In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* In Case You’ve Wondered
* Writing in Public: The Saga of Maldito
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“90 percent of design is typography. And the other 90 percent is whitespace.” Jeffrey Zeldman
In Case You’ve Wondered
I haven’t started a new novel yet because I’m up to here in another project. Once I get my teeth into something, it’s difficult to let go until I’m finished. (grin)
Especially when I enjoy it. I’m having fun and I’m increasing my inventory. Those are the only two requirements of writing fiction as a day job.
Remember I said I was cycling over some of my old magic realism short stories to bring them up to date with my skill level now as opposed to when I wrote them back in 2014?
That’s what I’m doing. I’m reading each of them, and mostly reparagraphing them for pacing. Today, I know pacing, cliffhangers and hooks intimately.
Back in 2014, I had no clue.
So I’m reading them for pleasure, a function of the creative subconscious. And I’m cycling as I go.
As I read, my fingers rest on the keyboard. As a new paragraph should begin, my right pinkie hits the Enter key. Occasionally the characters insert or change a word here and there.
BUT — I know that I won’t slip into editing (critical mind). If I thought I might, I wouldn’t touch the stories. I would let them stand as a marker of my skill level back when I wrote them.
And because individual stories and novels are not important in the slightest, that’s exactly what I do with most of my work. I advise you to do the same.
Note: I very seldom “look back” and do something like this, and unless you’ve rid yourself of all the myths, I advise you never to do it.
But I mentioned that I’m also increasing my inventory. How?
First, because I want to get them out as quickly as possible, I’ve decided to post them to my Writing in Public substack. They will go live beginning today at 4 p.m. (See below for more details.)
Even for those who have read them before, reading them again will be a brand-new experience. They will be a great deal easier to read than they were in their original form, and a great deal more entertaining.
Second, when I’ve finished, I will also publish them again in a new, fairly long collection (at least ten stories). I’m not sure of the title yet.
And third, they will also go live, albeit one story per week, on the Stanbrough Writes substack (free short stories) beginning on December 22.
Even as much as I’m enjoying re-reading these particular stories, it will feel wonderful to begin putting new words on the page again.
That will happen sooner rather than later.
Writing in Public: The Saga of Maldito
Just a heads-up.
As I mentioned above, since I’m breathing new life into this series of magic realism short stories (and maybe writing another story or two to go with them) I’ve decided to post them “live” on my Writing in Public substack.
The Saga of Maldito: 1 (Eufemia and José) will go live today at 4 p.m.
If you are already subscribed to Writing in Public, you will receive the story in your inbox. If you are not subscribed and would like to read it, click the link above. If you want to subscribe, share the post, or leave a comment, click the appropriate link at the end of the story.
Each story stands alone, but each is also interrelated to those that follow it. In this way, the overall saga is similar in form to Isabel Allende’s The Stories of Eva Luna. If you enjoy magic realism, I encourage you to look up that book.
Here’s the introduction I wrote for this series of stories on Substack:
This short magic realism saga consists of several interrelated short stories that I have recently brought back to life. I wrote them originally in 2014 under a persona and pseudonym.
The first five stories areautobiographical. They are the story of the early life of Gervasio Arrancado, which roughly translates “Warrior Torn Off.”
The final stories are not directly about Maldito, but they are related to the first five in different ways, as you will see. If you enjoy magic realism and tall tales, I hope you will enjoy these.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Dead Right – Guest Post by Dr. Betty Kuffel
Hemingway-Monologue-to-the-Maestro A must-read for anyone serious about the craft of writing. I’ve also added this as a free download to the Archives page at the Journal. (Thanks to Bob B for sending this.)
Typography Interesting photos.
The Timeless Power of Universal Themes in Fiction
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 1030
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date…… XXXXX
Fiction for November…………………… 52368
Fiction for 2023…………………………. 371012
Fiction since August 1………………… 38710
Nonfiction for November……………… 19750
Nonfiction for the year……………… 247640
Annual consumable words………… 615145
2023 Novels to Date……………………… 8
2023 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2023 Short Stories to Date……………… 7
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………… 79
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)…… 235
Short story collections…………………… 31
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.