In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Nothing to talk about
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again.”
Willa Cather, My Ántonia
“Writers … brag about the years they worked on something or the number of drafts they’ve done. It’s as if they aren’t making art but operating a plastic pellet factory.” Lincoln Michael
I have nothing to talk about really, only a thought on goals and a few links to share.
We’re a third of the way through December already, so I hope you’re thinking about what you want to do in 2022 re your writing. Once you’ve established your daily/weekly/monthly and/or annual goals, feel free to share them here. Sharing them can help motivate you to achieve them, and you never know whom you might help or influence along the way.
To the links—First, there are some great comments on “Getting Ready…” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/getting-ready-for-a-new-year-or-challenge/#comments. Some of these might help you in your own writing practice.
Dean also recently announced “Motivational Monday” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/motivational-monday/. Sounds like a good thing for a lot of folks. Check it out.
Talk with you again later.
Of Interest
See “Using Magnets to Attract Readers” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/12/using-magnets-to-attract-readers.html. Surprisingly, some useful information here.
See “Short Stories: Small and Twisted” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/12/short-stories-small-and-twisted.html.
See “Millions of followers? For book sales, ‘it’s unreliable.'” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/millions-of-followers-for-book-sales-its-unreliable/.
See “Writing Is about the Right Words, not the MOST Words” at https://countercraft.substack.com/p/writing-is-about-the-right-words. Not what you expect. And you get to watch Paul McCartney compose “Get Back” out of thin air.
See “25 Words That Are Their Own Opposites” at https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/57032/25-words-are-their-own-opposites.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 270 words
Writing of WCGN 5: (tentative title, novel)
Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX
Total fiction words for December……… 4338
Total fiction words for the year………… 629419
Total nonfiction words for December… 4640
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 23780
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 826272
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.