The Journal: A Cornucopia

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* I hadn’t planned
* In a break from my own norm
* Just in case anyone’s interested
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quotes of the Day

“I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.” Cary Grant

“Everyone wants to be Cary Grant. Even I want to be Cary Grant.” Cary Grant

“Write the truest version.” Kathleen McCleary

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know. So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there. It was easy then because there was always one true sentence that I knew or had seen or had heard someone say.” Ernest Hemingway

I hadn’t planned to visit again so soon, but with so many good articles popping up in “Of Interest” I thought I’d pass them along. Each appealed to my curiosity, at least, and to expand my knowledge at best. Enjoy.

Note: There are a lot of links in this issue. Don’t be overwhelmed. I suggest you take a deep breath, grab your favorite beverage, and click through on any that interest you.

On a purely personal note, I’m still writing although still not frantically. It will be interesting (to me) to see how long it takes in calendar days (vs. writing days) to write this novel.

I’m thinking of discontinuing my habit of including my own fiction word count in The Numbers, and maybe discontinuing The Numbers altogether. If you have an opinion either way, either leave a comment on this post or email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.

In a break from my own norm, I recently re-read my own novel The Consensus. It’s a good story, but as my then first reader Kenneth Flowers pointed out, it begs for at least one sequel. You can read about it at https://harveystanbrough.com/the-consensus/.

Just in case anyone’s interested, I recently added a Ghostwriting page to my main website under For Writers > Other Resources for Writers.

I’m not being a smart-aleck here. I believe everyone has a story in them, but I also know not everyone can find the time to sit down and actually write it. So I decided (again) to offer this service. This time it won’t go away until I do. The direct link to the new page is https://harveystanbrough.com/ghostwriting/.

Talk with you again when I can.

Of Interest

See “Cover Basics” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/cover-basics/. A necessary finger-wagging, albeit (I hope) preaching to the choir.

See “Take A Long View on Research” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/08/take-a-long-view-on-research.html.

Want to write a historic fantasy/quest? Maybe start with “The Witch’s Eye” at https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/loeil-de-la-sorciere-the-witch-s-eye.

See “Let the Words Flow” at https://mystorydoctor.com/david-farlands-writing-tips-let-the-words-flow/.

See “Third person omniscient vs. limited vs. head jumping” at https://nathanbransford.com/blog/2020/08/third-person-omniscient-vs-limited-vs-head-jumping. (Thanks to the Passive Guy.)

See “Get Me Out of Here” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/get-me-out-of-here/.

See “The Conspiracy on Pushkin Street…” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-conspiracy-on-pushkin-street-the-costs-of-humor-in-the-ussr/.

Finally, if you’re a machine/AI-assisted kind of writer, see “Marlowe, A.I. for Novels” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/marlowe-a-i-for-novels/.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 500 words

Writing of Blackwell Ops 8 (novel)

Day 1…… 1653 words. Total words to date…… 1653
Day 2…… 1043 words. Total words to date…… 2696
Day 3…… 1711 words. Total words to date…… 4407

Total fiction words for the month……… 4407
Total fiction words for the year………… 314062
Total nonfiction words for the month… 5500
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 136660
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 450722

Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 50
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 208
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31