Writem et al (Part 1), and Yesterday

December 8, 2024 by Harvey

In Today’s Journal

* Writem et al (Part 1)
* Yesterday
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Writem et al, Part 1

As a subscriber, I was very surprised to receive a post from Writem in my inbox touting the benefits of outlining.

Which is to say touting the benefits of bowing to unreasoning fear and letting the conscious, critical mind not only to dictate your fiction, but allowing it to lead the way into your fiction.

I’ll say up front, if outlining and following the other myths of writing “works for you” in some undefined way, more power to you. Go for it, and good luck.

I personally define “works for” the writer as “enables/empowers the writer to actually ‘write’,” which I further define as “putting new words on the page.”

Only putting new works on the page is writing. Everything else the writer does, including the much vaunted “writing related” activities (like following the various myths) is not writing. It is some other endeavor.

The less time we spend on writing-related or other activities, the more time we have to write.

I realize that’s a “Well, duh!” statement. It’s like saying “as a balloon rises, it gets farther from the earth” or “if you stand in the path of a tidal wave, you might experience a little moisture.”

Still, as always, I will never say writing into the dark (or even following Heinlein’s Rules) is the “only” way to write.

But I will never STOP saying, in this one tiny little corner of the internet, that writing into the dark will teach you self-confidence and make writing fun.

And at the same time, it IS the only way to ensure you’re writing the characters’ authentic story just as it happened in their world. If that doesn’t matter to you, that’s fine. How you personally choose to write doesn’t affect my bottom line in the slightest.

But for me personally, I was a little disappointed to find that the Writem platform pushes the myths as hard as anyone else out there does. I was excited to find it. Now, not so much. I hope the forthcoming marketing advice will make it worth my while. Either way, once a deal is made (I subscribed for a year) I don’t renege.

To those of you whom I sent a free one-month subscription, I apologize. Mea culpa. I hope you know I wouldn’t lead you away from WITD intentionally. Of course, you’re welcome to read whatever you like and take whatever advice you like.

What bugs me is those writers who are not putting out a lot of stories and novels, not because of personal time constraints (a day job, etc.) but because of the myths, yet refuse to even TRY following Heinlein’s Rules and writing into the dark.

After all, I first tried WITD as a staunch skeptic. As a result, I experienced a Saul/Paul type conversion. Your results might vary. But if you give WITD a real try and it doesn’t work for you, you can always go back to the myths. They won’t be going anywhere, ever.

Consider one fact: Everyone who currently trust their characters and writes into the dark used to be mired in the myths. I’ve never heard of anyone who WsITD going back to the myths because the myths were more freeing.

Just something to think about.

Yesterday

Yesterday, as I proofread my TNDJ post before I hit the Send button at Substack, I encountered this:

• This is why I preach writing into the dark.

• This is why I preach getting down INTO the story, down in the trenches with the characters, instead of ‘directing’ them as the all-knowing, all-seeing, almighty Writer On High. (Hear the angels? They’re fake. You are not God.)

Years ago, one of the writers I had enlisted as a regular weekly contributor to a short-lived blog called Pro Writers Writing (PWW) said she could no longer writer for PWW.

That’s what led directly to the eventual but relatively quick demise of PWW.

The writer who left PWW (and took another regular contributor with her) cited her reason for leaving as, “In your own posts, you constantly preach about Writing Into the Dark. You never talk about outlining or plotting or revising or rewriting. I can’t in good conscience continue as a contributor to PWW.”

I’m proud to say that what she said was (and is) true.

I preach WITD and will continue to do so. As I add to almost every issue of TNDJ, I will never teach the myths of writing in this (or any) blog.

And yes, I asked my PWW writers not to actively teach them either. To be clear, I didn’t require them to write about WITD. I asked them only not to preach the myths.

I see myself as a teacher of a particular dogma, and I see no reason to teach the Other Side when the so-called ‘facts’ about it are already so widely available.

You can learn those myths literally anywhere else on the internet: in blogs and in “writing boards” and forums.

The myths are so pervasive they are part of the very fabric of our society. Our world is so inundated with the myths that you literally can’t escape hearing about them

• in public and private education,

• in television series and films,

• in most how-to books on writing,

• at writers’ conferences,

• in genre conventions,

• in writers’ groups,

• in critique groups, and

• literally everywhere else.

So if you want to remain true to writing an authentic story, you will have to encounter the myths and wade through them or shove them aside, and continue to keep the faith in yourself, your characters, and WITD.

All of that caused me to think about a friend who is also a pastor of a flock in the religious sense. Even though he’s officially retired as a man of the cloth, he continues to write a sermon every week and preach what he believes is the truth.

And that in turn caused me to wonder whether he’s ever had a member quit his congregation specifically because he never, in his sermons, presents the Other Side.

I’m sure he hasn’t. And I’m glad he hasn’t. If I thought he needed me to say it, I would clap him on the shoulder and say, “Hang in there, my friend, and keep doing what you do. People need to hear it.”

That’s the same advice I give myself now and again. And I follow that advice.

I will keep preaching Writing Into the Dark. Not as the ‘only’ way to reach your goals as a writer, but as the most freeing, most exhilarating, and therefore best way to reach those goals.

Various kinds of Heaven await us all. Some are granted as a reward. Some we are able to create or construct of our own accord.

As I’m sure my pastor friend is sadly aware, he in his way and with his message and I in my way with my message can still only lead others to the door. We can’t open it and walk through it for them.

It is up to each of those who follow us to actually open the door and walk through under their own power and of their own accord.

Because their own faith, not ours, is what will sustain them in the end.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

How to Write a Novel in 30 Days (With Time to Spare) A gentle reminder that I do not always agree with items to which I post links in Of Interest. If you want to write an authentic story, write what the characters give you.

Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week: “Loneliness”

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………… 1250

Writing of Blackwell Ops 32: Harry Tidwell

Day 1…… 3528 words. To date…… 3528
Day 2…… 3136 words. To date…… 6664
Day 3…… 4540 words. To date…… 11204
Day 4…… 6376 words. To date…… 17598
Day 5…… 3196 words. To date…… 20794
Day 6…… 3763 words. To date…… 24557
Day 7…… 3811 words. To date…… 28368
Day 8…… 3308 words. To date…… 31676

Fiction for December………………… 28130
Fiction for 2024………………………. 956051
Nonfiction for December…………….. 8620
Nonfiction for 2024…………………… 371190
2024 consumable words…………….. 1,151,280

Average Fiction WPD (December)…. 4019

2024 Novels to Date…………………….. 17
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 1
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 31
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………..… 101
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 268
Short story collections……………………. 29

Disclaimer: 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.

If you are able, please support TNDJ with a paid subscription. Thank you!