Topic

The Journal: Marketing and Promotion

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Thanks * Topic: Marketing and Promotion * There’s also a link * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I believe it was Shakespeare, or possibly Howard Cosell, who first observed that marriage is very much like a birthday candle, in that ‘the flames of passion burn brightest when the wick of intimacy is first ignited by the disposable butane lighter of physical attraction, but sooner or later the heat of familiarity causes the wax of boredom to drip all over the vanilla frosting of novelty and the shredded … Read more

The Journal: The Becoming A Writer Mentorships

In today’s Journal * Topic: The Becoming A Writer Mentorships * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: The Becoming A Writer Mentorships First, an update: The mentorships came together more quickly than I expected. They went live this morning. But I decided to post some of my working notes on the Becoming A Writer mentorships because they make for a good topic. There are many more topics in the actual mentorships than are shown here. You can view the complete mentorships by clicking https://harveystanbrough.com/mentorships/ (it costs nothing to look) and then choosing one link or the other. I’m glad it’s … Read more

The Journal: Weird and Weirder

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Weird and Weirder * The monsoons are here * Topic: Deciding Who You Are * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If you could go on a no-return trip into the future, say hundreds of years, would you? And why would you do that?” story prompt from Dean Wesley Smmith Weird. I couldn’t help but notice the novel wrapped on Writing Day 14. That seems to happen a lot. Talk about an active creative subconscious! It even crossed my mind that maybe my creative subconscious was jerking me … Read more

The Journal: Punctuation for Writers

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * In the second item * Topic: Punctuation for Writers * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “A word to the wise is not sufficient if it doesn’t make any sense.” James Thurber “It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.” Stephen King In the second item listed in “Of Interest” today, the writer wrote … Read more

The Journal: You Can’t Sell an Idea

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Be sure to read * Topic: You Can’t Sell an Idea * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Waiting rarely makes things easier. Most of the time, waiting makes things harder. The right time is now.” Farnam Street Brain Food “The kiss originated when the first male reptile licked the first female reptile, implying in a subtle, complimentary way that she was as succulent as the small reptile he had for dinner the night before.” F. Scott Fitzgerald “I’ve had a sign over my typewriter for over 25 … Read more

The Journal: Focusing Down

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Focusing Down * The current novel * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn’t to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.” Stephen King on where to get ideas “[Q]uite quickly this technique of the … Read more

The Journal: On Censorship and Cancel Culture

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: On Censorship and Cancel Culture * Patreon * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “The job boils down to two things: paying attention to how the real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see.” Stephen King “Authors are now being successfully pressured to remove lines from published books that are deemed objectionable by some readers. … The point of cancel campaigns is to create a chilling effect for academics, writers, editors, and others.” Jonathan Turley, author of the first item listed … Read more

The Journal: There Are Five Physical Senses

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: There Are Five Physical Senses * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “When you find a writer who really is saying something to you, read everything that writer has written and you will get more education and depth of understanding out of that than reading a scrap here and a scrap there and elsewhere.” Joseph Campbell Topic: There Are Five Physical Senses Not one. Five. One of the most obvious signs of a beginning writer is that in description, the writer focuses on Sight as the dominant, … Read more

The Journal: Absorbing Story

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Absorbing Story * The novel * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day a brief conversation between bestselling authors John Gilstrap and Jeffrey Deaver John Gilstrap: “What are you doing right that I’m doing wrong?” [Jeffrey Deaver] answered without pause, “Last time I counted, I was sixteen books ahead of you.” Yeah, okay. Fine. Perspective. Then he went on to say, “You know you have to keep writing. Stopping isn’t an option.” “What if I can’t sell anything?” I whined. “Nobody says you have to do it fulltime.” … Read more

The Journal: Character Descriptions

In today’s Journal * Wow. Lately * I’d be remiss * Topic: Character Descriptions * Yesterday, and Memorial Day * Of Interest * The Numbers Wow. Lately “Of Interest” seems a feast or famine prospect. Today it’s famine. I’d be remiss if I didn’t pass along the info on “David Farland’s Advanced Fantasy and SF Writing Workshop” (at https://mystorydoctor.com/david-farlands-advanced-fantasy-and-sf-writing-workshop/). I’d also be remiss if I didn’t remind you of my mentorships and recommend a comparison. But that’s up to you. Topic: Character Descriptions It’s difficult to point to a “good” book on characterization. Not because they aren’t out there, but … Read more