The Journal: Garbage Runs in Cycles

In today’s Journal

* Quote of the Day
* Topic: Garbage Runs in Cycles
* Great start
* The Numbers

Quote of the Day

“We often think we need to open with a huge bang, something that’ll catch the reader’s attention and play out like a blockbuster movie. But here’s the thing about those high-powered opening scenes: readers don’t care because they don’t yet know the characters or the baggage….” Becca Puglisi

Topic: Garbage Runs in Cycles

This morning was weird in two ways. Like so many other natural phenomena, garbage seems to run in cycles.

One: I just realized this morning that not all of “David Farland’s Writing Tips” are actually written by David Farland. What a trusting dumbass I am sometimes.

The “Farland” article I almost linked to in today’s “Of Interest,” for example, is a harmless piece of yawn-so-what nonfiction written by someone named “Evan M.” The piece is titled “Is it a Good Time to Write?” My immediate sense was “Well, that’s a stupid question.” I could hardly believe Farland had written the post.

And as I scanned it for anything worthwhile, I found that (alas and aw shucks) he hadn’t. The credit was at the very bottom of the post, not at the top per common practice. I felt a little like a clueless fool who’d wandered into a bait-and-switch.

So more than likely, I’ve been getting annoyed at the wrong person recently.

Of course, that’s the fault of Farland himself or whomever runs the “writing tips” portion of his website for him. And no, I’m not going to go back and check “his” earlier posts to see who the actual author was. I don’t care that much.

But I’m annoyed with myself for passing on writing tips to you via “Of Interest” that are not from mega-author David Farland at all but from just whomever. Maybe they’re from members of his Apex writer’s group or maybe the guy at the local convenience store. Who knows.

When I clicked the linked “Evan” name, it led to nothing. Apparently Evan M. hasn’t bothered to fill out his author info page yet. (Now there’s a red flag for you regarding professionalism. A knowledgeable writing instructor who prefers to remain anonymous? I don’t [expletive deleted] think so.)

So I don’t know what or how much fiction Mr. M has written, whether his work is even published, etc. Maybe he, like Farland, is a mega-bestseller. Maybe, as I wrote earlier, he’s a clerk from the corner convenience store or a stockboy at Walmart.

From now on I’ll have to watch more closely what I post from “David Farland’s Writing Tips” and make sure they’re either actually written by Farland himself or at least contain something valuable. Or both.

Also, as has so often been the case, the title of that particular “writing tip” is misleading.

If a writer walked up and asked me that stupid question at a conference back in the day (never happened), my head would probably explode. Why? Because if you’re a writer, yes, it’s a good time to write. Duh. If you’re a writer, it’s ALWAYS a good [expletive deleted] time to write. And if you’re a writer, you already know that.

What he probably meant was “Is it a good time to publish?” (Again, the answer is always Yes.) Or maybe “Is it a good time to make money as a writer?” (Pretty much always “No” or “Doesn’t matter” or “What the [expletive deleted] ever.” Because if you’re a writer, everything except writing the next story is a second or lower priority.)

As a fiction writer, I only care about the current story. As I near the end of that story, I only care about the next story. And as a writing instructor and blogger, I only care about passing along valid information.

Two: I actually did link to another article in today’s “Of Interest” that was written by someone named “Guest.” However, that person is only passing on facts, not opining, and some of you might find some of the facts useful in your writing.

Great start on the novel yesterday with almost 6,000 words. And I wanted to keep writing (a great sign) but I was mentally depleted. My brain was too tired to make my fingers move on the keyboard any longer.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “Opening Scenes: 3 Critical Elements” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/opening-scenes-3-critical-elements/. I recommend you click through to the OP.

See “The Art of Story Structures” at https://writetodone.com/the-art-of-story-structures/. (Thanks to PG for the link.)

See “Downside of Being Disorganized…” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/downside-of-being-disorganized/.

See “Flying Too Close to Reality” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/02/flying-too-close-to-reality.html.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 770 words

Writing of How “Best” Is Defined (novel, tentative title)

Words brought forward……………………………………………… 6997

Day 1…… 5644 words. Total words to date…… 12641

Total fiction words for February……… 32357
Total fiction words for the year………… 130234
Total nonfiction words for February… 8170
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 33500
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 163734

Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 2
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 56
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 215
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31