Substack, and Un-Abandoning a Novel

June 12, 2024 by Harvey

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* Writers Ask

• Fan Fiction on Substack?

• Un-Abandoning a Novel

* A “New” Novel
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quotes of the Day

“Books are never finished. They are merely abandoned.” attributed to Oscar Wilde

“A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it.” attributed to Samuel Johnson

“Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public.” attributed to Winston Churchill

Writers Ask

Question: “Is it possible to use [Substack] to publish fan fiction?”

As long as you don’t monetize the site, I suspect it would be, but I’m not a lawyer and I don’t write fanfic.

The writer later updated me: Per the “Copyright” section of the Substack FAQs it appears fan fiction might be banned

So I’m passing the question on to you. Has anyone out there successfully published fanfic on Substack? Or do you know of a fanfic site on Substack?

If so, please reply in a comment so I can pass your response on to the writer who asked.

Comment: “Poor [name of novel]! I quit writing on it at about 238,000 words if I remember right. I kept thinking I was close to finishing and it just kept going.”

Note that this goes to the first two quotes in Quotes of the Day above. (grin)

My very first thought when I read “it just kept going,” was “Well, just keep going with it.” It really is that easy.

But that’s also easier said than done. Let me explain:

If you’re faced with a problem similar to this one, I strongly recommend sitting down with your “abandoned” long work and reading it strictly for pleasure.

Don’t even cycle. (Now there’s something you won’t hear me say very often!)

If necessary, print the whole thing out, remind yourself to be patient, that you’re settling in for a long read, and read it on paper.

Before you begin reading, put the thought into your mind that you’re looking to break the book into individual, shorter novels.

As you read for pleasure, natural breaks will occur. The book will more than likely separate itself into the average length preference for novels you write or read.

I suspect where one shorter novel stops and the next shorter novel begins will reveal itself to you as you read. You’ll probably “feel” it rather than see it.

When you “feel” that one novel has ended (or would end if you wrote a brief resolution to what you’ve just read), mark that spot, or separate that stack of paper from the rest.

If you’re reading on your computer, maybe hit the return (Enter) key, then write in all-caps RESOLUTION GOES HERE, then hit the return key a couple more times.

That blank few lines will mark where your first novel ends in the eventual overall saga. (A saga, as opposed to a series, is a long story about one main character [or group of main characters] published in several episodes.)

Then go back to where you left off and start reading again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I had exactly this experience but in reverse when writing my longest saga, the one featuring Wes Crowley. When the saga was finally finished, the overall story spanned roughly 60 years of the man’s life.

The only difference is that I didn’t write the whole thing at one time. The story continued from one volume to the next.

Fortunately, when each segment came to an end (not the climax but the resolution), I recognized that end as I was writing. So I was never faced with having to do the exercise I outlined above.

I also wrote the entire saga over a period of 9 or 10 years in what ended up being 22 volumes. So as I said a few days ago, Take Your Time. Don’t worry about it. The overall story will come and it will wrap when it’s ready.

Between those volumes I wrote dozens of other novels, but I was fortunate that Wes kept coming back with one more part of his story.

When he finally stopped talking to me and became only a very fond memory, the resulting 22 volumes comprised over one million (1,001,015) words.

What if I’d written that in a single novel? Can you even imagine anyone wanting to buy and read a one-million word book?

Probably not. Many readers would also flinch at buying and reading a 300,000 word novel. Just sayin’.

As a side benefit, this goes to discoverability.

When you’ve separated the overall 300,000 word story into segments or installments, you would have three 100,000 or five 60,000 or seven 40,000 word novels with your name on the cover.

You know, instead of having your name on only one 300,000 word novel that probably nobody will buy because doing so is intimidating at best.

I’m sure some will disagree, and that’s fine. You do you. But at least give this some thought.

And if you haven’t yet happened upon a character and story that keeps coming back to lead you through such a lengthy writing journey, I hope for your sake that you will. (grin) It makes for a wonderful ride.

I suspect the excellent writer who brought-up this subject will eventually finish the novel, whether in one massive tome or as a series of shorter books.

Which of course remains completely up to that writer.

A “New” Novel

Yesterday I brought back Blackwell Ops 25: Rafe Andersen. You’ll see it in Numbers below.

But I was tired. So I cycled over the whole thing and touched it here and there, then decided to take part of the afternoon off and come at it fresh again today.

But for now—I got up late the past few days. This morning I got up early, so I’m gonna go grab a few hours’ more sleep. I’ll answer any comments or emails when I get back.

Talk with you again then.

Of Interest

25 Outrageous Quotes from Salvador Dalí These are wonderful, and many may be adapted to writing fiction.

10 Charming Chinese Idioms and Proverbs (and Their Origins)

The Numbers

The Journal……………………………… 1050

Writing of Blackwell Ops 25: Rafe Andersen

Day 1…… 3243 words. To date…… 3243
Day 2…… 1354 words. To date…… 4597
Day 3…… 2899 words. To date…… 7496

Fiction for June…………………….….… 20660
Fiction for 2024…………………………. 361257
Fiction since October 1………………… 664314
Nonfiction for June……………………… 11570
Nonfiction for 2024…………………… 195200
2024 consumable words……………… 556457

2024 Novels to Date……………………… 9
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)……………… 91
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 239
Short story collections…………………… 29

Disclaimer: I am a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing are lies, and 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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