In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Mostly “Of Interest”
* Of Interest
Quotes of the Day
“In his memoir On Writing, Stephen King reflected, ‘Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.’ At the suggestion of a friend, the writer [Ann] Patchett attached a sign-in sheet to the door of her writing room to ensure she wrote every day.” Kalpana Jain, theconversation.com
“No matter how accomplished a writer, he or she will inevitably struggle with writer’s block.” Kalpana Jain, theconversation.com
Hmm. I guess that’s good to know. But up to this point, um, nope. Even though the science is probably settled, I suppose I’m a writer’s-block denier. (grin) h
Mostly “Of Interest”
This post is primarily to pass along the items in “Of Interest.” Some good stuff there.
If my inane rant about Google and their 2-factor authentication annoyed you, I apologize. I’m pretty sure that rant is what prompted a few folks to unsubscribe. Everybody has a bad day now and then, or at least that is my assumption. I suppose I also trust my subscribers to put up with me.
But I really should keep such thoughts to myself. It won’t happen again. For the record, I wasn’t annoyed about 2FA so much as that it was being mandated. I’m not big on others deciding what is or is not “for my own good.” Anyway, there’s a great post on 2FA in today’s “Of Interest.”
The other reason I’m keeping this brief is so I can get back to the novel. After a rocky start (normal for me) it’s on track and running.
I tossed out my previous start (even deleted the words from my overall word count for the month and year). I wrote a new start yesterday and experienced an overall gain of just over 100 words.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “AI Art and Audio” at https://deanwesleysmith.com/ai-art-and-audio/.
See “Handwriting Versus Typing” at https://killzoneblog.com/2022/10/handwriting-versus-typing.html. Ann S, you out there?
See “21 of the Best Opening Lines in Children’s Books” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/21-of-the-best-opening-lines-in-childrens-books/.
See “Why 2FA is failing and what should be done about it” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/why-2fa-is-failing-and-what-should-be-done-about-it/. The takeaway: don’t use 2FA in which the authentication is sent over SMS (your phone).
See “The 5,000-year history of writer’s block” at https://theconversation.com/the-5-000-year-history-of-writers-block-190037. Strictly for fun. If writer’s block existed I’d be screwed.
See “William Shatner: My Trip to Space Filled Me With ‘Overwhelming Sadness'” at https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/william-shatner-space-boldly-go-excerpt-1235395113/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 410 words
Writing of The Stirchians (novel, tentative title)
Day 1…… 4106 words. Total words to date…… 4106
Total fiction words for October……… 12308
Total fiction words for the year………… 132690
Total nonfiction words for October… 8680
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 161900
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 294590
Calendar Year 2022 Novels to Date…………………… 2
Calendar Year 2022 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2022 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 68
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: In this Journal, I discuss various aspects of the writing craft. I also illustrate, with my own writing, a Zen-like non-process called Writing Into the Dark and what is possible when you trust the characters to tell the story that they, not you, are living. This is by far the easiest, most liberating, and most fun way to tell a story. Best of all, WITD leads to greatly increase productivity and a rapid ascension along the learning curve because you get a great deal more Practice. This is not opinion. It is all numbers and facts.