Daily Journal

In Today’s Journal * Sometimes I Just Have To * Echoes of Chandler Contest * Of Interest * The Numbers Sometimes I Just Have To In a comment on DWS’ post titled “Some Basics About Writing That I Believe,” another commenter wrote “The hard part for many/most writers — commercial fiction or darned near anything else — is having a big/perceptive-enough writer brain to keep the necessary mileposts in sight while writing. Even “pure pantsers” have some, unless they’re one of those just-explore-a-character’s-feelings-while-nothing-really-happens MFA graduates (if so, I don’t want to know about it and won’t read the result without … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Got a Good Start * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * Of Interest * The Numbers Got a Good Start Okay. Back in the day, driving a few t-posts, digging two 3-feet-deep postholes, building a new gate, stringing and tying up roughly 80 feet of fence, and taking out an old fence would have taken maybe all of a six- or eight-hour day. Yesterday morning, including measuring and remeasuring distances between t-posts, placing six of them, and driving three of them took close to three hours. Then I was back in the Hovel under … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Tracking Your Day * Echoes of Chandler Contest/Challenge * Of Interest * The Numbers I’m sending this issue out mostly for the items I linked to in Of Interest. Tracking Your Day Everyone starts with 24 hours in a day. If you want to write more or spend more time writing but day by day the days seem to slip away from you, try tracking your day in 15-minute increments. This will work better if you do it physically, actually listing the time increments down the left side of a sheet of paper, then carry the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Writing Fiction: Work or Play? * An Update on My Own Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Writing Fiction: Work or Play? Recently a writer friend sent me a link to an article that he thought might raise my blood pressure. It didn’t. To each his own, am I right? The article (see the link in Of Interest) had to do with prolific writers and how they view the writing of fiction. As I told my friend after I skimmed over the article, I didn’t see anything that annoyed me, but I was surprised at … Read more

In Today’s Journal * On Comma Usage “Rules” * Of Interest * The Numbers On Comma Usage “Rules” When I was in college we used the HarBrace College Handbook in English classes. It contained 19 PAGES of comma rules. In today’s Of Interest you’ll find a link to an article in Writer’s Digest listing the “10 Most Important Comma Usage Rules.” The article is mostly correct, but like HarBrace—as well as Strunk & White and pretty much anything else that regurgitates the “rules”—it’s also as dusty and dry and mechanical as an ancient bone bleached in the Arizona sun. Bleh. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * About Contest Entries * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot.” Robin Williams About Contest Entries Hey folks, I’m back in the Hovel and trying to get back into the swing of things. For anyone who missed it earlier, I’m running a new contest for short stories. It could result in an anthology titled Echoes of Chandler. You can find the contest rules here. In that post in “Notes” below the rules, I included … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge * On the Road * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. The only requirement is to write at least one short story per week. Feel free to jump in at any time. During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories: Erin Donoho “Gold Seeds,” 1800 words, historical literary suspense Loyd Jenkins “Fire Beneath the Land” 3200 Fantasy Vanessa V. Kilmer “Blue Folder” 2999 Mystery … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Thank You * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * Of Interest * The Numbers Thank You Thanks to all of you who donated to the True Pulp Kickstarter. I appreciate you. Other than that, I’m sending this mostly so you’ll have the items in Of Interest. A New Short Story “Cleanup on Aisle 4” went live Friday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. This is a short story from the Blackwell Ops world. Go check it out. It’s free. If you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both … Read more

In Today’s Journal * One Day Left * A New Contest * I’ll Be Away * The Numbers One Day Left on the True Pulp Kickstarter. To repeat my last offer from a few days ago, If you donate at least $15 to the True Pulp Kickstarter today or tomorrow and then email me to let me know, I’ll send you a coupon code to score the One-Off Mysteries Omnibus OR the complete, 10-volume set of The Journey Home SF Saga (a $35 value) OR the Nonfiction Omnibus PLUS Writing Better Fiction (a $34 value). And of course you’ll also … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Contest * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The art of writing pulp is the art of writing sentences that do more than one thing at a time.” Raymond Chandler A New Contest Hint: Read some Raymond Chandler. It isn’t the same as watching the movies. Raymond Chandler was a master at pulling the reader into the scene and the story with the characters via his vivid description of setting. In other words, he was a master at creating depth. Echoes of Chandler Contest Rules 1. … Read more