Hey Folks,
A lot of good links included today. The learning truly never ends.
I started the morning per usual, cycling back over what I wrote yesterday. As I went, I realized I’d left some sensory detail out of a few scenes at the beginning of chapters. That “grounding the reader” thing. It’s important.
So why do I have to do that while cycling?
Well, I don’t always. Most of the time I remember to ground the reader at the beginning of each major scene and chapter as I’m writing it.
But that’s the value of cycling. Of being “unstuck in time” (as Dean calls it) in your novel.
The reader reads from the first word to the last. But the writer doesn’t have to write it that way.
Again, cycling isn’t something you do with the conscious mind. You just read through what you wrote the day before (or the session before) for pleasure. You let your fingers rest on the keyboard, and you allow your subconscious to add what needs to be added.
In the midst of a busy or harrowing experience, your mind records a lot of things that you don’t really notice at the time. Later, when things calm down, you might remember or notice many things that you didn’t notice at the time.
That’s what cycling is. You’re reading for pleasure, not critically. And in that more relaxed mode, the things you’ve learned kick in and your characters tug on your sleeve.
In the story, three hours ago you were in a brightly lit room, the curtains wide open, sunlight streaming through. The room is warm. You came to talk with the elderly man in the bed, and he’s happy to oblige.
A few chapters later, events have led you back to the same room. But now things are different. The room is chilly. The curtains are tightly closed. The guy on the bed is dead. No pulse. Clammy skin.
Sensory clues to the setting, along with the POV character’s opinion of that setting, pulls the reader deep into the scene, deep into the story.
Cycling… try it, you’ll like it.
For a quick, free course on Writing Off into the Dark and Cycling, visit these posts:
1. http://harveystanbrough.com/pro-writers/patience-is-a-virtue/
2. http://HarveyStanbrough.com/pro-writers/writing-off-into-the-dark-revisited/
3. http://harveystanbrough.com/pro-writers/how-does-cycling-fit-with-writing-off-into-the-dark/
I also recommend “Scene and Chapter Breaks and Hooks” at http://harveystanbrough.com/pro-writers/scene-and-chapter-breaks-and-hooks/ and the current post, “Character, Setting, and Grounding the Reader” at http://harveystanbrough.com/pro-writers/character-setting-and-grounding-the-reader/.
I might or might not write anymore fiction today, but probably not. So I’ll go ahead and post this early.
I don’t usually celebrate finishing a novel, but this is my 30th, so that feels a little like a milestone. (grin) I guess the next one will hit at 50, which I hope will be sometime next year.
Anyway, talk with you tomorrow.
Of Interest
See Linda Maye Adams’ “The 1 Missing Tip for Finding Time to Write” at https://lindamayeadams.com/2018/03/29/the-1-missing-tip-for-finding-time-to-write/. Very informative and there’s a bonus.
See “Settling In (A Process Blog)” at https://kriswrites.com/2018/03/28/business-musings-settling-in-a-process-blog/.
If you wonder at all about cremation, see https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a18923323/cremation/.
Fiction Words: 1455
Nonfiction Words: 510 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 1965
Writing of Stern Talbot, PI—The Early Years: The Case of the Sliced-Up Secretary
Day 1…… 3207 words. Total words to date…… 3207
Day 2…… 3079 words. Total words to date…… 6286
Day 3…… 3870 words. Total words to date…… 10156
Day 4…… 2481 words. Total words to date…… 12637
Day 5…… 3164 words. Total words to date…… 15801
Day 6…… 3140 words. Total words to date…… 18941
Day 7…… 1145 words. Total words to date…… 20086
Day 8…… 1656 words. Total words to date…… 21742
Day 9…… 2544 words. Total words to date…… 24286
Day 10… 1648 words. Total words to date…… 25934
Day 11… 2781 words. Total words to date…… 28715
Day 12… 3322 words. Total words to date…… 32037
Day 13… 4152 words. Total words to date…… 36189
Day 14… 1455 words. Total words to date…… 37644 (done)
Writing of Novel 1, New Thriller Series
Day 1…… 1339 words. Total words to date…… 1339
Total fiction words f1455or the month……… 59446
Total fiction words for the year………… 110751
Total nonfiction words for the month… 13550
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 32880
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 151651
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 2
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 29
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 4
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 182