It was another relatively lowkey week.
That’s not to say I didn’t write anything: I got a fair bit done, actually. But, as I said in last week’s update, my plan was to take a short break and work on my Seven Years a Vikingmemoir.
Well, tick one more goal off the checklist. Seven Years a Vikingis finished, and up on my other blog. That’s two projects ticked off my list before 2023 is even 1/6 of the way done: I really feel like I’ve been firing on all cylinders lately.
Next up, as I said already, is the Nightmares Inc. ending. I’m hoping I can finish that in 2-3 weeks: if I can get that out of the way, then start working on Chronicles of Usi book 1 in early March, I’ll still be ahead of the pace needed to achieve my 4 novels in a year goal. Of course, I still need to finish the first draft of The 2nd Realm at some point, too…but we’ll see. Maybe I can work on that concurrently with whatever book I work on in the summer, much like I plan to work on Chronicles of Usi I concurrently with the Kosan rewrite.
Anyway, though. Nightmares Inc. Working on this book has been interesting, because I finished the first draft over four years ago now, but have pretty much continually tinkered with it since then. It’s never quite reached a point where I feel comfortable backing away, dusting my hands off and proclaiming, “yep! This is good enough for other people to look at now.” Each time I think I’m getting close, I find something else I want to change, whether it be some clunky language that needs cleaning up, a plot element that just doesn’t work right, or a pacing issue. There always seems to be something.
This time, though, I think I’m close to the point where I can finally let some peer readers take a peek. For the longest time, I had this vague sense of disquiet over the story. Something’s wrong with it, I kept telling myself: there’s something here that doesn’t quite work. For a long time – years, actually – I couldn’t quite tell what it was. After last fall’s epiphany, though, I’m pretty sure the ending’s the problem. And now I have a singular focus, a specific change I can make in order to make the manuscript more presentable.
I’m hoping that’ll motivate me to go faster: if I can keep up the 3000-word pace I set while working on The Ravage, I’ll be done and working on Chronicles of Usi before I know it.
And Zuza (Chronicles of Usi’s main character) really wants her story told. She’s been pestering me for a while: getting her words on paper will be a relief.
Anywho, tonight the actual work begins anew. I’m also trying to come up with some more short story ideas, so that I have more material to market to magazines: I figure it couldn’t hurt to get my name out there a little bit that way. The only problem, though, is that most of my ideas are the kind that balloon into novels once I start working on them (exhibit A: The Ravage). Actually coming up with a good idea for a short story has historically been a struggle for me.
Maybe it’d be best to just let it settle for a while. Let my subconscious tackle the problem. I did read a short story collection recently: maybe that’ll help a bit.
Oh, and speaking of short stories, I still haven’t gotten my latest rejection for Endure yet. Granted, the magazine I submitted to said to expect a response time between 2 and 3 months, and we’re still within that range…but we’re on the longer side of it. I still fully expect a rejection, but I’m optimistic I could get some actual feedback on this one, instead of just a form letter. I’ll keep you posted.
Anyway, that’s about all for this week. Have fun, stay safe and keep reading.
