In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * One More Use for Cycling * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “It’s such a relief to just let the characters take me where they want to go and trust the process as I write. And get to the end and be done! Also, it’s a whole heck of a lot more fun.” USA Today Bestselling Author Diane Darcy in a comment on “Emma Kok, and Writing Fiction and Learning” One More Use for Cycling This is more next-level stuff. I actually wrote this post a few days … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * “An Example for All of Us” * Thoughts on Writing Fiction and Learning * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I used to buy into the myths wholeheartedly. … That was literally all I saw as a high schooler and college student who wanted to be writer. … I’m slowly but surely starting to break free of them. My current novel is coming along at a rapid clip!” Natalie K. in an email “An Example for All of Us” For anyone who missed my earlier mention of this … Read more

In Today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Quote of the Decade * The New TNDJ * 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 “Hungarian criminals part 2. – Girls” 3500 crime story Vanessa V. Kilmer “Thick Threads of Summer” 3811 Fantasy … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A Personal Aside * An Intimate Look at the Myths * Of Interest * The Numbers A Personal Aside It’s difficult for me to pass up commenting on misconceptions about fiction writing, but neither do I like spinning my wheels and not moving forward. So this should be the last post dedicated to the myths for awhile. I much prefer passing along more of the advanced writing techniques I picked up as I put several million words of fiction on the page over the past 8 or 9 years. For example, tomorrow or the next day, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * I Get Comments * The Numbers A New Short Story “Lars Manhattan and the Toast of the Town” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. If you enjoy this quirky story, please click Like. That helps with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else. (grin) Bradbury Reminder Today is Saturday. Just a reminder to get your Bradbury Challenge story info in to me before the Journal goes live on Monday. Remember, if you finish a story earlier in the week, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Blackwell Ops 35 Is Live * A Writing-Publishing Streak * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Blackwell Ops 35 Is Live Well, it will be live on Amazon and everywhere else ebooks are sold on February 15, 2025. But it’s live right now at my StoneThread Publishing store at a discount. Nab your copy now. A Writing-Publishing Streak I have one going, and you can too. When I put BO-35 up for pre-release sale on D2D and Amazon, it became the twelfth novel in my streak of publishing a novel every two weeks. Barring … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * My Quote of the Day * I’m About to Find Out * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “We were slaves prior to the indie revolution, at the mercy of the process. … Now I can write what I want, when I want, and as much as I want.” Vin Zandri My Quote of the Day “Is it possible to write an ‘alternate history’ fiction based on another fiction?” HS I’m About to Find Out Okay, chronologically, the first thing I did yesterday after I … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Musing on Practice and Pacing * The Writing * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.” Cecil B. DeMille (per 1440 Daily Digest, Jan 21, 2025) “Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.” Francis Bacon (per 1440 Daily Digest, Jan 22, 2025) A Musing on Practice and Pacing Oh, and on practicing pacing. I talk a lot about pacing here at TNDJ, but … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Notes on Copyediting for Fiction Writers * Of Interest * The Numbers Notes on Copyediting for Fiction Writers Okay, one, I decided NOT to lay out all the things Writer’s Digest University is offering in their Copyediting Certificate Course. Just looking at it was too freakin’ depressing. In the first place, their course is intended to turn you into a professional copyeditor vs. copyediting your own work. And as a very good copyeditor with over 24 years’ experience, frankly they fall short in that regard too. Far short. For just one of many examples I could … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * A Little More Inspiration * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I write every day. The work could be terrible; it could be nothing. I could be fooling myself. The extraordinary thing is that I look forward to doing the work. I can’t wait to get down to it.” Writer and painter Frederic Tuten (see Of Interest) Note: Short post today. Tomorrow I plan to talk about the upcoming copyediting course. I’ll show you what’s included in the $799 … Read more