The Passive Voice

The Journal, Saturday, January 20

Hey Folks, Another note on process. Despite the word count I posted earlier for The Keeper of the Promise: The Origin Novel, after omitting the two short stories I mentioned yesterday, and after a few thousand words of other cuts, the novel finally came in yesterday at 56620 words. Last night as I glanced over it, I realized it was mostly complete and flows well. The one thing I didn’t do was set up the protagonist as a series character with a lead-in to the next books. Not good, since I wrote the thing in the first place to lead … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, January 16

Hey Folks, Not a lot to report today. We had a quick trip to Sierra Vista to resolve the second life roll. Fortunately it turned out to be a much less eventful than it might have been. I wrote early this morning for an hour or so, and then a bit more after we got home. Those numbers are displayed below. Feels good to be back to the novel. See you then. Of Interest Linda Maye Adams posted “Perfectionism and Reading Fiction” at https://lindamayeadams.com/2018/01/15/perfectionism-and-reading-fiction/. See what you think. I might tackle this topic myself in a day or two. You … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, January 10

Hey Folks, A personal good-news item that might be of some interest: My wife and I have been married for almost 34 years. When we married, I brought three children to the mix and she brought one. We never used or allowed the term step-anything (son or daughter, brother or sister). We saw no reason to differentiate among the children. After all, the situation was no fault of theirs. For various reasons, I was never able to adopt our eldest son, who was originally named Jason Griffith Smith. Also, Jason’s maternal grandfather passed away a few years ago, and he … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, January 9

Hey Folks, Well, due to recent events, I’m shuffling my writing. For the first time I can remember, I have three works in progress: The Origin Novel (tentative title); “Storytellers,” the first short story of an eventual collection that will be titled The Less-Relatable Tales of a Desperado; and Autobiography, another novel I started this morning. The Origin Novel will continue as the primary work, occasionally but barely abated, because it’s what I want to write. I’ve wanted to write it for several years, but realized that fact only recently. The short story and the ensuing eventual collection is on … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, January 7

Hey Folks, Wow, strange day. I usually write a lot of what will become the day’s Journal entry early, then add to it off and on through the day. Today was supposed to be another nonwriting day, but it turned out about like yesterday did. But with a unique twist. I was working on my current work in progress when an idea sprang into my head. It was a morbid little thought, one more suited for my person Eric Stringer than for me. Or maybe even for my character, Charles Claymore Task. Charlie would love it. Anyway, for about an … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, January 4

Hey Folks, Dean accidentally deleted his post from yesterday. He wrote over it, he said in today’s post. So if you go there looking for it, you won’t find it. There wasn’t a lot to it anyway. I got up a little late this morning, and still didn’t start on the novel until 9. An hour later, I had just over 1000 words. So a good start on the day. A break, then to the post office, then a slightly early lunch. Damp (in the air), chilly and heavily overcast here today, so the babies are staying inside mostly. Well, … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, December 28

Hey Folks, Well, those of you who’ve hung on through my madness will receive a double reward today, or at least that’s how this edition of the Journal is intended. In preparation for my own return to writing fiction, I decided to take today (and maybe the next couple of days) to do two things: First, I’m revisiting some of the lectures and workshops I’ve taken from Dean. After that, I’ll be prepping by setting goals and a schedule. More on that in coming days. My intention is to begin fresh on January 1. Because I have a couple of … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, December 27

Hey Folks, On Christmas Eve I created a test site I can use to try out new things before making them live here or on HarveyStanbrough.com. I was able to use a cloning engine, so I basically just moved HarveyStanbrough.com over there. Took about an hour to create a whole website. The technology amazes me. Anyway, while I was messing around on that test site, I noticed a few “drafts” of posts. I don’t use the Draft feature on WordPress, at least not intentionally, so I clicked one to have a look. Turns out it was an early draft of … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, December 21

Hey Folks, From The Passive Guy: Barbara Walters: “But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?” Isaac Asimov: “Type faster.” *** I started the day with a good walk, which was more wandering aimlessly about in the desert out back. Then back home for breakfast and to work on the copyedit. Those of you who wrote regarding the villanelle that Stanley Grill will include in his composition, thank you. I appreciate the kind thoughts. Here’s the poem, in case you want to see it: Roses? When pink and red entwine, their dreams to … Read more

The Journal, Monday, December 18

Hey Folks, Mostly I’m posting today to pass along some stuff in “Of Interest” below. But as long as I’m here, I’ll give you an update on my personal writing stuff as well. My December’s slipping by with not a word of fiction so far. How weird is that? In a way, knowing I could start writing today and have a new novel finished by the end of the year is a liability. In a way. But that probably won’t happen, and it’s all right. I’m allowing everything else in my life to take precedence right now. But that’s by … Read more