Non-Writing Day

The Journal, Thursday, 8/17

Hey Folks, Do Yourself a Favor and please read “Voyage to the Otherworld: A New Eulogy for Ray Bradbury” (via The Passive Voice) at https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/08/15/voyage-to-the-otherworld-a-new-eulogy-for-ray-bradbury/. *** The workshop yesterday was SUCH a blast! Everybody was on time, attentive, and hungry to learn. What can be better than that? I’ll definitely do this one again in a month or two, but on a Saturday. Mostly so some of those who wanted to attend this time but couldn’t can do so. I think of this as a “master’s level” workshop. It was a lot of things I’ve learned and made my own … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 8/16

Hey Folks, I’ll be off to teach my workshop this morning at around 9, so I’ll post this early. Looking very forward to seeing some old friends again, and making one new friend. I’m also looking forward to seeing how the workshop goes. (grin) UPDATE: Well, I forgot to post it early. The workshop went even better than I expected. I’m psyched. (grin) As a reminder, in the workshop, I’ll cover Hooks, Openings, Grounding the Reader in the Story, Physical and Emotional Cliffhangers, Pacing and Endings. At the end of the workshop, I’ll also talk a bit about Process. There … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 8/15

Hey Folks, Via The Digital Reader, The Huffington Post (whom I would never and am not now promoting) published an article titled “The 4 Great Myths of Book Publishing.” You can read the full article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-4-great-myths-of-book-publishing_us_5988e9ebe4b08a4c247f252d/, but I’ll save you the trouble. There are actually a lot more myths about traditional publishing than four, but we’ll go with the ones they list. According to the article, the myths are that a traditional publisher will aggressively promote your book to the widest possible readership, ensure your book gets on the shelves of all the nation’s bookstores, print your book’s text … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 8/14

Hey Folks, I know at least one writer who still does extensive research before writing. That said, most of us use the hunt-and-peck method. In the midst of a story (sometimes a sentence) we pop online for a moment, do some quick research on the type of tree the hero is leaning against, which months a particular river flows, etc. Then we pop back into the story, add what we learned and move on. Most often, that search is accomplish on Google or Bing or one of the other popular search engines. For us, now there are a lot more … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 8/13

Hey Folks, Wow. I’ve done absolutely nothing today re writing. Not even on the handout for the upcoming seminar. Nada. Went to the grocery, then out to lunch, then back to the house to try to watch a ball game. But I have DirecTV so it’s blacked out when a game is being played within 10,000 miles of my house. So I watched a few episodes of Forensic Files instead. Then I came in here to post this. So nothing today, just a placeholder. Back at it tomorrow. Of Interest See Dean’s site. He’s talking about online workshops again. Fiction … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 8/12

Hey Folks, Well, I know at least part of today will include a trip to Sierra Vista. I hope part of the trip will include lunch. (grin) This morning after my routine, I designed two covers, created two promo docs, then published two short stories to D2D and Amazon, then uploaded them to BundleRabbit. Finally I added the covers and universal buy links to the Short Fiction page on my website. I took a moment to do some multiplication. Goodness. I have 181 short stories now. Went to SV around 10 and got back a little after 1. I’ll work … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 8/11

Hey Folks, I did pretty much nothing writing related today other than working on the handout for the upcoming intensive. Did a lot of stuff outside and around the office. Man, I’d forgotten how difficult it is to put on one of these things and prepare for it. (grin) But it’s all good. For one thing, I decided to scrap the nonfiction book idea for now. That will come after the seminar(s) is over, if at all. Right now I just wanna teach a good class. Today I did a lot of back-and-forth stuff, going from the handout I’m preparing … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 8/10

Hey Folks, I don’t remember whether I’ve mentioned this before, but if anyone would like to read “The Fiction Factory” (being the Experience of a Writer who, for Twenty-two Years, has kept a Story-mill Grinding Successfully) by John Milton Edwards, send me an email and I’ll send you a PDF copy. Very interesting stuff. Chock full of gems. Part of my recent problem (“problem” is too harsh a word) is that my brain is trying to shut down to allow for the new knowledge I’ll absorb during the workshop I’m currently taking from Dean. Of course, that’s absurd. Nothing I’ve … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 8/8

Hey Folks, Well, I got a good night’s rest last night. Still not feeling up to par, but a little better maybe. I decided to offer the ebook edition of The Rise of a Warrior to users of Facebook (and you) free of charge. You can read a description of the book at http://harveystanbrough.com/the-rise-of-a-warrior/. The Rise of a Warrior is a stand-alone book, but it’s also chronologically the first book of the Wes Crowley series. All you have to do is email me to let me know whether you want Kindle, .epub or .pdf. Thus far (about 6 hours into … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 7/22

Hey Folks, Just a placeholder today. My little girl doesn’t feel well, so Dad’s hanging around the house, staying close. Some things just take priority. The baby asks so little and she’s so precious to me. Today, and Writing Nada. Nonwriting day Back tomorrow. Of Interest Nothing that I found. Fiction Words: XXXX Nonfiction Words: 50 (Journal) So total words for the day: 50 Writing of Graham’s Road (tentative title, novel or novella) Words brought forward…… 1070 Day 1…… 3012 words. Total words to date…… 4082 Day 2…… 2675 words. Total words to date…… 6757 Day 3…… 2181 words. Total … Read more