Thanks so much for this. I'm still not writing much because of my mental health, not even sure I'm supposed to be writing anymore, but your blog reminds me that I still long to create, and how freeing WITD is. How sad to see another writer come to close to that and yet go back to his previous methods.
Thanks for sticking up for those who write into the dark, Harvey. Your post took a dark turn I wasn't expecting, but I appreciate the seriousness. Bullies are awful, regardless of how they abuse others.
I can't tell you how isolated I feel in the writing world now that I don't follow the myths. It's really disheartening. My writer friends don't understand my point of view and don't seem to want to
My last manuscript (and hopefully not the last one I write, ever) was written entirely into the dark--and it was fantastic. And the few people who have read it say it's a great story; in fact they're more enthusiastic about it than previous novels I've written.
Thanks too for the reminder that plot is not a verb. Plot has been weighing on me lately, the part of the story I hate most, that nagging thought that there must be tension, must be things happening. When you're tired and depressed you just want to sit with the character. No narrative, just a setting, a character, a world. Maybe that's not a story. I don't know. But I'm still fascinated by characters and people.
You're very welcome. If I may, isolation is a state of mind. I love being alone, but I never feel isolated because my characters are always right here with me and usually straining at the bit to tell me another story. :-)
Erin, sorry to hear about your situation! I went through a similar struggle. I had A LOT of Life Rolls (as Dean and Harvey call them) starting in 2018. (And the whole coronavirus thing didn't help, either.) I didn't write a single word of fiction for 5 years. Even now that I'm writing again and am on a pretty good streak (I have written every day since November 1, 2023), I mourn how much writing I missed out on. Back when I quit, I was in the middle of a manuscript and I'm only just now able to read over it and work on it.
Anyway, just wanted to say what helped me the most when getting back into writing was writing every day and setting a VERY low goal. I think I started off with just 250 words per day. I knew I was capable of more, but that took the pressure off and made writing fun again. Then, I increased my goal to 500 words per day. Now, I'm at 1,000 words per day.
Also, you said in your comment you don't know if you're supposed to be writing anymore—based on your comment, I think you are. :) Seriously, I think you should come back to writing. If not now, then in a bit when you are ready. :)
Maybe you can still remain in contact with your writer friends and just skip the discussion of planning or not. You are writers. To each their own how they get there. )You could also agree to disagree) on that one point. It sounds like you have done your part to try to show them a way that might work better for them. But sometimes people don't want to change. And that's OK. Maybe after they see you cranking out book after book they might decide to give it a shot. If not. That's their decision. And it's ok. Many writers I know of/follow plan. But I still learn from them. Whether it's marketing or a craft point that will come out when I need it to. Kind of like religion and politics. I have friends with different points of view and I just skip the discussion of those things with them. Anyway, hope you find something that works for you. Keep on writing!
Back in ancient times - the mid-70s - I ferried a single-engine turbine helicopter roughly 450 statute miles across East African desert from Djibouti to a point in the middle of a pile of sand and dust. The helicopter was such that it could be loaded with two 55-gallon drums of turbo fuel, upright, in the aft cargo/passenger area. (Fuel is an important consideration when there isn't any to be had en route.)
The first 150 miles were a piece of cake, primarily along the Gulf of Aden to a point south of Berbera. Berbera at that time was a Russian submarine, naval, and air force base, around which one took a wide, careful, low-level flight path. From that point, it was straight-line across sand to that pile of sand, all beneath blue sky and desert heat.
To aid in navigation, I had a Michelin road map of East Africa at that time. Needless to say, a road map it wasn't, but it would do in a pinch if the dead reckoning didn't work out - as in, with fuel on board, I could make it to the Indian Ocean coast and make my living by fishing.
Plan B and the fishing weren't required in the end, but it's called dead reckoning for a reason...
(All of which might have nothing to do with Harvey's post, but I thought it might be interesting to some, since his "flying by the seat of my pants" comment caught my undivided attention and I started to reminisce.)
I add that in these modern times, China is in the process of paving many of those camel trails that are now roads. Consequently, good old dead reckoning just might not be the same in that part of the world.
(Designed by Hughes&Co. - Light Observation Helicopter - for the war.) We operated around 50 of those commercial-certified flying marvels in various and sundry places around the world, from arctic to bush to mountain to desert to jungle.
That's it, exactly. We liked the crash-survivability that was built-in by Howard's aeronautical engineers: egg-shaped, a-frame, built to shed components when one ran out of airspeed, altitude and ideas all at once and rolled into or onto the ground.
Yes, I agree. I was well on the way of becoming a convert when I discovered your site (first the blog, now this Substack) and I am definitely a convert now.
Take what happened yesterday. I was working on a story, which was wrapping up. (It ended up being almost twice as long as I anticipated, which is fine, because the characters weren't done telling me everything until about 11,000 words.) All of a sudden, my main character had a fight with another, minor character, then they made up and ended up becoming friends. I definitely didn't see that coming. :)
Did you see Dean Wesley Smith is doing another Magic Bakery series for 2025? I AM SO EXCITED. His post from today (called "Advanced Magic Bakery… Introduction") should be in your Of Interest tomorrow. Of course, I'm sure you've already seen it ;) But just thought I'd mention it!
I am so sorry you experienced that as a child. I never even realized that term meant that. Or even that it was a derogatory term. Many of my role models are known for writing without an outline. So to me it's just how some people write.
Meh, we all have our own experiences and baggage. Not a big deal
And you are right. Bowing to fear or having to be in control or not is just how some people write. TNDJ exists to show them there's a more freeing, fun, less forearm-across-the-forehead dramatic way.
Harvey,
Thanks so much for this. I'm still not writing much because of my mental health, not even sure I'm supposed to be writing anymore, but your blog reminds me that I still long to create, and how freeing WITD is. How sad to see another writer come to close to that and yet go back to his previous methods.
Thanks for sticking up for those who write into the dark, Harvey. Your post took a dark turn I wasn't expecting, but I appreciate the seriousness. Bullies are awful, regardless of how they abuse others.
I can't tell you how isolated I feel in the writing world now that I don't follow the myths. It's really disheartening. My writer friends don't understand my point of view and don't seem to want to
My last manuscript (and hopefully not the last one I write, ever) was written entirely into the dark--and it was fantastic. And the few people who have read it say it's a great story; in fact they're more enthusiastic about it than previous novels I've written.
Thanks too for the reminder that plot is not a verb. Plot has been weighing on me lately, the part of the story I hate most, that nagging thought that there must be tension, must be things happening. When you're tired and depressed you just want to sit with the character. No narrative, just a setting, a character, a world. Maybe that's not a story. I don't know. But I'm still fascinated by characters and people.
You're very welcome. If I may, isolation is a state of mind. I love being alone, but I never feel isolated because my characters are always right here with me and usually straining at the bit to tell me another story. :-)
Erin, sorry to hear about your situation! I went through a similar struggle. I had A LOT of Life Rolls (as Dean and Harvey call them) starting in 2018. (And the whole coronavirus thing didn't help, either.) I didn't write a single word of fiction for 5 years. Even now that I'm writing again and am on a pretty good streak (I have written every day since November 1, 2023), I mourn how much writing I missed out on. Back when I quit, I was in the middle of a manuscript and I'm only just now able to read over it and work on it.
Anyway, just wanted to say what helped me the most when getting back into writing was writing every day and setting a VERY low goal. I think I started off with just 250 words per day. I knew I was capable of more, but that took the pressure off and made writing fun again. Then, I increased my goal to 500 words per day. Now, I'm at 1,000 words per day.
Also, you said in your comment you don't know if you're supposed to be writing anymore—based on your comment, I think you are. :) Seriously, I think you should come back to writing. If not now, then in a bit when you are ready. :)
Maybe you can still remain in contact with your writer friends and just skip the discussion of planning or not. You are writers. To each their own how they get there. )You could also agree to disagree) on that one point. It sounds like you have done your part to try to show them a way that might work better for them. But sometimes people don't want to change. And that's OK. Maybe after they see you cranking out book after book they might decide to give it a shot. If not. That's their decision. And it's ok. Many writers I know of/follow plan. But I still learn from them. Whether it's marketing or a craft point that will come out when I need it to. Kind of like religion and politics. I have friends with different points of view and I just skip the discussion of those things with them. Anyway, hope you find something that works for you. Keep on writing!
Back in ancient times - the mid-70s - I ferried a single-engine turbine helicopter roughly 450 statute miles across East African desert from Djibouti to a point in the middle of a pile of sand and dust. The helicopter was such that it could be loaded with two 55-gallon drums of turbo fuel, upright, in the aft cargo/passenger area. (Fuel is an important consideration when there isn't any to be had en route.)
The first 150 miles were a piece of cake, primarily along the Gulf of Aden to a point south of Berbera. Berbera at that time was a Russian submarine, naval, and air force base, around which one took a wide, careful, low-level flight path. From that point, it was straight-line across sand to that pile of sand, all beneath blue sky and desert heat.
To aid in navigation, I had a Michelin road map of East Africa at that time. Needless to say, a road map it wasn't, but it would do in a pinch if the dead reckoning didn't work out - as in, with fuel on board, I could make it to the Indian Ocean coast and make my living by fishing.
Plan B and the fishing weren't required in the end, but it's called dead reckoning for a reason...
(All of which might have nothing to do with Harvey's post, but I thought it might be interesting to some, since his "flying by the seat of my pants" comment caught my undivided attention and I started to reminisce.)
I add that in these modern times, China is in the process of paving many of those camel trails that are now roads. Consequently, good old dead reckoning just might not be the same in that part of the world.
Always interesting, Peter. My Blackwell Ops guys use a variation of the Bell 412. :-)
My adventure was in a Hughes 369/civilian designation 500C, otherwise known as a LOH in different times.
Thanks. I'll have to look that up.
(Designed by Hughes&Co. - Light Observation Helicopter - for the war.) We operated around 50 of those commercial-certified flying marvels in various and sundry places around the world, from arctic to bush to mountain to desert to jungle.
Yup, it looks versatile. I saw it was also "Little Bird" in Vietnam and often used to fly low and draw fire so circling Cobras could lash out. :-)
That's it, exactly. We liked the crash-survivability that was built-in by Howard's aeronautical engineers: egg-shaped, a-frame, built to shed components when one ran out of airspeed, altitude and ideas all at once and rolled into or onto the ground.
Wow, Harvey took the gloves off! And right you are.
This is great! Very true words
Yeah, I'm gettin' a little gruff in my old age. :-)
Yes, I agree. I was well on the way of becoming a convert when I discovered your site (first the blog, now this Substack) and I am definitely a convert now.
Take what happened yesterday. I was working on a story, which was wrapping up. (It ended up being almost twice as long as I anticipated, which is fine, because the characters weren't done telling me everything until about 11,000 words.) All of a sudden, my main character had a fight with another, minor character, then they made up and ended up becoming friends. I definitely didn't see that coming. :)
Did you see Dean Wesley Smith is doing another Magic Bakery series for 2025? I AM SO EXCITED. His post from today (called "Advanced Magic Bakery… Introduction") should be in your Of Interest tomorrow. Of course, I'm sure you've already seen it ;) But just thought I'd mention it!
Hi Natalie,
Thanks. I hadn't seen it yet. I post TNDJ so early that he often hasn't put up a new post yet. :-)
I am so sorry you experienced that as a child. I never even realized that term meant that. Or even that it was a derogatory term. Many of my role models are known for writing without an outline. So to me it's just how some people write.
Meh, we all have our own experiences and baggage. Not a big deal
And you are right. Bowing to fear or having to be in control or not is just how some people write. TNDJ exists to show them there's a more freeing, fun, less forearm-across-the-forehead dramatic way.