In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Since I took part
* Yesterday I reported
* Re yesterday’s link
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.” Isaac Asimov (Thanks to TPV for the quote.)
“[R]eading Mr. Liu [Cixin]’s fiction is essential for understanding how China views America and the world today.” Niall Ferguson
[Referring to Mr. Ferguson’s quote], “[T]his is the biggest misinterpretation of my work. … [In my books], aliens are aliens, space is space.” Liu Cixin, Chinese SF author
Good on Liu Cixin for defending his work.
Since I took part in a recent Kickstarter (The Boss, Diving Universe) with a meager $5 (or maybe $10, I forget) donation, yesterday I received all the stretch goals in an email from WMG Publishing (DWS and KKR). Included in those stretch goals were four or five electronic books. Those more than repaid me for my small donation.
But also included were four “pop-up” workshops, valued at $150 each: How to Write a Novella, Science Fiction World Building, Creating Believable Aliens, and Living in Space.
There’s always something else to learn, and getting $600 worth of pop-up workshops for a ridiculously small donation is practically highway robbery, only without having to stand out in the heat along a highway and risk heat stroke or being run over.
I think Dean and Kris have kept open “late pledges” on that Kickstarter, and I suspect you can still get all the stretch goals in exchange for a small donation. Take a look at “Doing Something New…” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/doing-something-new/.
I tell myself this isn’t really theft, but I’m not entirely convinced. Still, since Dean and Kris want to practically give this stuff away, I think I can live with it. (grin)
Yesterday I reported that I planned to write on my novel again. Well, that was the plan. Then I got the email from WMG with the access links to the stretch goals (and those pop-ups) and decided to make much of yesterday classroom time.
One thing I learned (re-realized) is that novellas (15,000 to 25,000 words) can be as lucrative or more so than short stories. So add that to whatever you gleaned from my recent Journal post on making money with short fiction.
Consider, novellas
1. Sell as well as novels.
2. Like short stories, can sell to the magazine markets.
3. Can sell as part of a novella series or a novel series, and
4. Are not as “daunting” as writing a full novel (if you find the prospect of writing a novel daunting)
Re yesterday’s link to Garry Rodgers’ “Top Ten Tips on Formatting eBooks from MS Word” I also use Microsoft Office (and Word) 10 for writing and formatting, mostly, in my case, because Office 10 still contains the photo-manipulation program Microsoft Photo. However, I also own Microsoft Office (and Word) 365, the non-subscription, ownable version of Office (and Word) 2019.
Finally, for a deeper dive into how to use Microsoft Word, you can visit https://harveystanbrough.com/microsoft-word-for-writers/ where I posted a complete tutorial for using Microsoft Word in a series of free posts.
Today I’ll work through two or three more DWS pop-up workshops. If there’s time, I’ll also write on my novel.
Talk with you again when I can.
Of Interest
See “Feed the Obsession” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/feed-the-obsession/. Thought I’d toss this in just in case any of you are interested in writing horror. (Chris, I’m looking at you.)
See “Liu Cixin Writes Science Fiction Epics That Transcend the Moment” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/liu-cixin-writes-science-fiction-epics-that-transcend-the-moment/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 590 words
Writing of Body on the Beach (novel, working title)
Day 1…… 1135 words. Total words to date…… 1135
Day 1…… 1409 words. Total words to date…… 2544
Total fiction words for the month……… 7817
Total fiction words for the year………… 323100
Total nonfiction words for the month… 7250
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 145320
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 468420
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 50
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 208
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31