper into your story through your use of description. Yesterday, I started to read a story I received via email from … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Nope. No New Series. * I Published a Manuscript Formatting Guideline * Taking a Brief Hiatus * Of Interest * The Numbers Nope. No New Series. I changed my mind. I’m not gonna read through and revamp the whole Microsoft Word for Writers series. I already know all that stuff and reading it again bores me. If you want it, go here and read it. I recommend you read the whole thing, every post—it’s under 6800 words—because in some cases the posts overlap and build on each other. If you cherry pick among the posts, chances … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge * Coming Soon: Word for Writers 2025 * Of Interest * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge 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. Feel free to jump in at any time. During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories: Erin Donoho “The Wreck of the Settle Island Ferry” 3800 historical action/adventure Loyd Jenkins “The Man in the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * On Using Dialogue Tags and “Action Beats” * Contest Entries Are Now Closed * Of Interest * The Numbers On Using Dialogue Tags and “Action Beats” In yesterday’s TNDJ I mentioned Lori Freeland’s “The Power of Paragraphing” as a great article on paragraphing and pacing. I stand by that statement, but I was a little dismayed at the examples she used to illustrate a couple of points. I invited you to email me if you wanted to know why her examples are not good. A few folks emailed me about it, so I thought I’d address … Read more