In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Away from the Hovel
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“If we could dare to write as ill as we can, we should write better than we do.” Essayist William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
Meaning of the Quote (according to AI)
Hazlitt’s quote suggests that overthinking, trying too hard to be “good,” or striving for a perfect and literary style can stifle a writer’s authentic voice.
By allowing themselves to write with less self-consciousness—or as “ill as we can”—they might produce something more honest, fresh, and ultimately more effective.
It encourages writers to let go of their fears and embrace imperfection, which can be a key to creative breakthroughs.
Be sure to read the paragraphs below the numbers stuff. Every day, in every way, Believe In Yourself.
Away from the Hovel
Just a note today to let you know I’ll be away from the Hovel for a few days. A lot of that time I’ll be on the road.
I’ll check my email off and on through each day, but I probably won’t respond except in the mornings and evenings. I’m not big on one-thumbing my way through a response one letter at a time on my phone.
If you have the Journal archives, I recommend checking in with those for the next few days. Some good, on-point stuff in there.
If you don’t have the archives and you want them, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com and I’ll send them to you today.
I’ve found that I can send the archives for 2021 through 2024 in one email.
In the meantime, be sure to read Dean’s short post today (Of Interest) and take it to heart.
I was tempted to copy it and paste it here as a guest post, but I haven’t asked permission and I don’t want to presume. (grin)
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
A Saying That Has Stuck With Me…
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 320
Writing of Blackwell Ops 47: Sam Granger | Special Duty
Day 1…… 3250 words. To date…… 3250
Day 2…… 1110 words. To date…… 4360
Day 3…… 3323 words. To date…… 7683
Day 4…… 1656 words. To date…… 9339
Day 5…… 1413 words. To date…… 10752
Fiction for August..………………….. 7502
Fiction for 2025………………………. 534149
Nonfiction for August………………… 16840
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 185240
2025 consumable words…………….. 711775
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
Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
Writing fiction should never be something that stresses you out. It should be fun. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Because of WITD and because I endeavor to follow those Rules I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too.
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If you’re new to TNDJ, you might want to check out these links:
- On Writing Fiction
- Gifts
- Writing Resources
- Oh, and here’s My Bio. It’s always a good idea to vet the expertise of people who are giving you advice.
Questions on writing and publishing are always welcome at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.