Daily Journal

In Today’s Journal * On Taking Your Time * The Power of a Streak * Guest Posts Welcome * Dean Wesley Smith Writes * The Novel Wrapped * Last Day! * Of Interest * The Numbers On Taking Your Time Another Excellent Example A couple of days ago, “Before I Forget” went live on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. And I got comments: James Ron commented, “Intense, Harvey. Enjoyed it a lot. It had me wondering why the ref and Tats didn’t stop the fight as injuries mounted. Had me thinking it was a hit … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Sequence in Description, Part 3 * One More Thing * Two Days Left * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Readers don’t come back just because two characters gaze at each other across a dimly lit room. They come back for emotional movement…the ups, the downs, the twists that keep them turning pages….” Kris Maze in “Write Emotional Scenes that Better Engage Readers” (highly recommended) A New Short Story “Before I Forget” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Sequence of Description, Part 2 * Still Offering * Of Interest * The Numbers The Sequence of Description, Part 2 To round out the discussion from yesterday, I wanted to present the “rest of the story,” the culmination of the mini-scene I presented in the excerpt yesterday. By way of background, the POV character is Paul Stone, a Blackwell Ops operative. Roberta is his on-the-ground contact. She works for the same company. She’s there primarily to deliver a Colt semiautomatic pistol to him. Here’s the short opening of the scene: When I opened the door, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Sequence of Description, Part 1 * WRITING BETTER FICTION FLASH SALE! * Of Interest * The Numbers The Sequence of Description, Part 1 Maybe more next-level stuff. Yesterday as I cycled through the previous day’s writing, it dawned on me that some fiction writers have problems with describing characters or settings in the right sequence. By “the right sequence,” I mean the sequence in which the POV character observes or takes-in the setting or other character (especially on a first, much-anticipated meeting). I first taught this stuff back in the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * One Big, Huge, Massive Caution * More About Yesterday’s Excerpt * WRITING BETTER FICTION FLASH SALE! * Of Interest * The Numbers One Big, Huge, Massive Caution I’m starting to think maybe I made a mistake and did you a disservice by offering that post yesterday. Here’s the big overall point: Remember that I made those changes on the fly. What took me over a couple of hours to explain in TNDJ took me only several seconds to actually do. And I did it all during cycling, while in the creative subconscious. You might or might … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On Clarity—Maybe Next-Level Stuff * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best.” Joe DiMaggio Hmm… There is always some reader who might be seeing your work for the first time. Even aside from the money, you owe him your best, yes? Which means you owe him an authentic story, the story your characters (not you) are actually living. So write into the dark, cycle over it (all while in the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Writing Tip of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge * Considerations * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Anyone who writes mysteries or contemplates doing so, or who even reads them, will benefit from reading Murder for Pleasure [by Howard Haycraft]. I recommend it heartily.” Frank Gruber Writing Tip of the Day If you want to write, write. Escape. Give yourself over to your creative subconscious and let yourself be absorbed into the act of putting new words on the page. (See the first item in Of Interest.) … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Writing Tip of the Day * A Diary of Days * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Anyone who writes mysteries or contemplates doing so, or who even reads them, will benefit from reading Murder for Pleasure [by Howard Haycraft]. I recommend it heartily.” Frank Gruber Writing Tip of the Day For me, as for many of you, it’s easy to lapse into writing only the visual, what the POV character physically sees in any given scene. For me, it’s also natural to record the POV characters unspoken … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * BookFunnel * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “After you learn to write your whole object is to convey everything, every sensation, sight, [smell, sound, taste,] feeling, place and emotion to the reader. To do this you have to work over what you write.” Ernest Hemingway A New Short Story “No Better Day (expanded)” (Hemingway-ish) went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. This is one of those very rare stories, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Value of a First Reader * The Publishing (and Writing) * For Any Who Wonder * The Numbers Quote of the Day “People are what they do, not what they say.” James Lee Burke in an interview. The Value of a First Reader In the back of every novel I write, I credit my first reader, Russ Jones. In part, I write that he “keeps me from looking like a total dweeb.” That is an understatement. In Blackwell Ops 38: Paul Stone, Russ pointed out that I had inadvertently changed … Read more