For the first time I am writing a novel. No that’s not true. Over the years I’ve started 5 or 6 novels. Written 10 or so chapters, 15,000 to 20,000 words and then stopped because I couldn’t work my way through the middle to find a decent ending. The average modern novel is around 50,000 to 70,00 words so I guess I got a fourth way through.

This novel is also the first time I set a deadline. In all the nonfiction books I’ve written I’ve never missed a deadline and I am not going to miss this one either. I’ve written 33,000 words so I’ve got 25,000 more or less to write by February 2.

This time I started with an end in mind, sort of. The novel is based on Frank Hamer’s days as Marshal of Navasota, Texas. I read a half dozen books on Hamer so I had an excellent start, but the ending was still a little hazy because when Hamer left town for a Houston detective job the town and the county was still as dirty as a pig in slop. (I know that is a terrible cliche but nothing better comes to mind and the time I take writing this blog interferes with my novel deadline.)

I’ve been writing either a newspaper column, newsletter or blog since 1985 and I don’t plan to stop now. I will get both done. I’ve always been a grinder. Grinders, grind. The grind makes up for lack of talent or it at least partially makes up for lack of talent.

Now as I frenetically write these January blogs you’ll notice many differences from the past. In the first place they will be much more personal. You’ll read a lot of “I” words. They will ramble a lot as you’ve already noticed. They will be much longer because I’m typing as fast as I can in free association mode. There will be an over abundance of passive words. There will be cliches galore. Each word will not be the exact word. Mark Twain wrote something to the effect that the difference between the almost right word and the exact word is like the difference between the lighting bug and lightning. You won’t be getting any thunderstruck words in January 2020. Anyone who admires polished words will be disappointed in the January 2020 blog batch.

Now I think I am as polished writer as just about anyone currently writing. I certainly grind enough to make it polished. And I certainly have my own style that can be summoned up in the Strunk and White admonishment: “Omit needless words.” The first thing I do when I finish the rough draft of a blog is shorten it. What you get is often 50% less than what I originally wrote. Some sage–was it Pascal?–wrote at the end of his letter something like “please forgive me for this letter. I didn’t have time to shorten it. The next thing I do is eliminate all passive verbs. Sometimes I fail and a passive verb or two remains in the last edit. When a passive verb raises it’s ugly head (another noxious cliche) all the sentences around it wilt. (If I had time I could write that better.) I always aim to right clear, crisp, concise sentences. Sometimes I go overboard (I know, cliche) to make my sentences understandable.

Nothing irritates me more than to read three paragraphs that I could have written in one sentence and it would have been better understood. Whenever I feel like getting angry I go to the theologians. Any theologian. Every one sends me into a rage fit. (Don’t believe me: count the passive verbs and the number of complex partial sentences). Now wait a minute: Max Lucado is not a theologian. Neither is Chuck Swindol, nor Dobson or the dozens of other popular Christian writers. C.S. Lewis and Chesterton are not theologians in my view. I can be convinced they are, but you are going to have to give five clear points if you do. (When I read a theologian I recognize the writing by its stink.) Lucado is one of the best story tellers on the globe. I’ve never read one of his essays that did not bombard me with thunder and lightning.

Now where was I? Oh yes, I wanted to mention the tremendous research novels demand. I can give you many examples, but I think I will skip that. My fingers are getting tired.

One last thing: I have an ending and it’s going to be a dandy. I can’t wait to write it and have you read it.

Now how many words were in this blog. Let me do a word count:1050 words in less than an hour. Wow!!! I hope there are no typos.

PS: Forgive me for this blog. I didn’t have time to shorten it.