In today’s Journal
* Topic: Don’t Cut Off Your Nose…
* The Novel Wrapped
* First Reader?
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Topic: Don’t Cut Off Your Nose…
Before my computer crashed, I had a good quote queued up for today. In that quote Stephen King says [paraphrasing] he doesn’t write in science fiction or westerns or horror or mystery “or any of that,” but his work contains elements of all of them. Amen.
(That quote and several other good ones are in one of the vids for which I gave you the URL the other day, the one that’s about 1:20:00 long and he’s on stage in a red t-shirt.)
Anyway, that quote gave me a topic I’ve wanted to talk about for a long time but one that’s difficult to put on the page so others will understand. So I’ll start with a very brief story.
A few years ago, I met a woman at some sort of writers’ get-together or something. She said she was an English teacher and that she’d “churned out” 3 novels in only 8 years. Something like that.
I said I was in possession of something that had turned my life around and might help with her production if she was interested. She was. So I offered to send her a copy of Heinlein’s Rules.
And she said, “You mean Robert A. Heinlein?”
“Yes, have you seen his rules?”
“No, but I know they won’t help. I don’t write science fiction.”
“But they’re only five very short rules, and they pertain to ALL fiction writers. I’d be happy to send them to you.”
“No, I won’t read anything that might taint my process.” And the look on her face said she thought maybe I was trying to con her.
(An aside: “If you want to be thought a liar, always tell the truth.” Logan Pearsall Smith)
Wow. I think I felt a disturbance in the Force as her mind snapped shut. No tricking that one into coming over to the Dark Side. (grin) But I only said, “Thank you” and went on about my business.
But seriously, that sort of attitude is kind’a like folding your arms over your chest and refusing to jump from a plummeting airplane because you aren’t offered a parachute of a particular color. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here, but I think I’ll ride it out.” Sigh.
In that video I referenced above, King also says he believes readers “come back for the voice.” In other words, they follow him across genres.
He’s talking about author voice or the style that develops as you write. And I believe he’s right. Because the thing is, what works in one genre generally will work in another.
All writing, all stories, are basically the same regardless of genre. And you can learn from skilled writers regardless of the genre or genres in which they write.
Yes, there are different genre-specific touchstones in each genre. But there are only so many kinds of interactions between characters, and there are only so many kinds of settings and situations in which they can embroil themselves. Duh.
Don’t close yourself off in a bubble. Don’t cut off your noae to spite your face. Don’t be intentionally ignorant. Writing is writing and fiction is fiction.
As I thought it would, the novel wrapped just before noon yesterday at a little over 45,000 words. It also wrapped on Writing Day 14, though if you’re counting, it was calendar day 15. Oh well.
I’ve often talked about being surprised by things that happen as I write, a result of not planning or plotting and just writing into the dark. But on this one, I think for the first time ever, I was actually surprised by the very last sentence.
I won’t give it away, but suffice it to say I expected Wes to climb aboard his horse, Charley, and head for Amarillo. But he didn’t.
Guess I’ll tag along and see where he’s headed next.
So after I ran a spell check, I sent it off to my main first reader (Thanks, Russ.) and to a few friends. Then I intended to take the rest of the day off. Didn’t work out that way. (grin)
When I wrapped WCGN2: The Comancheros, I took a few hours off. Then I came back to the Hovel mostly for a cigar. While I was out here, I figured I might as well set up my “template” for the next novel. (I use the same front matter, end matter, chapter heads, etc. for each novel.)
And the next thing I knew, an epigram occurred to me. As I wrote it down, a first sentence showed up, and the next thing I knew, I was around 1200 words into WCGN3: The New Mexico Territory. Don’t be shocked or dismayed. (grin) Wes is still a Texas Ranger. But he’s annoyed with a situation, and he’s just young enough and bullheaded enough to set aside jurisdiction and see how much he can do about it. Should be a fun ride.
So Writing Day 14 for the previous novel was also Writing Day 1 for the current one. I love it when that happens.
I’m always looking for more first readers. I had several there for awhile, and then they started kind of fading away. Now I’m down to one, and he’s very good, attentive but unintrusive.
The fading-away is my fault. I think it’s a penalty I pay for being prolific. If you’re interested in becoming a first reader, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com and I’ll give you the details.
If you’ve ever dreamed of riding wild on a good horse in a just cause, seriously, you might consider signing on as a first reader for the WGCN novels.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Day Six” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/day-six/. Sigh. The challenge is not looking good.
See “Tips for Writing for Television” (for fun) at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/07/tips-for-writing-for-television.html.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 980 words
Writing of WCGN3: The New Mexico Territory (novel)
Day 1…… 1191 words. Total words to date…… 1191
Writing of WCGN2: The Comancheros (novel)
Day 1…… 1216 words. Total words to date…… 1216
Day 2…… 1913 words. Total words to date…… 3129
Day 3…… 3103 words. Total words to date…… 6232
Day 4…… 2490 words. Total words to date…… 8722
Day 5…… 4179 words. Total words to date…… 12901
Day 6…… 3492 words. Total words to date…… 16393
Day 7…… 4419 words. Total words to date…… 20812
Day 8…… 2245 words. Total words to date…… 23057
Day 9…… 2639 words. Total words to date…… 25696
Day 10… 3220 words. Total words to date…… 28916
Day 11… 4036 words. Total words to date…… 32952
Day 12… 4848 words. Total words to date…… 37800
Day 13… 3411 words. Total words to date…… 41211
Day 14… 4027 words. Total words to date…… 45238 (done)
Total fiction words for July……… 19933
Total fiction words for the year………… 548612
Total nonfiction words for July… 4960
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 130750
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 679362
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 11
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 64
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.