Hello again, dreamers.  I had quite a week last week, and I’m looking forward to another productive week writing my work-in-progress.  I participated in a word sprint, the first of what I hope will be many, and this week I plan to attend my first local NaNoWriMo write-in, which should also give me the chance to meet a few other aspiring writers around Cincinnati.

For the first time, I’m really enjoying this.  Of course, a lot of that had to do with my actually making firm progress for the first time.  I intend to keep that going this week.  So, without further ado, here’s what I’ll be up to:

The Pioneer

Though it’s been less than a week, I dare say that already NaNoWriMo 2018 has gone far better than the last two years.  This marks the first time since I began participating that I actually managed to complete a chapter, and I did so in only three days, with most of the writing taking place over only two.  Today alone, I managed over 2500, which means I’m nearing the kind of output I was seeing before Pitch Wars.  At this rate, by God I might actually lay down 50,000 words by the end of the month.

It seems I was right in feeling my difficulties starting phase 3 stemmed from a bad opening scene.  By starting over, I managed to lay down 4300 words I was deeply proud of.  I enjoyed writing this most recent chapter more than I’ve enjoyed writing anything in quite some time, and over the years I’ve found that generally the reader will enjoy reading something at least as much as the writer enjoyed creating it.  So, at last, I think phase 3 is off to a good start.

Now, I need to continue the momentum.  Tomorrow I will begin the second chapter of phase 3, which once again I intend to start over from a slightly new direction.  Now, I will be placing Randall Holmes back in his element: out in the wilderness, surrounded by tall trees and a handful of trusted companions.  I also intend to use the first part of the next chapter to explore the budding relationships with between my three major characters, both in terms of how their experiences on the planet changed them and how they have continued to develop since the three returned to the Susan Constant.

All the while, I plan to continue the full revision I began prior to resuming work last week.  It was going very well, and I’d love to clean things up more as I press on.

As I’ve resumed writing in earnest, this week I also plan to bring back my WIP Wednesday weekly posts.  As I also generally post weekly updates during NaNoWriMo, from now until the end of November those updates will be replacing my Week in Review posts.

Short Fiction

Normally, when I’m at full-tilt on a novel project my short fiction output tends to slow to a trickle before ceasing entirely.  But the past few weeks reminded me of the importance of continuing to work on short subjects.  And after how much fun I had with it, I’m not ready to abandon short fiction again just yet.

I still have several short fiction pieces I began over the past few weeks that I intend to complete, as well as a few that need revising and at least a couple I’d like to try reworking a bit.  I also hope to resume my weekly Short Fiction Sunday posts this week.

 

This is actually fun.  It feels good to be working on The Pioneer again, and it feels wonderful to be sharing the experience with so many fantastic people.  Keep reading, and as always, dare to dream. – MK