In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* An Open Letter to a Control Freak
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“Believe in your work. If someone is trying to mold it into something it’s not, you need to stand up to him or her and take your work back.” Vincent Zandri (see Of Interest)
An Open Letter to a Control Freak
Recently, a guy named Matthew Louis wrote a post on a Substack to which I’d subscribed several months ago. I was unable to leave a comment, so I’ve since unsubscribed.
But I’m all about transparency. You can read his post at Stephen King and the Pantsing vs. Plotting Debate. I only wish I had Stephen King’s email addy so I could bring this to his attention.
As you read his post, look at all the lies and half-truths. Pretty ballsy of him to center his post around Stephen King who, you know, writes into the dark.
Why are these people so threatened by those of us who choose to write into the dark?
Please notice that in this partial rebuttal—unlike the author of that post—I don’t mind presenting his side of things. That’s because you have a right to choose how you want to write.
So why’s he gotta twist the facts? And again, why does he find those of us who write into the dark such a threat?
An exchange of views is something you’ll never see on any site that promotes the myths. The best they’ll ever do is say “Whatever works for you.” But if they find out that what “works” for you is WITD, they’ll immediately dogpile on you. Been there, was subjected to that.
Still, this is only a partial rebuttal because I don’t want to waste anymore time on this guy than is necessary to point out a few of his lies. I don’t care how you choose to write, but I do care that you know the truth.
And yes, I’ve searched for Matthew Louis on Amazon. He’s written zero novels that I could find, though he IS credited as a co-author of a Paul Cain book (Fast One, originally published in the 1930s) because he had the chutzpah to write an unsolicited introduction.
Sorry, folks, but writing an introduction for a book written by a guy who died in the 1960s and calling yourself a ‘co-author’ is just wrong. That isn’t a writer. That’s a ride-along. Like mistletoe ‘riding along’ on another tree.
When I read that post I almost wanted to upgrade to paid just so I could leave a comment. But of course, I didn’t. Leaving a comment wouldn’t have made a difference. Instead, I just unsubscribed.
Yes, I’m aware unsubscribing made no difference either. He’ll have thousands of wannabe writers cheering him on.
Sadly, probably fewer than one one-hundredth of one percent of them will ever become actual fiction writers specifically because they follow the myths: The myths don’t enhance creativity. They stifle it.
But hey, you can’t save everybody. Especially those who are scared of their own shadow.
The bottom line is this: The guy didn’t say anything I haven’t heard a zillion times from other control freaks who are scared to death that if they don’t control their characters somebody might not like them.
He also didn’t mention even one time the hundreds of old pulp writers who wrote millions of words of fiction for a penny per word or less and made a good living.
All because they understood they were paid to write—not rewrite—and as a result, they wrote into the dark.
Here are just a few key points.
Unlike what Matthew Louis wrote in his post, these are actually true and there’s no hidden agenda:
1. Nobody who writes into the dark EVER said you don’t have to learn the craft. Not one time. Ever. We who WITD, in fact, say you DO have to learn the craft.
2. Of course, we also teach that you should actually PRACTICE. You’ll never hear that from anyone who pushes the myths.
Practice means putting new words on the page. Nobody ever learned anything new about writing by hovering over a single work with editing passes, critiques, and rewrites. Your time is limited. Use it wisely.
3. We also say that you have naturally absorbed some craft and structure—without even realizing it consciously—from reading and from watching stories acted out on TV and in movies. All of that structure and storytelling seeps into your subconscious without you even knowing it.
4. We also say Yes, you should also learn with your conscious, critical mind. The CCM exists only so you can learn, and to protect you from harm.
But when it comes time to write (create) we recommend you create with the create-ive subconscious. How in anyone’s world does that NOT make sense?
5. Writing with the creative mind renders a more authentic story. After all, the characters, not the writer (and CERTAINLY not some self-styled holier-than-thou control-freak editor and wannabe writer) are actually living the story.
6. We who WITD also don’t produce “half-formed” characters.
The guy should get his facts straight: We who WITD don’t ‘form’ characters at all. We choose to let the characters be who they actually are and to reveal who they are as the story unfolds. You know, naturally, like people do in Real Life.
And here’s a news flash: We do that intentionally instead of forcing our own vision of what we ‘think’ our characters should be on them with ‘character sketches’.
The same goes for so-called ‘world building’. Hey, let the world be what it is and let it develop as it will while the story unfolds.
The End Game
I wouldn’t let this guy edit so much as a word of my fiction, and I have a really strong feeling that neither Stephen King nor Paul Cain would either.
Finally, as arguably the world’s foremost outspoken proponent of writing into the dark, I NEVER tell people they ‘have’ to write that way.
In fact, I only recommend they try it. And I remind them that they can always go back to the safety nets of the myths if they want to. And of course, they can.
But I’m guessing even that concession is too much of a variance from the goose-stepping formation the guy would like to see us all in.
In the end it all comes down to believing in yourself and trusting your characters.
If you can’t bring yourself to believe in yourself and trust your characters to live their own story, then by all means, stick with the myths.
Hey, it’s your loss, Matthew. Maybe someday you’ll be able to release your fears and move up to the adults’ table.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
I Stand Corrected! Vin’s too classy to mention any names, but I have a feeling he’s talking about a guy like the one I talked about in the above post.
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 1150
Mentorship Words…………….. 0
Total Nonfiction…………………. 1150
Writing of Blackwell Ops 53: Jack Striker | The Next Level
Day 1…… 2035 words. To date………… 2035
Day 2…… 2217 words. To date………… 4252
Day 3…… 3751 words. To date………… 8003
Day 4…… 2218 words. To date………… 10221
Day 5…… 2181 words. To date………… 12402
Day 6…… 1673 words. To date………… 14075
Day 7…… 1972 words. To date………… 16047
Day 8…… 2081 words. To date………… 18128
Day 9…… 2694 words. To date………… 20822
Day 10…. 2712 words. To date………… 23534
Day 11…. 1581 words. To date………… 25115
Fiction for December……………………… 25115
Fiction for 2025…………………………… 779762
Nonfiction for December.………………… 20620
Nonfiction for 2025………………..……… 285750
2025 consumable words………………… 1057943
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 18
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 36
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 122
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29