The older I get, the more I find I want to acquire knowledge. Some of it is obviously beyond me…okay, most of it. That doesn’t stop me from being a lifetime learner. Whether it’s in my own fields or general knowledge, I want to learn more and more. We’ll talk more about this below, but first, the latest.
Drawing from the Well
Remember how we talked two blogs ago about resisting the vice? This week was another exercise in that effort. Life is A LOT right now, so editing production is slow. I’m still making plans for the leapfrog backward. We’ll get there. Still, I got through 5 pages this week so that’s progress, however slow.
Arc I: 64/64
Arc II: 60/60
Arc III Part I: 24/24
Arc III Part II: 31/31
Arc IV: 44/44
Arc V: 33/59
Interstitia: 0/11
Total: 256/291
Filling the Well
Two more books down this week finishing the available Aeon 14 novels on Hoopla. Book 4 was easily the best. All the new concepts were more fun than I expected. Now, I’m finishing Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. This is a collection of short stories from which came the story that became the movie Arrival. Every single short story is outstanding. After that, it’s on to Surrender, New York by Caleb Carr, the same author as The Alienist, one of my all-time favorite novels. Maybe I’ll give that a re-read down the line.
We keep going with our typical shows right now: Law & Order and Madam Secretary. They’re still great. Soon, my son and I (having missed the opportunity to binge the John Wick movies) are going to watch Wakanda Forever. I’m stoked.
Well Chat
At multiple stages in my fledgling writing career, I have recognized the breadth of knowledge I DON’T have. The first time was when I was deep in writing a fantasy epic that will never see the light of day while also deep in reading Wheel of Time. The way Jordan got in his characters’ heads and how he described the world changed my whole perception of writing. I said, “I want to do that…but I can’t with this story. It’s too far gone.”
That led me to start again. For years, I toiled over the texture and variance in my new world, the one you’re all able to read now. I developed characters and a plot that stretched beyond one book. When I decided that this was something I actually wanted to publish, I recognized that I needed a following to have any hope of even a modicum of success. That led me to strike out on social media (early days for me), primarily Twitter. That and YouTube led me to lots of professional advice, specifically K.M. Weiland. Her books were invaluable in learning the underpinnings of great books. It also showed me some significant flaws in my own book that I deemed was ready to go. Around the same time, I realized that my plan for the book brought it to a staggering 700-800 pages. I didn’t feel confident in releasing a book of that size as my debut. That led to the significant rewrite that eventual arrived at Blood in the Storm.
Since then, I’ve continued to delve into the collected knowledge out on the internet. Alongside that, I’ve identified authors whose writing I enjoy. I can’t read a book anymore without picking up on things I like and want to emulate or dislike and want to avoid. I read newsletters and watch videos from published authors regularly. I’ve even gone so far as to start reading books THEY read or wrote to learn more about craft. I’m on my second read of The Anatomy of Story by John Truby while diagramming it to figure out how to incorporate it into my planning and writing process. And there are more books to read too (Shut Up and Write the Book by Jenna Moreci, for one).
And all of this is only with regard to writing.
Everything I consume helps me become better at each thing I do. I approach each opportunity to learn with the humility that this person likely will teach me something. Sometimes I’m wrong, but often I’m one-hundred percent correct. My status as a lifetime learner is secure. What about you?
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG