The Passive Voice

The Journal: The New World of Publishing

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: The New World of Publishing * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Doing has always been a binary choice; to do or not do. … Revel when you can in the celestial creative mind.” Robert J. Sadler Topic: The New World of Publishing Yeah, I know. Digital publishing and ebooks have been around awhile now. But every now and then I’m reminded why I still love this new world of publishing. An attentive reader who is also a successful professional writer pointed out that my … Read more

The Journal: A Ton More on Critical Voice

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Thanks and a request * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “[T]he fun is that you can do anything you want because no one cares and it’s just fun and entertainment. The writers who really, really embrace that are often the most successful because not only do they not know where they are going (or care), their readers don’t know and love the ride.” Dean Wesley Smith in a comment to another writer “[F]ear does kill fun. No doubt about that, except on roller coasters, when … Read more

The Journal: How to Push Back the Critical Voice

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: How to Push Back the Critical Voice * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I would rather dance barefoot on a bed of nails than outline a novel. I know some writers find outlining essential. To me, outlining feels artificial, as if I’m moving characters around like chess pieces. I’m a terrible chess player. Not so good at checkers, either.” Dean Koontz on Twitter (courtesy Phillip McCollum) “[W]riters must look at writing like they look at reading other writer’s works. They must go to story … 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: What Are You Writing?

In today’s Journal * Welcome * Topic: What Are You Writing? * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Welcome to Patrick D. It’s good to have you aboard! I hope you find the Journal useful and informative. I hope my recent new subscribers will also browse my author site at HarveyStanbrough.com. . There you will find a ton of writer resources, including Free Downloads (check this first) Other Resources for Writers (links) My Audio Lecture Series on Writing My Books on Writing (links to StoneThreadPublishing.com) and soon a free short story of the week. In coming months, either my … 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: 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: 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