The Value of Having a Place to Report

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* The Value of Having a Place to Report
* Of Interest

Quotes of the Day

“Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give lustre, and many more people see than weigh.” Lord Chesterfield

“You know how I mentioned before that I had written this entire novel without stopping and that I was currently cycling back on the entire book? … As I returned to each chapter and cycled back on it, there was extremely minimal work for me to do. My creative voice had gotten it right from the onset.” Monica Arac de Nyeko, writer and mentoring student

“I now realise that I am a story teller first and foremost. My job is not to make anything beautiful nor refined, nor anything. It is to simply sit down and transcribe the story and respect the heart of the story.” Monica Arac de Nyeko

The Value of Having a Place to Report

Monica Arac de Nyeko went about her mentorship in a different way. For her, I respond to any questions she has, but mostly I simply provide accountability.

As an old USMC sergeant major told me in the early 1970s, “We all need a place to report.” That’s especially important if we want to achieve things.

I know personally how important accountability can be. Without the Journal and all of you, especially back in the early days of my writing career, I wouldn’t have written nearly as many stories and novels as I have. Thank you.

Monica sends me an update once a week. The quotes above are from her latest update. I was very pleased and happy for her.

Other students are practicing writing openings, then having me check them, or practicing a specific aspect of the craft. On those, I not only comment on grounding the reader and using the POV character’s senses (physical and emotional) or on the specific craft topic but I also do a quick copyedit if I think it will help.

That’s all I really have for you today, but do yourself a favor and read the first item in “Of Interest.” It truly is remarkable.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “America’s most remarkable kid died in Newcastle, Utah — his legacy never will” at https://www.deseret.com/2022/8/22/23309244/cole-summers-died-newcastle-utah-warren-buffett-charlie-munger-bari-weiss-unschooled. Remarkable.

See “Another Interesting Bit of Information” at https://deanwesleysmith.com/another-interesting-bit-of-information/.

See “Prequels Always Suck (Unless They Stick to One Golden Rule)” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/prequels-always-suck-unless-they-stick-to-one-golden-rule/.

See “How long do animals sleep?” at https://blog.datawrapper.de/animal-sleep-patterns/.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 410 words

Writing of The Jury (novel, tentative title)

Day 1…… 2488 words. Total words to date…… 2488

Total fiction words for September……… 2488
Total fiction words for the year………… 68919
Total nonfiction words for September… 410
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 128640
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 197599

Calendar Year 2022 Novels to Date…………………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 67
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.