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Writing in Public: Month 4 Summary… November
Month #4 Summary of this Writing in Public challenge. November, 2013 I’m stunned that this fourth month got finished. And even more stunned I’m going after month #5. November was not a great month of writing. I just sort of dinged along with the Monumental Summit novel, then started the redo of the Sector Justice novel that didn’t have many new words with it. Plus I just didn’t push this month. This is the kind of writing month I have when I don’t pay much attention. I have the monthly word counts below. And as I have said every month, even though I knew I was going to give a general…
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Writing in Public: Month 3 Summary: October 2013
Month #3 Summary of this Writing in Public challenge. October, 2013 I’m stunned that this third month is already done, to be honest. And I’m stunned that it was my best month by a little bit. It sure didn’t feel that way. Strange. I have those word counts below. And as I have said every month, even though I knew I was going to give a general summary of the day here every day, it changed my behavior not at all. Not at all. And as a couple of you asked, I do exercise, just not in huge blocks of time. My bad knees won’t allow that until I drop this…
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Writing in Public: Month Two Summary: September 2013
Month #2 Summary of this Writing in Public challenge. September, 2013 Well, this second month was more interesting for me than the first one. It was a day shorter than August, but I also didn’t travel in September. As it turned out, my numbers for the two months were very close. I have those word counts below. And again, even though I knew I was going to give a general summary of the day here every day, it changed my behavior not at all. Not at all. And yes, I do read. I just didn’t sit down for three hours and read a novel this month. As Kris calls it, I’m…
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Writing in Public: Month One Summary: August, 2013
Month #1 Summary of this Writing in Public challenge. August, 2013 Well, that was interesting for me in more ways than one. First, when I knew I was going to have to give a general summary of the day here, I was conscious of what I was doing most of the time. It didn’t change my behavior in any real way, but I was aware of it more instead of just moving through the day. I also became aware that the stuff I do outside of writing, from the publishing, to the workshops, to sitting in meetings, to working on collectables and other things, takes up about 50-60 hours per week…
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The Myth That Writing is Hard…
I Wrote This in 2009… I have updated it for 2023… It is long but I thought it needed to be said again. And note, this was written before I was doing a blog per day. ————- This myth comes in many forms and has many faces, but let me put it as plainly as I can to start. Myth: To be Good, Writing Must Be Hard. (And it can’t be fun.) Total hogwash, of course, yet it is stunning how many new writers believe this, and how readers, when they bother to think about it, believe the myth as well. And, of course, almost everyone who teaches creative writing…
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Fantastic Writing Advice by Keith Johnstone
Maybe Worth Really Looking At… I found it amazing. This advice came from a blog post Johnstone did back in 2020. Sadly, since that time he has done very few. He is 87 years of age and no longer teaching as far as I can tell as well. But he is an actor, a writer, and is known as one of the pioneers of improvisational theater. In essence, he is amazing. One of his many thoughts in this random blog post of misc. stuff was called Five Ideas. You can read the entire post here… https://www.keithjohnstone.com/post/_misc I was sent this part of the post and think it is amazing. Thanks,…
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Day Two: Writing a Novel in a Half Month
Chapter Two: Day Two … Standard day so far. I will keep doing the hourly breakdowns of the day as I go forward. I’m keeping little notes on a scratch pad so I remember exactly. Last night, after I signed up, I worked on reading Cave Creek stories for about an hour before at 3 am going to watch some television. Ended up getting to bed around 3:30 am. Day Two, Entry One. 11:30 am. Rolled out of bed and got to this computer around 12:30 pm with my breakfast protein bar. That is pretty standard for me these days unless something strange is going on. I spent one hour…
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Invested In Not Writing
Amazing How Common This Is… Basically put, writers, over time, develop a real and crippling investment in not writing. And, at the same time, often claim they want to write. These writers cross the spectrum of types. — Teachers who always wanted to write, teach writing, but now feel inside that they just flat don’t dare expose that they are still beginning writers at their core. — Burnt out writers who have made writing so important (because they have had a few successes in the past) that they don’t dare write anything more. Failure is a very high platform that these writers in their minds don’t dare jump from. —…
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Not Rewriting. A Great Image of Proof
O’Neil De Noux Gives You Pictures… I know it is impossible for some of you to get out of your own way, to understand that the stupidity of the saying “Writing is Rewriting” can kill your writing and your dream. Numbers of us over the years have tried to show by truth and example the silliness of rewriting. Heinlein gave his business rules, pulp writers showed by example, I do this blog, often detailing my writing, and Harlan Ellison also tried to show by example. In a wonderful blog, award-winning writer O’Neil de Noux shows you what it looked like for Harlan to write in a bookstore window. Check it…
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Friday Reading and Writing
CLOSE TO FINISHING A BOOK… Managed to get to my writing computer at 3 a.m. tonight. I did two sessions for a total of 2,300 words before 4:30 a.m. with a short break in the middle. I think I finally see the ending on this. So with luck I’ll stumble across the ending this weekend. Then as I said last night, I can put two issues of Smith’s Monthly together, then finish a third novel that is almost done and put a third issue together. All that shouldn’t take more than a week. With each issue I’ll post the blurbs for the stories with the covers, because I have to write the blurbs…