In Today’s Journal
* My Quote of the Day
* Another Quote of the Day
* A New Short Story
* Your Morning Serial
* The Novel Wrapped
* It Isn’t Complicated or Complex
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
My Quote of the Day
“I’m a lucky guy. I trust the characters, and they always lead me through to the end. For my part, I always simply bear in mind that the characters, not I, are actually living the story so it isn’t mine to change. All I have to do is write what happens (as it happens) and the characters’ reaction to what happens. Easy peasy.” Me, in a recent email to a writer friend
Another Quote of the Day
“Long-term writers don’t write for feedback from outside people. We write because we love to tell stories to ourselves. When you depend on others for your happiness and success, you are always doomed to failure.” Dean Wesley Smith
A New Short Story
“Consuela” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free.
“Consuela” is actually the very first short story I wrote into the dark back in 2014. See what you think. Sorry for the very long paragraphs.
If you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both help with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else. Gracias.
Your Morning Serial
Also, another installment of The Rise of a Warrior (Chapter 12) went live over on Your Morning Serial yesterday.
You ever want to leave a time capsule? Me posting my earlier short stories and novels are exactly that. They stand as markers of my skill level when I wrote them.
I’ve seen very few that I wouldn’t have changed if I’d written them today. Try it. Great fun.
The Novel Wrapped
As I was telling the same writer I mentioned in My Quote of the Day above, I tend to mourn a little (a kind of post-partum, maybe?) when a novel ends.
That’s probably why I start something new as soon as I can: so I have something to celebrate. Something to feel joy for and look forward to and friends to play with.
This morning was no different. My first sensation as I walked into the Hovel was excitement that I could soon return to the story. But there was no story.
BO-52 wrapped yesterday. I spent five hours reading it aloud to my wife (she said she enjoyed it), then ran a spell check, updated my numbers below, and sent it to my first reader at around 4 p.m.
I also sent it to a young lady who said she’d like to try that whole first-reader thing. (grin) We’ll see how that goes.
Anyway, once this issue is winging its way to you, I’ll construct a promo doc and a cover. Russ will probably have his first-read comments back to me later today or tomorrow.
When that happens I’ll make any recommended changes (that I agree with) and then upload it to D2D and Amazon for pre-release sales. It will go live in those venues on December 20.
Then I’ll upload it to my discount store (where it will be ‘live’ for purchase immediately) and then to my publisher site. I suppose I keep that site going only as a kind of ‘I love me’ wall where readers can see everything in one place without enduring the pressure of a buy button.
Then, with any luck at all, I’ll start the next novel.
It Isn’t Complicated or Complex
What I do as a fiction writer isn’t complicated, difficult, or complex. I simply keep in mind that the characters, not I, are living the story. Therefore it isn’t mine to change. It really is that simple.
I just follow the characters around, write down what happens, then write the characters’ reactions to what happens.
So I have no ‘work’ to do, at least until it comes to the actual publishing stuff: putting together the promo doc and cover and uploading everything. And I dislike even that.
After you’ve let go of all the fear-based pressure points, the hardest parts are believing in yourself and trusting your characters.
I don’t like ‘shoulding’ on people, but you really should believe in yourself simply because you’re you.
You exist, and to a large degree you make your own destiny. If you want to do something, you either find the time or make the time to do it.
If you want to write fiction, you write fiction. Again, it really is that simple. Nobody else has the right to tell you that you can’t or that something else is more important or a better use of your time. Only you can decide that.
You don’t even have to scramble after anything. You only have to let go of erroneous assumptions.
- that you must outline or plan or plot
- that you must revise and/or rewrite with your conscious mind
- that you must find an agent, then a traditional publisher, blah blah blah
You don’t have to plan or outline. It’s physically impossible anyway to ‘plot’ something that hasn’t happened yet. As Bradbury said, plot is only the footprints the characters leave behind as they race through a story.
And the only authentic footprints are those the characters leave behind and you record as you try to keep up with them.
That’s all I do. Like I said, it isn’t complicated or complex.
As for revision and rewriting, I go back to what I said before: The characters, not I (or you), are living the story. Therefore it isn’t ours to change.
Having let go of all the restrictive ‘rules’ of fiction writing, all that’s left is unbridled fun and the joy of watching a story—the characters’ story—unfold for the very first time.
Any questions about anything above or anything to do with fiction writing or publishing, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Facts About Your (Creative) Subconscious I don’t see these things as “disturbing” at all. I hope all fiction writers see this.
Quitting Comments and Some Learning Sales
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 1010
Mentorship Words…………….. 0
Total Nonfiction…………………. 1010
Writing of Blackwell Ops 52: Sam Granger | Done & Dusted
Day 1…… 4693 words. To date………… 4693
Day 2…… 3623 words. To date………… 8316
Day 3…… 3530 words. To date………… 11846
Day 4…… 6309 words. To date………… 18155
Day 5…… 5129 words. To date………… 23284
Day 6…… 5217 words. To date………… 28501
Day 7…… 5617 words. To date………… 34118
Day 8…… 0539 words. To date………… 34657
Day 9…… 3452 words. To date………… 38109
Day 10…. 2187 words. To date………… 40296 (done)
Fiction for November……………………… 92606
Fiction for 2025…………………………… 754647
Nonfiction for November.………………… 24690
Nonfiction for 2025………………..……… 264160
2025 consumable words………………… 1011235
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 18
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 36
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 122
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29