On Specificity and Clarity in Writing

Hey Folks, I was going to write a whole post on this topic, but really, that isn’t necessary. It’s a personal pet-peeve kind of thing. And far be it from me to foist my “beliefs” on anyone else. What pet peeve? Well, people who write things and then postulate—not even apologetically but more apoplectically and with a wag of the hand—that “The reader will know what I mean.”  Those folks get on my nerves. Deep and … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 5/22

Hey Folks, During my morning reading, I hit upon an article titled “A Publisher Tries Podcasts As A Gateway To Audiobooks.” I’d be interested in knowing what you think of this. I’ve toyed with the idea of starting a podcast, perhaps as an extension of the June challenge. Maybe in July I’d read the short stories I wrote for the challenge in June. Something like that. So whaddya think? Interesting? Something you’d listen to? Something you … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 5/21

Hey Folks, Well, I decided early this isn’t going to be a writing day today either. I have to get my office situation settled out. Worked on that the better part of the day and think it’s finally there. Tomorrow I’ll dive back into the novel. It’s been going great. No problems at all, and my favorite dictum, “just write the next sentence,” is easy on this one. So I’ll probably blow through a bunch of … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 5/20

Hey Folks, Well, I fully intended to write today, and I did, but only a little. I’ll call today a nonwriting day and pick it up again in the morning. Because Bryan might be heading out for Job Corps this week, we decided to take him down to the San Pedro River. We spent a couple of hours down there, and we got a ton of pictures. I posted a lot on Facebook. But when I … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 5/19

Hey Folks, Well, I was relieved when yesterday’s Journal posted to my inbox shortly after 7 p.m. Remember you can always read the current or back issues of the Journal at http://harveystanbrough.com/category/daily-journal/. Really looking forward to today, and the month is finally moving too fast. Hard to believe today is already Friday. I have other life-roll things coming up, but thankfully they’re all in this month (so far, knock on wood). So June’s still a Go … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 5/18

Hey Folks, Huh. Not sure why MailChimp didn’t send last night’s post. Still, any hard-core followers went to the main site to check it out. The post was there. I put it up at around 5:15. And it was tagged appropriately (Daily Journal category) so MailChimp should have sent it out at 7. Here’s hoping it’ll go out today. I’m posting this at 4:41. There was no topic in yesterday’s post. The only matter of any … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 5/17

Hey Folks, Well, May is more than half-gone. I almost added “already,” but around here that isn’t really the case. The month thus far has seemed to drag by. I was dawdling much of the morning. Still not happy with my office, so I adjusted the furniture again and ended up putting it all back. What I need is a desk that’s around 4 feet wide and around 2 feet deep. (My old one was 5 … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 5/16

Hey Folks, Well, kind of a mixed bag today. I did a lot of non-writing stuff and still managed to knock out almost 3000 words. Details below. Today, and Writing Rolled out a little before 4. Still catching up on my sleep, I think. By 5:30 I’d had my coffee and read everything I recommended to you below in “Of Interest” plus some other stuff. Around 7 I went to the grocery and was back by … Read more

A Personal Challenge and an Invitation

Hi Folks, I set myself a personal challenge. For the month of June, I want to write a new short story every day. That’s tough enough. But in addition to that, I want to write those stories truly “in public.” I want the public to be able to watch virtually as the stories grow, scene to scene. To that end, in the original challenge, I was going to paste each scene to a Facebook page I … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 5/15

Hey Folks, Back to writing sometime today. Maybe a short story, maybe a novel start (or both). I also have in mind two good series characters. Each has a great name and a strong personality. One is male and one female. Not because I want to keep things equal, but because that’s who they are. I also have some other pressing things to do, not the least of which is extending the roof of the carport … Read more