The Journal, Thursday, January 4

Hey Folks, Dean accidentally deleted his post from yesterday. He wrote over it, he said in today’s post. So if you go there looking for it, you won’t find it. There wasn’t a lot to it anyway. I got up a little late this morning, and still didn’t start on the novel until 9. An hour later, I had just over 1000 words. So a good start on the day. A break, then to the post office, then a slightly early lunch. Damp (in the air), chilly and heavily overcast here today, so the babies are staying inside mostly. Well, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, January 3

Hey Folks, I’m constantly amazed at the variations among writer experiences. In that regard, there are several informative comments on Dean’s post from yesterday. You can see those at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/a-few-words-about-starting/#comments. I was gratified to see that a couple of commenters on Dean’s post took away some of the same things I got out of it. Amazing. We aren’t quite as insulated and alone as we sometimes believe we are. I also get an occasional blog post from a young writer named J.R. Murdock. You can see his latest at https://jrmurdock.com/2018/01/02/looking-back-moving-forward/. Like some of the folks who commented on Dean’s post, … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, January 2

Hey Folks, Well, my goals remain the same (on average, 2500 words of new fiction per day), but I’ve become all right about not writing for a day or two now and then. Part of that is a result of looking back on what I’ve done. I’m not willing to rest on my accomplishments, but I’m comfortable with them. So now it’s okay to set and reset my priorities. Due to several factors in my life, on most days writing is still Priority One. But on days when my wife is here or family members are visiting or I’m heading … Read more

The Journal, Monday, January 1

Hey Folks, Streaks really do have immense power. When one’s been going for awhile, it’s actually a struggle to break it. I broke this one after 714 days. It took on a life of its own, and there were many days when the only thing I wrote was this Journal. That seems a good thing on the surface — as in, at least I was writing — but there were times when posting the Journal to avoid breaking the streak took precedence over writing fiction. And that is not a good thing. For that reason, I plan not to post … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, December 31

Hey Folks, Well, here it is. The last day of the year. New Year’s Eve. But tonight, I’ll be sacking out at about my usual time. Anyway, a new year (or a new any-time-period) begins again with pretty much every moment, doesn’t it? Still, as they are with most of us, the first day of the year, the first day of each month, and the first day of the week are all well-ingrained demarcations for me. So tomorrow, we’ll all begin again, just as if the first official moment of the new calendar year is somehow magically more special than … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, December 30

Hey Folks, As part of my prep for 2018, over the past month or so I’ve been developing a new way to brand my covers. Specifically, the author name part. Here’s the way my author name will appear on covers into the future: The background will blend with the cover. Of course, the font colors and the background behind my first name also are adaptable. You’ll see this in a cover below. Branding is all about making your work easier for readers to find. That’s why one precept of cover design requires that, even in the thumbnail version, both the … Read more

The Journal, Friday, December 29

Hey Folks, You’ll also see a post almost identical to this one on December 31 from the Pro Writers blog. First, let me recommend you read the comments on Dean’s post from yesterday. There are some ideas for goal-setting and challenges there that might resonate with you. For your convenience, I’ve linked to it again in today’s “Of Interest” section. What follows is the thought process and rationale that helped me set my own goals and challenges for the upcoming year. I’m including it here in case it might help some of you. I’ve been wrestling with my commitment to … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, December 28

Hey Folks, Well, those of you who’ve hung on through my madness will receive a double reward today, or at least that’s how this edition of the Journal is intended. In preparation for my own return to writing fiction, I decided to take today (and maybe the next couple of days) to do two things: First, I’m revisiting some of the lectures and workshops I’ve taken from Dean. After that, I’ll be prepping by setting goals and a schedule. More on that in coming days. My intention is to begin fresh on January 1. Because I have a couple of … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, December 27

Hey Folks, On Christmas Eve I created a test site I can use to try out new things before making them live here or on HarveyStanbrough.com. I was able to use a cloning engine, so I basically just moved HarveyStanbrough.com over there. Took about an hour to create a whole website. The technology amazes me. Anyway, while I was messing around on that test site, I noticed a few “drafts” of posts. I don’t use the Draft feature on WordPress, at least not intentionally, so I clicked one to have a look. Turns out it was an early draft of … Read more

The Journal, Monday, December 25

Hey Folks, This is a one-time early sending to get it out there. 🙂 Merry Christmas, everyone. I just wanted to pass along ysterday’s wonderful post from The Passive Voice. You’ll probably want to read every short post. Please visit http://www.thepassivevoice.com/. Back soon. Harvey