Daily Journal

In Today’s Journal * DWS Attitude of a Fiction Writer * The Modes of Language * Of Interest * The Numbers DWS’ Attitude of a Fiction Writer I read the following some years ago on Dean Wesley Smith’s website and saved it. I thought I’d pass it along today. 1. Sustainability. Can you keep doing what you’re doing now for 5, 10, 15 years? 2. Have Fun. The Secret to doing whatever: have fun. If what you’re doing isn’t fun, it isn’t sustainable. 3. Never write to market. 4. Defend Your Work (even from yourself). Don’t write by committee, don’t … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge * Information Flow * New Release Alert * The Writing * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge There is no cost. The only requirement is to report at least one short story per week in the following format. Feel free to jump in at any time. The following writers reported these new stories: Christopher Ridge “Death with a Twist” 2810 noir Dave Taylor ” Welcome Home Soldier” 3,663 Magic Realism Congratulations to these writers. Information Flow This is one of those next-level things I keep talking about. A great example popped up yesterday morning … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * Only Seven Days Left! * A Different Reminder * Still Thinking About Recording * D2D EPUB Validator * Of Interest * The Numbers A New Short Story “Fireball” went live Friday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. Hint: Expect irreverence. If you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both help with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else. Bradbury Reminder Today is Sunday. Just a reminder to get your Bradbury Challenge story info in to me before … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Pulp Writer Work Ethic * Of Interest * The Numbers The Pulp Writer Work Ethic Note: This is an enhanced version of a guest post I wrote for Frank Theodat and his Ink & Grit series a while back on Pulp, Pipe, and Poetry. First, my creds. When I say I’m “prolific,” I mean I’ve written 115 novels, 10 novellas, and just under 300 short stories in nine years. How? Although I don’t see myself as a pulp writer—I’m just a writer—I have a pulp writer’s work ethic. Writing is what I do. A lawyer … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * One True Sentence * Another Interesting Meme * Update on Kickstarter * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” – Ernest Hemingway in A Moveable Feast Happy birthday to my own papa, Harvey C. Stanbrough, who died in 1997. He would’ve been 87 today. One True Sentence For a fiction writer, that’s the essence of Everything Else. One true … Read more

In Today’s Journal * From One to Another * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers From One to Another A friend asked a few questions via email yesterday, and I thought some of you might benefit from the responses: “I was shocked and pleased to note that you had stopped submitting to Smashwords directly (but not to their retailers). … On the flipside, it seems that Draft2Digital has expanded everything it does very nicely. That’s good.” Yes, I stopped submitting my work to Smashwords a few years ago because even the submission process was clunky. But a year … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On Generative AI, Revisited * Sarah Connor (Terminator series) * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Chat gpt was able to give me keyword lists, tropes, blurbs, book launch plans, all those publishing and marketing things. Within seconds and free. It told me which genres out of the ones I selected were more competitive, which would be easier to break into. Pros and cons of each. “It can also give you a 30 day writing plan with word count goals and trackers if you want … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Just an Idea * On the Bradbury Challenge * On the Echoes of Hemingway Challenge * Super Great Challenges at DWS’ Website * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Just an Idea The first item in Of Interest turned me a little snarky. Maybe I should write an article for Writer’s Digest about How I Wrote 115 novels and 10 novellas and around 300 short stories and roughly a billion blog posts without an outline. (grin) Then again, I’m glad at least someone else out there is spreading the word about writing into the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge * In Case You Missed It… * I Get Questions and Comments * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “To do something well is so worthwhile…. life is measured in achievement, not in years alone.” Bruce McLaren “It’s so interesting how much you can do when you get out of your own way.” Dave Taylor “Write hard and clear about what hurts.” Ernest Hemingway The Bradbury Challenge The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Storytelling at Depth * The Elements of Pacing * Of Interest * The Numbers Storytelling at Depth Since I just announced a new short story contest, I thought I’d publish a new short series of three posts on Storytelling at Depth. In the first post, I talked about the Cliffhanger/Hook combo. In the second, I talked about Grounding the Reader. It works like this: The initial hook and opening get the readers into the story. Grounding them in the setting engages them and keeps them deep. The cliffhanger/hook combo and the pacing keep them turning pages. … Read more