Hi there, folks. It’s that time of week again: time for the writing activities blow-by-blow.

And this week…well. Some of you may know I have a tendency to understate things. It’s partly just how I’m wired, although part of it also comes from that raging inferiority complex (most artistic types have either an inferiority complex or a superiority complex, although the former is, thankfully, more common) combined with my old, deeply-rooted, perhaps irrational belief that, if I outwardly express confidence or satisfaction in myself, I’ll flounder horribly and be exposed as a failure and a fraud. So I guess you can add “impostor syndrome” to the pile.

But anyway, I’m getting off track. I’m not here for a psychiatric evaluation, I’m here to update you on my writing. And I’m happy to report that this past week – this past 11 days, really – has been the most productive stretch of writing I’ve ever had. Apart from one bad day – that was January 21, when I only wrote 218 words – I’ve broken 3000 every day, and even had a 5000-word day a few days ago. My average for this past 11 days is over 3000 – the first time I’ve managed to average 3000 over that long of a span – and as a result I’m flying through The Ravage.

And no, I’m not done The Ravage yet. I was 75% sure last week, but this week I can 100% officially declare it: The Ravage will be a novel. A short novel, but a novel nonetheless. I keep thinking I’m getting close to the final word count on this thing, then blowing past it. First, I thought I could have it done in under 7,500 words. Then, it was 15,000. Then 25,000. Then 35. Then 45. And so on and so forth. Now, I’m about to crack 60,000, which is sort of around the bare minimum mark for a work to be considered a ‘novel.’

(How many words constitutes a novel is actually sort of a tricky question, believe it or not. And that’s not even considering the lengths publishers usually look for: The Ravage is a fantasy, and fantasy publishers actually tend to publish novels on the longer side. Still, publishers also tend not to want to take big risks with first-time authors: thus, their ideal word count for a first-time author is lower (since less words=cheaper to print the book). So it might all even out in the end).

I’m not done this thing yet, though. I believe I’m getting close, although I’ve believed that for a little while: it’s quite possible the story could grow in the telling yet again, and start creeping toward the 70,000-word mark, or maybe even higher than that. And that’s just on the first go-through: if I end up needing to add a bit more heft to it, I might go back and add more story before the point where I started the first draft. At this point, though, I’m probably going to just write until the words THE END appear on the page, then put it aside for a few months.

And then, when those few months pass…editing time! And boy, let me tell you, editing is a whole other kind of adventure.

Anyway, though…yeah. The Ravage keeps coming along. I’m confident I’ll be done it soon. Maybe not by next week – or who knows, maybe I’ll finish it tonight – but for sure soon. And then it’ll be on to finishing up the new Nightmares Inc. ending, maybe finishing a few more short stories, and then on to Chronicles of Usi Book 1 and the Kosan rewrite.

Speaking of writing, I’m going to go do that now. This update was a little late, but it’ll still technically go up on Friday, so I’m not off-schedule yet. Tonight might be a little bit of a lighter writing night than the last few nights, but if it is, I don’t plan on making that a trend. Tomorrow I’ve got homework to do and errands to run, but on Sunday – or perhaps Monday – I plan to chase a goal that’s long eluded me.

A 10,000-word day.

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’ve tried for a 10,000-word day a few times, but I’ve never really come close. My record for words written in one day is somewhere just north of 7,500, and that day I wasn’t even trying for the big mark. But with how productive I’ve been over the last couple weeks, I think if I’m ever going to hit that mark, it’ll be now.

Anyway, that’s all for this week. As always, have fun, stay safe, and keep reading.