In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* A comment I added
* An addendum
* Not as good a day
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“We create fear or make fear go away depending on what story we tell ourselves…” Roger Martin
Here’s a comment I added to Dean Wesley Smith’s post in “Of Interest” today. It just felt like something I should share with you:
“At some point, a would-be writer who’s looking to actually learn anything has to stop, consider the experience of the source, and assume the source probably knows what he’s talking about. I’ve been a writer most of my life, but I was never a novelist because (I used to tell people) ‘I haven’t found a cast of characters I want to live with that long.’ [That shows you how mired in the myths I was.]
“Then I found your blog, and the rest is history. Now I trust the characters to tell the story that they, not I, are living. That’s the whole secret: Get over yourself and realize it’s the characters’ story, not yours. [Now] I love the characters, I love the stories they tell, and I’ve put out nine novels per year on average for the last 6 years.
“Thanks for hanging in there, Dean, and telling the truth of how to make storytelling fun.”
And here’s an addendum:
When you’re a beginning writer, or if you’re still mired in the myths and not getting anywhere, it might be a good idea to set aside all the preconceptions about writing and publishing that are flying around out there — the blind leading the blind is an apt analogy — and Trust a successful experienced writer.
Sadly, most beginning writers (Who Know Nothing) set aside the successful experienced writer’s advice if he doesn’t mimic the common wisdom, i.e., the same old crap that’s never worked for them before. Then they go looking for one who does, and the inane, endless cycle continues.
At the risk of “shoulding” on anyone, what the beginner or the mired writer should do is firmly latch onto and learn from that successful experienced writer Specifically Because that writer is saying something with which those beginning writers and those mired in the myths disagree. Robert A. Heinlein (through his unedited Business Habits), Stephen King, and Dean Wesley Smith spring to mind. Just sayin’.
I didn’t have as good a writing day yesterday, but I still met my 3000 words daily goal. Odd how that feels like a failure. I’m embarrassed to admit, I’m still aching a little (every now and then, for a few seconds) over having lost part of the story on Wednesday. Not the words, but how they were arranged. Sigh.
But as I alluded to above, I just remind myself, usually during a break on my way back to the writing ‘puter, that it’s the characters’ story. “Put your fingers on the keyboard, Harvey, trust the characters to tell you their story, and write what comes.” It works every time. Sometimes I just have to push myself over that hump.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Want Someone to Do It For Me…” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/want-someone-to-do-it-for-me/.
See “Put Your Lead Between Opposite Characters” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/12/put-your-lead-between-opposite-characters.html. My own characters typically make major choices several times through a novel. The choice is never forced on them by anyone outside the story, least of all me.
See “Barnes & Noble’s New Boss Tries to Save the Chain…” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/barnes-nobles-new-boss-tries-to-save-the-chain-and-traditional-bookselling/.
See “The Nine Worst Provisions in Your Publishing Contract – Part 1” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-nine-worst-provisions-in-your-publishing-contract-part-1/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 590 words
Writing of The Journey Home: Part 2 (novel)
Day 1…… 4955 words. Total words to date…… 4955
Day 2…… 5068 words. Total words to date…… 10023
Day 3…… 6513 words. Total words to date…… 16536
Day 4…… 7467 words. Total words to date…… 24003
Sigh. Closed without saving after Day 4…… 19000
Day 5…… 0792 words. Total words to date…… 19792 (cycling)
Day 6…… 6788 words. Total words to date…… 26580
Day 7…… 3242 words. Total words to date…… 29822
Total fiction words for December……… 24802
Total fiction words for the year………… 477333
Total nonfiction words for December… 4360
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 189570
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 666903
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 7
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 13
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 52
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 214
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31