In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Just Me
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“I read the prologue of my novel Sword and Shield out loud last night and WOW. That was such a useful exercise! … Reading aloud definitely helps with those random awkward passages where I know what I wanted to say, but it didn’t really come out exactly right when I typed it.” A writer to me yesterday in an email
Just Me
A writer asked about my weird schedule. Since I had nothing else for you today, I thought I’d lay it all out for you.
It isn’t weird, it’s just me. I enjoy working at least a few hours while the rest of the world’s still asleep. So here’s my typical day.
I’ll start with the end of the day.
I don’t care that much for television. From what I can tell, and with very few exceptions, most of it’s brain-dead crap.
I also don’t like feeling as if I’m held hostage by the electrons that apparently low-crawl their way from my router to the television—which today isn’t really a television so much as a computer monitor—before the thing finally cycles or refreshes long enough to finally come on.
As a child, I literally spent less time waiting for the analogue glass tubes in the ‘real’ television to heat up enough for the display to come on. And I didn’t have to turn the TV off and back on two or three times to make it work. When remote controls finally came out, there was no “back” button.
So I typically put up with whatever’s online until around 7 or 8 p.m., and then I go to bed.
I most often wake up at around 2 or 3 in the morning (my personal prime time). I make a couple of mugs of coffee, put on my coat and hat, and walk 150 feet out my back door to my office in the Hovel.
There I research, write, and post the current issue of TNDJ. Sometimes, if an idea hits or if a writer asks a question via email, I prepare tomorrow’s issue of TNDJ too. All of that typically takes two to three hours.
Then I turn to my current novel in progress, cycle over whatever I wrote yesterday. During that process, I read strictly for pleasure and allow the POV character to add bits here and there as I read. That typically takes only several minutes. When I get back to the white space, I continue writing.
An hour or so later, I take a break, usually just to stretch and walk to the front of the Hovel and back. Then I cycle through what I’ve just written, then continue writing. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Through the day, my computer dings me if an email comes in. Because I write into the dark and have no clue what will happen next in a story that’s unfolding before my eyes, I can’t be interrupted. So I stop writing and check the email.
If it’s not something important, I ignore it, go back to the story, and continue writing. If the email is important, I answer it, then go back to the story and keep writing. Today’s quote of the day came from just such an email. Those are the kinds of emails and the questions I get via email from writers are what make my labors with TNDJ worthwhile.
If the email’s a question from a writer, and if it elicits a response that would make a good TNDJ post, I answer the email first. Then I often write a future TNDJ post, save it to either my ‘for next TNDJ’ or ‘for another TNDJ’ file, then go back to the story and continue writing.
I typically eat breakfast and take my required pills at around 5 a.m. and eat lunch at around 10 or 11 at my desk, most often while I’m writing. Sometimes while I’m eating, I play a few games of Spider solitaire instead.
Then I go back to the writing. Usually somewhere between 2 and 4 p.m., my brain’s starting to flag, so I save everything (the writing, the reverse outline, and tomorrow’s TNDJ) then shut down the office and head for the house.
Supper and television, then bed.
Exciting, isn’t it? (grin) No, but it’s a living.
The stuff my characters do as they live their lives is what’s exciting. That’s why I write. To live vicariously and do all the things I know I’d be good at if only I’d been born at a different time or chosen a different path. Or two or three.
Did you notice all the instances of “continue writing” or “go back to the writing” or “the story” up there? That’s my mantra in action: Keep Coming Back.
As I’ve written elsewhere, writing fiction isn’t some elevated calling. There’s no chorus of angelic voices. Writing and teaching are just what I love to do, so that’s what I do.
When I reach the point where teaching is no longer worthwhile, I’ll stop TNDJ. I hope (and expect) I’ll stop writing fiction when I faceplant on my keyboard.
Ya’ll have a good day now, y’hear?
Talk with you again soon.
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 870
Mentorship Words…………….. 270
Total Nonfiction…………………. 1140
Writing of Blackwell Ops 51: Sam Granger | The Road Back
Day 1…… 2807 words. To date………… 2807
Day 2…… 2489 words. To date………… 5296
Day 3…… 3111 words. To date………… 8407
Day 4…… 2430 words. To date………… 10837
Day 5…… 3274 words. To date………… 14111
Day 6…… 4034 words. To date………… 18145
Day 7…… 2686 words. To date………… 20831
Fiction for November……………………… 37892
Fiction for 2025…………………………… 699935
Nonfiction for November.………………… 11880
Nonfiction for 2025………………..……… 251350
2025 consumable words………………… 943714
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 17
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 36
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 121
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29