A Great Question

In today’s Journal

* New Book Available Free!
* Also
* A Great Question
* Yesterday
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

New Book Available! Free!

Enjoy a fast-paced, action-packed mystery?

I enjoyed writing my new Stern Talbot PI novel so much, I decided to release it NOW through Bookfunnel.

I really enjoyed writing this one! To get your copy of The Darling Members Club FREE, visit Bookfunnel.

Also

If you prefer, both The Case of the Wayward Accountant and The Darling Members Club are now available through Payhip for only $4 each.

See StoneThread Publishing on Payhip.

Both books will be available to the general public elsewhere on October 19 and November 2, respectively.

A Great Question

Tiffanie Gray, in a comment on yesterday’s Journal, asked an interesting, multi-faceted question “about writing into the dark, cycling and beta readers.”

First, here’s her full question:

If you write something and have your alpha/beta reader read it, and they say they have an issue with suspending disbelief on something that was written in the raw (uncycled) story, do you

1. Add more detail because you assume you (as the transcriber of the story) didn’t clarify it well enough (add all the character’s senses, observations) so they COULD believe it in story? (We are talking fiction here, talking dogs and flying horses.)

2. Change the scene because it’s interfering with the reader’s trance? (Maybe just cut it?)

3. Just leave it, as different readers have different “suspend disbelief” thresholds?

4. Something else?

I know if I’m writing the story for an anthology, I would change to the editor’s requests (Heinlein Rule) to get it accepted, and the editor is the audience in this case.

But if I’m writing for my own IP, how do I handle this? (And I’m not talking after-publication reviews; I’m talking the “while still cycling” timeframe.)

Yesterday in response to the actual comment, I was brief: “Definitely #3.” But there’s a lot more to it than that.

Here’s what I now have time to say. First I’ll address only the first paragraph of Tiffanie’s comment:

First, I don’t recommend using alpha/beta readers. The connotation of “alpha/beta readers” is that they will try to help you make the story better.

I DO use (and recommend) a good first reader, but his only responsibility is to let me know about wrong words, misspellings, etc that pop out at him as he’s Reading For Pleasure (not critically). I.e., he isn’t “looking for” anything.

The only other thing my first reader, Russ, mentions is anyplace where he’s shoved out of the story by awkward or confusing constructions, etc.

If you can’t find a good first reader who will do ONLY those things, I recommend letting the work sit for a day or two and then reading it aloud yourself. You’ll catch most problems if you read aloud.

If your a/b readers are having trouble “suspending disbelief,” it’s because they’re THINKING about it. “Hmm, does the story suspend my sense of disbelief?”

In other words, they aren’t simply reading for pleasure. They aren’t lost in the story. Like members of critique groups, they’re “looking for” specific things. As a result, they won’t allow themselves to be lost in the story. Now,

  • if readers aren’t reading for pleasure, that’s their fault. They’re failing miserably at the job, so if they’re your a/b readers, fire them. But
  • if they ARE reading for pleasure but are unable to suspend their sense of disbelief, that’s the writer’s fault.

How do I know? Because if they can’t suspend their sense of disbelief, they wouldn’t say it that way. They’d say they “can’t get into the story” or that the story’s “thin” or it’s “nice” or some such thing.

If they do that, I recommend asking them why they feel they can’t get into the story and where in the story that sense hit them.

Which brings me to a point Tiffanie mentioned in her next-to-the-last paragraph above:

If you’re “writing for an anthology”—

Um, first, it’s STILL your IP. If the anthology is going to claim all rights, don’t send it to them or withdraw it from consideration. You don’t have to change anything per the editor’s request.

Heinlein’s Rule 3 says “You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order.” In an addendum to that rule, Harlan Ellison clarified: “And then rewrite only if you agree.”

What Harlan said.

Heinlein’s Rule 3 doesn’t mean you HAVE to rewrite to editorial order. It only means you CAN rewrite, or not, to editorial order. It’s your story, so it’s your choice.

Now to your actual questions:

I. “Add more detail…?”

If you feel you need to “add more detail … (add all the character’s senses, observations)”—Again, until you’ve done your best on the story and all of that is behind you, other people shouldn’t even be reading it. Never let any critical mind, your own or others’, into your writing process.

Write, cycle until you get to the white space, then write some more. Lather, rinse, repeat. That’s the formula. Then run a spell checker. THEN send it to your first reader or whomever.

And even then, when you get feedback, apply what you agree with and ignore what you don’t agree with.

2. “Change the scene… [or] cut it?”

Dear god no! If a reader recommended I revise or rewrite a scene, I would tell him what Lee Child told his editor when his New York editor suggested that if he changed a scene or a sequence the story would be better: Child said, “I agree, but that isn’t what happened.”

3. “Just leave it…?”

Of course! But not because different readers have different thresholds of tolerance. Leave it because it’s what happened in the story. Not all readers like all stories. Shrug. Their loss.

4. “Something else?”

All of my “something else” is above, except this: I would NEVER send ANYONE my work before it’s finished (while still cycling, etc.).

When you do that, you’re opening yourself to criticism and basically begging them to help you change it. And frankly, that’s you not believing in yourself and your own abilities.

If you’re trying to LEARN what goes into a story opening (to ground the reader and pull him or her into the story), I’m still doing opening critiques.

Fifteen bucks all-in gets you a critique and maybe even a copyedit of your story opening. For information, click https://hestanbrough.com/critiques-of-openings/.

If you’re unsure of yourself, this will be the best $15 you’ve ever spent.

Yesterday

I started the day by finishing up all the business/publishing crap for the two books I mentioned above. I’m out of practice so that took around six hours:

  • finding cover art (always time consuming)
  • writing sales copy (descriptions) that do not reveal plot
  • creating/tweaking covers (always time consuming)
  • uploading files to D2D and Amazon
  • uploading files to my Payhip StoneThread Publishing page
    creating a new landing page on Bookfunnel for The Darling Members Club (a really good story)
  • updating the Mystery & Pulp PI page at StoneThread Publishing
  • creating the two new individual book pages on StoneThread publishing, and finally
  • writing the ad copy to entice readers to download the free book and/or buy both from my Payhip store.

Whew! See why I don’t like the publishing side of this nonsense?

In that six hours I could’ve written two or three short stories (depending on length) or at least a few chapters on a new novel.

So that was the first six hours. Then I spent a couple of hours on this post. Then we went to the grocery. (I needed a break. [grin]). And at 1 p.m. I turned my hand to writing again.

I didn’t write as much fiction as I wanted to, but enough for now. And this one’s Blackwell Ops 29, not 30 as I reported yesterday. Jumpin’ the gun a little there.

My New Adjusted Goal—

For the record, my new adjusted goal is to write 6 more novels and 13 more short stories before midnight, December 31, 2024.

Sorry this post is so long. Anyway, talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

Suicide Pods… Story ideas abound.

Gen Z, millennial, zillennial?…  Research stuff.

Black widow spider venom decoded… More knowledge.

Teachable Full Sale I know some of you are interested in some of Dean’s offerings. Email me for recommendations if you want.

The Numbers

The Journal……………………………… 1370

Writing of Blackwell Ops 29: John Quick

Day 1…… 1781 words. To date…… 1781

Fiction for October……………………. 29181
Fiction for 2024………………………… 770689
Nonfiction for October………………… 9550
Nonfiction for 2024……………………. 313140
2024 consumable words……………… 907868

Average Fiction WPD (October)……… 3648

2024 Novels to Date………………………… 14
2024 Novellas to Date……………………… 1
2024 Short Stories to Date…………………. 17
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………..……. 96
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………. 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………..… 254
Short story collections…………………….….. 29

I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules.

Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.

If you are able, please support TNDJ with a paid subscription. Thank you!