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The Journal: Mentorships vs. Nonfiction Books

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Mentorships vs. Nonfiction Books * The Fiction * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Q: I WROTE LESS THAN 200 WORDS TODAY. DO I STILL DEPOSIT THEM IN THE WORD BANK? A: Yes, because every word counts… (and you have written more than 99% of writers today).” FAQs at “THE 200 WORDS A DAY CHALLENGE.” Can this be true? Topic: Mentorships vs. Books I’m looking for feedback here. As I was looking over all the topics in The Writing Craft I mentorship, it dawned on me that … Read more

The Journal: I love a good argument

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * I love a good argument * Of Interest * The Numbers I love a good argument, and I have two to report today. Re a point made in the first item in “Of Interest” today, I am an indie publisher, and I don’t believe traditional publishers make the lion’s share of book sales. The author of the article points out (correctly) that “The majority of the cover price of a book goes to the retailer—the book store—and the distributor.” I agree. The assertion is indisputable. So I would never say the … Read more

The Journal: Appreciate and Be Loyal to Your Creative Subconscious

In today’s Journal * Topic: Appreciate and Be Loyal to Your Creative Subconscious * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: Appreciate and Be Loyal to Your Creative Subconscious Maybe one of the worst things about the myths of writing is that they cause otherwise perfectly good storytellers to make tons of mistakes. Chief among those mistakes is placing too much importance on any one reader’s opinion. Especially when the writer then changes the content of a story because of that opinion. I’m not talking about wrong-word usages or other typos here. I’m not talking about missing periods at the end … Read more

The Journal: Sigh. Regarding “Deep” POV

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Sigh. Regarding “Deep” POV * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they’ve been fooled.” Mark Twain “It’s far easier to talk about doing something than to actually do it.” Harvey Stanbrough Topic: Sigh. Regarding So-Called (for now) “Deep” POV In today’s “Of Interest” there’s a link to a long article about writing in “deep POV.” If I’ve ever heard an academic term, it’s that one. (However, I listed the link and left it there. If you get something … Read more

The Journal: Writing Your Story Description

In today’s Journal * A Favor to Ask * Topic: Writing Your Story Description * Of Interest * The Numbers A Favor to Ask Apparently my posts from HarveyStanbrough.com (author site) no longer go out, which means nobody on that large mailing list received my special promo announcement about the ebook giveaway. It will take me some time to figure out what happened and why and how to fix it. I’m also no longer on Facebook. So if you don’t mind, please share this link with your friends and on social media. It would be a big help. Thank you: … Read more

The Journal: Readers Like to Fill-in the Blanks (Uh, No)

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * PQ Topic: Readers Like to Fill-in the Blanks * This morning I left a comment * Of Interest * The Numbers PQ Topic: Readers Like to Fill-in the Blanks Actually this isn’t a Persistent Question so much as a Persistent Misbelief. A myth. Something even writers sometimes pass along to other writers. And it’s male bovine excrement. My immediate response to “Readers like to fill in the blanks” is a pair of arched eyebrows, a head shaking slightly side to side, and “So?” As a writer, do you really care what … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday and Bundlerabbit

In today’s Journal * Yesterday, I wore out a mouse * Yesterday, also * Yesterday, III * By the way * Bundlerabbit * A very short PQ Topic: Less Can Be More * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday, I wore out a mouse. (Microsoft Mobile Wireless Mouse 3500 in Lock Ness grey) Over the past several years of writing fiction, I’ve always had the same mouse with my writing ‘puter. Over the past six-plus years I’ve gone through probably three or four writing ‘puters, but whenever I changed from one to the other, that mouse went with me. I … Read more

The Journal: Analysis Paralysis

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Wes Crowley Rides Again * Topic: Analysis Paralysis * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day When you doubt your importance as a writer compared with editors and publishers, remember this brief one-sided conversation I had with a major NY acquisitions editor who seemed a little full of himself a few years ago at the Tucson, AZ writers’ conference: I said, “Know what writers would do if there were no editors or publishers?” He shook his head. I said, “We’d write. But do you know what editors and publishers … Read more

The Journal: Reader Taste vs. Writer Skill

In today’s Journal * Well, Not a New Writing Process * Topic: Reader Taste vs. Writer Skill * If anyone else encountered a problem * Yesterday * I’ve decided * Of Interest * The Numbers Well, Not a New Writing Process Sorry about that. I labeled what I passed along to you yesterday “a new writing process.” It wasn’t. I watched/listened to both videos. Well, all of the first one and the first few minutes of the second one. I want to say the videos contain a lot of filler, among which the “real” information is scattered. Unfortunately, I can’t … Read more

The Journal: On the Use of “Blue” or “Bad” Language

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The novel continues, combined * Topic: On the Use of “Blue” or “Bad” Language * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees Is my destroyer. And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.” Dylan Thomas Appropos of nothing, this is probably my favorite poem of all time. “It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right … Read more