The Value of Cycling, and Seminars?

In Today's Journal

* Quote of the Day
* The Value of Cycling
* Writing Seminars?
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

The Value of Cycling

Here's an excerpt from Blackwell Ops 43: Sam Granger | The Quiz Master

Setting: Sam's VaporStream device has just gone off. He's checked it in the bedroom and is passing through the living room on his way to his laptop on the kitchen table:

Aspen looked around from the couch. “That was awfully soon. So local again?”

“No. I guess I’m going to Bolivia this time. Next available, so I’d better check for flights.” On my way to the kitchen table and my laptop, I gestured toward the TV. “Turn it back on if you want. I should only be a minute or two.”

She smiled. “I’ll wait.”

I sat down at the table, opened my laptop, went to the airport website, and keyed in soonest flights to La Paz Bolivia. Then I sat back. “Oh crap.”

“What?”

“My flight leaves in three hours.”

Chapter 19: La Paz Bolivia, and Doppelgangers

Aspen came off the couch like she was launched. “Three hours?” She came up behind me and put one hand on the back of my chair.

I pointed at the screen. “See? The departure time’s 9:15.”

“Talk about short notice! You’d better go pack.”

“Right.” I closed the lid on the laptop, got up, and headed for the bedroom.

Aspen was right behind me. “How long will you be gone?”

“The message said three to four days. So probably three.”

“We’ll pack you for five.” She paused. “Just in case.”

I grinned. “Five and alive’s better that one and done I guess.”

“Don’t even joke about that, Sam. You’re not done until I say you’re done, got it?”

As I turned from the closet, folded a pair of jeans over my arm, and slapped them into the bottom of my duffel, she approached from my chest of drawers with five pairs of underwear and five pairs of socks stacked on top of five black t-shirts.
I pointed. “Just set those on the bed.”

I made only one change during cycling through this passage.

Originally, one paragraph read,

I pointed at the screen. “See?" The departure time read 9:15.

Now that paragraph reads,

I pointed at the screen. “See? The departure time’s 9:15.”

With that minor change, the reader is able to hear the POV character rather than hearing the narrator (also the POV character) telling the reader the time in the message.

A nuance? Yes. But an important one.

Anytime you step back and allow your readers to eavesdrop on the characters in the story, the readers become active participants (and a little more deeply engaged) rather than passive listeners.

Subliminally (so subtext), Sam's also making sure Aspen sees the same thing he's seeing on the screen and simultaneously re-verifying the information for himself.

Also notice the scene breaks over into the next chapter, but with an internal (to the scene) cliffhanger and then a hook.

Similarly, in the current novel (BO-44), this line occurred:

I frowned slightly, wondering why he'd call me here to tell me that. “Okay....”

After cycling, it read,

I frowned slightly. Why’d you call me here to tell me that? “Okay....”

Same thing as before, except in this case I'm allowing the reader direct access to the POV character's thoughts instead of telling him the POV character wondered.

See the difference? The story is that much tighter and the reader's access to the POV character is a little more intense.

Writing Seminars?

I'm thinking about doing a few writing seminars again, anywhere from 1-3 hours long. Maybe one a month or something like that.If I do it, they'll be virtual seminars, so "webinars," I guess, similar to Zoom.

I'm currently looking at a few different venues. At the successful venue,

• The webinars will be interactive (so you can ask real-time questions),

• I'll record them and make the recording available (free) to every "live" attendee, and

• I'll keep the cost to a minimum.

• In theory, I suppose anyone could join from pretty much anywhere in the world.

If I do it, they'll be virtual seminars, so "webinars," I guess, similar to Zoom. I'm currently looking at a few different venues.

They will be interactive (so you can ask real-time questions), and I'll keep the cost to a minimum. In theory, I suppose anyone could join from pretty much anywhere in the world.

If that's something that might interest you, please let me know either in the comments or via email at harveystanbrough@gmail.com.

Of Interest

The Bookstore of You Good read. But again, I see no reason you can't do both.

Two Movies that Romanticize the Writing Life

An Author’s Guide to Using Stock Photos Repeat. It's that important.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………… 710

Writing of Blackwell Ops 44: Sam Granger | Following the Ghost Trail

Day 1…… 3613 words. To date…… 3613
Day 2…… 2893 words. To date…… 6506

Fiction for May………………………... 30495
Fiction for 2025………………………. 408908
Nonfiction for May………………........ 6740
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 107830
2025 consumable words…………….. 510228

Average Fiction WPD (May)……...... 3812

2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 10
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 26
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………..... 114
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 296
Short story collections……………………. 29

Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.

Writing fiction should never be something that stresses you out. It should be fun. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Because of WITD and because I endeavor to follow those Rules I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too.

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