In today’s Journal * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * Writers Ask * Of Interest * 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 … Read more

In today’s Journal * A New Short Story * Two Reminders * Advice from an Old Guy * Of Interest * The Numbers A New Short Story “Pancho & Lefty: An Alternate Ending” went live yesterday on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. See if you can spot the fatal omission. As I wrote in yesterday’s edition of TNDJ, some of the better hooks I’ve ever written are in that story. It also illustrates one way to divide a short story into “chapters.” If you enjoy it, tell Everyone. If you don’t, shhh! (grin) Two Reminders The Challenge—You … Read more

In today’s Journal * Storytelling at Depth 7: Notes on Process * Of Interest * The Numbers Note: I decided to share this one with everybody. Most of my subscribers are already good with it. Storytelling at Depth 7: Notes on Process This will be only a refresher or reminder for many of you. So you know where I’m coming from, I’m an adherent of Heinlien’s Rules: I write. I finish what I write. I don’t rewrite in any case. I publish what I write. I leave the work up so readers can buy it. But neither do I worry … Read more

In today’s Journal * Bob Beckley * Let’s Take a Breath * Of Interest * The Numbers Bob Beckley Writer, reader, and TNDJ subscriber Bob Beckley just paid for a one-year subscription for “whomever Harvey chooses.” What a great gift this is! And like most gifts, it came from completely out of the blue. I was thinking about running a contest or something, but I decided for now I’ll just use it to pay for one of the comped subscriptions. Thanks again, Bob! Let’s Take a Breath before we plunge into the final two posts in the Storytelling at Depth … Read more

In today’s Journal * The Revised Stages of a Fiction Writer * A New Short Story * The Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting * I Get Comments * Training Wheels? * A Note to Donors and Paid Subscribers * A Note to Free Subscribers * The Numbers The Revised Stages of a Fiction Writer is now available in a single, downloadable PDF document. I added a little more to it. If you’d like a free copy, visit the Gifts & Archives page at the Journal website. Then click the link at the bottom of the left column under Gifts. The document … Read more

In today’s Journal * Writers Ask * Stage 4 Writers * My Own Experience with the Stages * And Dean’s Take * Of Interest * The Numbers Writers Ask Just yesterday, a writer emailed me with a cool question: “Why in the hell were/are the pulp writers (and I suppose, those of us today who seek to emulate them) seen as ‘less than’ or people who write ‘disposable’ fiction? To me it just seems like a bunch of snobbery, but perhaps I’m still too young to truly understand it.” My Response “No sir, in my opinion you understand it perfectly … Read more