Hey Folks,
Journal entries might be sparse here during this month.
I kicked off the challenge this morning at around 5 a.m. by posting the first scene of the first story. Woohoo!
You can see it (and others by the time you get this) at https://www.facebook.com/HarveyStanbroughWritingInPublic/.
You can also see the whole story in the right sequence by clicking http://harveystanbrough.com/the-june-challenge/.
In the “Writing Of” section below, short stories for June will be numbered for now (unless I have a title for it), 1 – 30. If I start/write a novel, that will be shown separately beneath the short story.
Topic: Picking Out Patterns
Uh, no, I’m not getting married again. I’m not entirely sure my wife would go along with that, plus one is more than enough for me.
I’m talking about pre-judging patterns. Seeing them before they’re fully developed. Or maybe developed at all.
Can you sense a pattern that you need to adopt after one day of a 30-day challenge?
I think maybe so.
I started writing at about 4 a.m. this morning. I posted the last installment (scene) of my first short story for June just before 9 a.m.
Five hours in and out of the chair, doing other little things, no rush. But at 9 a.m. it was posted and behind me.
Meaning I have the rest of the day to explore other ideas for short stories, start a novel, chores, whatever I want to do. Hmmm.
So now I’m thinking that was a great way to do it. I’m thinking I’ll make a concerted effort to get up at 2 or 3, knock out the short story for the day by 8 or 9, and then use the rest of the day for whatever comes.
What’s more, if I continue to do it that way, I can write the short stories up at the house where the Internet’s close. That means I can post the scenes in real time as I finish them. And that means it’s as close as I can get without a camera or a storefront to actually “writing in public.”
Then I can retire to the Hovel with my writing ‘puter to work on my novel. I’m not stupid enough to say this is gonna be a snap, but I’m just ignorant enough to feel like it’s gonna be a ton easier than I thought it was gonna be.
Hmmm. Yep, I like it. (grin)
And as kind of an odd and very favorable twist, posting the scenes as I write them hasn’t added Any Pressure At All. (I thought it might.) But what it HAS done is drive me to the chair. So a score on that front.
Today, and Writing
Rolled out at 3, and started writing the first story of June at 4 a.m. Around 5, I posted the first scene.
I posted the last (4th) scene of “Getting Paid” on FB and at http://harveystanbrough.com/the-june-challenge/ just before 9 a.m. Woohoo!
That leaves me a lot of time to come up with lines or ideas for future stories and more than enough time to start my next novel.
I put some water on the yard, watering some trees and shrubs I can’t get to with the sprinkler without wasting a lot of water. After that I turned the sprinkler on the back yard. Then I went in and fixed some breakfast for myself.
Around 11:30 I headed out to the Hovel. I thought I’d look over the story I wrote this morning. I added 73 words to it, and it wanted to keep going. Who knew? I think maybe I lucked out and found my novel for the month. And I’m glad. I really like this character. (grin)
Around 3:20, back to the house. A good day for me.
Because this month’s novel is a continuation of the first short story, the word count for the novel will look odd at first. It isn’t.
Of Interest
See “Infographic: America’s Most Misspelled Words” at https://the-digital-reader.com/2017/05/31/infographic-americas-misspelled-words/.
See “Now That’s a Series” at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/now-thats-a-series/.
Via The Passive Voice, see “John Grisham’s Do’s and Don’ts for Writing Popular Fiction” at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/books/review/john-grishams-tips-how-to-write-fiction.html. Note: Some of these are pure, unadulterated (or maybe adulterated, I don’t know) hooey.
Fiction Words: 4925
Nonfiction Words: 700 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 5625
Writing of “Getting Paid” (Story 1 for June)
Day 1…… 2677 words. Total words to date…… 2677 (done)
Writing of June Novel
Day 1…… 2248 words. Total words to date…… 4925
Total fiction words for the month……… 4925
Total fiction words for the year………… 297832
Total nonfiction words for the month… 700
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 90680
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 388512
The Daily Journal blog streak……………………………………… 553 days
Calendar Year 2017 Novel Goal (15 novels)………………… 5 novels
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 25
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 3
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 168