Hi Folks, Last day of the month. I’m hoping for a really good day to close this one out and give me some momentum going into the last month of the year. But it’ll be what it’ll be, and I’m not overly worried about it. The novel’s moving along smoothly and that’s all that matters. I’m also going to work walking back into my schedule. I always get lax when the weather turns colder, and I … Read more
Hi Folks, Well, four good days in a row thus far. Before today. Missed my daily goal of 4,000 words per day on all four days, so not excellent, but good. With over 3,000 words per day on those days, that’s failing to success. Maybe I’ll tip 4,000 today. I’ve found that several times in the (now) five days I’ve been writing this novel I’ve had to remind myself that it isn’t important. It can be … Read more
Hi Folks, Not really much going on today, as you’ll see below. I almost let my head back into this one for a little while. You know the drill. Feeling like I needed to “figure out” something or other. Ugh. Anyway, it turned out it was two of my characters (from different parts/times in the story) vying for my attention. (More on this below.) Once I remembered there was nothing for me to “figure out,” that … Read more
Hi Folks, Okay, so for various reasons I didn’t get to the novel until almost 10 this morning. Ugh. Still, I don’t usually hit the sack until around 7 or 8, so I should be able to carve 4 or 5 hours of writing time out of that 9 or 10 remaining hours. (grin) The Day Rolled out right at 3. Reading DWS’ blog and the comments. Pretty good topics for the past several days, but … Read more
Hi Folks, Thanksgiving. Who knew? Still, a pretty standard day around here except for football and great cooking smells emanating through the house as I write. For the second day in a row after I set a new daily goal of 4,000 words, I’m gonna miss it. This one, though, I’ll kind’a forgive myself. Very difficult to concentrate on anything while part of my brain is thinking of the feast to come later. The Day Rolled … Read more
Sorry Folks, At 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, a post (The Daily Journal) went out that wasn’t supposed to go to my “big” list. It won’t happen again. And then I found out I couldn’t send this out until the next day. Sigh. Sorry. If you would like for some reason to subscribe to The Daily Journal, you may do so by visiting the website at HarveyStanbrough.com and click The Daily Journal link in the right … Read more
Well, I’m back. Finally. And I won’t leave again unless it’s feet first. I promise. Listen, if you’d rather not receive this, please don’t just unsubscribe. Please email me at HarveyStanbrough@gmail.com and I’ll remove your name from this list myself. It makes a difference over at MailChimp. Thanks. When I wrote here last, I was writing fiction pretty much every day, in addition to writing this (daily) blog as well as my main Pro Writers blog, … Read more
Don’t do it. There. End of lecture. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that’s all it took? If you’re a writer and if you’re serious about your work and if you want others to take you seriously, invest in your product (your writing, your cover, your book). The rest of this post is assuming that you already are investing time and money into learning your craft (writing). But the actual writing is only the beginning of the … Read more
Hi Folks, Okay, for the first time ever, I’m doing a promotion with my novel series. For the next three weeks, from right now through December 5, the first title of the Wes Crowley saga—The Rise of a Warrior—is priced at FREE at Smashwords. Also for the next three weeks, the second title in that series—Comanche Fire—is priced at 99 cents, also at Smashwords. Notice, you don’t need a coupon to purchase these books at these prices. … Read more
Hi Folks, Okay, here is Part Two of what might be the most valuable post you’ll ever read about writing fiction. Again, I’m not kidding. (Even got the same pic in case you want to share.) The necessary preliminary stuff was in the previous post, so if you missed that one, I suggest you go back and read it first. In summary — To write a story (any length) you need only to write an opening. … Read more