Pro Writers Writing

The Journal: Humans Are Weird

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * In the Great News Department * Got Writing Chops? * Topic: Humans Are Weird * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Habits can get me to the keyboard, but they can also keep me away from it. When the habit becomes an ‘I can’t,’ then it’s time to re-evaluate the habit.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch “It is only when the latecomers [would-be writers] make the decision to be punctual [write] that they change. It must be a conscious decision; if they merely make a woolly attempt to … Read more

The Journal: Another Way to Think of Your Daily Word-Count Goal

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Another Way to Think of Your Daily Word-Count Goal * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[M]y editor and agent at the time felt strongly that a degree of ambiguity in the end made the story better. I never agreed, but it was my first book, and I was dizzy from the whole experience, so I said okay. I’ve regretted it for 25 years.” John Gilstrap Topic: Another Way to Think of Your Daily Word-Count Goal I happened on this while replying to Diane Darcy’s … Read more

The Journal: Quote of the Day (and Little Else)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I got tired of wading through discussions that had nothing to do with helping authors make a living with their words and everything to do with Proper Group Think and Virtue Signaling the appropriate amount of Woke.” C.D. Watson on why s/he left RWA No topic today, and very little else, but a good “Of Interest” section. And I had a pretty good fiction writing day. Talk with you again soon. Of Interest See “But It’s Important!” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/but-its-important/. This … Read more

The Journal: I’m All About Productivity

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Well, I’ve been remiss * Topic: I’m All About Productivity * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If, after that time, you feel stifled by your quota, don’t give it up. Just reduce the number to something easy. Like 250 words. Your ficus tree can write 250 words in a day. Don’t be shown up by your ficus tree.” James Scott Bell Well, I’ve been remiss recently, failing to welcome the few new folks who have joined us in the past couple of months: Ralph R, … Read more

The Journal: We All Have Days “Like That”

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: We All Have Days “Like That” * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I just go again, keep writing, and it all smooths out.” Dean Wesley Smith “My philosophy is it’s none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am, and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.” Anthony Hopkins, via The Passive Voice Topic: We All Have Days “Like That” You know, those days … Read more

The Journal: My Interview and Other Things

In today’s Journal * My interview on The Prolific Writer podcast * Well, for some reason * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers My interview on The Prolific Writer podcast is up. If you’re interested, or if you just want to hear my weird, western-twangy voice, check it out at http://theprolificwriter.libsyn.com/tpw-113-harvey-stanbrough-on-50-novels-in-5-years. Note: For some reason the interview cut short right at 54:11 as I was talking about writing influences. Makes me wish I’d kept a transcript of what I said. (grin) Well, for some reason, although I reset the MailChimp mailing time to 5 p.m. yesterday (after the other … Read more

The Journal: On My Goals and Ugh

In today’s Journal * On My Goals * Ugh. It’s going to be a full day * Of Interest * The Numbers On My Goals Another update. I never want my goals to limit me. That would just be stupid. Goals are there to make us reach, not to hold us back. Duh. So for the duration (now through June 2020) I don’t necessarily have to START a short story on or after a Sunday, but I have to have a new one finished every Saturday by midnight. Likewise, I don’t have to START a novel on or after the … Read more

The Journal: If I Could Dictate

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: If I Could Dictate * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Note: I had this post all ready to go yesterday, but forgot to hit Publish, so here it is today. I’ll publish another one later today (as an experiment) to see whether both of them post at 5 p.m. this afternoon. Quote of the Day “I tend to fly and finish a lot of words… I don’t like to stop.” Diane Darcy, USA Today bestselling romance novelist Topic: If I Could Dictate Diane Darcy brought up an interesting … Read more

The Journal: Sigh… Old Stuff Revisited

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Yesterday * Topic: Sigh… Old Stuff Revisited * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, via David Farland Yesterday I had a good writing day (4253 words). I wrote a little over 3100 words on the novel plus a little over 1300 words on the short story. If I’m able to write on both again today, I should finish the short story. I might go back to posting the Journal later in … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday and Today

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Yesterday * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “You will never hear James Lee Burke speak at a conference about how to market a novel, how to brand one’s work, or the importance of co-op money to the success of one’s sales. My father talks about writing not as a commercial enterprise, nor even as a craft or as art, but as a destiny.” Alafair Burke Via The Passive Voice, “We protest against unjust criticism, but we accept unearned applause.” Jose Narosky Odd to me that … Read more