The Journal: Cave Creek and Update on Cycling

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* Cave Creek Kickstarter
* Street Team update
* Kevin Tumlinson
* Topic: Update on Cycling
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quotes of the Day

“‘No one will like this.’ ‘It’s not funny enough.’ ‘It’s too short.’ ‘It’s too long.’ [These] are projections into the future, which don’t actually exist because no one has read your book yet. Write your book, put it out there, and then don’t dwell in the past worrying about whether the book is good enough. Keep in the present and write that next sentence.” Alison Naomi Holt in a comment on Karen Riggs’ post at Pro Writers Writing

“I’m not psychic, as some would like to believe. I’m simply in tune with my intuition.” Sue Coletta

Dean’s calling for more help on the Cave Creek Kickstarter. It’s in its final three days and very near the second stretch goal, where all contributors will get another free book plus a lecture worth $50.

If you haven’t supported it yet, toss $5 his way for a 10-fold plus return. You can find the kickstarter at http://kck.st/3czEcG1.

My street team has started to build, but I’m still looking for more people to read free books and help with honest reviews. Many of you have said you enjoy reading the freebies I pass out, so why not sign up? If you’re interested, visit https://stonethreadpublishing.com, select the book(s) you’d like to read, then email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.

If you’re familiar at all with Kevin Tumlinson (a key mover over at Draft2Digital), all of his Dan Kotler books are now on sale for $2.99. Read the info at https://www.kevintumlinson.com/dankotler.

Kevin also hosts the WordSlinger Podcast. If you’re a podcast-listening kind of person, you can learn a lot here. See/browse at https://www.kevintumlinson.com/podcast.

Topic: Update on Cycling

Remember a day or two ago I said my characters had been trying to give me things that I ignored and skipped over as I was writing?

Yesterday during cycling I encountered one of those places and wrote an entirely new chapter that hadn’t been there before. That was a major necessary addition to the story, and there had already been several smaller necessary additions.

So overall I added almost 2000 words yesterday (see Day 13 below). My average has dropped to 2483 words per day, but I’ll take it. (grin)

All of this has reminded me (as I tell others constantly) to slow down, take my time, and listen to the characters. (grin)

Even with a deadline like mine, there’s no rush. After all, the characters know the deadline as well as I do. The secret, really, is to Just Write. But take your time.

Today the Journal contains a lot of links in “Of Interest.” Get your favorite beverage, settle in and learn for awhile. (grin)

I’ll continue cycling through my novel today. That will bring me close to the glitch I encountered a few days ago.

If I feel up to it (if I feel I can write at least one new session beyond the glitch), I’ll keep writing. If not, when I get near the glitch I’ll stop. Then when I come back to the novel tomorrow, I’ll cycle briefly up to that point and then continue with the story.

So either way, the story will be back on track and I’ll be running through it with the characters again. Woohoo!

As I did yesterday, I’ll post this early and add the fiction numbers in later.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “Card Sharp Silver… Day 4” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/card-sharp-silver-day-4/.

See “The World Needs Creatives More Than Ever” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/03/the-world-needs-creatives-more-than-ever.html.

See “Arrows at the Moon, A Guide for Unruly Writers” at https://prowriterswriting.com/arrows-at-the-moon-a-guide-for-unruly-writers.

See “Indie Author Blueprint” at https://indieauthorblueprint.com/.

See “Amazon’s Review Rules Have Become Even Stricter in 2020” at https://annerallen.com/2020/03/amazons-review-rules/. Perfect. Just as I’ve started building my street team.

See “Planning to Go to Your First Book Fair…” at https://annerallen.com/2020/03/first-book-fair-13-tips/.

See “How To Be Creative For The Long-Term” at https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2020/03/23/keep-going-austin-kleon/. FWIW.

See “What’s Your Author Brand?” at https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2020/03/whats-your-author-brand/.

The Numbers

Fiction words today…………………… XXXX
Nonfiction words today…………… 660 (Journal)

Writing of The Othgygnrkthers (tentative title, novel)

Day 10… 1622 words. Total words to date…… 28128
Day 11… 1263 words. Total words to date…… 29391
Day 12… 0992 words. Total words to date…… 30383
Day 13… 1897 words. Total words to date…… 32280
Day 14… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for the month……… 44601
Total fiction words for the year………… 181296
Total nonfiction words for the month… 19760
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 74240
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 255536

Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 6
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 48
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 202
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31