In today’s Journal
* Responses
* Copy of the Journal?
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Sorry for any confusion created by yesterday’s post.
Some folks apparently thought I was wondering what caused my brain fog. Nope. I knew what caused it. I even knew in advance that it was going to happen and roughly what it would entail. I just don’t know how long it will last (but I’m not asking about that either).
I only wanted to report on my experience and make you aware of why I am personally unable to write fiction at the moment, just in case it might help some of you in some way. Probably it doesn’t matter. I just thought it was interesting.
I hope my personal mental disconnect will clear up sooner rather than later.
If it does, I will go back to writing fiction. If it doesn’t, actually I’m okay with that too. At 66 novels, 8 novellas and over 200 short stories, I’ve had a good career. So no worries either way.
By the way, if any of the newer subscribers out there would like a copy of my Journal entries for the past year or two, just email me and I’ll send those out in PDF format. Free. No biggie.
I’ve not been terribly informative recently, and there’s a lot of good information in those past Journals. They’re even searchable. (I recommend searching for the general “Topic” or for specifics like “Scene,” “Setting,” “WITD,” “Cycling” etc.)
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Animals Count and Use Zero…” at https://www.quantamagazine.org/animals-can-count-and-use-zero-how-far-does-their-number-sense-go-20210809/.
See “Collections” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/collections/. In case it might jump-start you to putting together your own collections.
See “Are You Ready for the Word Play Masters Invitational?” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/08/are-you-ready-for-the-word-play-masters-invitational.html. Mostly BS but maybe fun.
See “Archetypal Character Arcs, Pt. 15: Introduction to the 6 Flat Archetypes” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/archetypal-character-arcs-pt-15-introduction-to-the-6-flat-archetypes/. Very basic stuff. Read it, absorb it, then forget it and just write. See PG’s take.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 320 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… 5510
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 151940
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 775222
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.
May you have a good life. Enjoy nature.
Thanks, Loyd. Not sure what this has to do with anything, but I appreciate the sentiment. You too.
Harvey I know you aren’t fishing for advice here. In lieu of that, here’s a piece of my own experience in handling the mental fatigue that comes from dropping a stimulant cold-turkey.
In my case it was the caffeine in coffee that does it. When I was living on 10 cups a day, I wasn’t exactly feeling right. Same problem when I tried to cut it back — fatigue, loss of clarity, et cetera.
One discovery really took the edge off: the herb rhodiola rosea.
It’s not a stimulant, but it does work through the same brain chemistry as caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and other fun stuff in that category.
I found it a big help in smoothing a crash landing into a gentle glide to the ground. Don’t know if that helps your life at all, but there it is 🙂
Thanks, Matt. I’ll check it out.