In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * My Quote of the Day * The whole point * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Every character in the world exists in all of us.” Steven Van Zandt, musician (E Street Band) and actor (The Sopranos, etc.) See Of Interest. My Quote of the Day “This whole discussion draws close to supporting the ridiculous notion that writing fiction is some sort of an elevated calling, like the priesthood. It isn’t. “Why do I write? (Shrug.) Why does a carpenter build? Why does a mechanic repair engines? “I … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * Help a Brother (and Yourself) Out * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “There’s a hell of a distance between wise-cracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words.” Dorothy Parker A New Short Story “What Mothers Do” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. This story is quiet and soft and borders on magic realism. It might also be the opening for my next … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * An Ounce of Description * If You’d Like an Example * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The art of writing pulp is the art of writing sentences that do more than one thing at a time.” Raymond Chandler An Ounce of Description Recently, as part of an enticement for a Kickstarter, a writer offered a special stretch goal that consisted of four short stories by two writers. As part of the promotion for one of the stories (or maybe of the collection itself, I forget), he mentioned … Read more

In Today’s Journal * My Quote of the Day * The Best-Kept Secret in Indie Publishing * A Sampler of Definitions * Of Interest * The Numbers My Quote of the Day “Far too many take up fiction writing because they believe it’s some sort of elevated ‘calling.’ Frankly, if you need a reason to write fiction beyond just telling a good story, you probably aren’t a fiction writer.” Yer Uncle Harv The Best-Kept Secret in Indie Publishing I suspect the best-kept secret in indie publishing is Draft2Digital’s The Indie Advantage newsletter. It’s free, and offers “Tools & Tips to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * DWS Adult Back to School Sale * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers I wasn’t going to post anything today, but I had to pass this along. DWS Adult Back to School Sale Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch are offering everything on Teachable for 60% off for the next few days and 50% off after that until Labor Day. Especially if you’re just starting out as a fiction writer (Stage 1 through Stage 2) I strongly recommend taking advantage of this sale. They don’t have them very often. I most strongly personally … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Horrible, Terrible, Exhaustingly Sucky Quote of the Day * A Brief Rant from Yer Uncle Harv * Here’s What’s Possible * Of Interest * The Numbers Horrible, Terrible, Exhaustingly Sucky Quote of the Day “To think about this from a writing perspective, there is only so far you can take a story without help.” Jenny Hansen Yes, I edited the quote. I replaced an unnecessary ellipsis with a comma. A Brief Rant from Yer Uncle Harv Despite the alluring title, I knew this article wouldn’t go into “Of Interest” as soon as I saw the graphic … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge * Write Your Book This Morning!… * Final Updated List of Books for Sale * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.” Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General The Bradbury Challenge As I told one writer this morning, Bradbury’s original advice to writers about writing short fiction was this: “Write a new short story every … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Purpose of TNDJ * Occasionally in TNDJ * Of Interest * The Numbers The Purpose of TNDJ The whole purpose of TNDJ is to teach fiction writers it’s all right to believe in themselves. That you don’t need (or want, actually) critical input from critique groups or beta readers, and that you shouldn’t revise or rewrite as a result of any critical input you inadvertently receive. If you’re compelled to rewrite on advice of a beta reader or critique group member, then you should also rewrite every time a general reader points out something s/he … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * Writing Under a Persona or Pen Name * Great Comment and Question * The Numbers A New Short Story “One Hot Late Afternoon in June” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free. If you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both help with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else. Bradbury Reminder Today is Saturday. Just a reminder to get your Bradbury Challenge story info in to me before the Journal goes live on … Read more

In Today’s Journal * What Was I Thinking? * News Re the Journal Archives * Of Interest * The Numbers What Was I Thinking? One more book sold yesterday, and I’ve received one request from a writer for a book someone else had already claimed. That’s it. Four writers out of well over 200 subscribers. I’m a little stymied. I honestly thought these would all go in only a few days. This is an excellent opportunity for you to purchase and read like-new genre-specific writing books by accomplished fiction writers at a low cost. I’ve read most of them, but … Read more