Daily Journal

In Today’s Journal * My Quote of the Day * Adverbs * Two Mentorship Slots Open * Of Interest * The Numbers My Quote of the Day “I only write when I’m inspired, so I see to it that I’m inspired every morning at 3 a.m.” my take on a quote widely attributed to Peter DeVries but probably from William Faulkner Adverbs I had a question about adverb use from a writer. In full, she wrote What are your thoughts on adverbs? [Such as] smiled sinfully, laughed defiantly, grinned confidently, [or] smirked arrogantly As humans we “smile” a lot for different … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * WMG Half-Price Sale * The Double-Tap Yesterday * Two Mentorship Slots Left * Of Interest * The Numbers Just back and getting back into the flow, so not a lot for you today. Quote of the Day “Ah, you are a fatalist.” “No, just a practiced realist, but one who periodically checks his memory to see what’s coming next.” Nick Spalding, the protagonist, to another character in Chapter 34 of Nightfall, Book 1 of the Nick Spalding series WMG Half-Price Sale If you’ve thought about buying lectures or online workshops from … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The TNDJ Challenges Report * The Numbers The TNDJ Challenges Report The whole point of these challenges is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. Feel free to jump in at any time. Participating in any challenge is a way to drive yourself to the computer or legal pad and write fiction. It’s also a great way to build and maintain a streak. As if writing more and better fiction isn’t enough, I even offer prizes. To see those, please visit The NEW TNDJ Challenges. Bradbury … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Why A Mentorship? * Of Interest * The Numbers Why A Mentorship? I got the question within a half-hour of posting Saturday’s post: Why should I pay for a mentorship when I’m already getting so much from TNDJ on my paid or unpaid subscription? The answer to that one is simple. In TNDJ, I’m most often responding to my urge to pass along what I know, but without the catalyst of your questions, I’m only able to skim the surface. When a writer emails to ask a question or questions, it stirs my brain and plumbs the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A New Short Story * Setting, and Characters’ Opinions: 4 * Of Interest * The Numbers A New Short Story “White Ring Quilt” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. Setting and Characters’ Opinions: 4 After my writer friend read the scene I posted here yesterday, his response was “I feel like I am immersed and grounded in the story, like I am there, feeling and seeing the things the character is experiencing.” That’s the comment I most often get from my readers: that they’re in … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Setting, and Characters’ Opinions 3: An Example * Of Interest * The Numbers Setting, and Characters’ Opinions 3: An Example I recommend you read the first two parts of this short series before reading this one. Check the past couple of days. To help illustrate all of this, I sent my young writer friend a scene of just under 1000 words from Chapter 5 of my current novel in progress. I recommend you read it for pleasure first, then reread it to identify character and setting description and how I presented that. Note that the space … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Setting, and Characters’ Opinions: 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.” Stephen King Setting, and Characters’ Opinions: 2 To read Part 1 on the website, click Setting and Characters’ Opinions, Part 1. To read it on the TNDJ Substack click here. As I was saying yesterday about the “difference between the story (content) and the presentation (form),” everything starts with differentiating the two. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Setting, and Characters’ Opinions, Part 1 * Reopening the Mentorships * Of Interest * The Numbers Setting, and Characters’ Opinions, Part 1 I recently received a couple of questions from a young writer. Since we are not engaged in a formal mentorship, I asked whether I could use his email and an example he sent in another email for TNDJ. He graciously agreed, so this is Part 1 of our exchange. Part 2 will follow tomorrow. I suspect there will also be a Part 3. Chances are good you want to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Dan’s Seven Rules for Ghostwriters * The Numbers Dan’s Seven Rules for Ghostwriters a guest post by Dan Baldwin I have written more than 100 published books, but nine of ten have someone else’s name on the cover. A few have an “With Dan Baldwin” or “As Told To Dan Baldwin” on the cover, but my credit line, if at all, usually appears in the Acknowledgements printed upside down in the Cuneiform alphabet. And that’s okay. Credit lines are a commodity and they’re useful if you can get them, but ghostwriters are in the business to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The TNDJ Challenges Report * Chapter Heads * Of Interest * The Numbers The TNDJ Challenges Report The whole point of these challenges is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. Feel free to jump in at any time. Participating in any challenge is a way to drive yourself to the computer or legal pad and write fiction. It’s also a great way to build and maintain a streak. As if writing more and better fiction isn’t enough, I even offer prizes. To see those, please visit The NEW TNDJ Challenges. … Read more