The Journal: More on Challenges and Writing

In today’s Journal

* Topic: More on Challenges and Writing
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Topic: More on Challenges and Writing

Ironically, one of the big problems with being a prolific writer is publishing. You can’t make money on what you write unless you (or someone) publishes it. That’s why Heinlein’s Rule 4 exists, and that’s the one I almost constantly fall off of. Not that I care, but more on that later.

Maggie King mentioned in a comment that a prolific writer might have a problem finding enough proofreaders (or first readers) to keep up. She suspects that’s her critical mind talking, and she’s probably right. So how to overcome it?

Write, First Read, Copyedit, Publish—all of those are separate steps. But without step one, the others have no reason to exist. If you’re a writer, writing is king.

If you don’t write, you can’t publish. But if you don’t publish, you can still write the next story. So Maggie’s critical mind is actually right. But so what? The inability of others or even your publisher-self to keep up with your output is absolutely no reason to not write in the first place.

Really, what’s the actual harm of having completed short stories or novels stacked up unpublished on your desk or in your computer? It’s all practice, and you were already “paid” by being the first to see those particular characters’ stories. I honestly don’t see the down side.

Of course, when you DO get around to publishing them that will mean more readers and more royalties, and that’s definitely an up side, but again, there is no down side.

As Maggie mentioned,

1. a prolific writer might have a problem finding enough proofreaders (or first readers) to keep up; likewise,

2. a prolific writer might not have the money to pay even an adequate copyeditor, and

3. a prolific writer literally can’t write for traditional publishers because, well, Traditional-Publisher-Antiquated-Thinking, so

4. a prolific writer must indie publish all his or her own work. Anyone hyperventilating at this point?

You’re only one person. I can empathize, and I do.

But I’m also in a unique position. I still write primarily because it’s a great deal of fun and because I’m curious to see what my characters are up to in their world.

I can do that because I stopped worrying about making money off my writing. Don’t take me wrong. I very much enjoy finding new cash in my account from royalty payments, and I spend it with glee. I do still publish. I just don’t make publishing a priority, and I definitely don’t make it a priority that my critical mind can use to stop me from writing.

The fact is, I’m counting on my grandchildren to be able to make a TON of money from my writing, so the more I write the better, regardless of whether I publish it.

Anyway, as a result of that attitude, my stories and novels occasionally stack up. But every now and then the thought hits that nobody can read them if they’re on my desk or still in my computer. Oops.

That’s when I grudgingly take a little time to design covers, write sales copy, and publish what I’ve written. It’s almost an assembly line sort of thing. But I count myself fortunate that I’m able to keep the writing a fun escape. And I’m glad that, for me, the publishing is only an occasional drudgery.

For an interesting extension of this topic, see the comments on Dean’s “Figuring Out a Challenge” post from yesterday at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/figuring-out-a-challenge/#comments.

Also see Dean’s “More On Challenges For 2022” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/more-on-challenges-for-2022/.

Talk with you again later.

Of Interest

See “Festina Lente!” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/12/festina-lente.html.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 610 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… 4140
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 232870
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 825772

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.