The Journal: A Short, Early Post

In today’s Journal

* Quote of the Day
* Dean Wesley Smith
* Yesterday
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quote of the Day

“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.” William Faulkner

So yesterday, in addition to writing and posting the Journal, I dropped a note to my friend Dean Wesley Smith. It isn’t like he and I hang out. I consider him a friend because without all I’ve learned from him, I wouldn’t be even a shadow of what I am today as a writer. And I can Trust him, and to me, that’s the very definition of friendship.

Yes, he’s charged me money for about half of what I’ve learned from him. But so what? He has to make a living too, right? And his knowledge and experience are worth something, right? I’m just glad the guy’s so willing to share, unlike a dozen or so big-deal writers I could easily name.

And Dean shares directly, by which I mean when he offers a class or lecture or workshop, he himself, not some low-rent substitute, delivers it. Again, unlike several big-name authors out there. Plus he’s wide open for questions via email at pretty much any time and on any topic about writing. How many other “names” can we say that about?

Yeah. Pretty much zero.

So I dropped him a line, letting him know what I’m doing and why I’m behind in following his Kickstarter Best Practices Workshop, which, to be honest, I haven’t even opened yet.

I did that because in a recent email that he sent to all those enrolled in the workshop, he expressed concern that none of us have started a Kickstarter project yet. That’s how much the guy cares. He took the time to compose that email. And it isn’t like he’s getting money for it. Even the Kickstarter workshop is free.

See why I constantly praise the guy? Anyway, back to the Journal.

Yesterday, I started cycling at Chapter 6 and worked by way through Chapter 10. In that first long session (5 chapters), I added only 570 words. Then I took a break. I had to. This thing is intense. (grin)

Second session (Chapter 11–15, so 5 more chapters), I added another 494 words, then another break. I did one more session through Chapters 16-17 and caught and corrected a major timeline error. In that I added 743 more words. For the total, see Day 4 below.

Today, just more of the same. In fact, I rolled out way early (1 a.m.) to get more hours on the book today. Looks like I’ll finish it tomorrow or the next day.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “The Easy-to-Fix Tense Problem…” at https://www.janefriedman.com/the-easy-to-fix-tense-problem-that-might-be-tripping-your-readers-up/. FWIW.

Also FWIW, to me, in the author’s example, “I left my list behind” would be the character’s thought, which occurred just after she slapped her forehead. And no, I wouldn’t put it in italics. I believe the reader would immediately know subliminally, as I did when I read the example, that line was the character’s thought. What are your thoughts on the article?

See “A Day To Rest” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/a-day-to-rest/.

See “The Pandemic Invades Fiction…” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/04/the-pandemic-invades-fiction-is-it-a-game-changer.html.

See “Down but not out” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/down-but-not-out/.

The Numbers

Fiction words yesterday…………………… 1807
Nonfiction words today…………… 540 (Journal)

Writing of For the Good of the Galaxy (novel)
Words brought forward……………………………… 72304

Day 1…… 2437 words. Total words to date…… 74741
Day 2…… 3948 words. Total words to date…… 78689
Day 3…… 3275 words. Total words to date…… 81964
Day 4…… 1807 words. Total words to date…… 83771

Total fiction words for the month……… 32164
Total fiction words for the year………… 240416
Total nonfiction words for the month… 13370
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 94520
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 334666

Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 48
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 208
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31