In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* People Are Always Saying
* A New Story
* The Writing
* Re the Attitude of a Fiction Writer
* Two Days Left on the Easter Sale
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“I look forward to every Wednesday when I sit down and just start a story of some sort. And please believe me when I say that I often don’t know where a story is going.” Actor James Woods, excerpted from his newsletter, The Road Back
People Are Always Saying
I ought’a stick a picture in here now and then. Here’s one for you:
A New Short Story
“Landing in Paris” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free.
I don’t think I mentioned it at the end of the story, but that one’s based on, and an extension of, Blackwell Ops 30: John Quick Returns. In fact, the epilogue of BO-30 became the prologue for the short story.
Both Sheila and “JP Sloan” (John Quick) are featured in Blackwell Ops 29 and 30. So if you’d like to read the rest of the fairy tale, check out the Blackwell Ops collection. They’re only five bucks apiece.
I read the story myself, too, and now I’m thinkin’ maybe I need to write a third book, one that features both John and Sheila Quick. I guess we’ll see.
Anyway, if you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both help with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else.
The Writing
For the first time since I can remember, I’m thoroughly enjoying the current novel as it’s unfolding. In fact, I’m enjoying the cycling as much as I’m enjoying getting it on paper.
Maybe for the first time ever, there are so many tiny nuances that I’m spending as much time cycling as I’m spending getting the scenes and chapters on the page in the first place.
In fact, while I’m writing, in the back of my mind I’m looking forward to the cycling process.
And I’m cycling at least three times over everything: once to jump back to update earlier stuff while I’m writing, once when I come back after a break before I start the next session, and once over the whole thing when I come back the next day. Then I start the day’s writing.
It’s an absolute blast. That every novel writes differently is part of the thrill, of course, but I wish every novel would write exactly like this one is writing.
Re the Attitude of a Fiction Writer
The following is something I pulled out of one of Dean Wesley Smith’s blog posts early in my budding career as a prolific professional fiction writer.
It felt appropriate as a follow-up to yesterday’s TNDJ post.
Attitude of a Fiction Writer
- Sustainability. Can you keep doing what you’re doing now for 5, 10, 15 years?
- Have Fun. The Secret to doing whatever: have fun. If what you’re doing isn’t fun, it isn’t sustainable.
- Never write to market.
- Defend Your Work (even from yourself). Don’t write by committee, don’t read reviews, and don’t put your work down.
- Believe in your work. Do the best you can, release it, and do the best you can on the next story.
- Dare to be bad. It takes more courage to write the next line, and then the next line, and then the next line, even if you don’t know where it’s going, and finish that story and put it out to readers. That takes real courage. You have to dare to fail. Dare to be bad.
- Heinlein’s Rules
- Nobody cares. So you have complete and total freedom to write what you want.
- Calm down. Don’t compare yourself to others, just do your own stuff. Chart your own course.
Two Days Left on the Easter Sale
Writing Better Fiction is 33% off until midnight, April 20. At checkout, add coupon code VCP2YKDNDD.
Any Omnibus Novel Collection is 33% off until midnight, April 20. At checkout, add coupon code 4ZNAIG7TDF.
Of Interest
The parakeet has a goiter: A rejection letter of note
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 680
Writing of Blackwell Ops 42: Sam Granger
Day 1…… 2873 words. To date…… 2873
Day 2…… 1873 words. To date…… 4746
Day 3…… 3717 words. To date…… 8463
Day 4…… 2353 words. To date…… 10816
Day 5…… 3236 words. To date…… 14052
Fiction for April……………………….. 62221
Fiction for 2025………………………. 329171
Nonfiction for April…………………….. 12980
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 94510
2025 consumable words…………….. 417171
Average Fiction WPD (March)……… 3457
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 8
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 19
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 112
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 289
Short story collections……………………. 29
Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
Writing fiction should never be something that stresses you out. It should be fun. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Because of WITD and because I endeavor to follow those Rules I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too.
If you are able, please support TNDJ with a paid subscription. Thank you!
If you’re new to TNDJ, you might want to check out these links:
- On Writing Fiction
- Gifts
- Writing Resources
- Oh, and here’s My Bio. It’s always a good idea to vet the expertise of people who are giving you advice.
Questions are always welcome at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. But please limit yourself to the topics of writing and publishing.