Turbulence and a Reminder

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* Turbulence
* Cycling
* A Reminder
* My Little Baby Cat
* Of Interest

Quotes of the Day

“There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Kurt Vonnegut

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein (Think about that before you resort to the myths to write.)

“Brittney Griner to pen memoir about her 10-month arrest and incarceration in Russia” 1440 Digest (Well of course she is. She’ll make a ton of money off it too.)

Turbulence

Sometimes I’m wrong.

A couple of days ago Kay DiBianca posted “Landing the Novel – The Story of the Gimli Glider” over at the Kill Zone blog. At the time, I glanced at it, read a few sentences, and went on to other things.

Then a day later a TalkWalker alert popped up for my name. When I clicked the provided link, it was Kay, in the text of that article, saying she hoped I was reading the post.

So I did read it. She talked about Heinlein’s Rules 1 and 2: You must write and You must finish what you write. As part of the airplane analogy, she also talked about enduring turbulence during the journey, whether flying or writing a novel.

My comment?

“Yep, with any luck at all, there might be plenty of turbulence. It’s called the unknown. You get that a lot when you trust your characters, record the story as it unfolds around you and them, and just write off into the dark.

“But see, really you’re sitting in your chair at your desk in your office, so you know you can dive into the unknown and come out the other side thoroughly exhilirated but with nary a scratch. That’s the fun part of writing the way I do.”

Another commenter severely misquoted Heinlein’s Rule 3 as “You must publish what you write.” Um, not even close.

I set him straight. If you aren’t thorougly familiar with Robert A. Heinlein’s Business Habits for Witers, you can download a free annotated PDF copy at the link earlier in this paragraph.

Cycling

I plan to write an exhaustive post on “cycling,” which is basically revising-as-you-go but ALWAYS in your natural voice, which is to say in the voice of your creative subconscious.

I hope to be back with that in days rather than weeks.

A Reminder

To all the Bradbury Challenge participants out there, the new week started on Monday morning and it’s already Wednesday. I plan to write my story of the week today. Don’t let your critical mind or circumstances rob you of continuing your streak.

My Little Baby Cat

As was her way, Little Bit passed according to her own time schedule yesterday, slightly before 10 a.m. She was outside (she loved being outside) and had called out twice, loudly.

My wife picked her up and put her in my arms. I sat down and rocked her gently, while petting her and telling her it was all right. Her head was bowed in the crook of my right elbow as she struggled to draw a few more breaths.

And that amazing, incredibly loving little creature suddenly came alert, raised her little head, and kneaded, very strongly, the crook of my right elbow. She started with her little right hand and kneaded three times, alternating right, left, right. Then she lowered her little head again, took four very short breaths, and left us.

If you don’t know, kneading conveys contentment and love. My god, what a beautiful little baby she was.

Thank you for allowing me to share. I’ll be back before too long. Talk with you again then.

Of Interest

See “Landing the Novel – The Story of the Gimli Glider” at https://killzoneblog.com/2023/04/landing-the-novel-the-story-of-the-gimli-glider.html. Kay DiBianca was kind enough to mention me in her post, so naturally I left a comment. (grin)

See “Kickstarter Update and New!” at https://deanwesleysmith.com/kickstarter-update-and-new/.

See “An Interview with Narrator Steve Marvel” at https://killzoneblog.com/2023/04/an-interview-with-narrator-steve-marvel.html. I didn’t read it, but it seems interesting.

See “Why Can’t I Write Whenever I Want To?” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/why-cant-i-write-whenever-i-want-to/. Aside from commitments, indeed, why can’t you?

See “Games are a weapon in the war on disinformation” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/games-are-a-weapon-in-the-war-on-disinformation/. Posted mostly for a friend whose son is in the game-design, um, game.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 730

Writing of Wes Crowley: Deputy US Marshal 2 (WCG9SF4)

Day 1…… 3231 words. Total words to date…… 3231
Day 2…… 2990 words. Total words to date…… 6221
Day 3…… 1805 words. Total words to date…… 8026
Day 4…… 2025 words. Total words to date…… 10051
Day 5…… 1451 words. Total words to date…… 11502
Day 6…… 1886 words. Total words to date…… 13388
Day 7…… 2002 words. Total words to date…… 15390
Day 8…… 1060 words. Total words to date…… 16450
Day 9…… 1903 words. Total words to date…… 18353
Day 10… 1143 words. Total words to date…… 19496
Day 11… 0323 words. Total words to date…… 19819
Day 12… 2445 words. Total words to date…… 22264
Day 13… 3184 words. Total words to date…… 25448

Total fiction words for April……… 12641
Total fiction words since April 1… 12641
Total fiction words for 2023………… 78829

Total nonfiction words for April… 8440
Total nonfiction words since April 1… 8440
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 70700

Total words (fiction and this blog) since April 1…… 21080 (to shadow Dean’s challenge)
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 149529

Calendar Year 2023 Novels to Date…………………… 1
Calendar Year 2023 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2023 Short Stories to Date… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 72
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 221
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31

Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark, adherence to Heinlein’s Rules, and that following the myths of fiction writing will slow your progresss as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.