In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* The Bradbury Challenge Report
* A New Short Story
* Take Your Time
* Of Interest
Quote of the Day
“I’ve learned, though it took some practice I admit, to think more about the story and less of what the words look like on the page. The more stories I finished the more I learned about storytelling for the next one.
“I’ve also gotten over the idea of thinking I couldn’t write longer stuff when all it really boiled down to was a simple change in thinking. I’ve learned to maintain an open mind at all times free of clutter and debris. These stories unfold naturally and with very little effort, which makes it even more fun and exciting.” Christopher Ridge
The Bradbury Challenge Report
Participating in any challenge is a great way to have fun and grow as a writer.
The requirement is to write at least one short story per week, then let me know the title, word count, and genre per the format below. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories:
- Erin Donoho “Kelsey” 1600 contemporary
- Erin Donoho “Anger” 570 contemporary flash
- Vanessa V. Kilmer “White & Black” 3099 Horror
- Christopher Ridge “Spit Clean” horror 1329
- Christopher Ridge “Stan” Sci-Fi. 1567
- KC Riggs “Counterfeit Cheese” 3751 Humor
- Dave Taylor “The Comanche Brave” 4,391 Magic Realism
Congratulations to all of these writers.
A New Short Story
“The Necklace” went live on Saturday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s a little… twisted, maybe? Is that the right word? But it’s free.
Only two stories left after this one!
Take Your Time
Writing into the dark often happens at near breakneck speed.
I’ve mentioned before that forcing yourself to slow down a little and take your time during writing and during cycling. That enables you to include certain details the POV character deemed important but that you might have missed as you and s/he were racing through the story.
That remains solidly true. I encourage you to read or re-read these posts:
But taking your time is also when a different level of magic happens. It’s when most epiphanies about fiction writing occur.
Taking your time has nothing to do with the conscious, critical mind. Rather, it’s a way of reining-in the creative subconscious a little. Just enough so you can take a breath, switch from writer to reader, and catch anything you might have missed.
Which also teaches the creative mind to include that level of detail the next time you sit down to write.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Stephen King on writing fiction
1440’s Science & Culture Newsletter offers a lengthy segment on the Romance genre
Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week: Problems