A Week of Writing: 5/7/18 to 5/13/18
And the second week of May is in the books. Less progress than I would have liked, but, in all, positive yardage.
Here’s how I did.
The Novel
The novel I’m currently working on is the fourth I’ve written in the last three years. This one is by far the most challenging, but it’s similar to the others in a lot ways. One of those ways goes like this:
- Starting a novel – Pretty easy
- Writing to the halfway point in a novel – Challenging but not too bad
- Finishing a novel, especially the last 10,000 words or so – Head meets brick wall (repeatedly, at high velocity) difficult
So, yeah, I’m currently in the third stage and beating myself bloody trying to wrap everything up. I’m pretty sure I can do it today, but the finale and epilogue of this book have certainly slowed me down. That’s not really a bad thing. I mean, I do want to stick the landing as well as I can. Still, I’m very much ready to be done with the first draft.
| Date | Day | Words Written |
| 5/7/2018 | Monday | 504 |
| 5/8/2018 | Tuesday | 2031 |
| 5/9/2018 | Wednesday | 0 |
| 5/10/2018 | Thursday | 1082 |
| 5/11/2018 | Friday | 1531 |
| 5/12/2018 | Saturday | 1023 |
| 5/13/2018 | Sunday | 0 |
So another 6,171 words added to the manuscript for a total just north of 91,000. I think I’ve got another 3,000 or so to go, for a grand total for the first draft around 95,000 words.
Short Stories
Not much to report on this front. Most of my creative energies have gone into the novel. I’ve outlined a few ideas for new stories I want to write once the first draft of the novel is done and I can set it aside for a week or so.
Submissions
What I’d call slightly above average submission volume for the week.
- Submissions Sent: 3
- Rejections: 3
- Acceptances: 0
- Publications: 0
No matter what I’m working on, I try to get at least a few submission out every week. This week I sent submissions #52, #53, and #54 for the year. Still on pace for 100 subs for 2018.
The Blog
For the first time in a while, I didn’t manage three blog posts, but I hope to get back on track this week.
5/7/18: A Week of Writing: 4/30/18 to 5/6/18
Just the usual here.
5/9/18: Submission Protocol: The Unsolicited Rewrite
This is a subject I’ve never covered on the blog, and it’s kind of an “unwritten” submission guideline. Worth a look if you’re unfamiliar with the term.
Goals
The primary goal is to finish the novel, which I hope to do today. The secondary goal is to finish up another project with an approaching (but still comfortably distant) deadline.
Story Spotlight
This week I’m gonna point you at a novelette I wrote for Privateer Press a while back called “Blood in the Water.” It’s a pretty good introduction to the Iron Kingdoms, the steam-powered fantasy world that serves as the setting for Privateer’s WARMACHINE and HORDES games. You can check it out on Amazon by clicking the cover below.
That was my week. How was yours?
Effectively Wild – A Baseball Horror Story
Night Walk & Other Dark Paths
Acts of War: Flashpoint
Acts of War: Aftershock
Acts of War: Stormbreak
Aeryn Rudel's Rejectomancy 