In today’s Journal
* Quotes of the Day
* Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting
* Turns Out I Was Wrong
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quotes of the Day
“Optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure.” Stephen King
“I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible.” Stephen King
“The job boils down to two things: paying attention to how the real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see.” Stephen King
Bradbury Challenge Writers Reporting
You can still join in the challenge at any time. There’s no cost of course, and it’s a great way to have some fun, increase your inventory, and jumpstart your writing. It’s also a great way to get more practice pushing down the critical voice.
- Erin Donoho “Levee Breathing” 994 words Historical Fiction
- Balázs Jámbor “The Door to Other Places” 2200 words Fantasy
(Balázs also reported he’s 7000 words into another story he started this week that wants to run into a novel) - George Kordonis “The Redemption” 4431 words Dark Fantasy
- Chynna Pace”A Different Invasion” 4311 words SF
- Christopher Ridge “Grandpa’s got a chainsaw” 1200 words Humorous Horror
I’m missing a few of my challenge participants. I hope they’re continuing to write on their own. Almost everyone reports that the Challenge has helped them, that the words flow more easily, etc. (see an excerpt from George K’s email below). The trick is to keep it going after you exit the challgenge.
Turns Out I Was Wrong
Well, as it turns out Wes Crowley wasn’t the only major voice in the Wes Crowley series of books, and even less-major voices have things they want to say, stories and partial stories they want to tell.
Hence WCG10SF5 (tentatively titled Rose Padilla), the 10th novel in the Wes Crowley Gap series, the 5th novel in the Santa Fe subseries, and the 22nd novel overall in the Wes Crowley saga.
I won’t lie to you. After writing only 7 novels since August 2022, and after it took me from January 23 through May 13 inclusive (so one hundred and eleven calendar days for 20 writing days) to write The Road to Amarillo, I’m considerably out of practice.
Still, once a story begins to flow, if you just trust it and go with it, and don’t try to force anything on your characters (they, not you, are living the story) you’ll be fine. Or as writer friend George K. wrote in an email recently,
“I notice that I do best when I take WITD as a complete lark (Bradbury’s words). The more ‘I don’t care’ the easier the words come out. The more I ‘go after it’ the harder they come out.”
Thanks, George. That is true. And if I may, it’s true because when you “don’t care” you’re not trying to control anything. You’re just having fun and enjoying the story as it unfolds all around you. (After that, believe in yourself and publish. Put the story out there for people who need to see it.)
And the thing is, when you don’t care the story will be authentic and higher quality than it would have been if you’d gone after it and let your critical mind “decide” anything. The longer you are able think of yourself only as your characters’ stenographer (Stephen King’s term), the more you’ll produce and the better your stories will be.
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing since April 2014.
It’s also what I did yesterday, and that’s why I was able to hit over 4200 words on the first day. It feels good to be in the saddle again. I have to admit, after having come through what I’ve come through recently and still being upright, I’m also feeling just a little bit invulnerable. And that is a great feeling.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Fighter Jets Scrambled in DC” at https://www.axios.com/2023/06/04/sonic-boom-dc-region-f-16-fighter-jets-cessna. Weird. Great story fodder though.
See “The world’s oldest hotel” at https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2023/06/01/worlds-oldest-hotel-hot-springs-japan-orig.cnn. This hotel opened its doors in 705 AD. You can still stay there in 2023. Story setting?
See “Will Google turn digital publishing upside down…” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/like-dropping-a-nuclear-bomb-will-google-turn-digital-publishing-upside-down-with-ai-search/.
See “Hong Kong police arrest democracy activists…” at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-65803053. Huh. Wonder if the US will complain when they’re tried for sedition and sent to prison.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 720
Writing of Rose Padilla (WCG10SF5)
Day 1…… 4283 words. Total words to date…… 4283
Total fiction words for June……… 4283
Total fiction words for 2023………… 102151
Total nonfiction words for June… 2950
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 112370
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 214521
Calendar Year 2023 Novels to Date…………………… 2
Calendar Year 2023 Novellas to Date……………… 0
Calendar Year 2023 Short Stories to Date………… 4
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 73
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………… 221
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
I.M. An angel, my angel, left this earth on April 11, 2023 just before 10 a.m. My life and my world will never be the same.
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 progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.