Daily Journal

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Sort of a Day Off * Stages of a Fiction Writer: Introduction * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Doing nothing is hard. You never know when you’re done.” attributed to actor/comedian Leslie Nielsen Sort of a Day Off I’ve got nothing of real value for you today other than maybe (up to you) the links in Of Interest. However, I am putting together my thoughts on The Stages of a Fiction Writer. I decided to include the introduction below. The Stages themselves will be coming soon. I … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Years Ago * Of Interest * The Numbers Years Ago As I’ve mentioned before, probably ad nauseam, for a period of years (about two decades) I taught private in-person seminars on poetry and language and fiction. During that same time, I was flying or driving all over the place teaching the same stuff at writers’ conferences across the nation. My private seminars typically lasted either all day or a half-day. My presentations at conferences were typically two hours long. The one common aspect of most of those (thankfully, not all) was … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On Messy First Drafts: Umm, Why? * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “It’s okay to create messy first drafts.” Dr. Diana Stout (after you’ve read this, see Of Interest) On Messy First Drafts: Umm, Why? I wasn’t even going to write a post today. Then I read my email, sat down, and wrote the following. I have to admit, at this point of my tenure at TNDJ, I sincerely hope I’m preaching to the choir. But I have an uneasy feeling someone out there needs to hear … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Interesting Fact of the Day * Poetry? * Storytelling at Depth? * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day From ten years ago… “I have to finish the next book. The actual writing [is getting] harder. I’m rewriting. I’m struggling.” George R.R. Martin, fretting over finishing his Game of Thrones series/saga Dr. Stanbrough would say George needs to take a deep breath and stop worrying over whether the next book will be ‘as good’ as the earlier ones. Apparently he eventually did. “You look ridiculous if you dance. You … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Report * Other Challenges? * A Nod to the Important Stuff * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day Need aliens? Researchers find caterpillars hear with their hair. from 1440 Daily Digest The Bradbury Challenge Report The requirement for the Bradbury Challenge is to write at least one short story or short-short story per week. During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories: Erin Donoho “A Morning in April” 1900 YA contemporary Vanessa V. Kilmer “Road Rage” 3113 SyFy Christopher Ridge “Mama Prayed” … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Some Notes on Writing in a Shared World * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day Acting into the Dark? “I think the success of my work stems from being truthful… the more I let the character take over, the more I feel like that person. When you become the person, nothing is contrived.” Catherine O’Hara A New Short Story “The Oldest Debt” went live on Saturday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. This story kind … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Here Y’go, Fiction Writers (Story Ideas) * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day Back when I was speaking at conferences a lot, I was often asked where in the world I get story ideas. My answer was predictable: Where do you NOT get story ideas? All of the following quotes are story ideas from one issue of 1440 Daily Digest: “Scientists discover potentially habitable planet roughly 146 light-years from Earth, four times closer than the next best planet in a habitable zone.” (see Of Interest) “What’s Civilization Without … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * I Keep Trying * One Taker * No Judgement Here * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Publishing on Amazon isn’t hard. But it is easy to do wrong.” The Kindlepreneur I Keep Trying to post less often, but that might not be in the cards. Sometimes not writing and posting something is really difficult. So read these when you can, but try not to skip over any of them completely or you might miss something you would have found of value. One Taker so far on my … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Writing in Other Worlds? * Valentine Sale (You Want to Read This) * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “[Amazon’s] Ask This Book [feature] goes beyond discovery and reference by generating interpretive and explanatory content. In their view, this constitutes a derivative use of the work, comparable to annotated or enhanced editions, which have traditionally required separate licensing and compensation.” According to Writem, the Authors Guild’s take on Amazon’s Ask This Book feature in the first item in Of Interest “One of the best parts of WITD for … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Musings on Characters * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[The character-discovery] means of character writing provides you with a naturalistic development of personality that’s difficult to beat. It can also be very efficient, because anything that doesn’t impact the story is never established….” Joseph R. Lallo, author of “dozens of novels and novellas, including [an] international bestseller” (see first item in Of Interest). Musings on Characters I love the above quote, and of course I cherry-picked it from the first article referenced in Of Interest. I did … Read more