The Journal, Friday, 9/11: Going On the Cheap

Up right at 2 this morning. Again, by 3 a.m. I was writing. That’ll work. The retraining continues. I’m noticing I seem to have less self-discipline the older I get. Is that how it’s supposed to work? No walking today. With over 7 miles two days ago and almost 6 miles yesterday, I’m taking a day off from walking. Okay, got a lot of writing done today as well as a cover for “Finding Harold.” It … Read more

Writing and Selling Short Fiction

Hi Folks, I’m thinking about doing a daylong seminar on this. It would depend on interest. If you happen to be interested and able to travel to Tucson, let me know by email please at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. A brief announcement for a friend. JoAnn Popek and Deborah Owen recently told me about a no-fee short story contest. The deadline is September 15 though, so get cracking. (grin) For guidelines, visit Creative Writing Institute and scroll down. I’ve had questions … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 9/9: Retraining

One more fairly major change to this blog. I’ve changed it so the full post appears in your email. You’ll still have the option of reading the whole thing in your browser where it looks a lot better. And of course I’ll continue to hope you will refer this to others, but you can also just read the whole thing in your email now. This won’t help those who don’t bother to even open the email, … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 9/8: Challenges

Rolled out a little before 2 this morning. I think I’m almost caught up on my rest. Still, not much in the mood to write, although I’d better GET in the mood as the clock is ticking for the next short story. (grin) Again I didn’t do much this morning but catch up on more of my preferred reading. Later I also opened all the pics (over 400) from the Gila trip. I separated out the … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 9/7: Reading

As you can see from the title of this post, beginning today I’m offering a slightly different format. I’m including at least a hint at the Topic of the Post in the title. When I don’t include a topic for that day, I’ll try to slip something in there to give you an idea of what the post is about. I’m also going to be removing older posts from the website. They take up unnecessary space, … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 9/6

No doubt on our way back from playing around in Gila National Wilderness or someplace just as wild. No entry today about the day. Just some musing and some silliness, as you will see below. Few things are more enjoyable than writing a brand new story. As I’ve been telling anyone who will listen, just give a character a problem, drop him into a setting, put your fingers on the keyboard and go for it. It’s … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 9/2

The Day Rolled out a little before 3. Still have a bug but it’s not a major deal. Just very slight headaches that come and go accompanied by (also very slight) chills/fever and nausea. Just blah, y’know? I did get out for a walk. I decided to do hills, into and out of a wash off Sybil Road. I hoped to shove whatever this is on through my system, but that doesn’t work like it did … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 9/1 (Yay!)

The Day Rolled out a little after 2. It’s September 1, a shiny brand-new month. New possibilities, newly re-set goals. Thank goodness. Coffee and email to wake up. No walk today. Had a violent storm come through here yesterday. That and this little bug that’s taken hold of me recently will keep me from walking today. I’ll walk tomorrow for sure. A good long one. Well, back to writing today. It is September 1. No real … Read more

Narrative, Dialogue and the Fantasy of Balance

Note: This post first appeared in my blog in 2012. I’ve updated it with new information. Hi Folks, Seems like every other week or so someone reports to me that a writing instructor or contest judge or other self-appointed expert has advised that the writer should use less dialogue and more narrative in a given story. Recently, a respondent recalled the exact wording the professor of ludicrosity used: “If you change a lot of this dialogue … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 8/31 (Yay!)

The end of a month. A horrible month. Whew. Glad to see this one end. The Day Rolled out a little before 3. I was up late (for me) last night working with web browsers. I’ll tell you the rest in the Topic below. A personal note — I’ve received a few emails recently from some of you expressing concern for what’s going on. Really, nothing. Just life. (grin) But I’m doing a mostly daily journal here, … Read more