Hey Folks,
Merry Second Christmas to me. My excellent first reader returned her input on Situation Solved this morning. (huge grin) So it will release on February 15 as scheduled. Thanks, Alison!
Alison Naomi Holt is an accomplished writer and screenwriter in her own right (see https://alisonholtbooks.com/). She is also a personal friend. A retired detective from the Tucson PD, Alison writes the Alex Wolfe mysteries (four books so far) as well as epic fantasy and psychological suspense.
I particularly enjoy her Alex Wolfe mysteries, and you can get the first one (Credo’s Hope) FREE just by signing up for her newsletter.
Now I’m torn between continuing my WIP this morning or applying Alison’s fixes to my manuscript. But yeah, I’ll continue with the WIP first. (grin)
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If you want to design your own covers and you aren’t quite sure where to start, I strongly recommend WMG Publishing’s two lectures on cover design.
These are taught by a professional designer. They’re only $50 each (one for mystery/thriller and one for SF) and they cover only the basics, but they’re a great investment in your education.
I’ve been designing covers for five years, yet I learned things I didn’t know from the one I’m taking now. (And of course, even if you don’t write in those particular genres, you’ll pick up knowledge that will translate to other genres. Just sayin’.)
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Topic: On Cycling
I know, right? I’ve talked about this before. But sometimes saying it a different way gets through to more folks.
In response to a blog post about yours truly and writing into the dark this morning, I posted the following comment and thought it would make a great, if very brief, topic:
One way to “fix” words and punctuation, and it goes hand-in-hand with writing into the dark, is to cycle back every so often and give your characters a chance to add-to or change what you’ve just written. I think Dean does this about every 500 words. I do it about every 1000 words.
Say I finish a writing session. When I come back for the next session, I read through what I wrote in the previous session AS A READER (not critically). This keeps me in the creative subconscious.
As I read, my fingers rest on the keyboard, and when the characters want to fix something or add something, they do.
Then when I reach the place where I left off, I’m back in the flow of the story and I write another 1000 or so words. Lather, rinse, repeat. End of topic. (grin)
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To the Hovel at 3, wrote the stuff above and in “Of Interest,” then up to the house for a short break.
To the novel at 4:45. Cycling, then a break around 6 for a shower and breakfast.
Finally back to the novel at 8:40. I probably won’t write for the whole morning. It’s bowl season, and I want to watch at least part of the game that’s starting at 11:30. (grin)
I’m sure I’ll hate myself in the morning, but I’m calling it a little before noon. (grin) A short day, but pretty good. I’ll take it.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Wow. See “The Future of Crime-Fighting is Family Tree Forensics” at http://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-future-of-crime-fighting-is-family-tree-forensics/.
See “Five Reasons a Writer Should Run From Social Media” at https://alisonholtbooks.com/five-reasons-a-writer-should-run-from-social-media/.
See “Different Strokes” at https://alisonholtbooks.com/different-strokes/.
See “10 Ways to Start Your Story Better” at https://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/write-first-chapter-get-started/10-ways-to-start-your-story-better.
See “Soaking Up Story” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/soaking-up-story/.
See “What I’m Reading – Smith’s Monthly” at https://tonydwritespulp.com/2018/12/27/what-im-reading-smiths-monthly/.
Fiction Words: 2101
Nonfiction Words: 590 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 2691
Writing of Blackwell Ops (novel)
Day 10… 2629 words. Total words to date…… 36453
Day 11… 1322 words. Total words to date…… 37775
Day 12… 2013 words. Total words to date…… 39788
Day 13… 4626 words. Total words to date…… 44414
Day 14… 2101 words. Total words to date…… 46515
Total fiction words for the month……… 71025
Total fiction words for the year………… 529708
Total nonfiction words for the month… 18180
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 189866
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 719324
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 10
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 11
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 36
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………… 193
Short story collections…………………………………………………… 31