In Today’s Journal * My Quote of the Day * On Trusting the Reader * The Future * Of Interest * The Numbers My Quote of the Day “You wouldn’t even try to influence or alter or change what happens in a real-life event as it unfolds, much as you might wish you could. You’re only able to watch with joy or glee or horror or trepidation or sadness as the real-life story unfolds. So do the same with your characters’ stories.” Yer Uncle Harv On Trusting the Reader Before I learned better, I used to beat the reader over … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Indie Advantage * Nick Harkaway * The Novel * The Future * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Skin in the game is always a very real motivation.” Dean Wesley Smith The Indie Advantage If you have an account at Draft2Digital, you either already get this newsletter, or you can opt-in to receive it. If you don’t already have an account, sign up. It’s free and it takes only a few minutes. You don’t even have to publish anything yet. In the latest issue of The Indie … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The TNDJ Challenges Report * A Nice Surprise * Of Interest * The Numbers The TNDJ Challenges Report The whole point of these challenges is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. Feel free to jump in at any time. Participating in any challenge is a way to drive yourself to the computer or legal pad and write fiction. It’s also a great way to build and maintain a streak. As if writing more and better fiction isn’t enough, I even offer prizes. To see those, please visit The NEW TNDJ … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Writer Asked * Free TNDJ Archives * The Novel’s Flying * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” Jack London Easily one of the wisest things I’ve ever heard. H A Writer Asked A writer asked about a few different terms I used in Writing Fiction and Acting: 1: You wrote about “recorder,” “presenter,” and “POV character.” I read that as … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A New Short Story * Writing Fiction and Acting: 2 * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Take the work seriously but don’t take yourself seriously.” Clint Eastwood during an interview on Inside the Actors’ Studio (see Of Interest) “Once you’re in the character you can do anything.” Clint Eastwood, same source A New Short Story “Death of a Persona” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. Actually, there are a lot of mistakes in that one. Point … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Writing Fiction and Acting * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Once you’re in the character you can do anything.” Clint Eastwood during an interview on Inside the Actors’ Studio (see Of Interest) “Give [the audience] a chance to imagine with you, a chance to participate in the film, not just voyeur it. That’s something that will make the film a little deeper for them.” Clint Eastwood, same source “Take your time and complete every sequence.” Clint Eastwood, same source Writing Fiction and Acting The catalyst for this … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Slight but Significant Change in My Process * The Numbers A Slight but Significant Change in My Process As I’ve mentioned before, I have a great first reader, Russ Jones of Lubbock, Texas. That said, although the characters are responsible for the content of a story, as the writer, I’m solely responsible for the story’s presentation. Two days ago, just after I’d uploaded BO-51 to D2D and Amazon, I noticed a wrong word in the next to the last sentence of the novel: “unfolder” for “unfolded.” Really that’s a spelling … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Everyone Falls * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “What can we writers learn from lizards, lift from birds? In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.” Ray Bradbury (Thanks to Emilia for reminding me of this quote.) Everyone Falls Once upon a time I had a great streak going. I’m not … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * WITD and Heinlein’s Rules Reminder * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “A word after a word after a word is power.” Margaret Atwood WITD and Heinlein’s Rules Reminder Anyone who knows me knows I’m an avid proponent of Writing into the Dark. That basically means Trusting Yourself and what you’ve learned over the years (even if you aren’t aware you learned it) and Trusting your characters as their story unfolds. In other words, writing fiction can and should be fun. All you have to do is sit … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Note to New Readers of TNDJ * The TNDJ Challenges Report * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.” Arnold Schwarzenegger A Note to New Readers of TNDJ Hey, guys and gals, if you don’t know, you can email me anytime to claim the PDF, fully searchable archives for TNDJ for the past four years. These are free. Now and then I go through a period where nobody’s asking me questions about writing. … Read more