In today’s Journal
* Oof. The novel
* Topic: Freedom to Read Statement
* The Numbers
Well, no Journal yesterday (my novel and I were arguing) and not much of one today. Sorry about that.
Oof. This novel’s being difficult. This one is writing harder than any since way back in the Wes Crowley series when I wrote Book 3 as a bridge between Books 2 and 4. That one was difficult for a reason, though. I had to merge two timelines. Honestly, I’m not sure why this one’s being difficult.
Anyway, I haven’t hit my daily word count goal of 4,000 WPD since I started this one. In fact, at almost 19,000 words in, I’m thinking about scrapping this one, just tossing it out, and recasting it from the beginning. That might work out better. We’ll see. I’ll give it another day or two.
And there are only 9 days left in March. I’m gonna have to do some kicking to finish this one this month, and that’s one of my short-term goals. But I’m not feeling any pressure in that regard either.
It would be nice personally to finish the first three months of the year with 6 novels in the can, all started and finished this year. But it isn’t like anything bad will happen if I miss it by a day or two. It’s fun to think of being on pace to write 24 novels in a year. (That is not a goal.)
Anyway, I’m not looking for advice, just whining a little. I’ll get over it and the characters will get me back on track. I posted this one mostly to get “Of Interest” out to you today.
Topic: Freedom to Read Statement
If you read nothing else today, please read “The Freedom to Read Statement” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-freedom-to-read-statement/.
A few years ago I never would have believed I’d be reading a statement like this, or the unfortunate necessity of it. IMHO, this statement is no less important than the Declaration of Independence was over 240 years ago.
Now, as others have said, it will be interesting to see whether the ALA and other signatories will walk the walk. But regardless, it is first up to writers—us—to refuse to bow to censorship of any kind, to refuse to let anyone tell us what we can or can’t include in a short story or novel.
I’ve bookmarked the OP and linked to it on the home page of my main site. It strikes me that this statement might as easily have come directly from the freedom-dreaming opposition in the pages of Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 or Huxley’s Brave New World.
If you’d like to see the OP, click The American Library Association (et al) joint Freedom to Read Statement.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Beware of Books!” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/beware-of-books/. It’s what we’ve allowed to happen. And be sure to see PG’s take. One more reason I’m independent.
See “New True Crime Book + Exciting Opportunities” at https://www.suecoletta.com/new-true-crime-book-exciting-opportunities/.
See “Post Just For Writers” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/post-just-for-writers/.
See “What We Can Learn From Movies About Failed Writers” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/03/what-we-can-learn-frommovies-about-failed-writers.html.
See “How To Write A Cozy Mystery” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/how-to-write-a-cozy-mystery/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 520 words
Writing of The Journey Home: Part 9 (novel)
Day 1…… 2019 words. Total words to date…… 2019
Day 2…… 3650 words. Total words to date…… 5669
Day 3…… 3760 words. Total words to date…… 9429
Day 4…… 2834 words. Total words to date…… 12263
Day 5…… 2959 words. Total words to date…… 15222
Day 6…… 3394 words. Total words to date…… 18616
Total fiction words for March……… 55604
Total fiction words for the year………… 254612
Total nonfiction words for March… 16850
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 62880
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 317492
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 59
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: In this blog, I provide advice on writing fiction. I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. To be crystal clear, WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever say it is. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other topics.