In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Stopping for a Visit
* Octavia Butler
* Scam Alert
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“Until I began writing my own stories, I never found quite what I was looking for… In desperation, I made up my own… I made a universe in it. There I could be a magic horse, a Martian, a telepath. There I could be anywhere but here, any time but now, with any people but these.” Octavia Butler
Stopping for a visit to say hello and share some things that are beginning to stack up.
I know some of you haven’t been able to pull the trigger yet on trusting yourself enough to Just Write. That’s fine. I will continue to strive to help anyone who wants to know the joy and pleasure of sitting back and allowing your characters to tell you a story.
But if you aren’t there yet (or if you are cross-armed determined never to get there, that’s fine too), you might want to see “Plotting for Pantsers and Pantsing for Plotters” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/08/plotting-for-pantsers-and-pantsing-for-plotters.html. Not my personal cuppa, but what do I know?
One caveat: I’ve talked here before about deciding not to buy a novel by a famous writer because the plot was spilled out in the sales copy. Why buy and read the novel when I already know the story from the sales copy?
Likewise, if you are able to plot-out (outline, signpost, etc.) a story and then still write it without being bored out of your mind, good for you. But if you want to avoid boring your reader, keep in mind (and practice) Kate Wilhelm’s Law:
Every time an event occurs or changes and every time your characters make a choice, “throw away your first three ideas” of what will happen. Why? Because if you can “figure out” what will happen next, chances are the reader can too. And if the reader knows in advance what will happen next, chances are she’ll close your novel and find something interesting to do.
That’s where Wilhelm’s Law comes in. The reader will seldom wade three-ideas-deep into the morass in an attempt to figure out what’s coming next in your story. And if all of that is beginning to sound like a boatload of work, well, instead you might consider remembering it’s the characters’ story (not yours) and letting them tell it. Just an idea.
To see an intersting, if short, article on Octavia Butler, see “Octavia Estelle Butler: Notetaking as Science Fiction” at https://fortelabs.co/blog/octavia-estelle-butler-notetaking-as-science-fiction/. Thanks to Karen for the tip.
At “True Crime Thursday – Are You Dead or Alive Scam” (see https://killzoneblog.com/2021/08/true-crime-thursday-are-you-dead-or-alive-scam.html), Debbie Burke talks a bit about a whole series of new scams and references a site that lists them day by day.
Talk with you again later.
Of Interest
See “Fantastic Writing Advice by Keith Johnstone” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/fantastic-writing-advice-by-keith-johnstone/.
See “Keith Johnstone” at https://www.keithjohnstone.com/.
From the You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me Department, see “‘Nevermind’: California Man Sues Band 30 Years After Being Featured as a Naked Baby on Iconic Cover” at https://jonathanturley.org/2021/08/25/nevermind-california-man-sues-band-30-years-after-being-featured-as-a-naked-baby-on-iconic-cover/.
See “The Day Afghanistan Died” at https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/08/the-day-afghanistan-died/. I would never write this. No reader would believe it. I’m so ashamed of our nation right now I can hardly breathe.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 540 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… 8200
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 154630
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 777912
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.