the writing life

The Journal, Sunday, December 23

Hey Folks, Well, the Dean/Harvey discussion continues. (grin) See the post (and comment) in today’s “Of Interest.” Up early again this morning at 2 a.m. But today I shouldn’t have as much cycling to do, which means I can write more new words. Yesterday I wrote only about 2000 words, then hit a snag that caused the necessity to cycle back through the story and adjust the timeline (hours within a two-day period) and ages of the actors. I’ll finish that this morning, then pick up where I left off. Topic: On Readers’ “Taste” and Writers’ Ability I do understand … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, December 22

Hey Folks, Happy Winter Solstice yesterday. I forgot. (grin) Topic: The Importance of Paragraphs While glancing over the internet this morning for items of interest, I checked in on a blog I’d saved in my bookmarks but hadn’t looked at recently. When I save one in my bookmarks, it’s because I hope it will provide valuable, or at least valid, information. A writer posed this implied question: I have trouble trying to figure out when to begin and end paragraphs and when to have dialogue included in the paragraph and when to have it stand on its own as an … Read more

The Journal, Friday, December 21

Hey Folks, If you’re part of Draft2Digital, yesterday you received a very nice Christmas poem from them. I always find it interesting when a company does something they don’t “have” to do. D2D didn’t have to send out that holiday greeting. After all, it went out (at least via email) only to those who are already signed up. It isn’t even on their blog. To see the poem, click This Link. D2D is a vibrant young innovative distribution company, still at the stage where they actually care about writers. If you aren’t using D2D yet, I hope you’ll jump on … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, December 20

Hey Folks, Very strange goings on here at the Stanbrough Camp for Odd People. Two days ago, I didn’t write any fiction at all. The story was there, but I wasn’t. Yesterday, I stopped a few hundred words short of 4,000 because I just ran out of steam. My fingers were beginning to hit the wrong keys. Today, just before noon, I had 4,967 words and was NOT out of steam. Part of it’s because the story is really flowing. And the part I finished today is a novellette at 9500 words. It’s the story that wants to be a … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, December 19

Hey Folks, J. L. Parker left a myth-riddled comment on Dean’s post about traditional publishing a few days ago (see the second item in “Of Interest”). Dean addressed a couple of points in his response. But J. L. aso wrote “if you want your book available in book stores and libraries as well as online … [you] have to go the traditional route.” This is the kind of misinformation that drives me crazy and can send untold numbers of writers awry. So in response, I left the following comment: For J. L., I can also say recently a LOT of … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, December 18

Hey Folks, Wow. I stayed up to watch about 3/4 of the football game last night. It was difficult to watch the Saints pitted against both the Panthers and the referees (grin), so I finally gave up. But by then it was late. I couldn’t sleep, so I stayed up even later and didn’t roll out this morning until almost 5. Ugh. So a late start to the day. No Internet in the Hovel this morning, so I did the preliminary “Of Interest” stuff and this bit of the Journal up at the house with my first cup of coffee. … Read more

The Journal, Monday, December 17

Hey Folks, I rolled out a little before 2 this morning and was in the Hovel by 2 to start my day. I haven’t explained for awhile why I run such “odd” hours, and we’ve had several new folks join us in following this Journal. For me, my hours aren’t odd at all. It’s a matter of balancing writing time with family time, chores, etc. We all have 24 hours in each day, and we all have physical bodies. So the first basic division of our time is between Sleep and Living. I don’t personally care for sleep, and I … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, December 16

Hey Folks, Quote of the day (to consider, on distractions): “…email [is] an infinite hamster wheel powered by other people’s priorities.” — Jake Knapp on Medium (see “Of Interest”) And another: “…write excellent books. That’s the only ironclad, long-tail secret to a career.” — James Scott Bell (see “Of Interest”) And one more: “Don’t let being a writer interfere with actually writing.” — John Gilstrap (see “Of Interest”) *** Just in case seeing my own reckoning with this “test” of December might help you, I’ll lay it out here each day in detail (when the detail matters). I rolled out … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, December 15

Hey Folks, Wow. My fiction number was so good yesterday it almost scared me off. (grin) Then I calmed down. I’m also practicing with what’s left of this month and year to write 4,000 words per day. So far, I have almost 1000 words in the bank. Not too shabby. *** The third novel in the Nick Spalding action-adventure romantic-suspense series released this morning. If you’re interested, you can find it at http://harveystanbrough.com/coincidence/. *** Topic: Pet Peeves That Matter Pet peeves — you know, those little flaws and inanities that grind away on the nerves and cause me to close … Read more

The Journal, Friday, December 14

Hey Folks, Topic: On Challenges (It’s That Time of Year) In Dean’s post today (see “Of Interest”) he’s talking about restarting his challenge on January 1 to write 10 novels in 100 days. His plan is to write 10 50,000 word novels in that time. It will “stretch” him (and hence, be a challenge) because he isn’t sure he can write 5,000 words per day consistently for 100 days. I’m considering joining him in that challenge, but with a twist. I would write 10 novels in 100 days, but probably in a particular world, so a series. Or maybe two. … Read more