The Passive Voice

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, May 21

In today’s Journal * From Kris Rusch * Topic: A Digression * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers From the Too Good to Pass Up department, see Kris Rusch’s “Good News” at https://kriswrites.com/2019/05/20/good-news/. *** Topic: A Digression Note: Chapter 4 of How to Quiet the Critical Voice will appear here tomorrow. I had it ready to go, but this has to take precedence. Wow. Especially considering that I’m smack in the midst of writing a nonfiction book on beating the critical voice, I had to talk about this. For an excellent example of someone who for right or … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, May 19

In today’s Journal * My friend Dan * Weird how writers say * Topic: My Own Stages of Becoming a Fiction Writer * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers My friend Dan Baldwin will be dropping by today mid-morning or a little later. We’ll enjoy a couple of cigars and, no doubt, a lot of talk about writing. It’s always enjoyable visiting with Dan. I invariably learn something new or realize something I’d forgotten. So I’ll devote the first couple of hours this morning (after the Journal stuff) to the WIP, then post this early. *** As another … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, May 17

In today’s Journal A very long post today Quotes of the Day I’ve updated the site Today in “Of Interest” Topic: How to Quiet the Critical Voice (Chapter 2) Daily diary Of Interest The numbers A very long post today. Hang in there. I think it will be worthwhile. *** Quotes of the Day Via Terry Odell, “There is a difference between a book of two hundred pages from the very beginning, and a book of two hundred pages which is the result of an original eight hundred pages. The six hundred are there. Only you don’t see them.” Elie … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, May 14

In today’s Journal Quote of the Day In the past two days Topic: How to Write “Complicated Stories” into the Dark Daily diary Of Interest The numbers Quote of the Day From The Passive Guy: “Writing well means never having to say, ‘I guess you had to be there.’” Jef Mallett *** In the past two days, I came up with two topics that are so huge they want badly to be nonfiction books. One is How to Quiet the Critical Voice, and the other is Writing High-Action Scenes. Of course, the former probably won’t sell five copies. (grin) The … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, May 12

In today’s Journal Happy belated Mother’s Day Quotes of the Day Topic: Verified — Yep, I’m a Hack Daily diary Of Interest The numbers To any moms out there, a heartfelt happy belated Mother’s Day. I know, it’s still Mother’s Day, but most of it will be over by the time many of you read this. I should have mentioned it in yesterday’s journal. *** Quotes of the Day “[T}he shift I felt when I finished my first novel. Once I knew I could do it, I knew that I could learn to be a better writer.” Shaunta Grimes* Also, … Read more

The Daily Journal, Friday, May 10

In today’s Journal ▪ Kristine Kathryn Rusch (one more time) ▪ Bundle time again ▪ Mentoring still open ▪ Almost had a minor melt down ▪ Topic: Boxed Sets ▪ Daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Kris added a second stretch goal and more rewards to her Kickstarter. Read about it at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/403649867/the-diving-universe/posts/2503773. *** Yesterday I learned my Science Fantasy novel In the Siberian Fields (StoneThread Publishing, 2016) will be included in the forthcoming bundle, Gods Among the Stars. (grin) When that one goes live, my work will be available in 10 active bundles. Woohoo! To see the … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, May 6

In today’s Journal ▪ Topic: How I Became… ▪ Daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Topic: How I Became a Professional Fiction Writer Sometimes it’s difficult to remember that a scant 5 years ago I knew almost nothing about writing fiction. Oh, I knew (and taught) mechanics: grammar, punctuation, the use of sentences and fragments, and some of the finer nuances passive vs. active construction, past tense vs. present tense and so on. But about writing? I knew nada. I’d written bits and pieces off and on for most of my life (poems, essays, articles, a few stories). … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, May 5

In today’s Journal ▪ Happy Cinco de Mayo! ▪ Some numbers ▪ What is a professional writer? ▪ Daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Happy Cinco de Mayo! Though it isn’t really Mexican Independence Day. If you’d like to know what Cinco de Mayo really signifies, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com and I’ll forward you a cool email I received thsi morning from Kevin Tumlinson. *** For some reason, partly spurred-on by an email I wrote to a mentoring student, this morning I decided to see how much I’ve written in novels and novellas in the past 4 years … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, May 2

In today’s Journal ▪ Yesterday, I stayed… ▪ Topic Part 1: On What Beginning Writers Believe ▪ Topic Part 2: Business, Schmizzness ▪ Daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Yesterday, I stayed on the computer long after I planned to leave. As a result, I didn’t give much thought to what fiction I’ll write next, so I definitely won’t start anything new today. I keep getting a feeling my next WIP will be something completely different. I’ll read Joe Lansdale’s article again sometime today. I like people who are up front and plain spoken, and the guy gives … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, May 1

In today’s Journal ▪ A productive day ▪ In the ongoing saga ▪ Another professional writer I follow ▪ Topic: Yes, Virginia, Writers Lie. ▪ Daily diary ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers I think I’m over the bug. I had a really productive day yesterday, both physically and otherwise. I swapped-out parts of my in-home office with parts of my Hovel to make the latter more comfortable and more of an office. There’s more to do, but a lot of it is done. I also did some major revamping of my main website (more to come). I hope you’ll … Read more