A thousand good words a day, with some time off or implode. That’s the norm. Chapter five is done, but I will go back after chapter six to beef up the description on this. It’s a new world, and needs proper description. I don’t want to overdo it, so will have to be careful. 22,000 words so far means eight days off, and the month isn’t over. I want 30,000 words a month with weekends off, and with the coming winter, I don’t see a problem with that. The garden is over. I’ll mow the lawn two more times this year for whatever leaves and clippings I can get. Next year’s garden is going to kick ass,

　

On the business side: I gathered my finished short stories into one large file, 230 single-spaced pages, 14pt. Times New Roman, and proceeded to use the first of two checklists. The first checklist is here. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors

It’s a big list, with lots of words to check, but worth the trouble. Use the Find and Replace feature of your word program’s Edit tab. Find everything, but fix it yourself. Less mistakes that way.

　

The second list is one of my own creation, and comes in two parts. Part one is a words to waste list, and/or, my make sure I got my word right list. Most of these words are overused and could vanish from the text without hurting a damn thing, writing more to the point. Sometimes you put in you, when you meant your, or you’re. When the story grabs you, and you wrote it, it’s hard to correct everything on one or two editing passes. This list helps find those errors, especially when all you have is yourself. I don’t have beta readers. Then, some notes about what is universally true, but not really talked about, borrowed from many places. Part two is my multiple words into one better word list. Verb from a position of strength. And remember, use the Find and Replace feature of your word program’s Edit tab. Find everything, but fix it yourself. Less mistakes that way.

　

NO

ON

IN

SO

AS

UP

NOW

INTO

WHEN

THEM

WERE

WE’RE

TO

DIE

YOU

DYING

BUT

AND

HAD

WAS

THE

NOW

ALL

HERE

KNOW

LEFT

MORE WITH

THEY’RE

ITS

THROUGH

NEXT

OUT

THEY

THAT

EVEN

JUST

OVER

HAVE THEIR

THERE

RIGHT

THOSE

THESE

YES

THREW

THEN

SOME

FROM

GOOD

VERY

ALSO

THIS

ONTO

THOUGH

BESIDES

ALWAYS

OF THE

BIRTH

TOO

DYE

THAN

DOWN

TWO

AGAIN

BERTH

BORNE

BORN

IT

MEAT

MEET

HERS

　

RIGHT HAND, LEFT FOOT THING. Let the reader decide which hand is being used, unless important to the narrative, making a specific point. The killer was right handed, ect.

　

Set the following in italics: books, periodicals, newspapers, long poems, plays, movies, TV and radio shows, operas and long musical pieces, record albums, works of art.

　

Set the following in quotations marks: chapter titles, articles in magazines, individual episodes of television and radio shows, short poems, essays, song titles.

　

WHO/WHOM — Use who and whom instead of that to refer to people and animals with names. Use who when it is the subject of a sentence, clause, or phrase. For example, Lassie is the dog who saved Timmy. Use whom when it is the object of a verb or preposition. For example, Timmy is the boy whom Lassie saved.

　

Mix it up. Start a sentence sometimes without using I, He, She, You, They, the name of your protagonist or antagonist, or the subject.

　

SAT DOWN - SAT - PLACED

STOOD UP

SHOWED UP - ARRIVED

WENT OVER - SCRUTINIZED - EXAMINED - DEFECTED

LIVED ON - CONTINUED - REMAINED - INHABITED

FLIPPED ON - ACTIVATED

PUT OUT

TURNED INTO - BECAME

PICKED APART - DECIPHERED - DISMEMBERED

DREW CLOSE

BURST APART - EXPLODED - SPLOOSHED

FOUND OUT - DISCOVERED

ISSUED FORTH - ERUPTED - GUSHED

CAME BACK - RETURNED

MOVED IN - PRESSED

POPPED UP - SPROUTED

WRAPPED AROUND - ENCIRCLED - SURROUNDED

PULLED OPEN - YANKED

LIVED THROUGH - SURVIVED

FOLDED BACK

OPENED UP ON

SHOT OUT

SANK DEEP

THE SMELL OF THE THING - ITS STENCH

IN AND OUT OF

CAME IN CONTACT WITH - APPROACHED

EARLY ON

TOOK OVER - CAPTURED - COMMANDEERED - ASSUMED

PUT AWAY - CONCEALED

BLEW UP

THROWN UP - LAUNCHED

BROKE THROUGH - PIERCED

COMES OUT WRONG

CAME OUT OF - EXITED

HAD ON - WORE

GOING ON

SUDDENLY

ALL AT ONCE

SOON AFTER

WEARING THIN - EXHAUSTING

DOWN ON

BEEN IN - OCCUPIED

A LOT OF - NUMEROUS - MANY

PICKED UP - PROCURED - SNAGGED

CLOSED AROUND - ENCIRCLED

SPRUNG OUT - BOINGED

SLID UP AND DOWN - STROKED

MADE UP - COMPRISED

DROPPED OFF - RETURNED

FUCKED UP - OBLITERATED

NEXT TO - BESIDE

USED UP - EXHAUSTED

COULD OF - COULD HAVE

OPENED UP - PARTED - UNFOLDED

THREW UP - PUKED - BARFED

OVER AND OVER - REPEATEDLY

IN FACT

IN TURN

IN OTHER WORDS

IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS

AND SO

MOVED FORWARD - ADVANCED

STRIKE BACK - RETALIATE

STRUCK BACK

LEFT BEHIND - REMAINED

COUNTED OFF - TALLIED

CLOSED OFF - SECURED

TONED DOWN - SUBDUED

FIND OUT

COME BACK

WENT BY

HOLD OFF

HEADED OUT - LEFT

MAKE FOR - LEND - GIVE

PUT UP - ERECT - RAISE

GAVE UP - SURRENDERED

BACKED UP - RETREATED

PULLED UP - EASED - SLIPPED

PULLING APART - UNRAVELING

SAT ON - SAT IN - OCCUPIED

CAME OVER - APPROACHED

BROUGHT ABOUT - COMPELLED -

　

My personal lists are never complete. I add to it from book to book. See you next week.

Chapter four is finished, and I like it. It works. Chapters five and six are next, and I’m working off three pages of handwritten notes that took almost a day to sort through. First I did the tape recorder thing again, spouting off random thoughts. Upon hearing them I put them in order, filling up three notebook pages. I added four items to chapter four, details important to complete what was done, adding depth to what is to come.

　

On the business side of things, I noticed a new service that seems to have gathered just as many readers as there are writers. Of course it took a few years to reach that level a readership, but readers; wow! Think I’ll start with my short stories first, after a full edit, charging the reading public a whole dollar for each short story. I have nothing to lose, but I will try to gain my own readership there. I’ll go back through everything I have on marketing and shoot for the moon. I’ll tell you all about it, won’t skimp on the details, and maybe we’ll learn something together. See you next week.

I don’t pretend to be an expert at anything, however, I know my time is near. Actually, I think I’m past due. This week I went through my first three chapters, reviewing the plot points, actually listing them in my notebook, looking for threads I might have unintentionally dropped. I added three sentences, and four new lines of dialogue. I’m very happy with the first three chapters, but now they need to be ignored. Chapters four, five, and six must also shine. I’m not about to let my guard down. To that end I’m talking to myself into a tape recorder. I put a lot of stray thoughts into a couple of hours. Those thoughts are sorted out and transferred to paper, and the free writing begins. I took Sunday off, and ended today with 16,383 words worth of novel.

　

What isn’t talked about, yet is no less true.

　

Let me take it from the top. Know the mechanics, plus good grammar, and good punctuation. The mechanics of writing are universal, you learned them in school, but there are rules, and exceptions to the rules that are rules unto themselves. Know them. No one book lists them all, so buy two of the best. You will need the knowledge if you want your words to mean exactly what you want them to mean. What you say, is as important as how you say it. And between you and me, there isn’t any real rule about ending a sentence with a preposition. To say otherwise is to spread bullshit.

　

Punctuation is either open, which means long run-on sentences that annoy the hell out of you rather you’re willing to admit it or not because you think the writer has impact. Or punctuation is closed, which is more formal, can be very productive to overall meaning, while allowing the average reader to catch their literary breath. I prefer closed, and the trends do support me.

　

Voice is: Expressing yourself with style. Talking like your colorful uncle Bob, flapping his lips, hoping to fly. Having fearless fun expressing yourself. Freeing the storyteller inside. Dropping literary trou’, and shooting a verbal full moon.

　

Reading bad books teaches you how not to write, and reading good books teaches you how to write well. Read a lot of both, and never stop reading. Read two books a week, read one book a week. Read! See you next week.

I read something about self-publishing over at Pimp My Novel that bothered me. Basically it said that self-publishing is a waste of time, because 90% of everything out there is crud, what you have is most likely crud, and nothing good comes out of the experience. You’re not going to sell more than one or two books anyway, so why bother. (I was told, by just about everybody, that grass clippings in my garden would sour the soil, but it was the best thing I ever did. I may have grown only one 43 lb watermelon, but the other two almost weighed 20 lbs.) Here’s my point: It doesn’t matter what you do; have a dream, start a business, or write a book; there will always be people out there who want to shut you down, stop you with negativity, or want to put you in your place. Many self-published books have gone on to lift their respective authors up, into the larger world of corporate publishing. The Self-Publishing Hall of Fame is a fun read. It serves to remind me that assholes seem to be everywhere, and are meant to be ignored!

　

Plot is cause and effect, not the idea behind the story. We established that, but why do I mention this a second time? I take the time to know my characters, and because of that my characters do come alive for me, and they do lead me through their stories. It’s more real to let them do what they need to do, without me forcing them into some kind of cookie-cutter mold. I know how the story starts, and I know how the story ends, but their actions and reactions take me from A to Z. I provide the details needed to keep the story moving with real depth, without slowing the pace, but the characters themselves make it real.

　

What I do is layer in levels of sophistication.

　

I think a lot of books out there fall short when it comes to this storytelling technique. How many mediocre books have you read lately, knowing something was wrong with them, but not knowing what the problem was? If I start at the top, there has to be a level of sophistication present, looking at the book as a whole. The big idea (never outright mentioned) behind the entire story. The best example of this comes from Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. The idea behind the entire novel: Immortal shape-shifters with supernatural powers are responsible for all the ghost stories everywhere, from the beginning of human history.

　

Cities need levels of sophistication, and most do, if you know where to look. Clubs may run the gambit from country, to gay, to goth. Neighborhoods or apartment buildings can also have a level of sophistication, when one looks at the neighbors. Characters too need to have levels of sophistication. What defines them. What they do, or say, that makes them real. My protagonist is killing a nest of vampires, and I add this: Another pitcher stepped up to the mound, and my next swing took the husky bald guy’s head clean off. I watched him twitch all they way to the floor. I like it when they twitch all the way to the floor. My mind later replays that in slow motion. It’s how I get my jollies on.

　

There is the action itself, and how my character thinks in response to the action. Insight into who he is as a person. It’s a little thing, his thoughts to this one death, but it adds to both the story and to my protagonist a level of sophistication. When the opportunity arrives, things, thoughts, insights, they get slowly layered into the book. They are not dumped into the novel all at once.

　

To come to your own understanding of this (unknown, lost, but amazingly vital) process, a process nobody ever really talks about, think about the books that most impressed you. Pick the best one and reread it. Look for these levels of sophistication, starting at the top. (One ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.) Work your way through each tier, each level of sophistication. What is real to you, and why is it real to you? What tiny details does the author add, giving this world, city, building, character levels of sophistication?

　

And that, to me, is the difference between what makes a classic stand out from the ordinary, and the ordinary from the forgettable. See you next week.