In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Genre Schmanre
* Limited Time Book Giveaway
* Writing Better Fiction
* The Mentorships
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“The country’s first utility-scale quantum computer is slated to be built on the site of a former steel mill in Chicago’s South Side.” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, according to “Quantum Leap in Chicago,” an article in the July 26 edition of the 1440 Daily Digest, a newsletter.
For some reason, that first sentence sent a chilling sense of forboding up along my spine. Several story ideas sprang to mind.
Is that quote an as-yet unrecognized portal to impending doom? Does it mark, for unwary, overly trusting humans, the beginning of the end? Or will it mark the beginning of a world-wide Utopian existence?
Either way, the quote would make a great epigraph for the opening of a science fiction or science fantasy short story or novel or series.
The article continues (I reparagraphed to improve readability):
“Quantum computers can surpass even the most powerful supercomputers available today, improving encryption and expediting development of new drugs (see more, w/video).
“Silicon Valley startup PsiQuantum’s facility will use photons—particles of light—to perform calculations, an approach not yet commercially proven.
“This comes in contrast to techniques relying on ultracold atoms or superconducting circuits used in existing quantum computers by Google, IBM, and others.”
Are you a fiction writer? Do you enjoy writing SF? Run with it.
A New Short Story
“The Mahogany Sea,” a magic-realism tale of Mexico, went live yesterday on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Check it out.
Also the novel wrapped today. This marks 11 on the year, 93 since October 2014.
Genre Shmanre
I received an email the other day from a writer who wanted to explore the idea of a mentorship with me. The writer noted that the advice I share is valuable “…even though we don’t share genres.”
Years ago, another writer who was seeking my services as a copyeditor was a little more blatant: “I’m sure you’re a fine copyeditor, but can you edit science fiction?”
I’m always a little surprised to be reminded yet again that many writers (most, in my experience) think in terms of genre.
But I shouldn’t be. It’s part of the conditioning to which we’ve all been subjected. That genre is the be-all, end-all in writing is just another myth.
So in my email response to the first writer above, I started one section with “Genre schmanre.” Then I wrote,
“Good writing is good writing and a good story is a good story. All of that spans genres.
“The only real difference is not genre, but the mood of the writer as s/he’s writing or as s/he begins writing. That goes to style. For just one example, my novella Jobs Like That (only $3) was written while I was in a Hemingway mood. It’s very much like his writing.”
As an aside, please notice that last line wasn’t a value judgement. Comparisons are a silly waste of time, so I’m not saying my writing in general or that story in particular is or isn’t as “good” as Papa’s. That judgement is up to the reader.
I’m only saying that was the mood I was in at the moment, and that mood enabled me to write in a style similar to Hemingway’s.
In that particular case, I had recently read a Hemingway short story, and above all else he was a master at putting the reader in a particular mood. That’s one reason I so ofter recommend studying his work.
But back to genre infatuation.
As I wrote above, genre really doesn’t matter. For a writer, genre is only a way to classify what s/he’s already written so a particular group of readers will find it on real or virtual bookshelves more easily.
So genre is more important to readers and critics and publishers than to writers. Genre is only your best guess at what will reach certain readers. It goes directly to sales.
What should matter most to writers is the writing itself, getting the story on the page. Until you do that, genre shouldn’t even be on your radar.
Which brings me back to Story. All good stories are created using the same lexicon. The same words, the same various sentence structures, etc.
Of course, I understand readers of different genres have different expectations. For example, the romance or cozy mystery always ends on a happy note or even happily ever after.
In the western, thrillers, action adventure stories and novels the good guys always win. “Young Adult” stories feature younger characters and appeal to a younger audience, etc. If the protagonist learns a valuable lesson, is it still Young Adult or is it a Coming of Age story? Or something else?
But the root of Story is always Character(s) with a Problem (or situation) in a Setting. And in the “good” story, regardless of genre, the writer
- grounds the reader in the setting,
- causes the reader to root for the protagonist,
- forces the reader to be concerned about the problem or situation, and
- holds the reader deep in the story, sometimes engaging the reader fully and sometimes allowing him a period of rest.
But only at “the end” does the writer allow the reader to escape.
See how those elements of good storytelling span genres?
So put genre out of your mind (or not) and just write a good story. You can do that, and you can do it in any genre.
Limited Time Book Giveaway
To prove my point, for a limited time, I’ll give away one novel in every fiction genre listed at StoneThread Publishing. So that’s up to six free novels for anyone who asks.
Click the link above (not the one at the end of this email), then click each genre to make your selections. Then email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com and tell me which books you want. Be sure to let me know whether you want it in PDF, .mobi or .epub.
Again, you can have one free book from each of the six genre I write in.
And I hope you won’t limit yourself to one genre. For just one example, chances are if you love Romance, you’ll very much like the Wes Crowley western South to Mexico, which I wrote roughly a b’jillion years ago.
Go wild. You can afford it. As a bonus, you’ll also be able to see whether your humble writing instructor practices what he preaches. (grin)
Writing Better Fiction
But how to learn the components of a good story? How to ground the reader, cause him to root for the protagonist, force him to care about the problem or situation, and hold him deep in the story until “the end”?
I laid it out in Writing Better Fiction. In that book, I covered every aspect of good storytelling. If you don’t have it yet, click the link to buy it. It’s only $14 at the link, and it is the only book you’ll ever need in order to write excellent fiction.
So buy it, read it, and absorb the information.
Then I recommend investing $5 per month (about 17 cents per day) for a paid subscription to the Journal. Even Writing Better Fiction is limited. If it weren’t I’d still be compiling it. But in several posts after I wrote and published that book, I’ve expanded or added to the information here In TNDJ.
But all of that is still only general information that you or any writer can apply to your or their work.
The Mentorships
I offer the mentorships in order to help you apply that information to your work specifically. I even allow mentoring students to set the fee for the mentoring. I never charge more than you can comfortably afford.
So if you’re interested in a mentorship to shore up any areas of weakness in craft in your own writing, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. And if you have questions about the mentorship, for goodness’ sake Ask Me. To a limited degree, I’m a talented guy, but I don’t read minds.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 1350
Writing of Blackwell Ops 26: Tailor Moses
Day 1…… 2069 words. To date…… 2069
Day 2…… 3438 words. To date…… 5507
Day 3…… 1464 words. To date…… 6971
Day 4…… 2089 words. To date…… 9060
Day 5…… 1037 words. To date…… 10097
Day 6…… 1092 words. To date…… 11189
Day 7…… 1286 words. To date…… 12475
Day 8…… 3631 words. To date…… 16106
Day 9…… 2011 words. To date…… 18117
Day 10…. 2493 words. To date…… 20610
Day 11…. 2747 words. To date…… 23357
Day 12…. 1425 words. To date…… 24782
Day 13…. 3020 words. To date…… 27802
Day 14…. 2536 words. To date…… 30338
Day 15…. 1861 words. To date…… 32199 (done)
Fiction for July…………………….….… 39407
Fiction for 2024…………………………. 468400
Fiction since October 1………………… 732050
Nonfiction for July……………………… 32100
Nonfiction for 2024……………………… 242980
2024 consumable words………………… 671973
2024 Novels to Date……………………… 11
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)……………… 93
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 241
Short story collections…………………… 29
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing are lies, and they will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
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