What I’ve Learned

by

In today’s Journal

* Quote of the Day
* A New Story
* What I’ve Learned
* Adios, “Of Interest”
* Adios, “Numbers”?
* Support the Journal
* The Numbers

Quote of the Day

“The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up.” Dame Anna Wintour

A New Story

“Avoidance” came out yesterday on the Stanbrough Writes substack.

By the way, if you wonder about every word of the story coming through the POV character even when you write in third-person, it’s a good one to look at.

If you would like to subscribe, click the link above and then the Subscribe button at the end of the story. You’ll receive a new short story every Friday, and it’s free.

Below the Subscribe button, there are other short stories you can read in most genres. Enjoy!

What I’ve Learned

Here comes one of those “back in the day” speeches.

You know, like the stories from those gnarled old-timers who “back in the day” walked uphill to school both ways through three-foot snowdrifts and were dang-well glad (dagnabbit) for the opportunity? (grin)

I first stumbled across Dean Wesley Smith’s website almost ten years ago. I’d met him before, but I didn’t even know he had a website.

Here’s the sum-total of what I learned directly from him that made sense and enabled me to start writing fiction:

  • Heinlein’s Rules
  • The basic concept of Writing Into the Dark

After all, how can you possibly outline and plot and plan a story that hasn’t happened yet? Try it with your neighbors life or even your own and see how it works out.

As I continued to read his blog over the next few years, I picked up these essentials:

  • That first- or third-person, every word of the story must come through the POV character(s).
  • That nothing in the story (even in a white-out snowstorm) happens against a blank background.
  • That surely the characters are wearing SOMEthing.
  • That surely the caracters have facial features.
  • That the more you control what the reader sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels as s/he reads, the deeper s/he will be engaged in your story.
  • Write the next sentence — When you are (or the story is) stuck, don’t think or wonder. Just trust the characters and write the next sentence that comes, then the next and the next. Soon you (it) won’t be stuck.
  • That practice does not mean hovering over one work, revising and rewriting. It means putting new words on the page.
  • Oh, and that Writers Write.

That’s it. Everything else, I learned on my own. But all of it stemmed from those basic concepts.

Seven months after I started reading Dean’s blog, and the day I hit 10,000 words on my first novel, I emailed Dean to express my undying gratitude for showing me the light

He responded, “Hey, that’s on you. I only pointed-out a door that you’d never noticed before. You’re one of the few who opened it and walked through. You did the work.”

He also said the ideas, even writing into the dark, weren’t original to him. Others had shown him the same things he showed me.

That’s the moment when this Journal was born.

What I offer you in the Journal is either what Dean paid-forward to me — once I had practiced it enough to make it my own — or new epiphanies and realizations I experienced as I practiced my profession as a prolific fiction writer.

You’ll get some of the concepts easily and readily. Others you’ll have to see a few times until something finally clicks and you “get” it. At least that’s how it was for me.

Most of what I’ve learned is compiled in a compact, reader friendly form in four books:

Yes, poetry techniques. Because even if you don’t write or read poetry, poems and stories really are all written in the same language.

None of those books spout the same old stuff you’ll find in 99% of how-to writing books out there.

You can find them on Amazon or in any venue where ebooks are sold. Or you can email me.

Adios, “Of Interest”

I’ve thought about this for awhile. I’ve decided to remove the “Of Interest” section from the Journal.

Some of you can still learn some things from the sites I regularly listed in “Of Interest,” but you might learn even more without me serving as a gatekeeper and go-between.

Dean Wesley Smith mostly promotes his own work these days. TKZ is all but completely immersed-in and propagating the myths of fiction writing. And The Passive Voice is leaning harder and more frequently into the “benefits” of using the crutch that is generative AI.

Unless you’re a solid Stage 4 writer, I recommend subscribing-to or regularly checking the following websites, ranked in order of importance:

I also recommend the politically unbiased newsletter at 1440. Many great idea-generating articles.

Finally, I strongly recommend reading Stephen King’s fiction, even if you believe he writes only horror (he doesn’t). He is the only Stage 5 writer writing today.

If and when new and informative websites come to my attention, I’ll mention them in the body of this Journal.

Adios, “Numbers”?

If seeing my numbers reported here every day helps you or motivates you in any way, leave a comment or email me to let me know that.

Please do NOT feel you have to respond in the affirmative. I’ll still keep my spreadsheet. I just won’t report numbers here every day.

If I don’t receive enough support for keeping that section, I will discontinue it as well.

Support the Journal

If you find this Journal of use, you can support it in either of two ways.

Share — There is a Share button at the bottom of this post. If the Journal helps you, please take a moment to punch that button and share it on social media or via email.

Bling — If you can afford any amount, you can support the Journal with a one-time or monthly donation via debit or credit card or PayPal. Donate Here.

Talk with you again soon.

The Numbers

The Journal……………………………… 1060

Writing of Blackwell Ops 13: Jenna Crowley

Day 1…… 3815 words. To date……3815
Day 2…… 3116 words. To date…… 6931
Day 3…… 3090 words. To date…… 10021
Day 4…… 4073 words. To date…… 14094
Day 5…… 3447 words. To date…… 17541
Day 6…… 4403 words. To date…… 21944
Day 7…… 3025 words. To date…… 24969
Day 8…… 3199 words. To date…… 28168

Fiction for November…………………… 10627
Fiction for 2023………………………… 329271
Fiction since August 1………………… 214724
Nonfiction for November……………… 3830
Nonfiction for the year……………… 231720
Annual consumable words………… 553225

2023 Novels to Date……………………… 6
2023 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2023 Short Stories to Date……………… 7
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………… 77
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)…… 235
Short story collections…………………… 31

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