In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* The Novel Wrapped
* Reverse Outlines Again
* Publishing Schedule
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“[F]ocus your thoughts only on what you can act upon, and forget the all the rest. … On a daily basis, it’s you and the page. You control what words you put down, and how many.” James Scott Bell
“[A]nyone touching your work will dumb it down. Try being an artist and standing up for your own work.” Dean Wesley Smith
“I can publish a novel indie for around $5.00. And that is for the art.” Dean Wesley Smith
Well, try as I might to slow the process, the novel wrapped at around 10 a.m. on Writing Day 14, which in this case was also calendar day 14. Oh well, onward and upward.
Apparently, my “normal” time for writing a novel has settled in at about two weeks. And that’s to turn out a “first draft” that’s free of all but a few typos, if that. Works for me. My second draft is an automated spell check. My third is applying my first-readers’ recommendations if I agree with them. Then I publish.
Because there’s a great article on traditional publishing in today’s “Of Interest,” I thought I’d add this bit: I’ve just finished my 62nd novel, and it will publish on July 30. Had I been tied to a traditional publisher, in the same timeframe I would have just finished my 6th novel, and its publication would be six months to a year from now. And I would have given up all rights to all six novels for the life of the copyright. Just something to think about.
Reverse Outlines Again
Time for me to practice what I preach. Earlier yesterday, I was talking with a friend. He’s written a short series (3 books, I think, maybe 4) with a recurring character. He mentioned that writing the latest installment gets frustrating at times.
He’ll write a few lines. Then, when his recurring character adjusts his pinkie ring, he has to stop and scroll back through his earlier novels to figure out which finger the guy wore that ring on.
He could probably cheat and add a few lines somewhere alluding to the fact that the character switches fingers with the ring now and then. But what I recommended is that he go back through the series (while it’s short) and create a reverse outline for each book (and hence, a series bible). As part of that, of course, he would mention on which finger the guy always wears that ring.
Then, on our way to town to go shopping awhile ago, I was talking with Mona a little about the Wes Crowley series. She said, “But aren’t you going to miss those characters?”
Well, yes. Yes I am.
But the series spans around 50 years of the main character’s life. So there should be some holes in the overall story, gaps that might beg a few short stories, if not a novel or two. (grin)
I also remembered I wasn’t writing reverse outlines back when I wrote most of the books in that series. So I decided what better way to enjoy the series again AND find gaps that need to be filled that going through the whole series, book by book, chapter by chapter, and creating a reverse outline for each book?
So that’s what I’ll be doing over the next two or three days. Maybe longer. At this point, I don’t really care. I love these characters and the overall storyline. I love how it all started with a 15 year old Wes and 16 year old Mac joining the Texas Rangers, and I love the culmination Wes just conveyed to me in the 12th book.
Should be interesting. And fun. And I hope to come out of it eager to write another novel in the Crowley tradition. Woohoo! Here we go again.
Publishing Schedule
I received an email from a person who publishes a newsletter for a writers’ group. She asked whether I had publication info and a buy link yet for Wes Crowley: The Final Chapter (Book 12). Of course, I don’t yet. But then, I only finished writing the book yesterday.
But as a result of that conversation, I thought I’d share my publishing schedule from now forward for the next couple of months, just in case you’re interested:
Rider Jones: The Marshal will go live on May 26.
The Journey Home: Part 7 will go live on May 30.
After that, every two weeks another novel will go live:
The Journey Home: Part 8 on June 15;
The Journey Home: Part 9 on June 30;
Terra 2 (Book 10, FOH) on July 15 (No buy link info yet); and
Wes Crowley: The Final Chapter on July 30 (No buy link info yet).
Of course, if you’re interested in purchasing any of my novels, short story collections or nonfiction or poetry books, the best way to do that is to go to my publisher website at https://stonethreadpublishing.com/, make your selections, pay me directly through PayPal at a significant discount, and email me. Be sure to let me know what eformat you want and I’ll send your books right out.
But as writers, you might be more interested that at my current rate of production I can easily continue this schedule well into the future. And it’s both easy and fun to do. If you want to learn how to be that productive while thorougly enjoying the process (no drudgery, guaranteed) email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. I’m happy to share.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Traditional Book Publishers” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/traditional-book-publishers/. This is a great article. I recommend you bookmark it and reread it from time to time.
See “Advice for the Demoralized Writer” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/05/advice-for-the-demoralized-writer.html. Good article. Once I learned to focus on my specific goals and detach myself from Outcome I was free to fly. I haven’t looked back. I added to that the knowledge that I can’t please all readers all the time, another way of letting Outcome go its own way. Now I just write, publish, and let the readers decide. Very freeing.
See “5 Quick Dialogue Tips” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/5-quick-dialogue-tips/. Take this with a grain of salt.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 1030 words
Writing of Wes Crowley: The Final Chapter (novel)
Day 1…… 3089 words. Total words to date…… 3089
Day 2…… 3871 words. Total words to date…… 6960
Day 3…… 5202 words. Total words to date…… 12162
Day 4…… 2900 words. Total words to date…… 15062
Day 5…… 2530 words. Total words to date…… 17592
Day 6…… 3543 words. Total words to date…… 21135
Day 7…… 3563 words. Total words to date…… 24698
Day 8…… 3961 words. Total words to date…… 28665
Day 9…… 3880 words. Total words to date…… 32545
Day 10… 4022 words. Total words to date…… 36567
Day 11… 4477 words. Total words to date…… 41044
Day 12… 2356 words. Total words to date…… 43400
Day 13… 3634 words. Total words to date…… 47034
Day 14… 3206 words. Total words to date…… 50240 (done)
Total fiction words for May……… 71896
Total fiction words for the year………… 443175
Total nonfiction words for May… 16250
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 101110
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 544285
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 9
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 62
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.