In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * A Note on Openings * A Quick Note on Pacing * A Writer Shares * A Note on Mentorships and Scheduling * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “For fiction to work–for it to feel right–countless tiny elements have to come together in a manner so seamless that readers are unaware that they are being manipulated.” John Gilstrap (see Of Interest) Part 3: A Note on Openings A good while back I mentioned taking your time as it pertains to writing openings, especially the “big” one at the … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Mentioning Other Authors * The Numbers The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting To take part, write at least one short story per week, then 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 your own, without reporting numbers to me or anyone else. During the past week, in addition to … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday, and YouTube * The New Daily Journal * Zoom * Alternatives * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day ‘Are you an original or a copy?” Dr. Mardy Grothe (title of his current Quotes of the Week) Yesterday, and YouTube Yesterday I mentioned possibly offering live seminars or workshops via Zoom or some other interactive platform. One writer wondered in an email why I don’t do something similar on my YouTube channel. Good question. To me YouTube seems more a venue for one-way, regularly scheduled (say weekly or … Read more

In today’s Journal * A New Short Story * Zoom Workshops? * Bradbury Challenge Reminder * Correction on The Numbers * Of Interest * The Numbers A New Short Story “The Odd Task” went live yesterday on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. If you enjoy it, tell Everyone. If you don’t, shhh! (grin) Zoom Workshops? One writer, responding to my reminiscence and complaint in yesterday’s post regarding how much I miss teaching live seminars, suggested “if I’m serious,” I might consider teaching workshops or seminars remotely on Zoom. First, yeah, I’m serious about missing the live interaction … Read more

In today’s Journal * I Got Nothin’ * The Numbers I Got Nothin’ I’ve been in a TNDJ flurry recently. Most of the last 10 years, really, since I first started The Journal. Click this link to find the free, searchable PDF archives. I love teaching, but I really miss teaching live seminars. I miss the instant feedback, the questions and comments, etc. I miss the opportunity to correct a misunderstanding or misinterpretation on the spot. Sometimes I miss it like air. That’s been on my mind a lot lately. But I also feel a little helpless to do anything … Read more

In today’s Journal * Yesterday I Scrolled (Sort of a Rant) * Of Interest * The Numbers NOTE: This is a special free edition of TNDJ. Frankly, I feel like the topic is too important to not share this post with everybody. Here we go… Yesterday I Scrolled through the KillZone blog looking to see whether anything has changed over there. It hasn’t. Almost every post is still riddled with the widely held (and parroted) myths of fiction writing. And really, why shouldn’t they be? I believe at least one writer there doesn’t give a whit about you or your … Read more

In today’s Journal * On Writing “Fast” and Quality (Revisited) * Of Interest * The Numbers NOTE: Occasionally I will repost something I’ve posted before. This is one of those. This new version is also available free as a PDF download at Gifts & Archives.  This will serve as a reminder for some, but it will be new to others. I’m sharing this post with everybody. On Writing “Fast” and Quality Bestselling author Vin Zandri will tell you he writes no more words per day than will enable him to maintain quality. I couldn’t agree more. Papa Hemingway was famous … Read more