The Journal: Thanks

In today’s Journal

* Quote of the Day
* What Bradbury said
* Yesterday
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quote of the Day

“You see, all my characters write the book. I don’t write the book. All these characters come to me and say, ‘Listen to me.’ And then I listen to them and I put it down, and the book gets written. That’s how I write, you see. All these lovers surround me, and they love life and they tell me about it.” Ray Bradbury on the writing of Fahrenheit 451.

Yes! What Bradbury said. Yes!

For at least four decades, when someone asked about my process, I told them I follow my characters around and write down what they say and do. That’s from my earliest short stories and poems to date.

More recently, maybe two or three years ago, I delved deeper and realized that’s the only way I CAN write. Because I’m not writing my story; I’m writing their story. I’m writing the story that my characters, not I, are living. So how can I do otherwise, as Bradbury says, than “listen to them” and put down what they say and do?

I feel very fortunate—blessed, really—that my characters so readily invite me to write their stories for them. If they had physical fingers, I’d be out of a job.

Thanks for the concern over my current, self-inflicted trauma. I appreciate it. But really, everything’s fine. It’s just life. Once my envious two year old gets over the bitter knowledge that thousands or millions of men smoke cigars with no ill effects, I’ll be fine.

Yesterday I did mostly nothing. I read a little, binge-watched a lot of TV, puttered around the yard.

Today (shrug) I don’t know. I hope I’ll write some fiction.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “When Corvids Go Rogue” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/05/when-corvids-go-rogue.html. I have never studied the sort of thing she talks about here, but it’s worth a look.

See “No One Cares” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/no-one-cares/. A great blast from the past.

See “NEA Big Read: Meet Ray Bradbury” (video) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqp38_uS-eg.

See “Mt. Saint Helens” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/mt-saint-helens/. I wish he wouldn’t get so abusive toward people who disagree with him, but mostly this is a reprise of a post from a year ago that’s worth reading.

See “Work Habits for Unruly Writers” at https://prowriterswriting.com/work-habits-for-unruly-writers.

See “The Origins of 12 Silly-Sounding Compound Words” at https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-origins-of-12-silly-sounding-compound-words.

See “The Problem with Enhanced Ebooks” at https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2020/05/the-problem-with-enhanced-ebooks/. Just FYI.

The Numbers

Fiction words yesterday…………………… XXXX
Nonfiction words today…………… 420 (Journal)

Writing of (novel)

Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for the month……… 30061
Total fiction words for the year………… 309655
Total nonfiction words for the month… 10300
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 113410
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 423065

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