The Journal, Tuesday, 5/31

Hey Folks, Yay, the last day of May! Okay, but more than likely today will be a nonwriting day. I’m going to treat it like that from the beginning. In fact, today for me is Idea Day. I’m gathering ideas for the stories I’ll start writing tomorrow for my June Challenge. For details, see https://www.facebook.com/HarveyStanbroughWritingInPublic/. Mona and I have to be in Tucson at 8 a.m. for her first appointment, and then she has another one … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 5/30

Hey Folks, Unsure what the day will hold. But my son is safely ensconced in his new life in Flagstaff, my wife goes to her job today, and my grandson is still mired in “hurry up and wait” mode. So probably I’ll start a new novel. (grin) I’m excited about the new series for which the the novel I just finished will provide the basis. BUT… I’m kind’a jonesing to write in a different genre. Or … Read more

Reverse Outlines Revisited

Hey Folks, This first appeared as a topic over at my Daily Journal at http://hestanbrough.com. It also sprang from a comment (a question from another writer) on Dean Wesley Smith’s website. Awhile back I talked about writing a “reverse outline.” The idea is, as you write your novel off into the dark (no pre-plotting, outlining, etc.) sometimes keeping track of characters, what they’re wearing, major situations, etc. becomes cumbersome. Now when I write a novel, I … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 5/29

Hey Folks, I allowed Microsoft to install the “Creator Upgrade” (something like that) on my computer yesterday. This morning when I started to write on my novel, I wrote about three words and my cursor was jumping all over the place because of the incidental contact of my palm with the touchpad. Okay, it’s a new update, so I assumed I needed to go back into my Device Settings and disable the touchpad again. Nope. Can’t … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 5/28

Hey Folks, Well, today or tomorrow I should finish my WIP. This will be my 25th novel (plus 3 novellas). My son’s still visiting at least part of today, so that and other things will decide whether I finish today. Reflecting Reflecting back on May, I kind of wish I’d been able to have the writing days (10) all in a row. I could easily have gotten ahead on my goal of writing 15 novels on … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 5/27

Hey Folks, When I started the day, I thought I might finish the novel today. Then again, it’s Saturday, and my son is still here. So I’ll play it by ear. Since I realized I’ll finish the novel this month with no problem, I’ve kind of relaxed. Plus with the June challenge coming up, relaxing’s probably a good idea. (grin) That’s gonna be hectic, but it’ll be a good kind of hectic. I do plan to … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 5/26

Hey Folks, Well, the good news is, barring any major tragedies, I’ll finish the novel this month. The sort-of bad news is that I know the ending already. I hadn’t created a reverse outline for it yet, so I started the day by doing that. But as I developed the reverse outline, the storyline became clearer than it usually is at this point. And the ending stood up and waved at me. Did I use that … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 5/25

Hey Folks, Not a lot to report today. A lot of little nonwriting problems swimming around in my world right now. Most of them aren’t mine, but they belong to family members so I’m not getting as much done as I’d like. I’m almost looking forward to June 1, just because my focus will be one day at a time, one story at a time, even one scene at a time. Not that I’ll necessarily nail … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 5/24

Hey Folks, Whew! Had a pretty good party yesterday on a picnic table under the shade of a desert ash tree in the front yard. Mostly it was my son and grandson, me, music videos on my computer, and Negra Modelo. My wife came out a few times, and my neighbor stopped by for a little while. By and large, I don’t drink alcohol to any extent. I usually have a six pack in the fridge, … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 5/23

Hey Folks, Happy birthday to my dad. He would have been 89 years old today. He’s been gone just under 30 years, having left far too soon just to show everyone he could. Today my youngest son comes in from Indiana, so I’m not sure what I’ll get done today. Also my wife is home ill today, so. But we’ll see. Today, and Writing Rolled out way late at 4:30 after a “late” night getting to … Read more