May 2, 2024 by Harvey
In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* On Understanding Others, and Characters
* Two Excellent Posts Coming Up
* Just Sit Down
* Music, White Noise, or Silence?
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“In the end it is important to remember you cannot become what you need to be by remaining what you are.” Max De Pree (from the signature in DT’s email)
On Understanding Others, and Characters
As a response to Dr. Mardy Grothe’s most recent post (see Of Interest), this thought sprang to mind:
“You can never understand another human being, and you can never ‘walk a mile’ in his shoes. You can view the world only from your own perspective.
“The closest you can come to understanding another is to walk alongside him and trust him as he lives and conveys his own authentic life. But the key to understanding is to remain silent yourself.”
Or as Francis Bacon put it (Thanks, Mardy, and happy birthday!) in Norum Organtum (1620),
“The human understanding is like a false mirror, which, receiving rays irregularly, distorts and discolors the nature of things by mingling its own nature with it.”
Of course, this lends itself wonderfully to writing (characters) into the dark.
Two Excellent Posts Coming Up
I had a great day yesterday even with no writing.
First, a writer emailed to ask me some excellent questions. That became the post that will appear in this space tomorrow, Friday, May 3.
And then another writer left a really great comment on another post. And that comment became the catalyst for the post for Saturday, May 4.
If you have questions about writing or want to leave a comment, please do so. Many others probably have the same questions or a similar comment but not the courage to ask or post it. Help me spread the wealth.
I’ll never use your name in a post except by your permission.
Just Sit Down
I received a nice email a few days ago from DT, a writer and devoted follower of the Journal. He said he “had a feeling” a character wanted to share, so he sat down and wrote 1855 words in an hour and a half. How cool is that?
That was on a short story that he also suspects will be part of a novel. But the point is, He Sat Down and Wrote It. All your idea will come to nada if you omit that necessary step.
It’s easy to let those little whispers pass, either because you feel they’re unimportant or, more likely, because you believe you will remember them later. I advise against that.
As a writer of fiction, you are in service to your characters.
When they offer you something on a platter, sit down and write it. You can never know where that simple act of sitting down will take you. (Again, be sure to see the upcoming posts on May 3 and 4.)
If you want an example from your own life, consider those times when you’ve eagerly climbed into your friend’s or loved one’s car at his or her urging because s/he wants to take you someplace exciting.
As s/he backs out of the driveway, you don’t have a clue where you’re going or even how long it will take to get there. But the excitement starts early and builds through the whole trip, doesn’t it?
Because you trust the friend or loved one who’s in the driver’s seat, that feeling is exhilaration. It’s a close cousin of fear, but it’s wonderful instead of terrifying.
In other words, it’s the same thing as writing into the dark when you trust your characters. Which is why I so strongly recommend trying it.
Music, White Noise, or Silence?
Near the end of his email, DT also wrote “I have to say loud music does an excellent job tuning everything out including my conscious mind.”
That caused me to wonder, which of these do you prefer as a writer while you’re writing?
Listening to music (loud or otherwise)
White (background) noise?
Some other repetitive sound or noise?
Or silence?
And also, which is more conducive to your writing?
Solitude (so a space of your own, in my case the Hovel, with any of the above)? Or
With others around (your living room or home office, the kitchen table, a coffee shop, etc.)?
I suppose this is a survey of sorts, but I really am interested if only to satisfy my curiosity. (grin) And there are no wrong answers. Whatever works for you is right, with “works” defined as “putting new words on the page.”
Of course, I congratulated DT on the word count and his efforts to make WITD a reality for himself. But that last bit about loud music drowning-out the conscious, critical mind intrigued me. That was the catalyst for this post.
I can’t personally listen to music when I write, unless it’s quiet, classical music without lyrics (so essentially white noise). If I listen to the music I enjoy most, the lyrics distract me because I’m paying attention, wondering why the songwriter used this word instead of that one, etc.
In my response to DT, I almost wrote that I prefer solitude and silence when I’m writing, but that isn’t really true.
The whole time I’m in the Hovel, a large box fan sits in an open window, blowing out. I turn it up to either medium or high and it serves as an exhaust fan.
Sometimes I also have an air purifier running to clear dust from the air. (The Hovel is an adobe building.)
And in the afternoons, a large portable swamp cooler (and fan) blows directly on me to keep the temperature bearable (upper 70s, low 80s).
Of course, I don’t notice the sound of any of those machines while I’m writing, so I suppose I prefer white noise.
So how about you? Please leave a comment or email me (harveystanbrough@gmail.com) to share your preference, and your reasoning if you want.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Understanding Others I urge you to subscribe to Dr. Mardy’s weekly newsletter if you haven’t already.
If you want to design your own covers, do yourself a favor and read Resource: Book Covers.
If you want to hire a pro to design excellent covers for low cost, check out Get Covers. I’ve added this link to my Quick Links in the sidebar at harveystanbrough.com.
The Numbers
The Journal………………………………1030
Writing of (tentative title)
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date…… XXXXX
Fiction for May…………………….….… XXXXX
Fiction for 2024…………………………. 303785
Fiction since October 1………………… 606841
Nonfiction for May……………………… 1940
Nonfiction for 2024……………………… 156280
2024 consumable words……………… 460065
2024 Novels to Date……………………… 8
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)……………… 90
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.
To be sure you continue receiving the Journal after May 31, subscribe free, then click the Donate link at the end of this post and make a recurring donation of $3 per month. In doing that, you’re effectively paying me 5 cents per hour to provide you with the Journal every day. Donate Here.
I prefer silence when writing. Routine background noises (like someone coughing or moving about in the kitchen) don't bother me, but I don't like to have music or anything like that going. Especially instrumental music, which my weirdo brain turns to math, thereby interfering badly with creativity.
I can write pretty much anywhere, as long as I'm left alone. My problem is finding someplace where I'm actually LEFT ALONE. LOL
Two day ago I also had a feeling a character wanted my attention. I wrote 1700 words on my phone in snippets, about how the character met his bride.
Nestori, the character does that quite often. It might be related to how I came up with him. I didn't really plan on creating him. I had a feeling my brain was working on a character and one day I listened to the intro of a song and imagined him dancing with his bride. Now 4 short stories later he wanted my attention again.
If I'm writing and alone I have the tv on, something that I don't have to focus on as background noise. If it's summer and warm I can have the windows open and listen to birds. We have a lot of sparrows, mourning doves, magpies, and sometimes a raven.