In Today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* The Bradbury Challenge Report
* A Few Updates on Chopped Livah
* Of Interest
Quotes of the Day
“Even if you’re doing detours, they have to somehow matter to … what’s going on. If you don’t have heart, if you don’t have characters you care about, if you don’t have the larger themes, if you don’t have the cool descriptions, it’s not a novel and people won’t want to read it.” Harlan Coben on writing fiction
“Practice, which some regard as a chore, should be approached as just about the most pleasant recreation ever devised.” Babe Didrikson Zaharias
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 “Friendship” 600 Memoir
- Vanessa V. Kilmer “Allergic Reaction” 2778 Dystopian
- Dave Taylor “An Unexpected Advisor” 990 Magical Realism
- Dave Taylor ” The Typhoon Diver ” 2,040 Action/Adventure
- Glynn Young “Lunch with the Family,” 2742 General
Congratulations to all of these writers.
A Few Updates on Chopped Livah
As you know, Chopped Livah is my effort to make a valuable fiction-writing mentorship almost comically affordable and available to anyone who wants to learn the craft.
It continues to be an interesting experiment. But at this stage, it IS only an experiment. If I eventually decide it isn’t worth my time, I’ll discontinue it.
If you’d like to help, please be sure to spread the word to other writers as you are able. Briefly, I hope you’ll recommend they sign up for a free subscription, then update to a month-by-month paid subscription later if they find the generous previews useful
Speaking of generous previews, Chopped Livah 1: Commas, Six Senses, the POV Character, and Setting Description went live yesterday at 8 a.m. Arizona time.
I meant to let free subscribers and non-subscribers see only a lengthy excerpt, but I didn’t get the settings right. You can benefit from my mistake.
You can read the entire post free at Chopped Livah 1.
So a few updates:
1. Frequency—I’ve decided to post every other Sunday instead of every week.
Thirteen issues per year seems like enough. That will also give subscribers two weeks to study and absorb the information, get in some practice, and email memailto:harveystanbrough@gmail.com any questions that may occur.
2. I’ve also already written the next two posts for Chopped Livah. They’re in the can, so
- Chopped Livah 2: A Faux Interview is scheduled for Sunday, October 11.
- Chopped Livah 3: How to Show the POV Character’s Anxiety is scheduled for Sunday, October 25.
I corrected the excerpt problem with CL 2 & 3. After a still-generous excerpt, you’ll encounter a paywall.
3. Cost—I enjoy helping cut the learning curve for other writers, but this stuff is really in-depth. It takes a lot of work to write, prep, cycle through a few times, and post each issue.
Still, at $12 per month, the cost is less than half of what you’d pay for an online course on a single topic from Dean Wesley Smith. And it’s only a fraction of the cost you’d pay for online or live courses from most other places.
Plus subscribers get
- the added benefit of asking questions and receiving specific, in-depth answers directly from me at no extra charge, and
- a lot more useful content. Unlike most online courses, there’s no fluff in these posts and no filler.
So if you’re serious about learning the craft of fiction writing, drop by Chopped Livah and take a look.
Oh, and whatever else you do, practice. If you aren’t willing to practice, none of this matters in the slightest.
Of Interest
Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week: “Talent”
This Is The Most Honest Writing Advice You’ll Get Well, maybe, outside of TNDJ. This is a video, a little over an hour. Harlan Coben interview (I do not write like this, but it might be right for you.)
How I Sell Books in Every Format (& Why You Should Too) Not vetted.