In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * On Reader Taste * A New Consideration for Backmatter * A Comment on Chapter Heads * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Keep going. If you keep writing, you’ll outpace the rejection.” Nanu Ekua Brew-Hammond, author of My Parents’ Marriage (Amistad Books) “Read the best writing you can lay your hands on. Experiment with workshops, writing groups, and teachers. But most of all, let yourself fall headlong into the fictional dream of your characters. Sit in the backseat and notice where they take you. Don’t … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A (Surprise) New Short Story * I Was Surprised Too * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” Scout Finch, protagonist in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Exactly how I feel about writing A (Surprise) New Short Story Surprise! “Something in the Way She Moves” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Consider it a bonus. Somehow I hit the 1 instead of the 2 and scheduled … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Why I Do TNDJ * Paid Subscriber? * A Rumination on Story Ideas * Of Interest * The Numbers Why I Do TNDJ One of the major reasons I still publish TNDJ dawned on me yesterday morning when yet another email came in from the Writer’s Digest newletter. It was titled “9 Dos & Don’ts of Writing What You Know.” In that moment, I realized how much impure, thoroughly adulterated crap I waded through in the past about writing in order to be here now writing another issue of TNDJ. Now and then I share in … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Two Fiction Collections: 793,300 Words * A Few Personal Epiphanies * Of Interest * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting The whole point of the Challenge is to have fun and grow as a writer. There is no cost. The only requirement is to write at least one short story per week. During the past week, in addition to whatever other fiction they’re writing, the following writers reported these new stories: Balázs Jámbor “The bookstore at the gate of hell” 2400 fantasy Vanessa V. Kilmer “The Princess is a … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Nonfiction Omnibus Published * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “He doesn’t outline it, he writes it straight through.” Ajay Chowdhury in the documentary, “Icons Unearthed: James Bond,” speaking of Ian Fleming’s ‘stream of conscious’ writing style. Thanks to my friend Robert J Sadler for the quote. “I have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” Stephen King Nonfiction Omnibus Published Okay, Nonfiction Omnibus is published. It contains the complete texts of Punctuation for Writers (2nd Edition), Writing Realistic Dialogue … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * The Publishing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” Galileo Galilei A New Short Story “The Tear as Process” (a magic realism horror story) 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. … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Ten Tips to Find Ghostwriting Clients * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Ten Tips to Find Ghostwriting Clients a guest post by Dan Baldwin Clients for ghostwriters are everywhere, so the challenge isn’t finding clients. The challenge is finding clients who are ready to write right now, and that’s a task that requires a bit of research and a lot of legwork. Everybody has a book within them. Many of those folks want to see that book in print, but don’t know how to turn ideas into print. You do. Again, how does … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * The Value of Words Per Day Averages * Next-Level Note of the Day * The Writing * Guest Posts Welcome * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I skipped a few days of writing because of work, theatre, and so on. Today I made a comeback. I wrote a short story, and my average of the SK Challenge is now 903 words. I am not behind so much. I won’t give up. Let’s see if I make it until the end of the month!” BJ “Today was a … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Note on Yesterday’s Post * After the Current Novel Wraps * My Personal To-Do List (Marketing) * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” Andy Grove, Intel’s legendary founder (from the first link in Of Interest, by Kevin Evers, on “productive paranoia,” a term I like a great deal and employ regularly) A Note on Yesterday’s Post For a lot a good comments and responses on yesterday’s post on the POV character’s unspoken thoughts, Click … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * On the POV Character’s Unspoken Thoughts * Guest Posts Welcome * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” from the screenplay written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. The line is effectively delivered by actor Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part III (1990). On the POV Character’s Unspoken Thoughts A writer asked me a fairly basic question, whether to use quotation marks to set off a POV character’s unspoken thoughts. First, here’s the … Read more