Daily Journal

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * “We’ll Fix It in Post(-Production)” * Trust the Story to Unfold as it Should * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “As a somewhat bemused, non-writer outside observer … it occurs to me that there must be quite a number of misguided, myth-believing individuals for whom it’s more important to be able to say ‘Oh, how I’ve suffered for my art!’ than actually to have produced any. Go figure.” Russ Jones “The best way to improve your craft is to trust the characters and record their story as they live it. … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Memorial Day * Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * New Schedule for the Journal * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “About the last of April, the attention is drawn to other things besides writing and by now (end of May) writing has mostly been forgotten, or something to be done later.” Dean Wesley Smith Umm, taking part in the Bradbury Challenge can help alleviate this. If you want to be a writer, you have to write. Just sayin’. “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken … Read more

In today’s Journal * About Anthony Trollope * Of Interest About Anthony Trollope This is a bit I originally wrote and posted in the Journal way back in mid-2021. I came across it a few days ago. Yesterday, I inadvertently wrote that Trollope was a pulp writer. He wasn’t. Born in 1817, he lived roughly 100 years before the pulp era. We’ve recently discussed the tendency of all those self-thought brilliant amateur writers and would-be writers out there to believe that writing “fast”—which actually means having a work ethic and believing in yourself—equals writing garbage. It doesn’t. But then, that’s … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Story Starters * The Writing * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Until you’re ready to look foolish, you’ll never have the possibility of being great.” Cherilyn “Cher” Sarkisian “Successful negotiation is not about getting to ‘yes’; it’s about mastering ‘no’ and understanding what the path to an agreement is.” Christopher Voss I suspect it’s a lot easier to say No to a six-figure deal when saying Yes wouldn’t change your life dramatically. Story Starters Two days ago Garry Rodgers posted “Mindset, Motivation, and Tchotchkes” on the Kill Zone blog. In … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Penny Per Word * A few notes on pulp writers * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “I realize that I wrote it, but it’s hard to take credit for the writing because it came from out of the blue. It came through me,” Townes Van Zandt on writing the song “Pancho and Lefty” “I read an essay by sci-fi author Robert Silverberg discussing his pseudonymous smut writing career back in the day. He was paid handsomely per finished novel, so he wrote one 50,000 word novel per week. He … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Road to Amarillo * The Most Effective Goal * Of Interest The Road to Amarillo Well, The Road to Amarillo is published at Draft2Digital and at Amazon. To see the cover, and to read about the book and a little about the Wes Crowley Gap series itself, please visit https://stonethreadpublishing.com/the-road-to-amarillo/. Also, the Wes Crowley covers on the page at https://stonethreadpublishing.com/the-wes-crowley-series/ are actually in chronological sequence, so the correct reading order. For a limited time, I’m giving away Book 1 of the series, The Rise of a Warrior. To take advantage of this giveaway, either visit … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Focus on Quantity, Yes * The Writing * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.” Ray Bradbury “Writing a lot (quantity) and practicing writing is extremely important. Detaching yourself from the result of the story is also important. (What’s important is THAT you write, not WHAT you write). … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Sorry This One’s Late * Writing for the Journal * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.” Ray Bradbury “Writing a lot (quantity) and practicing writing is extremely important. Detaching yourself from the result of the story is also important. (What’s important is THAT you write, not WHAT … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * I Get Emails * Some Thoughts on Writing Fiction (guest post) * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “A serious writer draws from the well of his own soul, his own beliefs, and his own experience. The invitation for others to enter, mix, affect, alter and modify his work poisons the well.” Dan Baldwin “I’m never really alone writing fiction. My characters take over. The push, pull, cajole, entreat, beg and bully in a cacophony reminiscent of a third-grade classroom when the teacher had to step … Read more

In today’s Journal * Welcome * Yes. The Answer is Yes. * A Milestone of Sorts * Of Interest Welcome to Sarah S, George K and any other new subscribers or readers of the Journal. I hope you will find something here that will help you. Be sure to check out the free downloads at https://hestanbrough.com/the-daily-journal-archives-gifts-dvds/ and at https://harveystanbrough.com/downloads/. Yes. The Answer is Yes. I get questions. Am I still looking for or considering guest posts? Yes, absolutely. A few have responded since I put out the first call. Trust me, I’m not being overwhelmed with offers. Am I still … Read more