In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Rider Jones wrapped
* Took a day off
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“I didn’t write what I thought people wanted to read. I didn’t research what might be popular — what might sell — and write that. I wrote stories that felt personal to me, that I enjoyed completely from writing to reading.” Kristen Ashley
Yes. This is how you set trends rather than following them.
“Scene is where the pace of the story slows to ‘real time,’ and we’re privy to every word, gesture, and sensory detail.” Susan DeFreitas
Rider Jones wrapped even sooner than I thought it would as a novella with a little over 17,000 words. I could have extended it, but I’ll leave that for other stories (possibly) in the future.
I have a feeling the full story of Rider Jones will be told in short stories and novellas as the mood to write westerns (albeit strange, SF westerns) strikes me.
I used to enjoy writing westerns a great deal, but I’m pretty sure I scratched most of that itch with the 11-volume Wes Crowley series.
After I said adios to Rider, I took a day-off sort of. Originally I thought it might be a few days or maybe even a week. We decided to effect a major change in the Hovel, which we’re turning into a “real” office, and then in my former office in the house, which we’re turning into a guest room.
As it turned out, I dismantled the makeshift desk I was using in the Hovel, took the small-desk base of it up to the house for use in the guest room, and brought my big writing desk out to the Hovel. And by the time we’d done that (and cleaned up the Hovel, more or less) that was enough for awhile.
Talk with you again soon. IMHO, this is a very important post to click through, read, and then let what you learn seep out as you write.
Of Interest
See “An Obvious Topic” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/an-obvious-topic/.
See “The Secret To This Romance Author’s Success? Breaking All The Rules.” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-secret-to-this-romance-authors-success-breaking-all-the-rules-3/.
See “3 Key Tactics for Crafting Powerful Scenes” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/3-key-tactics-for-crafting-powerful-scenes/. IMHO, this is a very important post to click through, read, and then let what you learn seep out as you write.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 340 words
Writing of The Origins of Rider Jones (novella)
Day 1…… 4293 words. Total words to date…… 4293
Day 2…… 2458 words. Total words to date…… 6751
Day 3…… 3722 words. Total words to date…… 10473
Day 4…… 2144 words. Total words to date…… 12617
Day 5…… 4134 words. Total words to date…… 16751
Day 6…… 0558 words. Total words to date…… 17309 (done)
Total fiction words for April……… 73037
Total fiction words for the year………… 360114
Total nonfiction words for April… 16340
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 83740
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 443854
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 7
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 60
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: In this blog, I provide advice on writing fiction. I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. To be crystal clear, WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever say it is. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other topics.