In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* When I originally pointed to
* And re the first item
* Still a little under
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“[I]f PG were to hypothetically consider using a Social Media Assistant, he might explore the college population. They’re likely to be intelligent and very familiar with the various platforms and the unwritten norms that govern interaction on those platforms.” The Passive Guy
When I originally pointed to “Twenty Authors Talk About the Second Time Around” (“Of Interest”) I did so because I had in mind the thought that maybe someone had found twenty authors who had hit rock bottom or burned out and stopped writing, then made a comeback.
I was disappointed to see it was all about making one’s novel “important,” from the first-novel “debut” when a “new star bursts on the scene” etc.
I decided to leave the post in “Of Interest” even though it disappointed me. Perhaps other will be interested. But don’t make any individual novel important, folks. The fear that your second novel won’t be as “good” as the first is often exactly the reason that it isn’t.
And until you tame that fear and kick it out of your mindset, every novel you write will be subject to the same decline. You only progress as a storyteller when you release the fear and just enjoy the process and the story your characters are telling you.
Your conscious, critical mind is a good monster. It keeps you from doing stupid things, like walking out in front of a speeding bus or putting your hand on a hot burner.
But it also does its best to protect you from rejection by shutting down your writing. If you don’t write, you can’t finish and publish and be criticized.
So unless you’re about to walk across a busy street or do something else that has Real Consequences, don’t let it in. Just have fun being entertained by your characters. Then the characters will have fun and the readers will have fun too.
And re the first item in “Of Interest,” I would be remiss not to mention that I’m still offering paid, directed mentorships focused down on your individual work. You can find the levels at https://harveystanbrough.com/mentorships/.
For a limited time, I’m offering The Writing Craft III mentorships (any one topic from the list at the top of the page) for only $96, a 25% discount. The regular price is $129.
Of course, in this Journal I offer a free mentorship pretty much every day.
Still a little under the weather yesterday, so the second day on the novel was not a great day, but it was significantly better than the first.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Mentoring For Writers” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/03/mentoring-for-writers.html.
See “Tips for Working With a Social Media Assistant” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/tips-for-working-with-a-social-media-assistant/. See PG’s take.
See “Twenty Authors Talk About the Second Time Around” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/twenty-authors-talk-about-the-second-time-around/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 490 words
Writing of The Journey Home: Part 9 (novel)
Day 1…… 2019 words. Total words to date…… 2019
Day 2…… 3650 words. Total words to date…… 5669
Total fiction words for March……… 42657
Total fiction words for the year………… 241665
Total nonfiction words for March… 13720
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 59750
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 301415
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 59
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 it both regularly and publicly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other topics.