Hey Folks,
Well, the would-be novel previously (and tentatively) titled Dread is now finished and titled Situation Solved. It’s a hard-nosed police procedural mystery. It came in at 58,000 words. See the numbers below.
I completed the “second draft” (spell check) in about ten minutes and it’s now winging its way through the ether to my first reader, a retired Tucson police detective. She’s also a woman, which helps since my protagonist this time around is a woman. (grin)
Topic: On (My) Manners
A few days ago I mentioned that when you are invited to present sessions at a writers conference or convention, you should not disappear into your room after your session. Instead, you should make yourself available to those who attended. After all, they attended at least in part to see you.
It always pays to respect others, and especially those who go out of their way to respect you. It pays in your own sense of self-worth, your reputation with others, and sometimes even monetarily.
Yesterday, I received a comment (on the Journal) that alarmed me. The commenter, who is also a long-time friend, said he’d commented several times and that I hadn’t responded.
I’ve since cleared that up with him. But let me ‘splain. As I wrote in an email to that friend,
Your question about me responding intrigued me. It annoys me when I take time to comment on a post and the writer doesn’t reply. For that reason, I value those who take time to comment on my posts. So I reply to (almost) every comment I allow through.
That being said, it floored me that my friend hadn’t seen my replies to his comment. But that’s something over which I have no control.
If you have commented on a post, the only way to see my response is to go back to the post a little later (say, the next day), scroll to the bottom and check. There, more than likely, you will see my response.
If you comment via email, of course I’ll respond via email.
I appreciate each of you. Please don’t ever believe I’ll leave you hanging when you reach out to shake my hand.
***
I also received an email from another long-time friend from back in my poet days. In part, she wrote
My god, Harvey: 200 short stories, 31 collections, 35 novels, 2 books in one series, 10 westerns, 9 pulp fictions! When, dear man, do you have time to sleep?
Never passing up an opportunity to teach (grin), I replied
Honestly, I write (on average) about 4 hours per day, including breaks. The rest of the day I do chores, watch TV, read or whatever. (grin) When I’m writing a novel and I get my teeth deep into a good storyline, I generally write 3000 (average) to 6000 words in sessions of about 1000 words each. (That’s only 17 words per minute.) I “cycle back” about every thousand words as I go, always in creative mind, and when I’ve finished, I’ve finished. My “second draft” is the spell check. (grin)
I also talked briefly about writing short stories, and about my poetry collections and nonfiction titles.
Seriously, folks, it really is that easy. If you want to write, you have to start. Sit in your chair, put your fingers on the keyboard, and let the story come through.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Mentor Program” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/mentor-program/. If you want to be a successful long-term writer, I can’t urge strongly enough that you seriously consider this. It’s an absolutely incredible opportunity.
See “Business Musings: Sales People, Hype Machines, Big Fish, And The Music Man” at https://kriswrites.com/2018/12/12/business-musings-sales-people-hype-machines-big-fish-and-the-music-man/.
See “Test Your Knowledge: Traffic Stops, Lights, and Officer Safety” at https://www.leelofland.com/test-your-knowledge-traffic-stops-lights-and-officer-safety/.
See “Bestseller: A Self-Publishing Podcast” at https://blog.reedsy.com/podcast.
Fiction Words: 1713
Nonfiction Words: 560 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 2273
Writing of Situation Solved (novel)
Day 19… 1789 words. Total words to date…… 49021
Day 20… 1030 words. Total words to date…… 50051
Day 21… 1385 words. Total words to date…… 51436
Day 22… 2029 words. Total words to date…… 53465
Day 23… 2869 words. Total words to date…… 56334
Day 24… 1713 words. Total words to date…… 58047 (done, averaging 2418 words per day)
Total fiction words for the month……… 24510
Total fiction words for the year………… 483193
Total nonfiction words for the month… 6960
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 178646
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 661589
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 10
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 11
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 36
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………… 193
Short story collections…………………………………………………… 31
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