In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* I’m writing this
* Yes. That’s what happens
* On an oddly related note
* Today I’ll finish cycling and write
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“My story began to develop and grow in unexpected ways, much like a baby who resembles neither parent at first but occasionally, even eerily, flashes a crooked smile or gives you that soulful gaze that makes you know you are staring at your spiritual twin.” Sunday Taylor
I’m writing this on Thursday morning. I finished the recast of Book 4 by around 7 a.m. It’s a lot stronger now, though shorter at just over 42000 words once I deleted the cut scenes. It also no longer includes the death of that particular major character.
I took a brief and somewhat tumultuous break, then raced back to the Hovel to begin (again) on Book 5. That was interrupted by some sad news from New Mexico. After a long descent into dementia, my mother died in her sleep at 10 a.m. My daughter (my mother’s caregiver) was holding her hand as she passed.
I’m not mentioning this to garner sympathy, but as a kind of homage. Actually it was a disturingly unemotional event for me. This woman gave birth to me 68 years ago, but my mom, the woman who raised me from the time I was 5, passed away 9 years ago. Still….
Suffice it to say I made a couple of phone calls, spent a short time grieving, and decided Thursday would be a non-writing day other than the small bit of writing I’d already done to finish Book 4.
Then I sent the new version of Book 4 in a PDF document to my first readers (not to be first-read but only to sate their curiosity regarding the recast book).
After that I read over the first 4 (of 13) chapters of Book 5 to start getting it back in my mind. Then I took the rest of the day off. Tomorrow (Friday) will be soon enough to finish cycling through Book 5 and start writing in earnest again.
When that happens, the story won’t be interrupted by a funeral. My daughter has decided to have her grandmother cremated and to keep the cremains.
Nobody has mentioned even a memorial service, but I doubt that a gathering would be allowed anyway. The cremation will take place in my once-vibrant home state of New Mexico, which labors now under the thumb of Michelle Lujan Grisham, a self-styled benevlolent dictator who unilaterally lays down rules “for your own good” and sees herself as the arbiter of the definition of that phrase.
And now it’s today, Friday. Regarding the Quote of the Day, Yes. That’s what happens when you’re writing into the dark. After that, you only need to trust it and let the characters finish telling the story.
In one article today, the same article from which I took the Quote of the Day above, I read
“[T]here was a magic that would occur, with sparks of illumination so insanely thrilling, that I just couldn’t stop writing. / Mostly though, as every writer will tell you, the process was more prosaic and consisted of staring at the computer screen for hours on end and coming up with very little.”
The whole article saddened me. I have a lot of “if onlys” in my life about other writers and their processes. And most of the time they boil down to the writer trusting themselves and their characters.
If only this one had trusted in those “sparks of illumination,” she would have stumbled into a wonderful, prolfic world.
On an oddly related note, I received an email from a friend on Thursday in which he wrote, “I just saw an ad for a book that shows writers how to plot a novel in only ten days. Ten days to come up with a plot! Wow! People pay money for this stuff.”
Then he suggested we “collect all the writerly things we don’t do and put them into a book.” He suggested we title it, “How to Write Stuff and Really Drag Out the Process to Impress Friends and Relatives with Your Angst.”
He’s a funny guy, my friend. But he might be onto something.
Today I’ll finish cycling through the remaining chapters of Book 5 and then continue the story. It will be a relief to be writing again.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “The Problem of a Writing Rut” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/the-problem-of-a-writing-rut/.
See “Book Reviews: Are They Useful to Writers?” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/01/book-reviews-are-they-useful-to-writers.html.
See “Why Do Dwarves Sound Scottish and Elves Sound Like Royalty?” at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-do-dwarves-sound-scottish-and-elves-sound-like-royalty.
See “Is Your Town a Member of the Sweet-As-Apple-Pie Club?” at https://leelofland.com/is-your-town-a-member-of-the-sweet-as-apple-pie-club/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 800 words
Recasting of The Journey Home: Part 4
Words brought fwd (before the death)………… 24256
Day 1…… 1735 words. Total words to date…… 25991
Day 2…… 3282 words. Total words to date…… 29273
Day 3…… 4916 words. Total words to date…… 34189
Day 4…… 4687 words. Total words to date…… 38876
Day 5…… 1698 words. Total words to date…… 40574
Day 6…… 4724 words. Total words to date…… 45298
Day 7…… 0831 words. Total words to date…… 46129 (done)
Writing of The Journey Home: Part 5 (novel)
Day 1…… 4179 words. Total words to date…… 4179
Day 2…… 4825 words. Total words to date…… 9004
Day 3…… 2746 words. Total words to date…… 11750
Day 4…… 4032 words. Total words to date…… 15782
Day 5…… 2873 words. Total words to date…… 18655
Total fiction words for January……… 21873
Total fiction words for the year………… 21873
Total nonfiction words for December… 5250
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 5250
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 27123
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… X
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… X
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 54
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 214
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31