In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A New Short Story * Special Sale! * Today, and the Challenges * The Numbers Quote of the Day “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” Paulo Coelho, from “The Alchemist” A New Short Story “Ariana’s Determination” went live yesterday on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. If you enjoy it, tell Everyone. If you don’t, shhh! (grin) SPECIAL  SALE! If you enjoy thrilling action tales of professional assassins with a healthy dose of psychological suspense and even romance, you’ll love … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Reminder * Back in the Hovel * Writing Software * Another Reminder * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Without goals, training has no direction.” Natalie Coughlin Training is practice. In writing fiction, practice is putting new words on the page. A Reminder Only a week or so left until the two challenges begin: Those who join either challenge will write at least 1000 or at least 2250 words of new publishable fiction per day and win prizes along the way. There is no cost. Just think: … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Novel Wrapped * Working from the Back Porch * Oh, the Quote of the Day * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Publish your words!” Vin Zandri The Novel Wrapped No, really. It wrapped. I did another spell check and sent it off to Russ (my excellent first reader). It’s already back, so I’m going to tend to that today. I’m usually a little sad when a novel wraps, even knowing I’ll be writing another one soon. But I’m actually glad this one wrapped when it did, … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * This Writer Got It * On Mentorship “Requirements” * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting To take part, the only requirement is to write at least one short story per week. Then, if you want to share your success, submit the story title, word count, and genre to me each week for publication in the Journal on Monday. The whole point is to have fun and grow as a writer. You can join or rejoin the challenge at any time. There’s no cost. You can even do it on … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * It’s All About Pacing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I believe in putting the horror in the mind of the audience, and not necessarily on the screen.” film director Alfred Hitchcock on how to keep cinema audiences on the edge of their seats (emphasis added) “[Hitchcock was] a master at the art of slowly ratcheting up tension on screen… [T]he key to suspense was not merely shocking the viewers but subtly manipulating their perception and emotions. “[He] knew that for the suspense to work, it had … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A New Short Story * A Day Off * A Few Reminders * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Why think structure when the structure is already thunk in the old brain cells?” Dan Baldwin “I swing big, with everything I’ve got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.” Babe Ruth A New Short Story “A Smattering of Angels” went live yesterday on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. If you enjoy it, tell Everyone. If you … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Early Update on Challenges * On Using Formulas in Fiction * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The key to great writing is to find your own voice and speak directly to the human heart without frills—that is true eloquence.” Dan Baldwin “Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.” Dorothy Parker Early Update on Challenges To the best of my reckoning, I have 37 paid subscribers to the Journal. If you’re reading this, you have either a paid subscription, a comped subscription, or a … Read more

In today’s Journal * Three Writing Challenges: Your Choice * My First Challenge to You * My Second Challenge to You * Of Interest * The Numbers Three Writing Challenges: Your Choice Kris Rusch is at it again. She’s challenging other writers to match or exceed her daily word count from August 15 through September 14, albeit for a hefty (it seems to me) fee. If you’re interested, you can read about her challenge in Of Interest. As a way to say thanks to my paid subscribers, I’ve decided to offer two different challenges as well. Note that these are … Read more