The Journal: And So It Begins

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* Einstein’s quote
* And So It Begins
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quotes of the Day

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Albert Einstein

“[A]t 2,500 words I knew it would be a novel, but managed to go back and wrap it up into a short story. But no doubt this will be a start of my next Mary Jo Assassin novel. I will just remove the last 300 words and go in a different direction.” Dean Wesley Smith on his first new short story of the year

I love Einstein’s quote above. It’s one of the truest things I’ve ever read, and it goes straight to the heart of writing. Be brave. You don’t have to mistrust your own creative subconscious just because everyone says you should.

Let the characters tell the story that they, not you, are living and you will be amazed. A whole new world will open up to you.

And So It Begins

That title sounds terribly important, doesn’t it? Dramatic, even?

But it isn’t. Yes, I’m writing again, and a new story has begun, but it isn’t important at all. How much will the world suffer if I never finish this story?

None.

Okay, but what will happen to me personally if I never finish this story?

Again, nothing. No consequences. It’s only a story, a fiction.

Now, if I finish it, which I fully expect to do in a few weeks to a month or so, this story might have consequences. It might make a difference of some kind in the life of some reader somewhere for a few minutes or even a few hours. But that’s it.

No fiction is important enough that the lack of it bears any consequences at all. This might become my new mantra.

Yesterday, after not writing any fiction for five months, I pried open the creaking driver’s side door and slipped in behind the wheel of a story that’s been sitting cold for five years. As you might imagine, both I and the story were a little rusty. (grin)

As expected, I barely made my word-count goal. That’s because yesterday wasn’t about just driving the story. In addition to this novel being a sequel, I decided I wanted it to stand alone. So yesterday was about the work of figuring out (conscious mind) what to put in and what to leave out from the first novel. So those 2800 or so words took several hours to get on the page.

I had to bring forward enough so the novel would stand alone but omit enough so it wouldn’t bore those who had read the first novel. That’s one of the problems of writing a sequel years after publication of the original novel.

I also had to make the opening interesting—one that would make the reader lean-in to see what was going to happen next—vs. a boring line-item recap. I think I was successful so far. And today there will be a little more of the same.

The overall story is massive in scope, so today I’ll bring a little more of the old into the new.  If I’m lucky, I might also get started today on writing the new story. If not, tomorrow or the next day. Once that happens, I expect to pretty much blow past my daily goal almost every day.

I can sense the characters waiting just off-stage, itching to get in front of the lights to start telling the rest of their story. It’s all I can do to hold them at bay for the moment, and I have to admit, that’s pretty exciting too.

Talk with you again later.

Of Interest

See “Do You Trust Your Gut Feelings?” at http://dyingwords.net/do-you-trust-your-gut-feelings/. Of course. If you WITD, you’re very in touch with that tiny voice.

See “Smashwords Blog: 2022 Publishing Predictions – Indies Take Center Stage” at https://blog.smashwords.com/2021/12/publishingpredictions2022.html.

See “Challenge Day One” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/challenge-day-one/.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 680 words

Writing of The Stirchians (tentative title, novel)

Day 1…… 2807 words. Total words to date…… 2807

Total fiction words for January……… 2807
Total fiction words for the year………… 2807
Total nonfiction words for January… 1510
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 1510
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 4317

Calendar Year 2022 Novels to Date…………………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 66
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
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.