Only Seven Days Left!
In Today's Journal
* A New Short Story
* Bradbury Reminder
* Only Seven Days Left!
* A Different Reminder
* Still Thinking About Recording
* D2D EPUB Validator
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
A New Short Story
"Fireball" went live Friday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It's free. Hint: Expect irreverence.
If you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both help with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else.
Bradbury Reminder
Today is Sunday. Just a reminder to get your Bradbury Challenge story info in to me before the Journal goes live on Monday.
Only Seven Days Left
and at present, I have only 5 contest entrants and only 5 short stories submitted.
C'mon, read a little Hemingway, steal a phrase or sentence for your story idea or for an epigram or title, and then bang out a short story.
Echoes of Hemingway Short Story Contest
No entry fee.
Everyone is eligible.
Deadline May 31, 2025.
There are cash prizes.
If I receive enough quality entries, an anthology will result.
For contest rules, click Short Story Contest or The New Daily Journal: Short Story Contest.
A Different Reminder
POV Transitions
If you'd like a copy of Chapters 1-2 of Blackwell Ops 10: Jeremy Stiles, email me. It's an example how how to transition smoothly from 3rd person POV to 1st person POV.
It might be examples of other things too. I forget. I made it available as an example of something or it wouldn't be in my Examples folder.
Cliffhanger/Hook Combos
I still have available some examples of cliffhanger/hook combinations as well as some examples of introductory hooks (hooks that don't follow a cliffhanger).
Finally, I still have available
A novel template
A short story template
A sample spreadsheet
By "template" I mean all you have to do is save-as your own file name, then start typing. All the formatting's in place.
Email me if you want any or all of those.
Still Thinking About Recording
some next-level fiction seminars. Of course, they won't be 'live' so we'll miss the back and forth interaction, but the information will still be there and you can always email me with questions.
Since I often use the term "next level" in TNDJ I wanted to talk a little about that. Shared definitions are key to transparency, and you should demand transparency from anyone who's teaching you anything.
First and foremost, next-level means advanced techniques, and of course all of those build on other general and specific techniques that you might or might not have mastered yet.
For just one example of one of those more basic techniques, each new appearance or reappearance of a character or "camera angle" in narrative should get a new paragraph.
If you ask, I'll do my best to address those bedrock techniques and build a bridge for you from there to whatever next-level technique we're discussing.
Most of the next-level techniques I present involve minuscule nuances of dialogue and/or description (narrative), the sequence of presentation, and so on.
If you're a Stage 3 or early Stage 4 writer and are on the verge of mastering or have mastered some of those other techniques, receiving next-level instruction in that same area of expertise can immediately raise your game.
But even if you haven't mastered some (or even any) of those bedrock techniques, receiving instruction in next-level techniques will at least make you aware of them.
That awareness will sink into your creative subconscious, and when you've mastered the techniques that underlie the next-level stuff, your writing skills will leap forward.
In other words, even a brand-new baby Stage 1 writer can benefit from posts (or seminars) by a Stage 4 writer, although s/he might not realize the benefit (or realize its full depth or potential) at the time.
Of course if I record those seminars, I'll tell you about them here. They won't be long and they won't be pricey, but they'll be chock full of information.
D2D EPUB Validator
Subscriber Dawn Turner sent along a link for anyone who prepares their own .epub documents.
D2D has a FREE epub validator, and you don't have to have a D2D account to use it. Here's the link: https://draft2digital.com/book/epubcheck/upload.
Of Interest
Dr. Mardy's Quotes of the Week: “Aims & Aiming”
Dead Pimp In A Trunk, by Paul D. Brazill Paul also has a story in the upcoming True Pulp Kickstarter. Stop by and show your support.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 730
Writing of Blackwell Ops 45: Sam Granger | Continuing Along the Ghost Trail
Day 1…… 2637 words. To date…… 2637
Day 2…… 3648 words. To date…… 6285
Fiction for May………………………... 78022
Fiction for 2025………………………. 456435
Nonfiction for May………………........ 20900
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 121990
2025 consumable words…………….. 571915
Average Fiction WPD (May)……...... 3251
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 11
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 27
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………..... 115
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 297
Short story collections……………………. 29
Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
Writing fiction should never be something that stresses you out. It should be fun. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Because of WITD and because I endeavor to follow those Rules I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too.
If you are able, please support TNDJ with a paid subscription. Thank you!
If you’re new to TNDJ, you might want to check out these links:
Oh, and here’s My Bio. It’s always a good idea to vet the expertise of people who are giving you advice.
Questions are always welcome at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. But please limit yourself to the topics of writing and publishing.
I'll have a 3K +/- story for you tomorrow or Tuesday at latest UH.