In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Yesterday
* Lately I’ve noticed a shift
* Sales and stuff
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“The Renaissance took place in chaos and plague.” Shiva Ayyadurai via The Passive Voice
Oof. Yesterday I had a small day on the novel (see Day 18 below) and I only have four days left to finish on time. I think I’ll make it, but if I don’t I’ll just go over by a day or two. (shrug)
Overall a good day of writing fiction yesterday with a little over 3800 words. Today it’s all novel again. I’m looking forward to it.
Lately I’ve noticed a shift in my attitude regarding short stories. This was not a conscious shift. Just something that happened.
Early in the year, writing a short story every week felt almost like a chore. In short, I met my weekly goal only because I had a goal to meet. I enjoyed writing the stories once I got started on them, but I didn’t enjoy “having” to write them. So without the goal, I wouldn’t have written them at all.
Then something shifted and I began to look forward to writing short stories. I was anxious to write the last few, and I very much enjoyed writing them. Honestly, I think I could write a new short story every day. Of course, that would vastly slow down my novel-writing process. (grin) But what fun it is!
Now, even as I’m looking forward to getting back into the novel, I’m also looking forward to whatever I’ll come up with for the next short story and writing it. If that makes sense.
I might even set aside my short story goal as unnecessary and not worry about it (as long as I still write at least one short story per week). I have a feeling after this novel’s finished I might start writing a lot more short stories.
I might not even design covers and publish them or design other covers and put them in collections. I might just leave all that to my heirs. (grin)
Just a side note: If you flat love the fun and exploration and discovery and sense of accomplishment that springs from writing short fiction (not to mention the constant possibility that a short story will seed a longer one), go for it.
But if you want to write short fiction only to make money, chances are good you’ll fail. Wrong motivation. Short fiction sells much worse than longer fiction. Here’s the heirarchy, best sales to worst, and I’m not talking income here, I’m talking actual sales:
1. Novel and novella series
2. Novels
3. Novellas
4. Short story series (in collections)
5. Short story collections
6. Short story series (not in collections)
7. Individual short stories
Finally, as another side note, yes, writing short stories is a great way to build confidence in yourself as you transition to writing into the dark. I recommend writing short stories for that purpose.
But don’t be surprised if what starts as a short story wants to keep going. If that happens, go with it and keep writing into the dark. If it peters out, back up a bit, wrap the short story and publish it. If it doesn’t peter out, keep running with it. That’s how you learn to trust yourself and your characters. At first it’s a leap of faith, but it’s one that will be richly rewarded.
Only four days left, counting today, to take advantage of my 50% off sale over at Smashwords (click https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HEStanbrough). I’ve thought about extending the sale, but frankly it’s been an abysmal failure thus far.
Today I started the morning listening to new videos in the Shared Worlds class. Good stuff.
Now I’m going to post this nonsense and move over to write on the novel. I’ll post today’s fiction numbers later.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Card Sharp Silver… Day 9” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/card-sharp-silver-day-9/. Among other things, Dean speaks for me on the pandemic.
For yet another (and writing-related) take, see “The Coronavirus Diaries” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/03/the-coronavirus-diaries.html.
See “Why You’ll Never Reach Your Writing Goals in 2020 (Unless…)” at https://smartblogger.com/writing-goals/. FWIW.
The Numbers
Fiction words today…………………… XXXX
Nonfiction words today…………… 690 (Journal)
Writing of The Othgygnrkthers (tentative title, novel)
Day 10… 1622 words. Total words to date…… 28128
Day 11… 1263 words. Total words to date…… 29391
Day 12… 0992 words. Total words to date…… 30383
Day 13… 1897 words. Total words to date…… 32280
Day 14… 1199 words. Total words to date…… 33479
Day 15… 1444 words. Total words to date…… 34923
Day 16… 1284 words. Total words to date…… 36207
Day 17… 4765 words. Total words to date…… 40972
Day 18… 1151 words. Total words to date…… 42123
Day 19… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX
Total fiction words for the month……… 57102
Total fiction words for the year………… 193797
Total nonfiction words for the month… 24430
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 78910
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 273397
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 48
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 208
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31