Think Like a Fiction Writer

September 27, 2024 by Harvey

In today’s Journal

* The Novella Wrapped
* Think Like a Fiction Writer
* Still Dealing with Internet Issues
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

The Novella Wrapped

Yeah, you heard me. The story wrapped about 1700 words shy of short-novel length at 23273 words. So it’s a novella. My first novella this year and the 10th overall.

Anyway, that’s one of my own primary rules for writing fiction: Let the story be what it’s gonna be. And I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it was to write this thing. (grin)

The tough-guy voices, the snappy but nuanced back and forth dialogue—it was a blast.

Think Like a Fiction Writer

Note: This is another blast from the past. I’ll get back to writing more original posts before too long, but for now this one spoke to me as something a lot of fiction writers probably need to hear.

One morning, I was browsing a magazine article about the new SLS launch system that will someday land human beings on Mars.

The particular segment I was reading was about a mock-up, a life-sized, true-weight model.

So not the actual rocket, and not for an actual mission. The model itself will never leave Earth. Its only role is to enable the workers to practice raising it and maneuvering it into launch position.

That segment of the article was accompanied by a photo of the model and five or six people. The model was raised to about a 30-percent grade,

As I glanced at the photo, my mind raced ahead.

• I wondered whether one of the people pictured might be a spy and the ramifications of that.

• What glitch in his behavior might get him caught? And where would that lead?

• Would he experience a trial or kill himself in his cell?

• Would his wife be complicit in his spying or shocked?

• Or would he go unnoticed and pass along intel that would enable an enemy to develop a rocket that could reach the continental US?

• What would his wife’s story be?

• How would his chidren be affected?

• What about their story as it relates to his actions?

And something about the pose of one of the men pictured caused me to wonder whether he’d argued with his wife that morning—and the ramifications:

• Was he thinking about divorce?

• What would happen to his children?

• Was the argument about his or her infidelity (or his) or was it a more trivial matter?

• Had the argument gone to extremes, causing the neighbors to call the police? Was he late to work as a result?

• Or was it a quiet argument but he killed her?

• Or tied her up and left her in a closet to deal with her later?

• Or was the story strictly localized? Would his preoccupation and inattention cause a catastrophic accident?

• If so, how would that affect him?

• What’s the story from the viewpoint of the victim of the accident? Or from a relative of the victim?

• What if the victim was also related to the distracted man who caused the accident?

The way a woman peered at the model as it was being raised put other questions in my mind. What’s going on in HER mind?

• Is she suited up and seated in whatever capsule sat atop the model?

• Who would be in the crew with her if she could choose, and why?

• Did she imagine blasting off, the ensuing trip to Mars (or wherever)?

• And what would she find when she got there?

These and many, many more thoughts went through my mind in a matter of seconds as I looked at the photo and read that part of the article. And many more occurred as I viewed other photos and read other parts of the article.

And it dawned on me I was thinking like a writer. I’ve been doing that for years.

If I glance out the window of my car and see hay bales in a field, don’t they look like tombstones?

And it doesn’t have to be physical stimuli: Let your imagination run. For example, maybe there’s a particularly intriguing object hidden beneath the third bale from the end of the fourth row from the right?

• Is it a nuclear secret?

• Is it an illicit love letter placed there intentionally by the farmer’s son or daughter to someone on the next farm over?

• Or did an unfortuitous gust of wind blow the letter out the window and into the field?

• Who will find it?

• How will that person react, and what else will ensue?

If I see horses running in a corral or pasture,

• which horse is dominant?

• Does he dream of being the king of his own herd out on the plains?

• And what if he is?

• How does he deal with a hungry wolf pack?

With everything you see or hear or smell or taste or read, the possibilities really are endless. The good news is, if you aren’t currently flooded with story ideas, this is something you can practice.

Make up story ideas about the people you see in an airport, for example.

• Why does that guy drag his feet when he walks?

• Is his destination someplace he’d rather not go?

• Has he had a premonition?

• Is he leaving behind someone or something he regrets leaving behind?

And that woman in the smart business suit walking with confident strides but frowning slightly as she swallows.

• What does she do?

• Where is she going?

• Is she really confident or just trying to convey confidence?

When anyone asks where I get story ideas, I say, “Where don’t I get story ideas?” Or I say, “Literally everywhere.” That’s true, but only because I think like a fiction writer.

And if you just thought But are they GOOD ideas?, you really don’t have a clue what a story idea is.

All story ideas are good because they drive the writer to sit down and write. Whether they’re “good” is a value judgement the reader will make after the story’s finished.

Still Dealing with Internet Issues

Just a reminder, I have internet at the house, but not in the Hovel. Soon that will be fixed one way or the other. In the meantime, please bear with me.

At present I check email, newsletters, vids etc. in the morning when I file the current issue of TNDJ; sometimes again in the late morning (depending on how the writing’s going); and when I get off work in the late afternoon.

But by then I’m too tired to deal with much of it. However, I’ll always respond to personal emails, comments on posts, etc. as soon as I see them.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

Your Writing Method Often Holds You Back

The Numbers

The Journal……………………………… 1110

Writing of The Case of the Unruly Mob Accountant (The story of Stern Talbot’s first case as a PI)

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
Day 6…… 3454 words. To date…… 19760
Day 7…… 3513 words. To date…… 23273 (done)

Fiction for September…………………….. 78184
Fiction for 2024………………………….… 728244
Fiction since October 1…………………… 858722
Nonfiction for September………………… 25800
Nonfiction for 2024……………………….. 300640
2024 consumable words…………………. 859555

Average Fiction WPD (September)……… 3007

2024 Novels to Date……………………… 13
2024 Novellas to Date……………………. 1
2024 Short Stories to Date………………. 14
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 95
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………. 10
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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