In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Oops.
* Yesterday
* Why Again
* Of Interest
Quote of the Day
“When writing, it’s often just as important knowing what not to say, as it is knowing what to include… but … it’s easier to perceive when expressed through the eyes of my fictional characters” [emphasis added]. Vincent Berg at Writer’s Nook
Well, the eyes, ears, nose, and taste and touch sensors.
Oops.
First, a quick apology. My post of the 18th (“If You REALLY Want to Write Into the Dark”) posted again yesterday, on the 19th.
I suspect that’s because I added something and then updated the post after it went out on the 18th. Believe me, I was as surprised to find it in my inbox on the 19th as you probably were to find it in yours. I’ll be more careful in the future. You know, probably.
Yesterday
I didn’t post anything new yesterday. Instead, I rose early and watched coverage of the Queen’s funeral service. I figured since I couldn’t be there in person, the least I could do was watch as it was broadcast live. And I typically get up early anyway.
I started viewing the coverage late, though. When I tuned in, the Queen’s coffin was just being carried up the stairs into Westminster Abbey. I watch from there until the end of the smaller, family service at Windsor Chapel.
At one point I paused the coverage for about 2 hours to accompany my wife for a routine doc appointment at the small hospital in Benson. All is well.
We got back and watched the rest of the coverage over lunch, and I made it out to the Hovel at noon. There, I answered a few emails, briefly investigated the mystery of the repeating Journal post, stole a few quotes (which I will attribute, of course) for a new text file I named New Quotes from Writers, and then wrote this.
So it was noon-fifty-two before I finally turned to the novel again. I hoped to get at least a couple of good sessions before I called it a day. In fact, I got three.
Why Again
If you’d like to see a quick but striking example of why I write on here about WITD
- and about letting your characters be who they are (instead of constructing them)
- and about simply writing what happens and what they say and do as their story unfolds
- and about only including description through the POV character’s physical and emotional senses
- and about Just Writing instead of thinking your way through writing
- and writing setting and scene and grounding the reader and on and on and on
read over the first few questions at The Writer’s Nook on Quora (https://thewritersnook.quora.com/). Then you’ll understand.
Just glancing at those questions makes me tired.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Writers of the Future Contest” at https://deanwesleysmith.com/writers-of-the-future-contest/. Please read this. As Mom used to say, it’s for your own good.
See “When You Enter A Scene,
Use Your [the POV Character’s] Senses Sensibly” at https://killzoneblog.com/2022/09/when-you-enter-a-sceneuse-your-senses-sensibly.html. Gems to be gleaned, but use the POV character’s senses, not yours.
See “What Not to Say When Writing a Novel” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/what-not-to-say-when-writing-a-novel/. Gems to be gleaned.
See “Twelve Writers Bring Back Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/twelve-writers-bring-back-agatha-christies-miss-marple/.
See “The Power of Chiastic Story Structure” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-power-of-chiastic-story-structure/. Read, absorb or don’t, then WITD. If this structure suits you, it will come out in your story or novel.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 580 words
Writing of Carmen Morales (novel, tentative title)
Day 1…… 3007 words. Total words to date…… 3007
Day 2…… 2842 words. Total words to date…… 5849
Day 3…… 3283 words. Total words to date…… 9132
Day 4…… 3106 words. Total words to date…… 12238
Total fiction words for September……… 15515
Total fiction words for the year………… 78840
Total nonfiction words for September… 16500
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 144730
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 226676
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 NOT “the only way” to write, and I’ve never said it was. But it is by far the easiest, most liberating, and most fun.