Remember remember the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot.
Happy flashbang explodey things day to anyone in the UK. Happy Thursday to anyone else.
Pretty good day again today. Had a 600 word session around lunchtime as a reward for getting other stuff done and then a longer session after 10 pm. The story itself feels like it's storming a long and I'm still really enjoying writing it. Can't wait for it to be done so other people can read it.
I was pestering my brother last night about something related to the story because it lies within his field of expertise and I couldn't remember something I wanted. Ended up having a chat with him about the story and he seemed supportive and pretty excited about it, which was nice. He also had lots of ideas about the plot of the story itself. Which... I kind of get the urge to have input into someone else's story but I don't plan on taking any of the suggestions he made on board. At least not for this story.
It might seem a little rude but I really hate the idea of writing by committee. Which is partly the reason I've never done a workshop. If you revise your story and plot to try to please everyone you'll end up pleasing no one and you'll strip your voice out of the story to boot. So much writing advice talks about the importance of finding your voice and letting it shine through in the story, so why would I take it to a committee and let them polish my voice out?
I think the main reason I feel this way is because Dean Wesley Smith hates traditional workshops for stories and writing by committee. A lot of the advice I've really taken on board has come from Dean and it's my long term goal to end up with a career a bit like his. So that might be why I feel so strongly about this.
At the end of the day, it's your story. You write it the way you want to and worry about everything else later. Unless I ever purposely sit down to co-author something with someone I won't let any one else's ideas interfere with character or plot. Other people can help me clean up other things (spelling, typos, tense issues) after I'm done writing. They don't get a say in the story. Especially if they're not a writer themselves.
My story, my rules. I aim to have fun while writing and trying to please anyone but me during the writing process is a sure fire way to spoil my fun. So not gonna happen. But if talking to someone else about a story fires up some ideas for new stories then that's great. Because when I'm done with this one I plan to start straight on with the next story.
November Word Count
Day 1 3734 : Total 3734
Day 2 2044 : Total 5738
Day 3 1701 : Total 7439
Day 4 1690 : Total 9129
Day 5 1887 : Total 11016
