The Journal Archives

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* The Journal Archives
* Other Resources
* Of Interest

Quotes of the Day

Just some beautiful writing…

“Just then it came to him that he was going to die. It came with a rush; not as a rush of water nor of wind, but of a sudden evil-smelling emptiness and the odd thing was that the hyena slipped lightly along the edge of it.” Ernest Hemingway in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”

“You’ve never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it like bees working in a glass hive.” Jean Cocteau

“After the writer’s death, reading his journal is like receiving a long letter.” Jean Cocteau

The Journal Archives

For several years, I’ve offered a fully searchable PDF copy of the Journal archives free of charge. That has changed. If you downloaded some or all of the archives during that free period, good for you. Enjoy. I hope you learn a ton.

If you didn’t, it isn’t too late to get them. It’s only too late to get them free of charge. Yesterday I changed the Archives, Gifts & DVDs page to reflect the following:

As a sample of the value of these archives, I offer the earliest archive, which encompasses the last few months of 2014, free of charge. You may download it by clicking THE JOURNAL 2014. (Please visit the page to download the free archive.)

The other archives are available at only $30 each. (That’s $2.50 per month, 50 cents less than any of my patrons pay just because they enjoy the Journal.) You may also purchase all 8 archives as a set (2014/15 through 2022) for $220.

(Note: For my regular donors and patrons, these archives are still free of charge. If you haven’t already downloaded them, you have only to email me and I’ll send them to you.)

If any of you would like to become a patron or donor, please visit https://hestanbrough.com/become-a-patron/.

Other Resources

Bob B, a man who regularly recommends my work on reddit, recently recommended some of my nonfiction as well as the following.

I have not vetted these and am not personally recommending them, but I thought I’d pass them along just in case you might find them useful.

Additionally, all opinions not preceded by “Ed. Note” and set in italics are from Bob:

https://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/03/26/want-to-become-a-better-writer-copy-the-work-of-others/—This is how they used to teach writing.

Ed. Note: I’m not sure who “they” are, but I agree that this is one way to learn to sense the rhythm and flow and to some degree the style of the writer you’re emulating.

DANDELION WINE by Ray Bradbury shows how he began writing.

TECHNIQUES OF THE SELLING WRITER by Dwight V. Swain—Corny title but chock full of solid advice.

https://blog.karenwoodward.org/2012/10/jim-butcher-on-writing.html—Killer advice from Jim Butcher.

All right, from here down, these are all my own thoughts again.

Another would-be writer on reddit asked, “What do you do when you literally have no ideas?”

This is a foreign concept to me. I still don’t understand how anyone can “literally have no ideas.” And just to be clear, I don’t hang out on reddit or any other quick-advice places. I happened to see this question while I was checking an alert for my name.

But my advice remains: If you don’t have an idea for a story and you want to write a story anyway, follows this formula for a story starter. It really does work every time.

* pick a character, any character (by name) who has a

* problem (any little problem, doesn’t have to be “the” problem of the story), then drop him, her, or it into a

* setting (any setting, and the best one is wherever the character happens to be when you first see him, her or it).

Then write whatever comes to you to write. It really is that simple.

In case you didn’t hear that let me repeat it:

IT REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE.

Now, you have zero excuses. If you want to write a story, Character with a Problem in a Setting. Go.

I might be off here for a few days.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “Neil Turok on the case for a parallel universe going backwards in time” at https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25734230-100-neil-turok-on-the-case-for-a-parallel-universe-going-backwards-in-time/.

See “Only Talking Valuation” at https://deanwesleysmith.com/only-talking-valuation/.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 710 words

Writing of Wes Crowley: Deputy US Marshal 2 (WCG9SF4)

Day 1…… 3231 words. Total words to date…… 3231
Day 2…… 2990 words. Total words to date…… 6221
Day 3…… 1805 words. Total words to date…… 8026

Total fiction words for January……… 44848
Total fiction words for 2023………… 44848
Total nonfiction words for January… 17490
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 17490
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 62338

Calendar Year 2023 Novels to Date…………………… 1
Calendar Year 2023 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2023 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 72
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31

Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer because of my zen-like non-process. If you want to learn it too, either hang around or download my Journal Archives at https://hestanbrough.com/the-daily-journal-archives/, read them, and try WITD for yourself.