Please Don’t Make Me Do Math
September 25, 2024 by Harvey
In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Please Don’t Make Me Do Math
* Speaking of Efficiency
* I Get Questions
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Please Don’t Make Me Do Math
Hey folks, you in the Great September Challenges (1000 wpd or 2250 wpd), please don’t make me do math with your weekly report. (grin)
All I need to know is how many words you wrote that week.
If you want to convey other information, that’s fine and I’ll cheer you on. But for the report itself, I only need your weekly total so I can copy and paste it into my file.
Also, if you exceeded the goal for the week, be sure to tell me in the same email which nonfiction book you want, if any.
With all the stuff I do, I try to make it as efficient as possible.
Thanks!
Speaking of Efficiency
Yesterday, I wasn’t. Efficient, I mean. I finally got my daily word count average back up to over 3000, and then yesterday hit:
I got up way late at almost 5:30.
As a result, I decided to forego coffee etc. and drive to Benson a couple hours later to get blood and urine tests at the lab. (Strictly routine. I think my new doc wants’a make sure I got some.)
The lab visit, which usually takes a little over an hour including the round trip, took almost 3 hours.
We have an electrician coming today, so we decided to make a trip to Sierra Vista for necessities yesterday.
We spent a little longer than usual and therefore got home a little late.
By the time the stuff was put away and the girls (Mona’s two cats) had a chance to try their paws at chasing lizards in the yard, it was 20 minutes ’til 4 and I’d written only around 500 words on the day.
So I changed into shorts (from jeans) and headed back to the Hovel to “work” at about the time I’m usually heading up to the house to chill awhile.
As a result of all that self-inflicted nonsense, I created a too-short writing day for myself and probably blew the bottom out of my wpd average. A great deal of whining ensued.
I’m actually writing this right after I got back to the Hovel (yeah, before I went back to the story. See how dedicated I am to you guys? [grin]) I joke. Trust me, it’s a labor of like.
So I don’t know for sure yet whether I blew up my average, but I figure I probably did. I’ll know when I’m done for the day, and you’ll know when you scroll down to Numbers below.
Sigh. I’m confident I’ll get it back. But it’s a lot easier to maintain your average in the first place than to climb that hill again.
It reminds me a little of that Sisyphus guy who hadda keep shoving the same rock up the same hill over and over again. And I ain’t no god.
Anyway, I’ll do a post on averages and how important they are soon after the month ends. Stay tuned.
I Get Questions
(this from Dave T)
“I just finished a short story, but I believe it is a piece/chapter of a larger story. Is it disingenuous for Bradbury purposes to call it a short story if it might be a piece of something bigger?”
Nope, not at all disingenuous. A short story can lead to or be part of a longer work. I’ve even gone back and taken short stories out of novels I’ve writtten and already published.
And yes, the short story and the novel are two different pieces of IP. Ain’t fiction writing wonderful?
“It’s getting to the point where I must write something every day. Otherwise, I don’t feel quite right.”
Yep. That’s the best part. There will be days when you aren’t allowed to write because of Life. Chances are, you’ll get a little grouchy and/or whiny on those days. I know I do.
Finally, this note:
When you buy direct, you save time and money. If you visit StoneThreadPublishing.com for your fiction and nonfiction, that link won’t take you to my publisher website. It takes you directly to my storefront, where discounts are already built in.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Oh, Yes We Did More on killing a brand.
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 720
Writing of Stern Talbot: The Origin Story
Day 1…… 4327 words. To date…… 4327
Day 2…… 3822 words. To date…… 8149
Day 3…… 3250 words. To date…… 11399
Day 4…… 3531 words. To date…… 14930
Day 5…… 1376 words. To date…… 16306
Fiction for September…………………….. 71217
Fiction for 2024………………………….… 714310
Fiction since October 1…………………… 851755
Nonfiction for September………………… 23480
Nonfiction for 2024……………………….. 298320
2024 consumable words…………………. 850268
Average Fiction WPD (September)……… 2967
2024 Novels to Date……………………… 13
2024 Novellas to Date……………………. 0
2024 Short Stories to Date………………. 14
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 95
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………. 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………. 251
Short story collections……………………. 29
Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer, but please try this at home. You can do it. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing are lies. They will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
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I don't know, Harvey, but it sure sounds like writer's block to me. Heh.
I am guilty of making you do math...(maybe it's the teacher in me?) I'll do better!
During this challenge I have found that I do have a major road block that is personal to me and it will foul up my writing bad. So, I'm trying to figure out how to deal with it/work with it/maybe one day conquer it, and while I would love to just say it was a bad habit and I could just "stop it", unfortunately, it's more of a health issue, and it's not that simple. But, now I have at least identified it as one of my challenges, and not just a lazy excuse, so maybe I can remove some of the guilt from the writing/arting equation.