In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Oops
* I Can Write Anywhere. Wheee!
* Trust the Characters; Write the Next Sentence
* Of Interest
Quotes of the Day
“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” T. H. Huxley
“You better live every day like your last because one day you’re going to be right.” Ray Charles
“Live your life so that when you’re all alone you’re in good company.” Anonymous, Lubbock (TX) Avalanche-Journal, c.1969
Oops
Sorry about that dangling PS in yesterday’s post. I had added a brief post script, then found I didn’t need it. I deleted the post script but not the PS in the table of contents.
I Can Write Anywhere. Wheee!
Well, I can pretty much promise I won’t be attempting Mount Everest or the Marianas Trench. But I can write anywhere Within Reason. And I only learned that yesterday. I was amazed. Not at myself, but at my characters.
I know some of you are used to writing in a coffee shop or in a park or wherever you happen to find yourself, so this stuff’s probably old hat to you. But I’ve always enjoyed the solitude of my little thick-walled, dark adobe hovel, surrounded by paintings and prints and posters.
As I’ve posted here a few times recently, the characters are pure. They really, really, really don’t care about any of the critical-mind garbage or any of the little mind games we humans play with ourselves.
They really, really, really just want to live their story. And since they exist in another dimension (dementian?) they can live it no matter where I am or you are. (grin)
So you really can write anywhere. If you haven’t experienced this yet, give it a shot and see what happens.
My wife and I had a scheduled, routine checkup at a car dealership in Sierra Vista yesterday morning at 9:30. So we’d have to leave at 8:30 to be there a little early. I planned to get to bed early, then get out to the hovel by 4 to do the day’s writing on the novel.
Turned out I had a really rough night (my gut, routine old-age crap), so I didn’t get much sleep. As a result I got out to the hovel late, and I only wrote about 1000 words in fits and starts around feeding the horse and tending to a few other chores.
So as an experiment, I packed up my ‘puter and took it with us to the dealership. If I wasn’t able to write, no harm no foul. But if I was, I’d be further ahead in the novel and I have a whole new toy to play with. (grin)
While my wife and I waited in the lobby of the dealership, I opened my laptop, balanced it on my lap, and ran free with my characters. Actually, I was a little surprised at how easy it was, especially given the quiet but constant buzz of conversations and clatter of activity in the dealership.
But (get this) none of the noise bothered me! I was delighted to find that even when I looked up now and then, my fingers kept moving over the keyboard, recording the characters’ story!
So for me, the experience at the dealership was just super cool. Like I said, now I have a new toy to play with. If I could write there, I can write pretty much anywhere. Oh, and a little over an hour later when the car was ready, I’d recorded another 1200 words of the story. (grin)
We did some more stuff while we were over there, but we finally got home around 2, so I had time to write this and then write another session on the novel before I called it a day. Cool beans.
Trust the Characters; Write the Next Sentence
I’m amazed at how many different reasons there are to restate the basic truths of writing without a system.
Be sure to check out the comments on “Every Novel Writes Differently” at https://hestanbrough.com/every-novel-writes-differently/#comments. Thanks to Tari for providing the opening for me to remind others to
1) trust the characters and Just Write the characters’ story, and
2) if the writing lags or slows, to Just Write the Next Sentence, then the next and the next.
If you try this and a “next sentence” doesn’t come, chances are you’ve reached the end of the scene or chapter and you need to start the next one. (Been there, done that.)
It really does work, folks. But it’s all based on your ability to trust yourself.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Cold Poker Gang Book Free Right Now” at https://deanwesleysmith.com/cold-poker-gang-book-free-right-now/.
See “Anatomy and Physiology of Villains” at https://killzoneblog.com/2022/09/reader-friday-anatomy-and-physiology-of-villains.html. Interesting exercise.
See “Amazon Is Changing Its Ebook Return Policy in Major Breakthrough for Authors” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/amazon-is-changing-its-ebook-return-policy-in-major-breakthrough-for-authors/.
See “Don’t Fall for Promises of Success” at https://www.amarketingexpert.com/2022/09/22/dont-fall-for-promises-of-success-podcast-for-authors/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 810 words
Writing of Carmen Morales (novel, tentative title)
Day 1…… 3007 words. Total words to date…… 3007
Day 2…… 2842 words. Total words to date…… 5849
Day 3…… 3283 words. Total words to date…… 9132
Day 4…… 3106 words. Total words to date…… 12238
Day 5…… 3644 words. Total words to date…… 15882
Day 6…… 3548 words. Total words to date…… 19430
Day 7…… 3076 words. Total words to date…… 22506
Total fiction words for September……… 25783
Total fiction words for the year………… 92214
Total nonfiction words for September… 18490
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 146720
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 238934
Calendar Year 2022 Novels to Date…………………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 67
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 am also a student and prolific practitioner of “writing into the dark,” which means trusting the characters to tell the story that they, not I, are living. It’s great fun to watch a story unfold as I race through it with my characters. I’ve never said WITD is “the only way” to write, but it is by far the easiest, most liberating, and most fun.