A Day Off and Reminders

August 17, 2024 by Harvey

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* A New Short Story
* A Day Off
* A Few Reminders
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quotes of the Day

“Why think structure when the structure is already thunk in the old brain cells?” Dan Baldwin

“I swing big, with everything I’ve got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.” Babe Ruth

A New Short Story

“A Smattering of Angels” went live yesterday on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out.

If you enjoy it, tell Everyone. If you don’t, shhh! (grin)

A Day Off

After I sent TNDJ out to everyone and wrote most of this short post, I took the rest of yesterday off. I was up hyper-early, had far little sleep, etc.

When I opened the current novel, the character took one look at me, crossed his arms, and said, “Dude, you are in no shape to be playing in my world. Go away.”

I always listen to and trust my characters. So I took a day off. No writing on the novel or anything else other than TNDJ.

I spent the rest of the day sitting around, watching TV etc. and relaxing. I literally don’t remember the last time I did that.

Today I’ll be back in Tunis, Tunisia, about to board a quick flight to Rome with Sam Gentry. We’ll see what happens after that.

A Few Reminders

Subscribe if you haven’t already, punch the Like button, and ring the bell for notifications so you don’t miss out on one single, uber-exciting—

Oh, wait. That isn’t me. That’s my buddy, bestselling author Vin Zandri on his YouTube channel. Check it out.

Okay, so the reminders—

1. Subscribe if you haven’t already.

a. If you’re comped but not a regular donor or paid subscriber, you’ll have to do that by clicking here.

b. If you’re a free subscriber, Substack will probably show you a button that says Upgrade to Paid or something. Click that.

c. If you’re a recent subscriber, free or paid, be sure to check the Gifts & Free Archives page on the Journal website. Lots of good stuff there, and no bullship myths about fiction writing.

2. Check out the two big challenges I recently issued and jump in. The cost is certainly right and you will absolutely benefit.

3. If you want a mentorship with me on anything to do with the craft of writing or on overcoming the critical voice or on writing into the dark, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.

But do it soon. This shot at mentorship enrollment closes on Sunday, August 18, at midnight Arizona time. Again, a mentorship will never cost more than you can afford.

4. You Bradbury types, get your info in to me before the Journal goes live on Monday morning.

5. Finally, if you want quality nonfiction books on writing and/or escapist fiction across several genres—even if only to verify for yourself that I practice what I preach—save some money and buy direct from StoneThread Publishing.

Okay, I think that’s it for today. Now I need to catch up with Sam Gentry and see what’s going on. Good on Sam for being so patient with me.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

Riley Sager talks writing a book a year… Sorry. To each his own, but I think—no, I know—if I was writing “a book a year” I’d quit and go fishing. If anybody listens to this, lemme know if he says anything useful.

The Numbers

The Journal……………………………… 550

Writing of Blackwell Ops 27: Sam Gentry

Day 1…… 3004 words. To date…… 3004
Day 2…… 2111 words. To date…… 5115
Day 3…… 1726 words. To date…… 6841
Day 4…… 2092 words. To date…… 8933
Day 5…… 1306 words. To date…… 10239
Day 6…… 2523 words. To date…… 12762
Day 7…… 3018 words. To date…… 15780
Day 8…… 1443 words. To date…… 17223
Day 9…… 3024 words. To date…… 20247
Day 10…. 2275 words. To date…… 22522
Day 11…. 1566 words. To date…… 24088

Fiction for August…………………….….… 24088
Fiction for 2024………………………….… 516576
Fiction since October 1………………… 756138
Nonfiction for August……………………… 14780
Nonfiction for 2024……………………… 261790
2024 consumable words………………… 714871

2024 Novels to Date……………………… 11
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)……………… 93
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 241
Short story collections…………………… 29

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 are lies, and they will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.