In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting
* Wes Crowley Book Sale (in Paper)
* My Comments on a TKZ Post
* Of Interest
Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting
As you can see, the challenge is still ongoing for some. Of course, others probably still are meeting or exceeding the challenge as well but simply aren’t reporting numbers to me, which is perfectly fine.
If anyone is having trouble with the challenge, I suggest you write the story for the week on the first day of the new week. Get it out of the way so you don’t have to worry about it, thereby reducing pressure on yourself. Also, that will leave room to write more than one story that week. (grin)
- Balázs Jámbor “Magic also happens” 1900 words, Spiritual fantasy
- Chynna Pace “Hotel Stinemere”, 6238 words, Horror
- Christopher Ridge “Loving Her…” 4300 words, Horror
- K.C. Riggs “The Grande Dame of Reims” 2803 words, General Fiction
Congratulations to all of you for knocking it out of the park.
Wes Crowley Book Sale (in Paper)
You’ll probably remember that a month or two ago I attended the first annual Tombstone Festival of books. So I would have adequate paper stock on hand (even just writing that seems SO archaic) I had ten copies of each of the first ten Wes Crowley novels printed and took them with me.
Back when I was young, I used to say of my beer-drinking prowess that I could “drink one, spill one, and give one away, and by then I was drunk off the fumes.”
Well, that’s about how the so-called festival went. I think I sold one, and I know I gave one away. And that was about all the movement my books experienced other than me putting them on the table and arranging them in the first place.
The festival was doomed from the beginning, really, and I should have known better. For one thing, it was held in the middle of the week instead of on a weekend. I guess the organizers had a bias against selling books to the thousands of tourists who flock to Tombstone each weekend.
For another, it was held in an historic but nondescript old building where the biggest concern of the organizers was that nothing be spilled on their floor. Consequently, no coffee, tea, soft drinks or even bottled water were allowed at the tables.
Okay, even I’m getting bored with this account. I won’t be going back for future iterations of the “festival” unless it undergoes a LOT of common-sense changes.
But in the meantime, I’m left with a lot of stock. So although most of my paper books are $15.99 plus shipping at Amazon, I’m offering what I have on hand for $10 each plus shipping. (Media rate shipping for the set of 10 is $6.50.)
So if any of you enjoy westerns and/or action-adventure and/or romance with a little psychological suspense and magic realism thrown in, and if you’d like to see whether I apply in my writing the same things I preach to you in the Journal, they’re available. For any serious students out there, this would also be an opportunity to see how my own storytelling skills changed for the better over time.
The first novel I ever wrote was Leaving Amarillo (Book 4 in the set). That was in October-November 2014. I wrote The Right Cut, the last novel in this set of 10 (and my 16th novel overall), in July of 2016. By contrast, the 11th and 12th novels in the original saga, In the Cantina at Noon and Wes Crowley: The Final Chapter, were my 43rd and 62nd overall novels and were published in July 2019 and July 2021 respectively.
Anyway, if you’re interested in buying some of these books, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.
My Comments on a TKZ Post
I’ve linked to the TKZ post “Revision and Omar Khayyam” in today’s “Of Interest” so you may read it if you like. However, I do not endorse anything in the article. Rather I mention it only so I can pass along the comments I left on the post:
Comment 1: “I revise as I go, though I call it ‘cycling’ to differentiate it from the critical-mind function that springs to mind when people hear the word “revise.”
“I write for an hour, usually a thousand to twelve hundred words of so, then break for a few seconds to a few minutes. When I return to the manuscript, I read over what I wrote during the previous session, allowing myself to touch the manuscript as I go. When I get back to the white space I continue writing the story.
“I do all of this from the creative subconscious. I would never allow my conscious, crtical mind to alter what actually happened in the story that my characters, not I, are living. That would just be silly. I create, I do not construct.”
Comment 2: “Oh, re ‘there are plenty of books and online resources with information about how to revise,’ unfortunately, you are right. There are also tons of books on dozens of other subjects that support writers’ unreasoning fears. Most are versions of each other.
“But there are a few books and resources out there for those who are interested in overcoming those fears and who want to explore alternatives to the self-defeating outline-[write]-revise-seek critical input-rewrite-polish construction process.
“Two of those books are my own Quiet the Critical Voice (and Write Fiction) (see https://stonethreadpublishing.com/quiet-the-critical-voice-and-write-fiction/) and Writing the Character-Driven Story (see https://stonethreadpublishing.com/writing-the-character-driven-story/). I also write an almost daily blog on writing at https://hestanbrough.com. Visit to get free resources.
“For those who are interested, I also recommend NY Times and USA Today bestseller Dean Wesley Smith’s Heinlein’s Rules & Five Simple Business Rules for Writing (see https://wmgpublishinginc.com/project/heinleins-rules/) and Writing into the Dark (see https://wmgpublishinginc.com/project/writing-into-the-dark/). For what it’s worth, his Stages of a Fiction Writer and How to Write Fiction Sales Copy are priceless too.”
So there you go. You might also read the other comments on the post if only to see how widespread the fear is. By and large, TKZ has become a mutual admiration society. Sigh.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Revision and Omar Khayyam” at https://killzoneblog.com/2023/04/revision-and-omar-khayyam.html. I do not recommend the advice in this article, but read my comments on it.
See “10 Working drones with amazing capabilities” at https://interestingengineering.com/ie-originals/ie-explainer/season-1/ep-18-10-working-drones-with-amazing-capabilities.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 1050
Writing of Wes Crowley: Deputy US Marshal 2 (WCG9SF4)
Day 11… 0323 words. Total words to date…… 19819
Day 12… 2445 words. Total words to date…… 22264
Day 13… 3184 words. Total words to date…… 25448
Total fiction words for April……… 17276
Total fiction words for 2023………… 83464
Total nonfiction words for April… 17900
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 80160
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 163624
Calendar Year 2023 Novels to Date…………………… 1
Calendar Year 2023 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2023 Short Stories to Date… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 72
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 221
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark, adherence to Heinlein’s Rules, and that following the myths of fiction writing will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.