In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Tidbits
* Of Interest
Quotes of the Day
“[Write] 400 words of opinion of setting from the character before you get all busy with plot. That will do wonders for the strength of your story openings.” Dean Wesley Smith in my notes from the Advanced Depth workshop
“Whether you’re an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert, nobody can produce in a vacuum. Well, I don’t know… maybe Stephen King can. I think he could produce in a vacuum, a washing machine, or a microwave.” Tracey Buchanan in “Writer Friendships”
“My name is Stephen King. I’m a freelance writer.” Stephen King introducing himself at the Penguin Random House trial
Ahem, that’s a little like, “My name is Muhammad Ali. I like to box” or “My name is Neil Armstrong. I fly planes.”
“Don’t threaten me with love, baby. Let’s just go walking in the rain.” Billie Holiday (Nothing to do with writing. Just a beautiful quote.)
Tidbits
Nothing of any importance to talk about today. My previous post was probably one of the more important I’ll ever write. I guess maybe it drained me a little.
I’m pushing on my novel right now. I’ve lived with it far too long (2+ months and 20-some writing days) and I’m weary of it. How in the world do some writers spend months or even years tapping away at a single novel?
Anyway, I want to move on to something else in an entirely different universe. But thanks to Heinlein’s Rule 2, I’m slogging along, pushing to finish it so it will be out of my way.
Fortunately, I’m still at least a little bit excited about it. I don’t know yet how the story will end, so I still get the excitement of watching it unfold. I just wish it would hurry up.
The quote above by Tracey Buchanan struck me as ironically humorous. When I see something like that, I’m taken aback by the ridiculosity of it. But then, Ms. Buchanan is a “debut author,” so that explains a lot, yes?
Anyway, I left a comment both on the excerpt of the post at The Passive Voice and on the original post (OP) at Women Writers, Women’s Books.
But the opening sentence of her article struck me as telling too: “For the longest time I sat in my office diligently typing, inwardly moaning because writing is a solitary process.”
I’m not talking about the forearm-draped-over-the-forehead drama evoked by “inwardly moaning because writing is a solitary process.”
That’s the sort of thing we hear constantly from early stage writers, and it’s laughable. It’s like a person who loves cars becoming a mechanic and then “inwardly moaning” because s/he works in a garage all day.
In fact, does anyone anywhere have a job during which s/he chats constantly with others who are doing their version of the same job? No, I didn’t think so.
Ms. Buchanan’s moans are meant to indicate what terrible, laborious drudgery writing is and what a martyr she is for having taken up this elevated calling. Pure, unadulterated bovine excrement. But as I do all too often, I’ve digressed.
What struck me as particularly telling about the opening sentence of her post was that phrase “diligently typing.”
There’s a difference between writing fiction and typing, diligently or otherwise. To be fair, I’m sure Ms. Buchanan isn’t aware of that difference. She probably won’t become aware of it until she has a million or two words under her belt.
By then, with any luck at all, she’ll wander into a site like this one and begin to learn that writing can actually be fun.
Talk with you later.
Of Interest
See “How Suspense and Tension Work Together to Increase Story Impact” at https://www.janefriedman.com/how-suspense-and-tension-work-together-to-amp-up-story-impact/.
See “The Weirdest Quotes From the Penguin Random House Trial” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-weirdest-quotes-from-the-penguin-random-house-trial/.
See “Calculating Women” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/calculating-women/. Story ideas abound. Mystery, suspense, romance, thriller, SF, etc. Pick a character, pick your genre, and just write.
See “Writer Friendships” at https://booksbywomen.org/writer-friendships/. I do not endorse interacting with “writing communities” on the internet, primarily because they’re filled with inexperienced writers and would-be writers passing the same bad information back and forth.
See “How to Painlessly Generate Dozens of Blog Ideas” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/how-to-painlessly-generate-dozens-of-blog-ideas/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 700 words
Writing of Blackwell Ops 8 (tentative title, novel)
Day 19… 2117 words. Total words to date…… 41729
Day 20… 2025 words. Total words to date…… 43754
Day 21… 1770 words. Total words to date…… 45524
Day 22… 3296 words. Total words to date…… 48820
Day 23… 3259 words. Total words to date…… 52079
Day 24… 2712 words. Total words to date…… 54791
Day 25… 1068 words. Total words to date…… 55859
Day 26… 1003 words. Total words to date…… 56862
Day 27… 1222 words. Total words to date…… 58084
Total fiction words for August……… 92642
Total fiction words for the year………… 61760
Total nonfiction words for August… 10900
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 117140
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 178900
Calendar Year 2022 Novels to Date…………………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 66
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: Along with discussing various aspects of the writing craft, I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. WITD is “the only way” to write, but it is by far the easiest, most liberating, and most fun.
I just searched for your wonderful blogpost, “That” You Write vs. “What” You Write. I keep saying it as I’m rushing to finish a book. Good advice!
Thanks, Diane. Oddly, I don’t think I’ve ever written an entire blog post on the concept, though I’ve written that thought in several posts. It’s a good thing to remember.