The Daily Journal, Friday, August 16

In today’s Journal * Cows Pulling Pranks * Topic: On Dreams and Goals * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Cows Pulling Pranks Where I live just outside St. David Arizona (north of Tombstone) we abut a rancher’s land. The fence runs along the south (long) side of the Hovel, about a foot away. Clumps of straw-colored grass and small, 10- to 15-foot mesquite trees populate the landscape under an almost-full moon. A few pre-teen to teenage clouds are scattered about in clumps as if waiting for something to happen. Inside the Hovel, my desk faces a window. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, August 15

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Note on Dreams and Goals * Topic: Writing Setting and Scene Descriptions * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quotes of the Day “One advantage of being prolific is it reduces the importance of any one book.” Isaac Asimov Invaluable, that. Write it, publish it, write the next one. It’s all practice, and practice makes better. “Quantity and quality aren’t enemies.” Ryan J. Pelton A Note on Dreams and Goals Dreams are just that. Dreams. They’re things you would like to achieve or attain that are completely out … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, August 14

In today’s Journal * As it turns out * Change One to the Basic Plan * Topic: Licensing Intellectual Property * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers As it turns out, someone gave Ryan Pelton (The Prolific Writer) my name as someone he might want to interview as a prolific writer. Who knew? (grin) In part, Ryan wrote, “I think your lessons on writing would be super helpful to our community. Would you be up for coming on the show some time?” Of course, I said, “Sure.” (grin) Kind of exciting. So here are a few links about … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, August 13

In today’s Journal * Topic: More on (My) Priorities * More Mentoring Options Now Available * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Topic: More on (My) Priorities Yesterday I talked about priorities. My own priorities lately are shifting. I recently realized, for a few months now my number one priority has been this Journal. (If you don’t believe that, look back over how many topics I’ve written in the past few months.) Writing fiction slipped to being my second priority. At about the same time, writing fiction also got tangled up with learning about licensing, and to a … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, August 12

In today’s Journal * Topic: Time and Priorities * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Topic: Time and Priorities Karen Riggs posted in PWW on Sunday, August 11 (see “Of Interest”), about her process when her writing stalls. Especially if the stall is caused by interference from the conscious, critical voice. She mentions that some writers go do something else for awhile to rob the critical voice of its power. Then they come back to the writing. She also mentions that she might have “a set window of time to write” on a given day and “there’s a … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, August 11

In today’s Journal * I’m on the road again today * Topic: A Few Guidelines for Fiction Writers * The daily diary and the rest I’m on the road again today. The Journal will return tomorrow, Monday, August 12, in the usual format. For now, I hope you’ll enjoy this blast from the past from my post archives at HarveyStanbrough.com. Topic: A Few Guidelines for Fiction Writers The guidelines below are truisms, facts, not opinions. They will work for hobby writers, part-time writers and professional writers. If you are not a writer or if you believe you have to “suffer” … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, August 10

In today’s Journal * I’m on the road today * Topic: Just Write the Scene * Of Interest * The daily diary and the rest I’m on the road today, and actually tomorrow, though I’ve pre-posted a topic for tomorrow to give you something to look at. (grin) The “live” Journal will return on Monday, August 12, in the usual format. For now, I hope you’ll enjoy this blast from the past from my post archives at HarveyStanbrough.com. Topic: Just Write the Scene Some time back, I posted that if you’re writing and you get bogged down, you should just … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, August 9

In today’s Journal * I ran across an interview * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers I ran across an interview on Jane Friedman’s site. I won’t share the URL with you. I like you. I also will not share any of the participants’ names for the same reason. But the following excerpt is so unbelievably ludicrous, I wanted to share at least that much with you just to illustrate how much silliness is out there. The excerpt consists of one question from the interview between the author of the article, “a former acquiring editor of children’s books … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, August 8

In today’s Journal * As some of you look to me * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers As some of you look to me for writing advice, I owe you an explanation regarding my recent lack of focus on fiction writing. I’m going through an unusual life roll at the moment. Or you could look at it as a series of small, overlapping life rolls. This one is unusual because it consists of various events, some good and some less-than-good, that are converging at the moment. Two are medical. Neither is life-threatening like the one last year … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, August 7

In today’s Journal * Last Saturday * Topic: I Rescind My Topic Statement * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Last Saturday, August 3rd, I wrote about flash fiction. A respondent from Japan and I have been exchanging comments on that post. In one of them he metioned “100 Word Story” at http://www.100wordstory.org/. Interesting website. That put me in mind of 55 Story, a book I bought a long time ago that started me writing flash fiction. You can find the current edition here. If you’re interested in writing flash fiction, I recommend the following (though all of … Read more