The Passive Voice

The Journal: Boredom and the Power of I Am

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Boredom and the Power of I Am * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers “[B]oredom comes when a reader anticipates (even subconsciously) what will happen next—and then it does.” James Scott Bell Know how to beat boredom for your reader? Don’t plan. Just write. Topic: Boredom and the Power of I Am Even if you’re a non-believer, the bible and other religious texts hold important lessons for everybody. There’s much wisdom there. In my humble opinion, the most important is the concept of I AM. I Am is the … Read more

The Journal: A Matter of Mindset

In today’s Journal * Topic: A Matter of Mindset * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: A Matter of Mindset You might consider this a little tough love. In this business, and it IS a business, your mindset is all-important. If you want to be a writer, you have to write. It really is that simple and, for some, that difficult. Please remember that I’m not talking from some magical ivory tower here. I’ve been where all other writers have been before or are now. Some writers outline. Been there, done that. Some writers research, research, research. Until … Read more

The Journal: Not Much Today

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Not Much Today * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “This is a hard technique to teach writers: how do you write setting from the point of view of someone who sees the same thing every day? You write about what’s different, as well as describe what they’re actually doing. If you’re not careful, you’ll overdescribe—or underdescribe. And if you’re wondering, overdescribing is better.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch Not Much Today and a Minor Change If you missed yesterday’s post, I encourage you to read it. It’s … Read more

The Journal: This is Important

In today’s Journal * Topic: This is Important: What I Offer * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: This is Important: What I Offer Today I’m tooting my own horn, letting you know what you can learn from me and the various ways you can learn from me. I realized this morning I’ve never enumerated the various ways I teach. In case you didn’t know or as a gentle reminder, first I write this Journal almost every day. In it, I often post a topic that I believe will help someone out there. Sometimes some readers see my … Read more

The Journal: Another Myth Revealed

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Update on my offer * Topic: Another Myth Revealed * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “We’re very lucky as prose writers. We can market our practice. We don’t see the reactions to it in real time.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch Update on my offer If you don’t know what offer I’m talking about, you can read all about it at https://hestanbrough.com/the-journal-writer-fear/. I know not everyone reads the Journal every day, so I’ll leave the offer open for a week. If you browse these posts less often … Read more

The Journal: Inviting Critiqe

In today’s Journal * Topic: Inviting Critiqe * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: Inviting Critiqe As most of you know, I’m dead set against running my work through critique groups. After all, I actively battle to keep my own critical mind out of my work, so why would I then turn around and actually invite criticism from others? That being said, in the “Of Interest” section of the Journal, I often include a link to a “first-page critique” post from one of The Kill Zone bloggers. In an email early this morning, one of my astute patrons … Read more

The Journal: Just a Reminder

In today’s Journal * Just a reminder to my patrons * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Just a reminder to my patrons, please don’t forget to let me know what you’d like from your reward tier. You can see the tiers by clicking https://harveystanbrough.com/be-a-patron/. To read descriptions of novels, novellas, nonfiction books and short story collections (and make your selections), visit StoneThread Publishing at https://stonethreadpublishing.com/. Today is a day of book shifting, business planning, reading, studying and a trip to Sierra Vista. No fiction writing. (But I have a sneaking suspicion Algae Prime might be coming back.) Talk … Read more

The Journal: On Process

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the day * On Process * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day Via the Passive Voice, “A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” Italo Calvino “Wayne Gretzky said, ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ The core of any unusual profession … is embodied in that quote: You can’t succeed if you don’t try.” Kristine Kathyrn Rusch On Process Yesterday I mentioned I thought the WIP was stalled. I opened it this morning, looked it over, and realized it … Read more

The Journal: An Exciting Time and Short Story Done

In today’s Journal * An exciting time * Topic: * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers The next few weeks will be an exciting time for me. To start it off, I have to write a short story today to meet this week’s goal. (grin) Yep, I put it off again. I think I did that (subconsciously) because it makes meeting my goal more of a challenge. No idea at the moment what I’ll write about. And as I mentioned here recently, I suspect toward the end of February or early March, the current weekly blog post at my … Read more

The Journal: If You Want to See a Good Topic, and Kind of a Topic

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * If You Want to See a Good Topic * Topic: Kind of a Topic * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If an indie author is publishing a book across a variety of different national borders via Amazon, even if the use of an image might pass muster under US law, the laws of other nations might give rise to claims for damages.” The Passive Guy If You Want to See a Good Topic I’m being lazy today. If you want to see a good topic, … Read more