In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Sorry I’ve been away
* Updates
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“I don’t pay no attention to no kind of critics about nothing. If they knew as much as they claim to about what they’re criticizing, they ought to be doing that instead of just standing on the side lines using their mouth.” Cassius Clay in an interview with Alex Haley
“Ninety percent of success can be boiled down to consistently doing the obvious thing for an uncommonly long period of time without convincing yourself that you’re smarter than you are.” Farnam Street blog
Sorry I’ve been away for a few days. Frankly, there was very little of interest around the web. Dean’s seemingly high-centered over his latest Kickstarter, and there’s been little of interest (or useful) going on over at the KillZone blog or even at The Passive Voice.
And whether Dave Farland is going to offer up something unique or just spout worn-out clichés is anybody’s guess from day to day. I’m not running the guy down. That’s just how he rolls, probably because he’s trying to cater to beginning writers as well as those considerably farther along.
Oh, Dean is also planning some upcoming “in person” workshops in Vegas for which, of course, he and Kris will require vaccination certificates. I only hope they require masks as well, given the increasing numbers of vaxxed folks who have succumbed (many completely) to the mutated virus.
Anyway, things picked up again this morning, as you will see in “Of Interest.”
In my absence I’ve been trying to stay busy, but mostly away from my desk, driving, visiting estate sales, etc.
Updates
But yesterday, during my latest “day off” and a couple of days after I copyedited a short story for a young (or at least young in the craft) writer, I had a moment of clarity: I’d much rather work on my own fiction than on anyone else’s.
So I’ve updated the Copyediting page over on my author site (see https://harveystanbrough.com/copyediting/). I had fun with it. I’m still offering copyedits, but I brought my prices more into line with reality, considering my experience and how much I give when I teach and copyedit. (This will not affect my one long-standing client.)
I also updated my mentorships again, and for the same reason.
The Becoming a Writer mentorship remained mostly unchanged. That mentorship is still low-cost, but then most of it is generic too. Meaning I don’t have to invest a ton of time to guide writers through that one.
And frankly, so few would-be and beginning writers will take the leap to actually believe what I’m selling over there than I don’t have to invest emotionally either. I don’t have to hope they’ll get it, because I know going-in that most of them won’t be able to overcome the myths. Shrug.
So not a big deal. It’s all good. The writer who can’t bring himself to opt-in isn’t out much money and I’m not out much time. And for the very rare one who DOES opt-in, s/he will have hit the jackpot, just as I did around 7 years ago.
The Writing Craft mentorships are another creature altogether. They are very time and labor intensive, and they require a massive emotional investment as well. So again, now the prices of those are comensurate with what the student gets. We’re talking one-on-one instruction here, not passively sitting and listening to videos or audios.
Today
I haven’t started writing fiction again yet, but more than likely today’s the day. I dreamed a very vivid story last night. I’m looking forward to writing again.
Beyond that, I’m still sleeping a lot, walking a lot, trying not to eat a lot, and just healing. It’s a process. And I suppose it’s better than simply lying down and assuming room temperature.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “The Speculative Fiction Workshop With Daisuke Shen” at https://authorspublish.thinkific.com/courses/spec-fic-with-daisuke-shen.
See “Tighten Up” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/08/tighten-up.html.
See “Alex Haley Interviews Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)” at https://alexhaley.com/2019/09/12/alex-haley-interviews-cassius-clay-muhammad-ali/. Very interesting interview.
See “Three Easy Ways to Strengthen A Scene” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/08/three-easy-ways-to-strengthen-a-scene.html.
See “Relationship Thesaurus Entry: One-Night Stand Lovers” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/relationship-thesaurus-entry-one-night-stand-lovers/. Story ideas, and see PG’s take.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 710 words
Writing of WCGN 5: Tentative Title (novel)
Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX
Total fiction words for August……… 6933
Total fiction words for the year………… 623282
Total nonfiction words for August… 3240
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 149670
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 772952
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 13
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 66
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.