In today’s Journal
▪ A roundup of story starters
▪ If you write short stories
▪ I’m still considering
▪ Daily diary
▪ Of Interest
▪ The numbers
This morning I have a roundup of story starters for you. I’m even thinking about adding a page of these to the Daily Journal website (HEStanbrough.com). If I do they will be across different genres.
Today, as I got these from CrimeReads.com articles, most of them are Mystery, Crime, Distopian fiction, etc.
The idea is to read any articles that interest you. If your creative voice leaps at some of what you read, write an opening. If it runs, run with it.
Note: Not all of the story starters are limited to what the title says. Use your imagination. Happy writing!
“The Doomed Romances of Noir” at https://crimereads.com/the-doomed-romances-of-noir/.
“The Power and the Pain of Post-Apocalyptic Detective Fiction” at https://crimereads.com/the-power-and-the-pain-of-post-apocalyptic-detective-fiction/.
“Crime Fiction, Thrillers, and the Importance of Setting” at https://crimereads.com/crime-fiction-thrillers-and-the-importance-of-setting/.
That’s probably more than enough for now.
PLEASE visit the website and let me know whether you found this useful in a comment, or email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
I’m interested in knowing whether this is a waste of time.
***
If you write short stories that “reflect the Western lifestyle,” you can submit them to Rope and Wire, a website dedicated to the Western genre and the western way of life.
There’s no monetary payment, but Scott Gese, the administrator of the site, is very supportive of western writers.
You can find submission guidelines at https://www.ropeandwire.com/writers-wanted.html.
***
I’m still considering what I want to write next. Oddly, I’m not really in a hurry. The feeling I have is that it’s more important to get this “right,” whatever that means.
It won’t be another Blackwell Ops novel at the moment. There’s plenty left to write in that world, and plenty to write in a spin-off series (which I set up in BO5).
But of the 8 novels I’ve written in the last four months, 6 were Blackwell Ops novels. I need a change.
I’m putting a couple of gentle limits on myself too:
1. I’d like my next project to be a novel and something over 60,000 words. (I want to live with it for awhile.)
2. I’d like it to be something different than I’ve ever written, or at least something different than I’ve written in a good while.
Really, that’s about it.
UPDATE: I’m toying with something, basically seeing where it takes me. I’ll report word counts as I go (after all, I’ve written the words) but no promises at the moment that it will continue.
***
Rolled out at 3:30 this morning and spent some time gleaning some of my western short stories and formatting them a bit for submission to Rope and Wire. That prompted the little insertion two sections above this. (grin) I’ve had a story published there before.
At 10 a.m. I settled on an idea, opened a new Word doc, and wrote until 11:30, about a normal session for me.
I’m hopeful. You’ll see the working title below. We’ll see where it goes.
Taking a break at noon. I might write more today and I might not. I always start a new project slowly, and as this one is currently tentative, it might be even slower than usual.
Nope, no more writing today. During my break, I actually sat down and enjoy a few innings of baseball. (grin)
Tomorrow morning early I’ll be back at the plate myself, trying to hit one more home run. I like home runs. Home runs are good.
Talk with you again then.
Of Interest
See “Week Two Great Challenge Update” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/week-two-great-challenge-update/.
See “Writing The True Story of “The Oldest Living Godfather” at https://crimereads.com/writing-the-the-true-story-of-the-oldest-living-godfather/.
Fiction Words: 1538
Nonfiction Words: 630 (Journal)
Total words for the day: 2168
Writing of In the Cantina at Noon (novel)
Day 1…… 1538 words. Total words to date…… 1538
Total fiction words for the month……… 1538
Total fiction words for the year………… 263008
Total nonfiction words for the month… 3310
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 115170
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 378178
Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date…………………… 6
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date… X
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 43
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 193
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31