The Journal, Sunday, 7/19

The Day
Rolled out at 2:30. Checked emails and weather. No rain, so maybe a walk a bit later.

Messed around waking up, then drove out a little early for a sunrise walk. Got some great perspective pics of the railroad tracks and maybe a couple good cover shots, but the walk was truncated when I kept encountering swarms of flying ants. Even got a video of them, little monsters. (grin)

Back at the house, while it was still cool I mounted the gas struts on the back lift door of the camper shell. So that works now. Yay.

Gave my 30 quart cooler to one of my sons last time he was out here and now I need one so pulled out a really old Coleman metal cooler. We’ll see how long it keeps ice. If it works, I’ll use it. If not, off to Wally World later.

Sat down to chill for a bit, then decided to mow the yard. Normal, everyday stuff. So all of the above plus some other life stuff, and it’s after noon, and now I’m gonna turn to the writing ‘puter.

Life doesn’t stop when you’re a cop or a waiter or a truckdriver, and it doesn’t stop when you’re a writer. Only difference is that I have really flexible hours. (grin) With the day dwindling, I decided to make this a day off. I’ll get back to Wes tomorrow.

Topic of the Night: Heinlein’s Rules, with an addendum, with two addenda
I’ve talked about Heinlien’s Rules before, so this will be brief. This is taken from an article I posted in this journal back in October.

I added a Rule 6 to Heinlein’s Rules. As a refresher, here they are, followed by a bit of discussion:

  1. You must write.
  2. You must finish what you write.
  3. You must not rewrite.
  4. You must publish (or submit).
  5. You must keep your work published (or keep it in the mail, submitted).
  6. If you try to follow these rules, you WILL fall off them at times.
    • That’s okay, and it’s perfectly normal.
    • To succeed as a writer, once you realize you’ve fallen off the rules, you MUST get right back on them again.

Did you get that Rule 6 with its two addenda? Listen, seriously, if you find you have real trouble following these rules, I strongly recommend you visit http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/lecture-series/ and sign up for his Lecture 1: Heinlein’s Rules.

It costs $75, it’s composed of 15 videos, and it will be the best investment you’ve ever made in your writing. I promise.

One warning: During his lectures, Dean will tell you that Every Writer Is Different. It’s his mantra. I suspect he developed it when he was dodging bullets at writers’ conference all those years. It’s a gentle way of saying, “Not everyone can be a professional writer. You ain’t it.”

But don’t let it fool you. Don’t accept the opportunity to cop out. Elsewhere he also says he doesn’t know a single professional writer who isn’t following Heinlein’s Rules. If you can handle the truth, that’s the truth.

Now, when he says that or something similar to describe the difference (for example) betwee his writing process (sprinting) and Kris’ writing process (slow and steady), he means it.

But when he’s saying something like “Following Heinlein’s Rules works for me but every writer is different,” he’s giving you an easy way out if you aren’t disciplined enough to enjoy having fun making up stuff for a living.

Today’s Writing

Fiction words: XXXX

Writing of The Battle of Tres Caballos (Book 8)
Day 1…… 4125 words. Total words to date…… 4125
Day 2…… 2624 words. Total words to date…… 6749
Day 3…… 2766 words. Total words to date…… 9515
Day 4…… 1412 words. Total words to date…… 10927
Day 5…… 3441 words. Total words to date…… 14368
Day 6…… 1052 words. Total words to date…… 15420
Day 7…… 2486 words. Total words to date…… 17906
Day 8…… 3201 words. Total words to date…… 21107
Day 9…… 3186 words. Total words to date…… 24293
Day 10… 1585 words. Total words to date…… 25878
Day 11… 2178 words. Total words to date…… 28056
Day 12… 1730 words. Total words to date…… 29786
Day 13… 1083 words. Total words to date…… 30869
Day 14… 1784 words. Total words to date…… 32653
Day 15… 4018 words. Total words to date…… 36671
Day 16… 3116 words. Total words to date…… 39787
Day 17… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for the month…………… 30521
Total fiction words for the year……………… 436204