The Passive Voice

The Journal, Tuesday, September 10

In today’s Journal * Persistence pays off * Topic: I Do Rattle On * For something beautiful * The numbers Persistence pays off in blog-watching. Neil Gaiman is back with “A Long Catch Up…” at http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2019/09/a-long-catch-up-and-go-and-see-amanda.html. Also check out Dean’s site for a great opportunity. I also suggest checking out today’s PWW post at https://prowriterswriting.com/witd-a-new-question. My advice re WITD or don’t WITD? Don’t get wrapped around the wheel. Just write. Try to do so in a way that the writing is fun. Topic: I Do Rattle On Over on PWW today, I ended a comment with an implied apology for … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, August 26

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Announcement: Priorities and Time Management * Daily Diary * Of Interest * The numbers Quote of the Day “Writing advice? Put your writerly faith in Heinlein’s Rules, in yourself, and most importantly, in your characters. The characters, not you, are living the story. Instead of attempting to control them from an authorial ivory tower, roll off the parapet into the trenches of the story and run through it with them. Have fun! Record what happens and what the characters say and do. They will lead you through to the end, and … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, August 24

In today’s Journal * Wow. It’s monsoon season… * Daily Diary * Of Interest * The numbers Wow. It’s monsoon season out here in Arizona. For days and days, we’ve been surrounded by storms on all directions, but not a drop for us. Then yesterday, at about 4 p.m., the rain started. Actually, it was the second-worst storm I’ve ever experienced (excepting typhoons in Okinawa). In two hours, we got just under three inches of rain, and at least three different sessions of hail. It was (ahem) interesting. And interesting how I reacted. The rest of this is kind of … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, August 16

In today’s Journal * Cows Pulling Pranks * Topic: On Dreams and Goals * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Cows Pulling Pranks Where I live just outside St. David Arizona (north of Tombstone) we abut a rancher’s land. The fence runs along the south (long) side of the Hovel, about a foot away. Clumps of straw-colored grass and small, 10- to 15-foot mesquite trees populate the landscape under an almost-full moon. A few pre-teen to teenage clouds are scattered about in clumps as if waiting for something to happen. Inside the Hovel, my desk faces a window. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, August 14

In today’s Journal * As it turns out * Change One to the Basic Plan * Topic: Licensing Intellectual Property * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers As it turns out, someone gave Ryan Pelton (The Prolific Writer) my name as someone he might want to interview as a prolific writer. Who knew? (grin) In part, Ryan wrote, “I think your lessons on writing would be super helpful to our community. Would you be up for coming on the show some time?” Of course, I said, “Sure.” (grin) Kind of exciting. So here are a few links about … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, August 13

In today’s Journal * Topic: More on (My) Priorities * More Mentoring Options Now Available * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Topic: More on (My) Priorities Yesterday I talked about priorities. My own priorities lately are shifting. I recently realized, for a few months now my number one priority has been this Journal. (If you don’t believe that, look back over how many topics I’ve written in the past few months.) Writing fiction slipped to being my second priority. At about the same time, writing fiction also got tangled up with learning about licensing, and to a … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, August 10

In today’s Journal * I’m on the road today * Topic: Just Write the Scene * Of Interest * The daily diary and the rest I’m on the road today, and actually tomorrow, though I’ve pre-posted a topic for tomorrow to give you something to look at. (grin) The “live” Journal will return on Monday, August 12, in the usual format. For now, I hope you’ll enjoy this blast from the past from my post archives at HarveyStanbrough.com. Topic: Just Write the Scene Some time back, I posted that if you’re writing and you get bogged down, you should just … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, August 8

In today’s Journal * As some of you look to me * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers As some of you look to me for writing advice, I owe you an explanation regarding my recent lack of focus on fiction writing. I’m going through an unusual life roll at the moment. Or you could look at it as a series of small, overlapping life rolls. This one is unusual because it consists of various events, some good and some less-than-good, that are converging at the moment. Two are medical. Neither is life-threatening like the one last year … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, August 7

In today’s Journal * Last Saturday * Topic: I Rescind My Topic Statement * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Last Saturday, August 3rd, I wrote about flash fiction. A respondent from Japan and I have been exchanging comments on that post. In one of them he metioned “100 Word Story” at http://www.100wordstory.org/. Interesting website. That put me in mind of 55 Story, a book I bought a long time ago that started me writing flash fiction. You can find the current edition here. If you’re interested in writing flash fiction, I recommend the following (though all of … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, August 6

In today’s Journal * Topic: I’ve Been Pushing an Idea Too Hard * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Topic: I’ve Been Pushing an Idea Too Hard The idea is writing into the dark. As everyone who’s followed this Journal for longer than a few days knows, I write into the dark. All lengths. Believe it or not, long novels and series are the easiest, followed by novels, novellas, novelettes, and then short stories. Writing the shortest of all complete short story forms, flash fiction, is the most difficult (for me) to write into the dark. That’s because … Read more