Daily Journal

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * This! * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!” Mark Twain, in a December 1906 remark dictated for his autobiography, which was being published in installments in The North American Review. This! Please buckle up and keep your hands inside the conveyance. This is a long post. The above is among my favorite Mark Twain quotes, though it has often been misquoted (yes, even by me) and presented as, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A New Short Story * Reminder * About Novel Collaborations * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers A New Short Story “Coffee? Perhaps Tea?” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. As always, if you enjoy this strange story, please tell Everyone. If you don’t, shh! (grin) Reminder Today is Saturday. Just a reminder to get your story info in to me before the Journal goes live on Monday. Remember, if you finish a story earlier in the week, you can send the info to me … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Laugh of the Day * How to Overcome ‘Writing Anxiety’? * From Vin Zandri * Of Interest * The Numbers I took a day off yesterday. I worked on squaring away the electricity for the Hovel, but otherwise I did nothing, including writing. I wasn’t going to post an issue of TNDJ this morning, but a bunch of stuff caught my attention. So today’s post is partly serious, partly a chuckle fest. Quote of the Day “I picked up Writing Better Fiction … and I have to say, quite frankly, it’s … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * DITW—Pacing Is Everything, Part 1: Dialogue * No Writing Yesterday * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “My three favourite things in life are eating my cats and not using commas.” Anonymous, from a meme “At one point, [Dean Wesley Smith] wrote about writing but those days are long gone. Your TNDJ fulfills that role admirably and is one of the reasons I subscribe.” Dr. Harold Goodman DITW—Pacing Is Everything, Part 1: Dialogue Introduction What follows is an extremely abbreviated look at a massively complex subject: Pacing in fictional dialogue. Later, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A Life Hack for Writing * About Comments * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers A Life Hack for Writing Short post today. I’m still planning a post—or maybe even a series of posts—soon on the importance of Pacing and how to do that. Some segments of that post (or posts of that series) will be next-level, down in the weeds stuff. So stay tuned. But for today my focus will be on fiction and doing what I can before the lights go out. After that I’ll type on battery power. And if the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Please Use ‘Like,’ ‘Share,’ and ‘Leave a Comment’ * Jupiter * How to Learn Fiction-Writing Techniques * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Today’s TNDJ forgetfulness topic hit home for me. Before I started doing any writing except for book reviews, my memory of the stories & books I had read was very good. I could easily write a review maybe five days after reading the book and reading another book. Now [that I’m writing], I must write the review when I finish reading the … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Correction * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Blackwell Ops 30: John Quick Returns Is Live! * The Writing * The Stephen King (November) Challenge * A Note on Collaborations * The Numbers Correction This is a happy correction. Between me misreading the total on the spreadsheet (the type is so tiny) and adding a few words as a result of my first reader’s catches, the novel is 102 words longer than I reported yesterday. So instead of wrapping at 39703 words, Blackwell Ops 30: John Quick Returns, actually wrapped at 39805 words. A hundred and … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Happy Birthday, USMC * The Novel Wrapped * Forgetfulness—Blessing or Curse? * Of Interest * The Numbers Happy Birthday, USMC Later today I will pause briefly to raise a toast to my brothers and sisters in the Marine Corps and in the other armed forces, past and present. Today is the 249th anniversary of the birth of the United States Marine Corps in Tun Tavern (yep, a bar, go figure) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And to everyone else, really: May your days be vibrant, your evenings calm, your heart safe and warm at home. Semper Fi My … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Reminder * Storytelling * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I’m surprised and happy to see the DITW comment is from me. I’ll continue to share epiphanies when I have them, I’m happy to be useful.” Emilia Pulliainen, writer and subscriber The Quote of the Day is spot-on. Imagine how many other writers we would help lift up if we all shared the epiphanies that come to us as we’re writing fiction. Any time you share an epiphany with me … Read more

In Today’s Journal * No New Electricity * The Vote Is In (No, not that vote) * Of Interest * The Numbers No New Electricity Well, it didn’t happen yesterday. All of this started back in September. Yesterday, the electrician showed up with a HUGE electrical panel—and I mean about 3 feet by 3 feet—to hang on the wall. Unfortunately, he’d brought the wrong part to connect it to the new meter the electric company has to install after they run new lines to the house. So he rescheduled himself and the electric company and the inspector to arrive next … Read more