Daily Journal

In today’s Journal * A Note on the Bradbury Challenge * I Wrote This Into the Dark * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers A Note on the Bradbury Challenge I was just thinking, I told you recently I plan to offer challenges in November similar to those I offered in September. If you plan to jump into one of those challenges, one great way to practice for those during October would be to write at least one short story per week for the Bradbury Challenge during the month of October. The deadline to submit your story title, … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * The Value of Averages, 3 * The Novel Wrapped * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” From Edgar Allan Poe’s “Eleonora” The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting I really wish more of you guys would jump into this. C’mon, show us what you’ve got. (grin) The whole point is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. The only requirement is … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Value of Averages, 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers The Value of Averages 2 As I noted in Part 1 of this series, even when you’re taking part in a challenge, you aren’t writing for the challenge. Maybe you believe you’re writing to finish a short story you started yesterday or last week. Or to add-to or finish a novel you started yesterday or last week or last month. But in the overall scheme, you’re doing much more than that. As I wrote yesterday, you’re writing to accomplish something you’ve never accomplished before. And … Read more

In today’s Journal * A New Short Story * The Value of Averages 1 * Of Interest * The Numbers A New Short Story “The Unfortunate Case of Agatha Bitters” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. If you enjoy it, tell Everyone. If you don’t, shhh! (grin) The Value of Averages 1 There’s a question that all who fancy themselves fiction writers eventually have to face: Do I want to BE a fiction writer or do I simply want to DO fiction writing? There is a massive difference. Let me just … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Post-Publication Organizing * Of Interest * The Numbers Today I’ll be writing and also working on that Average Matters post I’ve been talking about. So it’ll be ready in a day or two. Quote of the Day “Not at all sure why this idea of writing at Pulp Speed sort of hits me right. I think because it flies in the face of all the myths. … If you think it can’t be done, ask yourself why? Why is your belief system telling you that?” Dean Wesley Smith Post-Publication Organizing (The … Read more

In today’s Journal * Pre-Publication Preparation * Of Interest * The Numbers Pre-Publication Preparation (Saves Typos) Again, this is a topic I shared way back in November of 2019. But I shared it only with the folks who followed me at Patreon. Don’t bother checking at Patreon now. They made a grab for rights and I was outta there. Anyway, I also updated the post. Here it is: Again, back in 2019 I also took off on one of Dean’s posts and talked about creating an inventory spreadsheet. I’ll repost the updated “Post-Publication Organizing” in this space tomorrow. Watch for … Read more

In today’s Journal * A Virtual Tour of The Daily Journal Website * Of Interest * The Numbers A Virtual Tour of The Daily Journal Website In yesterday’s post I mentioned that I’ve been writing for ten years and listed some of my accomplishments in that time, including averaging 9 novels per year. That isn’t exactly true. There were two years of little or no fiction writing during those ten years. I actually wrote during only 8 of those years. So my average is actually just below 12 novels per year, more than one novella per year, and over 31 … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Short Story Wrapped * Preliminary Report on the September Challenge * Of Interest * The Numbers The Short Story Wrapped The short story that was giving me so much trouble—formerly titled “The Darling Members Club” and now titled “The Story of Darlene and Carolyn”—wrapped yesterday. It might also be the beginning of another Stern Talbot PI novel, but for now it wrapped. If it runs to a novel later, the novel will probably be under the original title. (No, I don’t know why. No clue yet. That’s just what the character wants the novel to … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * On Structure * Of Interest * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting Note: I’m altering this challenge a little. Shorter works only, but they can be up to 14,999 words in length. The whole point is to have fun and grow as a writer. You can join or rejoin the challenge at any time. During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories: Vanessa V. Kilmer “Jubilee’s Junket” 2986 Dystopian Adam Kozak “Delusions of Grandeur” 2590 Humor Alexander Nakul … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Internet’s Up! * I (Almost) Have Electricity! * Of Interest * The Numbers The Internet’s Up! Yesterday, after a couple of weird weeks, my youngest son, a 9th-degree black belt telecommunications guy, got my internet up and running again. Before the smoke fully cleared, it required the installation of two new “dishes”: one on the house and one on a tower just behind (east of) the Hovel. We also drove to a store in Benson (15 mile roundtrip) to get a new router for inside the Hovel, but that was only so the WiFi at … Read more