Hello, dreamers.  It’s been a while.

It’s been hard getting into a groove recently.  With everything else going on in my life, I’ve found that often when I sit down to write I have a hard time finding the words.  As such, working my way back into writing has been a struggle. But it’s coming along. Lately, I’ve lapsed in my weekly posts, mostly because it feels somewhat silly to put up posts several times a week simply saying I’ve done next to nothing.  That, however, changes this week. After all, I began these posts partly to keep my readers apprised of my efforts, but also to hold myself accountable. So, that in mind, here’s what I plan to do this week:

The Pioneer

As the month of April draws to a close, so does beta reading on my latest novel.  My recent business has no doubt come as some small comfort to my beta readers, as I haven’t been checking in on them as regularly as I’d intended.  Nonetheless, this week I’ll be touching base with everyone to see where they are, and get their impressions.

Due partly to my recent partial (and unintended) hiatus, I ultimately made the choice to send out The Pioneer for beta reading with only minimal revisions.  This, of course, means that the version of the story my beta readers are reviewing will no doubt differ substantially from even the version I’ll eventually be sending off to an editor.  However, I feel ultimately this was for the best. I have found myself keenly self-conscious about The Pioneer.  This is a story I believe in very strongly.  I keep feeling it has to be perfect, and though of course I realize that’s not possible, I still know there is plenty of room for improvement.  I have a lot of work ahead of me, but lately I’ve started feeling that I’m up for the task.

My current plan is to conduct at least two beta reading sessions: one currently in progress with my friends, and another after major revisions utilizing writers I’ve connected with here and on Twitter.  Thus, the current beta reading is to assess how digestible and enjoyable the story is, while the next will help to gauge its literary worth. It will be interesting, as I’ve never had fellow writers read and critique my work.  But I’ve always been my own worst critic, and the past several years of writing experience have given me a thick skin, if nothing else.

Next month I will most likely begin major revisions.

Beyond The Pioneer

Upon reflection, I’ve come to realize that one of my biggest stumbling blocks lately has been the same problem I experienced after finishing the first draft of Wide Horizon: a lack of direction.  And in some ways this time it’s worse.  With Wide Horizon, I spent the better part of two years writing the first draft, due in part to lack of experience and in part to various aspects of life getting in the way.  As such, during the writing I had breaks, I had down time. I pursued other story ideas, wrote short fiction, tossed around fresh ideas. But with The Pioneer I tore through the story like a hurricane.  For about six months, a single story consumed my life.  The Pioneer was all I thought about, all I did.  Now, with the first draft finished, it feels almost as though I have nothing left for my life to be about.

Of course, the work on The Pioneer has only just begun.  I still have plenty of revising, editing, and pondering to do.  It would be unfair to suggest that it is done, in any sense.  But I’ve always believed in constantly moving forward.  Whether I’m revising, editing, or querying, I always need to have a work-in-progress.  Thus, the time has come to plot my path forward.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve thought a lot about what to write next.  My instinct is to continue work on When We Left Earth, the series that will begin with The Pioneer.  As my veteran readers will know, prior to writing The Pioneer I’d spent several years intermittently writing the previous story, Pathfinder.  As such it might be easiest to pick that one up again, as most of the research and character outlining is done, and I have about twenty odd pages completed so far.  However, what little I have so far needs a lot of work. I’ve been considering significantly re-working the story, and while I’d love to just dive right back in, I feel I need to take the time and figure out where to take it.  Much of what I’ve already written could be tossed, and given my experience writing The Pioneer, a complete restart is not out of the question.

While writing Pathfinder would also have the added benefit of keeping me firmly rooted in the framework of When We Left Earth while revising and editing The Pioneer, given how taxing the process will be I’ve considered the merits of going with something less rooted, something easier to write.  I’ve thought about pursuing Ashes, a concept of long-standing that I’ve enjoyed so far.  Equally intriguing is a new idea I hit upon while visiting my family for Easter.  

This new story revolves around a group of astronauts working on an orbiting space station when Earth is attacked by an alien armada.  In the fray, the astronauts and a small group of survivors manage to hijack an alien spacecraft and escape, only to find themselves worldless refugees in a galaxy filled with hostile alien life.  It’s a fantastic story, I dare say, in part because it would combine aspects of hard and soft science fiction.

Regardless of what path I take, I’ll be taking my readers along for the ride.  I’ll keep everyone posted. Until then, dare to dream. – MK