The Daily Journal, Friday, June 14

In today’s Journal

* Erratum
* Today might be another non-writing day
* Help from Kristine Kathryn Rusch
* About the personal magazine
* Daily diary
* Of Interest (a ton of good stuff)
* The numbers

Yesterday in the Journal, I erred. I somehow managed to not list the correct topic title in the introductory bullet points. I apologize for any confusion.
***

Today might be another non fiction-writing day for me. I don’t know. It’s early yet, but I haven’t settled yet on what I’d like to write next. So we’ll see.

I don’t have a problem with showing up and doing my job when I have a job to do. But figuring out which fictional world I want to play in next is a conundrum sometimes.
***

Yesterday I mentioned that once I start writing again, I intend to continue forward momentum by starting something new the same day I finish whatever I’m working on.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch had a good idea in that regard.

Let’s say you have a series of books (or have just finished writing a novel), and you want to explore a side character. You can do that in the short form, and then publish that for your fans.

Not a bad idea. Doing that would bolster your number of short stories, and if a story took off, it would become a novel. And again, “what” you write isn’t important. What’s important is “that” you write.
***

In trying to determine whether to go ahead with a monthly magazine featuring only my own work, I set out to create a list of pros and cons.

Honestly, I could come up with only two cons:

* it wouldn’t be a challenge, at all, and

* I dislike the time-drain involved in the publishing side (cover design, eformatting). And putting this magazine together will be ALL publishing, at least for the first four years.

On the other hand, the pros are considerable:

* I have enough material right now for 50 monthly issues even if I never write another word of fiction. That’s with each issue containing a full novel or novella, 4 short stories, and numerous poems.

* In this new world of publishing, I could even take a few days to put all 50 issues together, design 50 covers, and upload them all to be released once a month for the next 50 months.

(Well, I could upload 12 at a time. I just checked. Smashwords [and probably D2D and Amazon] allows pre-releases only 12 months in advance. Still….)

* My own magazine would provide another outlet for my work and another stream of revenue.

* It would introduce my work to a new audience (those who prefer magazines).

* It would provide a broad new “sampler” of my work every month, increasing my discoverability.

* Eventually (if the magazine and I both run long enough), it would provide me with a deadline to produce new work.

Yeah, that last one, probably not so much, but maybe. But like I said at the beginning, one con is that it wouldn’t be a challenge.

If I do launch Stanbrough Writes, you folks will be the first to know. (Thanks to those of you who gave me input, by the way. I appreciate it.)

Anyway, as with most of my thought processes, I brought all of this up in the first place (and am continuing to bore you with it) just in case it’s something you might also want to try.
***

Rolled out at 2 this morning, hurried to the Hovel and found surprisingly little in the way of items for “Of Interest.” Maybe a few items will pop up later today.

Each morning for about the past month, the horses have stood at the edge of their corral staring at the Hovel, waiting for me to come out and feed them.

This morning, apparently having spotted the neighbors’ pickup (they’re back from a trip), the horses stood at the far side of the corral, staring at the neighbors’ house instead.

A break (from nothing) up to the house at 5 and another at 6:30. Now to poke around for something to write. Back to the house at 7:40 for a bit.

Around 10, a name and a title popped into my head. Should be interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever started a story on just a name and a title before. You’ll see them below.

It’s almost funny. I always “poke around” for something to write after I finish a novel. I’m impatient, but the process always takes whatever time it takes. I go about whatever else I need to do. My only certainty is that the words haven’t left me. And in the back of my mind, the whole time I’m wondering what I’ll write next.

Then I’ll hear a sound or smell a particular scent on the wind that stirs a memory. Or a character name or a bit of dialogue will pop into my head, and I’m off and running. Every single time.

This morning it was a name and a title. We’ll see how that goes. (grin)

Wrote a short opening (under 300 words) and the thing took off. Woohoo! And I can already tell it’s going to be a novel.

“New” novels (not in series) always go slow for me at first until I get to know the characters, etc. But I’m writing again, and there’s no better feeling in the world.

Around noon, a break with about 1600 words in the bank.

Talk with you again tomorrow.

Of Interest

See “The Black Moment and Genre Expectations” at https://terryodell.com/the-black-moment-and-genre-expectations/. For the record, ALL genres have certain reader expectations, and it’s a good idea to hit all of them.

On a related note (sheer coincidence), see “How to Research Your Genre to Write Better Stories” at https://thewritepractice.com/genre-research/. The best way to “research” any genre is to read novels in that genre.

Fiction Words: 2803
Nonfiction Words: 970 (Journal)
Total words for the day: 3773

Writing of Sam Loredo and the Point of No Return (novel)

Day 1…… 2803 words. Total words to date…… 2803

Total fiction words for the month……… 30147
Total fiction words for the year………… 336252
Total nonfiction words for the month… 15700
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 171260
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 507512

Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date…………………… 7
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 44
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 194
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31