In today’s Journal
* Thought of the Day
* How to Continue Learning Craft
* On Pacing
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Thought of the Day
If any of you who read and enjoy or learn from Writing Fiction have a blog, please share the news about the book. It never hurts to help your fellow writers. As someone once said, a rising tide lifts all boats.
If you want to write a review on your blog or leave a review at Amazon or Goodreads or wherever, I appreciate that too. Gracias.
How to Continue Learning Craft
As I’ve said many times before, the best way to improve as a fiction writer is to keep writing fiction. To keep putting new words on the page.
Also, fortunately, the more titles you have “out there” with your name prominently displayed on them, the easier it is for readers to find your work and the more your discoverability will improve.
Discoverability is one reason I’m glad the Wes Crowley saga is a series of 22 novels instead of one long novel of over two million words. And why I’m glad the Journey home saga is a series of 10 novels instead of one big novel.
In the place of what could have been two very long, door-stop novels, there are 32 separate covers and 32 interconnected but separate stories out there with my name on the cover. Plus the other 54 novels, 9 novellas, and 230+ short stories (and 30+ collections) so far.
But it’s also important to keep learning and to apply to your writing the various parts of the craft that are new to you.
There are only a couple of ways to learn the various aspects of craft, and they’re both valid:
1. Read and absorb craft books. Obviously, I recommend the catch-all book Writing Fiction by yours truly. (grin)
You can also learn craft from writers who’ve sold a lot of books but still preach the myths. Just be be cautious and firm, and don’t slip back into the myths yourself.
2. Read stories or novels by your favorite authors. As you come across passages that blow you away or amaze you, mark the passage with a sticky note or something and keep reading.
2a. When you finish reading for pleasure, go back and study the passages you marked. Figure out how the writer blew you away or amazed you.
2b. Then, before you sit down to write fiction, think (conscious mind) about the aspect of craft that you want to practice. Maybe even go back and re-read that passage of fiction or that section or chapter of the craft book.
Doing either of those things will lodge the thought in your creative subconscious. More importantly, it will deliver your intention to your characters—and illustrate to them that you trust them—and they’ll run with it. Like you, they want you to convey their story as authentically and fully as you are able at your current level of skill.
3. Then say aloud or in your mind, “Okay, creative subconscious” (or “guys” since you’re talking to your characters) “I want to practice writing great hooks (or cliffhangers or openings or dialogue or pacing or whatever else) in this story/novel.”
4. Then sit down, give your keyboard and your fingertips over to your characters and your creative subconscious, and write whatever comes. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much your ability to apply that aspect of craft will improve as you’re writing.
Only one caution—When you’ve learned something new, resist the urge to go back and revise your earlier works. I suggest you let those stand as testimony to your skills at the time you wrote them. Keep moving forward.
There are exceptions to (almost) every rule. Awhile back I exercised one of those exceptions as follows:
On Pacing
Having learned a great deal more about Pacing over the years, I cycled through a set of ten or twelve older magic realism stories just before I published them anew to the Stanbrough Writes substackhttps://stanbroughwrites.substack.com/.
Primarily, I only hit the Enter key a lot more often than I did when I originally wrote them.
I did that mostly for Pacing, mostly so readers could read them without struggling through ridiculously (and unnecessarily) long paragraphs. The content itself changed very little.
Even at this late date
as I reported yesterday, I went back to Writing Fiction and added a new section on Pacing to Chapter 7: Writing the Scene.
Then I added a much-expanded version of the post above to the book as a new appendix: Appendix H: How to Continue Learning Craft.
Now, finally (fingers crossed), the book is finished.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Episode 899: Zon Blocked! An example of what can happen.
Protecting Your Work What to do about what can happen.
The Key Book Publishing Paths: 2023–2024 Presented in a handy chart format. In the two right columns, you retain all your IP rights.
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 810
Additions to the nonfiction book
Writing of Blackwell Ops 21: Johnny Mercer
Day 1…… 4190 words. To date…… 4190
Fiction for February……………………. 44389
Fiction for 2024…………………………. 161993
Fiction since October 1………………… 465048
Nonfiction for February………………… 65900
Nonfiction for 2024……………………… 97860
2024 consumable words………………… 260663
2024 Novels to Date……………………… 4
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………… 86
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)…… 239
Short story collections………………… 31
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
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