The Journal, Monday, December 24

Hey Folks,

Wow. Up way earlier than I expected to be, again.

But being up a couple hours earlier than my version of normal gives me time to “wake up” etc. and still have a good writing day, so I don’t mind.

Hey, happy Christmas Eve. And just in case I don’t show up in your inbox tomorrow, I hope you will all have a fun, joy-filled Christmas Day no matter what particular holiday your celebrate.

After we swap gifts, my wife and I will share a semi-traditional Mexican Christmas dinner with our neighbors. No tamales (nom nom nom) but other things made with shredded beef and salsa. (grin)
***

In the ongoing saga of As the Typewriter Ribbon Turns, Dean has agreed with Harvey’s last statement and even congratulated him on saying it well. (Sounds like a soap opera, doesn’t it?)

In the most recent episode, one respondent (Filip) agreed with me, sort of (don’t blame readers for writers’ glitches) and went on to say he writes into the dark.

Then Filip wrote

“I’m writing along, and the story stops. It doesn’t help no matter how much I rip out of the story, how far back I go to start over, the story is dead because I’m not good enough to see what I need to put into it in order to create the kind of story that I like.”

So in actuality, he doesn’t really write into the dark at all, though I guess he believes he does.

I responded to him with something that I thought maybe some of you might also need to hear. Just in case, here it is as a short topic:

Topic: It Isn’t Your Story

Let your characters tell the story. After all, they’re the ones who are living it.

You can write in one of two ways:

1. You can be that almighty Author on High, controlling every little aspect of what your characters say and do, or

2. You can get over yourself, roll off the parapet into the trenches of the story and run through it with your characters.

The second way is a lot more fun. It’s also writing into the dark.

I don’t even see myself as a storyteller. I’m only the recorder whom the characters have invited along to record their story.

I run through the story with them, just trying to keep up. I write down what they say and do, and every thousand words or so the characters take pity on me (I’m an old guy so it’s difficult for me to keep up) and we all take a break.

Just before we’re ready to race back into the story, I cycle back through the previous thousand words to let the characters add anything I missed as we were racing along. Then we’re off and running into the next scene, and the next, and the next.

And seriously, after “follow Heinlein’s Rules” and “trust your subconscious,” the best advice I ever got from Dean (or anywhere else) is “when you get stuck (or the story ‘stops’), Just Write the Next Sentence.”

All writers are different, but this has worked for me through 37 novels and counting.
***

I got stuck on a detail for awhile today, and didn’t have as good a day as I’d liked. On the up side, I left off at a place that should enable me to jump back into the story quickly when I return to it.

Have a great Christmas.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See the new comments on “Critical Voice Kills Take Two” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/critical-voice-kills-take-two/#comments. (For the one I talked about above, scroll down to the first instance of “Filip” and read from there.)

See “The Writer’s Vision for 2019” at http://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-writers-vision-for-2019/. All I can really say on this one is the writer of the OP is confusing Dreams with Goals. To see the difference, see the next item.

Scroll down to “A Quick Discussion of Goals vs. Dreams” at http://harveystanbrough.com/pro-writers/setting-goals-2016-is-almost-here/.

Fiction Words: 2629
Nonfiction Words: 670 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 3294

Writing of Blackwell Ops (formerly tentatively titled Cazadores, novel)

Day 1…… 4917 words. Total words to date…… 4917
Day 2…… 1873 words. Total words to date…… 6790
Day 3…… 3453 words. Total words to date…… 10243
Day 4…… 4191 words. Total words to date…… 14434
Day 5…… 3527 words. Total words to date…… 17961
Day 6…… 5534 words. Total words to date…… 23495
Day 7…… 4350 words. Total words to date…… 27845
Day 8…… 2089 words. Total words to date…… 29934
Day 9…… 3890 words. Total words to date…… 33824
Day 10… 2629 words. Total words to date…… 36453

Total fiction words for the month……… 60963
Total fiction words for the year………… 519646
Total nonfiction words for the month… 15530
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 187216
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 706612

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