In today’s Journal
* Kris Rusch’s Birthday Party
* Also in “Of Interest”
* The Next Few Days
* More Shared World Stuff
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Dean Wesley Smith is doing something really great for his wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, for her upcoming 60th birthday. He’s throwing her a card party, and all of you can be part of it. For details, see “Of Interest” below.
Also in “Of Interest” is an article on how to “survive the chaos point” in a novel.
A bit melodramatic, isn’t it? You aren’t charging across open ground under fire. You aren’t risking life and limb, okay? Get over yourself. You’re sitting alone in a room making sh*t up.
Be forewarned: The author provides some HORRIBLE advice in this article. Still, I linked to it below FWIW just in case some of you might find it useful. This might be a good way for a die-hard outliner to step back a bit and wean himself from that process. I guess.
Anyway, the best way I’ve found to “survive the chaos point” (I’m still chuckling at the ridiculous melodrama) is to take a deep breath, remind yourself it’s only a story, and get over yourself. Then type the next sentence that occurs to you, then the next and the next.
Yes, Just Type the Next Sentence. I know, that’s WAY too simple to actually work. But it does. Shrug. That said, what could I possibly know? Do what you want.
And there’s more in “Of Interest.” I’ve even decided to begin visiting the Kill Zone blog again, albeit very selectively.
The Next Few Days
Probably no fiction writing for the next few days. I’ll be busy reading aloud For the Good of the Galaxy: The First Nine Days. It will release on June 1.
Then I’ll probably move on into reading aloud For the Good of the Galaxy: A Turning Point (Book 2) and get it out, probably on July 1, but maybe August 1.
With regard to the shared world, I’m thinking of leaving the third novel in the series to someone else. All I need is one person to read the first two novels, feel caught up in that world, and want to write the third novel.
Of course, the author would write it in his or her own voice and with no real constraints. Frankly, I don’t see a down side.
When I personally return to write in that world, I might write a prequel, showing life on the aliens’ home world before they left it. Or I might leap into the distant past and show the Othgygnrks (pronounced Oth-gig-nurks) engaged in battle back when they still had a military and actual warriors.
Or I might leap into the future and write in the frame of the current story but from a different spot on the globe or even from the alien perspective. Decisions, decisions. What a fun problem to have.
But before I do any of that, I’ll probably write another Blackwell Ops book or maybe another Nick Spalding book or something else. Again, a very nice problem to have.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Kris’s Birthday Party” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/kriss-birthday-party/.
See “What Really Goes On In The Morgue” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/05/what-really-goes-on-in-the-morgue.html.
See “Structure for Unruly Writers” at https://prowriterswriting.com/structure-for-unruly-writers.
See “True Confessions” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/05/true-confessions.html.
See “A Farewell Message…” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/05/a-farewell-message-winnie-the-pooh-said-it-best.html.
See “It’s All in a Font: How Font Choice Affects the Mind” at https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2020/05/its-all-in-a-font-how-font-choice-affects-the-mind/.
See “…How to Survive the Chaos Point in your Novel” at https://annerallen.com/2020/05/survive-the-chaos-point/.
The Numbers
Fiction words yesterday…………………… XXXX
Nonfiction words today…………… 580 (Journal)
Writing of (novel)
Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX
Total fiction words for the month……… 30061
Total fiction words for the year………… 309655
Total nonfiction words for the month… 6740
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 109850
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 419505
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 4
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 49
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 208
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31