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

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Reminder * I Started a New Story * Sigh… “Diversity” and “Inclusion” * Still Dealing with Internet Issues * Of Interest * The Numbers Special Note to Dave T. Dave, I received your Bradbury input, but when I replied it went to the email addy that currently isn’t working. If you want, send me the “new” email addy in the body of another email. A New Short Story “Being Martha Ramis” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. I think it’s a … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Novella Wrapped * Think Like a Fiction Writer * Still Dealing with Internet Issues * Of Interest * The Numbers The Novella Wrapped Yeah, you heard me. The story wrapped about 1700 words shy of short-novel length at 23273 words. So it’s a novella. My first novella this year and the 10th overall. Anyway, that’s one of my own primary rules for writing fiction: Let the story be what it’s gonna be. And I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it was to write this thing. (grin) The tough-guy voices, the snappy but … Read more

In today’s Journal * Beginning In Media Res * The Numbers Beginning In Media Res This is a topic I posted only for my Patreon followers way back in the day. I haven’t had a Patreon account for a very long time, so a lot of folks haven’t seen this. Lucky you, eh? (grin) Show of hands— How many of you have heard you should always start your fiction in the middle of the action (in media res) and then go back and explain what’s going on later? I have. And it’s a myth. A few days before I posted … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Please Don’t Make Me Do Math * Speaking of Efficiency * I Get Questions * Of Interest * The Numbers Please Don’t Make Me Do Math Hey folks, you in the Great September Challenges (1000 wpd or 2250 wpd), please don’t make me do math with your weekly report. (grin) All I need to know is how many words you wrote that week. If you want to convey other information, that’s fine and I’ll cheer you on. But for the report itself, I only need your weekly total so I can … Read more

In today’s Journal * Insinuations and Truth * Of Interest * The Numbers Insinuations and Truth Editor’s Note: I had a hyper-busy day yesterday, and not all of it was writing. And then I got up late this morning. So I brought back a topic I might have posted before, but if I did, I have no idea when. If you’ve read it before, forgive me. It will probably serve as a good reminder anyway. Occasionally, I read or hear an insinuation from other writers that writing into the dark (WITD) is equivalent to writing sloppily (for example, “letting characters … Read more