In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Why Do You Want to Write?
* Stephen King (Again)
* Of Interest
Quote of the Day
“If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.” John D. Rockefeller
Why Do You Want to Write?
Today over at the KillZone Blog, Garry Rodgers asks, “Why do you want to write?”
My response: Sheer, unabashed, unapologetic escapism. My characters live in a world in which I wish I lived too. And I can, but only as I’m running through the story with them as it unfolds around us. And all they ask of me in return is to serve as their stenographer, recording it all for them.
Visit the link above to leave your own comment, or leave it here (or both) if you want.
Stephen King (Again)
I hope you will read Scott’s very interesting comment about Stephen King.
Frankly, I was a little surprised not to have received a LOT of discussion about the King articles, especially given my intentionally provocative “I particularly liked 27, 43, 44, 48 and 72.” But nope, no takers. So I’ll start. (grin)
Number 27: “King developed an alias so he could publish more books.”
Before indie publishing became a thing, a lot of prolific writers (especially the successful pulp writers) did exactly the same thing.
Number 43: “King (briefly) retired in 2002.”
I admit, this one is more than a little enticing. I’ve considered retiring 1) from writing the Journal and 2) from storytelling altogether more times than anyone knows. The first time writing fiction becomes the slogging, trudging drudgery so many say it is, trust me, I am outta here.
Number 44: “He was an early ebook adopter.”
Yup, me too. In fact, my full length (400+ pages) poetry collection Lessons for a Barren Population was first published by Hard Shell Press as an ebook. It took 4th place in the Frankfurt Book Fair’s first ever Ebook Awards back in the late 1990s. (1996, I think.) And that was in the Fiction category. They didn’t have a poetry category yet. And I still have an old Rocket e-reader.
Number 48: “He didn’t like James Patterson’s idea for a book about King being murdered.”
In fact, King once called Patterson a “terrible writer.” I couldn’t agree more strongly. I’ve long said I believe Patterson’s success is a result of his marketing and advertising experience. I’ve never been able to get into even his early works, the ones he wrote himself. No hook. No grounding at all. No enticement to keep reading, so why should I?
An Indented Lesson
The reader is there to be entertained, period. The reader owes the writer Nothing. S/he isn’t obligated to figure-out what you’re trying to say or interpret your strange phonetic spellings or keep reading when you’re boring the varnish off the woodwork.
1. Continually study and learn the craft and the nuances of the language.
2. Ignore the stupid myths (all the things you “have” to do to be a fiction writer).
3. Then practice.
Number 72: “King wrote The Running Man in one week.”
Do I really need to explain why I like this one? (grin) Of the experience, he said, “I was white hot, I was burning.” That is exactly how I feel as I’m racing through a story with my characters while it unfolds all around us.
One thing I noticed in particular was that King himself kept repeating that various of his works were based on the works of other authors. For example, The Stand was based on Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings.
Not that any kind of plagiarism was going on. It wasn’t. The stories are completely different, and you can’t copyright an idea. But ideas really can come from anywhere.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Has The Zodiac Killer Mystery Been Solved (Again)?” at https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/zodiac-killer-paul-alfred-doerr/.
See “The Reality of Celebratory Gunfire” at https://www.1point21interactive.com/celebratory-gunfire/.
See “Fun Challenge” at https://deanwesleysmith.com/fun-challenge/.
See “The Fastest Way to Print High Quality Books” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-fastest-way-to-print-high-quality-books/. Very interesting.
See “10 essential [paper] book cover tips for indie authors” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/10-essential-book-cover-tips-for-indie-authors/. I thought this would be design tips. It isn’t. I’m not sure why these people keep presenting “print” as synonymous with “paper.”
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 600 words
Writing of Carmen Morales (novel, tentative title)
Day 10… 3375 words. Total words to date…… 31839
Day 11… 3350 words. Total words to date…… 35189
Day 12… 3640 words. Total words to date…… 38829
Day 13… 3673 words. Total words to date…… 42502
Total fiction words for September……… 45779
Total fiction words for the year………… 112210
Total nonfiction words for September… 23790
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 152020
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 264230
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: In this Journal, I discuss various aspects of the writing craft. I advocate trusting the characters to tell the story that they, not the writer, are living. This is by far the easiest, most liberating, and most fun way to tell a story.
I write because I love telling stories. I’ve always told them in one form or another ever since I was five years old. Having an audience is a bonus (and making money as well), I can honestly say that, if for some reason I could never find someone to read my work again, I’d still write for myself and continue to create. Its just too much fun to stop.
Thanks, Matt.