My mid-week report to you that covers the three major commitments I’ve made: to write, to edit, and to read.
Writing
About two thousand words last week on Sigils. I’ve committed to shooting for 5k this week. I’m currently at 83k, so that puts my target at 88k.
After some deliberation, I’m adding a few scenes from my antagonist’s POV. This is primarily motivated by the idea of providing a solid hook and a strong promise to the reader.
My current opening is decent as far as a hook goes, in terms of introducing the male MC and his life. Where it falls down is on that promise. Since the first chapter is the hero before the call - and the call happens deeper into the first act - we’re seeing his normal life. So taken by itself, it’s saying, “this is a ‘coming of age’ novel”.
You don’t start to get the hints of weirdness until the second chapter when I introduce the female MC. Which is fine, but at that point, it’s too late. Which is where the antagonist comes in. A scene from the supernatural, otherworldly hunter right off the bat does the trick. It’s a strong hook (Who is he? Who’s he hunting? Why?) and it immediately lets you know that you’re in for a fantasy novel with horror elements.
Meanwhile, I still haven’t gotten to those other two big scene rewrites I need to work on. I’m starting to think I’m putting those off because who wants to rewrite when you can write? Sigh… I also now have 23 (!) scenes that I need to write. Some are filler or transition scenes, but that’s still probably at least 10k.
Commitments for this week:
Rewrite those last two dang scenes for Sigils
Start filling in the gaps with the other scenes
Hit 88k total
Editing
Continuing to work on the “TODO” items for Sigils. Down to 8 scenes left that need work, including the above two “complete rewrite” scenes. Still ahead of schedule, though :)
Commitments for this week:
Keep to my established editing schedule
Finish off the TODO list
Reading
Finished Space Cowboys 2: Electric Rodeo and published a review here yesterday. I’ve been distracted by Other things, so no new reading queued up yet. I’ve done more than a bit of fiction lately, so I’m thinking some non-fiction this time around.
Commitments for this week:
Pick the next book to read.
Do my duty re: writer’s group critiques
Other
I created a website for #TeamAndMore. If you’re wondering what that means…
We're the author version of the opening act at a concert. The new guys, the up-and-coming. The folks with not quite enough of a following to get our name on the cover of our own book or an anthology (yet!) We might be listed as "... and others", "... with many others", or some variation. However you slice it, we're #TeamAndMore - and we're proud of it!
If you’re a new or aspiring author, check it out. The main goal is to recognize new authors and celebrate their wins. A side goal is to help authors & publishers advertise their works, as well as provide information on upcoming anthology calls to help authors figure out where they can submit stories.
Also: if you’re an author, looking to create a website to advertise your works, Google Sites is remarkably easy to use. It’s an excellent resource for building a static site. Combine it with Substack as an email list/blog, and I think it provides a lot of what you might need to host a simple author’s site. I may write up a bit on that at some point for the #TeamAndMore site.
Oh, and to reflect my changing interests, I changed my Substack publication name from “Political Perceptions” to a simple “Perceptions”. More flexible, and it lets me move my political stuff into a new section at some point if I so desire. Which I may do - we’ll see.
That’s about it - until next week. See y’all then!