Hey Folks,
Not a lot to talk about today unless something occurs to me later. For now, I’ve browsed the Internet, didn’t find much, and am going to write for awhile.
Which spurred this thought:
Once again, I’m setting a goal to write fiction every day. This self-discipline is nothing more than a trick to get me to the keyboard once a day, every day, and I’m stubborn enough to make it work.
My life is not one in which I have tons of responsiblity. Been there, done that. But now, I don’t have a day job, I don’t report to anyone, and nobody reports to me. Those glorious days (and they really were) are past.
Other than a few life-and-living chores around the house and the occasional short trip, I very rarely have a valid reason not to write for at least a little while. And more often than not, once I get to the keyboard, that “little while” turns into much longer.
That means more new words on the page, novels finished sooner, and the next story started sooner. And time really is our most valuable asset.
One note, by way of a reminder: Most writers who hand out advice, free or paid, seem averse to personal responsibility. By that I mean they generally spout the same old stuff that doesn’t work at all except on that extremely rare occasion when lightning strikes.
In a perfect world, they would at least admit that although their way works for them, something else might work better for you.
But generally, they don’t.
So as I’ve said for years, it behooves you to Question Everything, in your own mind if nowhere else.
Trust your intuition. If a given piece of advice “feels” right to you, try it. If it doesn’t, don’t force it.
Especially if the advice is proferred by non-writing professionals, is something you’ve tried before without positive results, and is a regurgitation of the same old stuff.
As the sarge used to say on Hill Street Blues, “Hey, be careful out there.”
***
Today was another of those keep-coming-back days. I wrote for about an hour while my wife and I were doing some laundry. Then we had lunch and I went back for another session.
Now a break to watch a little baseball, then I’ll get one more session. Not bad for a Sunday. (grin)
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Fiction Is Truth Serum” at https://killzoneblog.com/2018/09/fiction-is-truth-serum.html. Not a bad idea, at least on the surface.
See “Nothing in Capitalism is Clean: On Making Art in Empire” at http://www.thepassivevoice.com/nothing-in-capitalism-is-clean-on-making-art-in-empire/. Originally I linked to the original article, but then I made the mistake of browsing that site. Then I changed it back to this link to The Passive Voice teaser. If you want to sully your hands at site of the OP, that’s up to you. Mostly I think I posted this for yet another opportunity to see an avowed despiser of capitalism reap the rewards of, well, capitalism.
Fiction Words: 2859
Nonfiction Words: 480 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 3339
Writing of Nick 3 (novel, tentative title)
Day 1…… 3422 words. Total words to date…… 3422
Day 2…… 2664 words. Total words to date…… 6086
Day 3…… 3190 words. Total words to date…… 9276
Day 4…… 1090 words. Total words to date…… 10366
Day 5…… 1466 words. Total words to date…… 11832
Day 6…… 2859 words. Total words to date…… 14691
Total fiction words for the month……… 14991
Total fiction words for the year………… 329722
Total nonfiction words for the month… 10270
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 128086
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 457558
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 7
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 2
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 11
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 33
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 6
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………………… 193