In today’s Journal
* Two New Sources of Information for Writers
* Topic: Keep Coming Back
* When a Story Flows
* Of Interest
Two New Sources of Information for Writers
I found a new source for reliable factual information and informed opinion: Interesting Engineering. One example of their articles is in today’s “Of Interest.”
If you write SF, to my mind this is a must-have (free) subscription. If you don’t write SF, it’s still an extremely interesting source of information. You can find it at https://interestingengineering.com/. To sign up for the newsletter, scroll to the bottom and click Newsletter.
Also, Tari wrote to provide yet another new source: SciTechDaily. This one would be great for SF or crime writers. The article she used as an example is also in “Of Interest” today. If you’d like a free subscription you can find the source itself at https://scitechdaily.com/.
Topic: Keep Coming Back
This topic goes so well with writing into the dark that the two techniques have the same scent.
Writing into the dark means to trust yourself and your characters.
Keep coming back means to give yourself a chance to do more than you otherwise would.
It means you can get up, wander off to the grocery or to do yard work or whatever other non-writing endeavors interest you or are necessary, then come back to your writing. Sit down, put your fingers on the keyboard, and give your characters a chance to add to the story.
In a Journal entry in December 2020, I wrote this:
“If you’re unfamiliar with the term, “keep coming back” refers to your work ethic, or less nicely put, your obsession.
“It means don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked during breaks from your story. Keep coming back. Even when you think you’re finished for the day.
“That was the case for me [in December 2020]. I’d written a little over 6000 words, so for me it was already a great day of writing. Then I went to the store with my wife. When we got back, I told her I was going to shut down the Hovel (my office). I was only going to do all those little end-of-the-day things: save the novel, record my numbers, etc. That really was my intention.
“But when I got back to the Hovel, I sat down and glanced at the story. I put my fingers on the keyboard, and the next thing I knew I’d written another 1600 words. In that I set a new personal best for a single day of writing: 7614 words.”
All because of my little mantra: Keep Coming Back.
When a Story Flows
I’m reminded of a comment I received while presenting a day-long seminar on Writing Into the Dark. During a break, a student approached me and said, “All this stuff — writing into the dark, cycling, grounding the reader, keep coming back — is easy when you have a story that writes itself. Isn’t that right?”
I said, “Yes, that’s right. And if you trust your characters to tell the story that they, not you, are living, the story writes itself. So it really is all up to you.”
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Japan’s trial of a deep ocean turbine could offer limitless renewable energy” at https://interestingengineering.com/japan-deep-ocean-turbine-limitless-renewable-energy. Why has nobody thought of this before?
See “Scientists Have Established a Key Biological Difference Between Psychopaths and Normal People” at https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-have-established-a-key-biological-difference-between-psychopaths-and-normal-people/.
See “Book Marketing Images & Videos” at https://killzoneblog.com/2022/06/book-marketing-images-videos.html.
See “The Mystery of Subtext: An Appreciation” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-mystery-of-subtext-an-appreciation/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 580 words
Writing of Blackwell Ops 8 (tentative title, novel)
Day 1…… 2371 words. Total words to date…… 2371
Day 2…… 1305 words. Total words to date…… 3676
Day 3…… 1107 words. Total words to date…… 4783
Day 4…… 1201 words. Total words to date…… 5984
Day 5…… 1872 words. Total words to date…… 7856
Day 6…… 2505 words. Total words to date…… 10361
Day 7…… 3581 words. Total words to date…… 13942
Total fiction words for June……… 7958
Total fiction words for the year………… 19375
Total nonfiction words for June… 2610
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 83220
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 102955
Calendar Year 2022 Novels to Date…………………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 66
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. I’ve never said WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among other topics.