On Heinlein’s Rules 4 & 5

In today’s Journal

* Short Post
* On Heinlein’s Rules 4 & 5
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Short Post

Only a short post today, mostly to pass along the stuff in Of Interest.

I started a new novel a couple days ago, but I didn’t add to it yesterday. Did other things, and then a rare big thunderstorm came up so I went up to the house early.

On Heinlein’s Rules 4 & 5

What Robert A. Heinlein called his “Business Habits for Writers” was first published in 1949. Rules 4 & 5 read

4. You must put it on the market (submit or publish it).

5. You must keep in on the market (keep submitting it or leave it up once it’s published).

If you are writing into the dark, trusting your characters and the story they give you, sometimes you will write a story you personally don’t like all that much.

Follow rules 4 & 5 anyway.

You are not the only reader in the world, and whether you like or dislike the story you’ve written, your opinion doesn’t necessarily translate to other readers.

The only way to guarantee other readers won’t like it is to never publish it. That’s just crazy.

Belief in ourselves is an advantage we who write into the dark have over those who follow the myths. If a writer who outlines, revises, rewrites etc. doesn’t like the final product, s/he typically (and almost proudly) puts it “in a drawer” to never see the light of day.

Just think for a moment of all the thousands of readers who have been denied the opportunity to judge the story or novel for themselves.

As I told one Journal reader (Thanks, Dave) in an email this morning,

“Always trust your characters, write what they give you, and then put it out for others to enjoy [HR 4]. Then leave it up [HR 5].

You never know who might read it tomorrow or the next day. It might even be someone who’s in a position to license it (for example, film or TV rights) and send you a large chunk of change.”

Years ago, I wrote a short story titled “Old Suits.”

I didn’t like it. In fact, I thought it was horrible. But following Heinlein’s Rule 4 & 5, I slapped a cover on it and published it anyway.

A couple of months later, I received an email out of the blue from a reader I’ve never met. She said it was one of the best short stories she’d ever read. That it reminded her of Hemingway’s writing.

‘Nuff said.

Remember

1. The old saying is true: a writer really is the worst judge of his own work (like it or hate it), and
2. The job of judging your work doesn’t fall to you anyway. You are the writer. Judging your work is the job of the reader.

You can download (free) and read “Old Suits” and decide for yourself.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

How to Write Slipstream Fiction

Artificial Intelligence and the Business of Writing

(My own take on using generative AI is clear. See “Taking a Stand on Generative AI”)

Why you almost never see a clock at the mall A discussion of temporal distortion, something you can use in your fiction in any genre.

The Numbers

The Journal……………………………… 520

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………………… 67230
Nonfiction for 2024……………………… 99190
2024 consumable words………………… 261183

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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