Daily Journal

In today’s Journal * Bradbury Challenge Participants * TKZ Revisited * Finished “Sinister Intent” * Of Interest Bradbury Challenge Participants This will be a recurring weekly feature of the Journal, at least as long as those who are involved in the challenge keep letting me know how many stories they finished each week. (grin) Yesterday I emailed all particpants and asked them to send me their info. What you see below is from those who responded. A few others in the challenge set their deadline days later, so I hope to report their stories and numbers next week. Anyone can … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Contradictions in Writing Advice * Still Working into a Routine * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “I often get questions about what it takes to become a long-term, full-time fiction writer. My answer is never quit, and when you do fall down, get back up and keep going. My answer is also get everyone out of your writing and your work and keep learning.” Dean Wesley Smith “We didn’t exactly believe your story, Miss O’Shaughnessy. We believed your two hundred dollars….I mean that you paid us more than if you’d … Read more

In today’s Journal * Another New Story * A Final Note on the Challenge * A Final Note on Generative AI * Another New Story, Part 2 * Of Interest Another New Story My previously unpublished science fiction short story “Fifth Mind” went live yesterday over at Stanbrough Writes. To read it free, visit https://harveystanbroughwrites.com/fifth-mind/. The story also went out to a list of subscribers in the Stanbrough Writes substack. To subscribe, visit https://stanbroughwrites.substack[dot]com/p/fifth-mind and click the Subscribe button that appears just below the story. A Final Note on the Challenge Apparently there have been some misunderstandings. The Bradbury Challenge … Read more

In today’s Journal * One More Post on the Bradbury Challenge * My First Story * Come On In * Of Interest One More Post on the Bradbury Challenge This is to follow up on two earlier posts. If you haven’t read those, I recommend you read them now: First see “A New Personal Challenge” at https://hestanbrough.com/a-new-personal-challenge/ and then “Fears About the Challenge” at https://hestanbrough.com/fears-about-the-challenge/. So why one more post on the challenge? Mostly for fun. I really had to laugh. After my second post (above) I received a few comments and several emails yesterday and this morning asking how … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Fears About the Challenge * Of Interest Quote of the Day “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Albert Einstein Fears About the Challenge Yup, I’m not exempt. Yesterday, I announced a personal challenge to write at least one short story every week for 100 weeks. My personal report date will be Sunday at midnight every week, beginning with this coming Sunday, March 26. I invited others to join me in the challenge. … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A New Personal Challenge * What Is A Short Story? * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “A new piece of work will drag the old piece of work after it. … Sometimes you’re just tired. You’ve done a thing too often. … I go do another short story. The energy I borrow from that, I go back to the novel, and boom, everything comes into focus again. So you borrow energy. Find ways to borrow energy.” Ray Bradbury “The intellect is a great danger to creativity . . . because … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * AI Blockers * Try And vs. Try To * The Writing * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Reason is God’s crowning gift to man[kind].” Sophocles AI Blockers Sigh. Whatever. “Researchers release free app that protects artists’ work from being scraped by AI training models; program adds nearly imperceptible changes to images that go unnoticed by current AI image generators” (https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/17/glaze-generative-ai-art-style-mimicry-protection/) It was inevitable, I suppose. It’s what humans do. One human creates Something New, which in every case may be used for good or for evil. Then another human creates … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Story Idea * Wattpad * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Publishing your own book may not come with the prestige of earning a book deal. However, publishing prestige is an outdated concept, and readers certainly don’t care.” Dave Chesson “The Universe is not obliged to conform to what we consider comfortable or plausible.” Carl Sagan “Writer’s block is a misnomer and can be compared with turning off a faucet. Like the ability to write, faucets can develop problems when they’re seldom used. You get all this rust in the pipes. … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Recommendations * Bradbury on Writing * The Fireman * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “I don’t believe in college for writers. … The intellect is a great danger to creativity. … You must never think at the [keyboard]. You must feel. … If there’s no feeling, there cannot be great art.” Ray Bradbury “All my characters write the books. I don’t write the books. All these characters come to me and say, ‘Listen to me,’ and I listen to them and I put it down, and that’s how the books … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Ian Fleming on How to Write * A New Free Story Every Week * The Craft Boils Down * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “You have to get the reader to turn over the page.” Ian Fleming (see “Of Interest”) “I have a charming relative who is an angry young littérateur of renown. He is maddened by the fact that more people read my books than his. … I asked him how he described himself on his passport. ‘I bet you call yourself an Author,’ I said. He … Read more