Hey Folks,
I always hate registering a zero for fiction writing for the first day of the month. But it is what it is.
I didn’t clear the decks quite well enough to approach my much-touted WIP challenge in July. My wife’s birthday and vacation are both this month, and my son recently moved to Arizona, so visits will ensue. I’ll get back to the challenge sometime in the future. No rush.
For now I’m going to not think about challenges other than the ongoing novel-a-month thing and just get back to writing.
Yesterday, ideas were lining up outside my mental door and flinging themselves at it. I expect more of the same today.
I’ve also recognized something new about myself. I enjoy writing short stories, but I enjoy writing novels a lot more.
Even when I was writing short stories early last month, some small part of my subconscious was watching and hoping a novel would emerge.
I’m not sure what that means yet, but I suspect it will bode well for me. Stay tuned.
Topic: Writing Prompts
I’m not sure this is really big enough for a whole topic. But the notion of it is big enough that it deserves the tag.
As I looked through some of the writing-prompt sites this morning (see “Of Interest”), a thought occurred.
Poets and Writers’ weekly column “The Time Is Now” offers three prompts per week. They emphasize that one prompt is for poetry, one for fiction, and one for creative nonfiction.
I visited the site. As I scrolled down and read over some of the prompts, I got a great deal more inspiration as I read the paragraph beneath each prompt. So that’s one thing. And I actually got more than one idea from most of the paragraphs.
I also got some great, impactful story titles from some of their titles and derived from the paragraphs under the titles.
But another, much bigger relization is that ANY of the prompts can be used for fiction. Or poetry or creative nonfiction, I suppose. And that makes complete sense.
I’ve written several short stories that were based on poems I wrote years ago. I’ve written at least two novels based on poems I wrote earlier as well.
You can check out “The Time Is Now” at https://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises/.
As you browse the list of other websites in the article in “Of Interest,” you’ll find more neat stuff.
Today, and Writing
Nothing again today.
See you tomorrow.
Of Interest
Via The Passive Voice, see “Self-Publishing Does Not Have to Cost You Anything at http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2017/06/26/it-self-publishing-does-not-have-to-cost-you-anything/. Amen.
Also via The Passive Voice, see “6 Websites with Great Writing Prompts” at https://medium.com/personal-growth/6-websites-with-great-writing-prompts-1c35288ef91a/. There’s actually more than writing prompt sites. Check out this one.
Have I said lately how much DWS amazes me? Check out “Novel One: Day One” at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/novel-one-day-one/.
If you have books available through Smashwords, visit https://www.smashwords.com/dashboard/sitewidePromos to enroll your books in their annual July Summer/Winter Sale. You know. If you want to.
Fiction Words: XXXX
Nonfiction Words: 490 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 490
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX
Total fiction words for the month……… XXXX
Total fiction words for the year………… 337957
Total nonfiction words for the month… 600
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 107940
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 446387
The Daily Journal blog streak……………………………………… 584 days
Calendar Year 2017 Novel Goal (15 novels or novellas)………………… 7 novels or novellas
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 25
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 4
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 176