Hello, dreamers. Last week, I finally got back into writing in earnest, and it was a rewarding experience. But with October right around the corner, novel writing season is here. I still need to get stretched out, and I’m gearing up for querying, so here’s what I’ll be up to this week:

A New Story

Last week, I wrote about my process of getting “stretched out” for writing a novel. Also last week, I kept at it with my daily sketches, finally with happy results.

For any new readers unfamiliar with my daily sketches, a brief explainer. Every successful writer has a writing regimen, typically taking the form of a daily word count. While some may have a natural talent for it, in the end there’s only one true way to improve as a writer: write. So each day, I write at least 1000 words of something. It can be anything, so long as it’s fiction (posts like these, or technical papers like what I do for work, don’t count toward my total).

When I’m not actively working on a novel or short fiction project, those 1000 words take the form of a daily sketch. I sit down in front of a blank screen, and just write. The term sketch is taken from design, in which sketch art is the practice of spontaneously generating a design. My sketches can be about anything, so long as I follow a few simple rules:

-It’s spontaneous, not based on a previously-existing idea I’ve had. If I have an idea for a story while lying in bed at night, the next morning I’ll intentionally write about something totally unrelated.

-It’s off-the-cuff. It needs to flow, so I try to write about things I know off the top of my head. I don’t pause to research anything. If I run into something I don’t know, I either gloss over it or make something up.

-It’s as long or as short as it needs to be. Obviously I’m hoping for at least a thousand words, but if I exhaust the narrative, I won’t force myself to keep going. It’s just done.

The obvious result of this process is the generation of a lot of new fiction…most of it useless. The thing is, not every story I start pans out. Sometimes, I start with a scene, and it doesn’t go any further than that. I try to give myself about two paragraphs to hit on a narrative, but sometimes it just doesn’t work. This happens more frequently when I haven’t been actively writing for a while, or when I’ve spent a lot of time on a novel project (and have trouble thinking outside that story).

But as I work my way through the sketches, day by day, it gets easier. I find myself producing longer pieces. Usually, it will lead to at least one story that comes alive: I can see how the story will play out from beginning to end. And that is where my short stories usually come from.

Late last week, I finally hit on one of those. The new story, tentatively titled Unstuck, follows a scientist sent onto a disabled space station to investigate what happened to the crew. I’ve now been working on this story since Friday, and like it more and more each day. I think it’s partly because I’d been missing my early days of short fiction writing, when I frequently wrote psychological thrillers and sci-fi horror. I missed exploring the psychology of fear, and how ordinary people overcome their fears.

It’s not that unexpected, the more I think about it. Over the past two weeks, as I fleshed out my notes on Aquarius 1, I could feel the urge to write growing. I’d been away for too long. But I kept resisting the urge, fearing that if I dove in too quickly, I’d end up in the same position I found myself in last year. So this week I’m going to stick with Annette and see where she takes me. Along the way, I plan to continue my sketches. If all goes well, I’ll be ready to begin Aquarius 1 before the end of the month. And I’ll have at least one cool new story to shop around to sci-fi literary mags.

Querying Pioneers

It felt good to get back in the saddle as far as actual writing is concerned, but I can’t neglect Pioneers. To that end, this week I’ll be devoting some quality time to query prep.

As I mentioned last week, my work on talking points and my elevator pitch was surprisingly effective. To that end, for the first half of this week I plan to do something different: rather than starting to churn out query letters, I’m going to begin by refining (and rehearsing) my talking points and elevator pitch.

The simple fact of the matter is that before I can start writing my query letter, I must be able to summarize this book. I have to be quick and concise, laying out the basics of the characters and plot while working in at least some of the elements that make this book unique. I’m going to continue listening to “The Shit Nobody Tells You About Writing”. And with any luck, at least a few of the agents I’m targeting will reopen for queries in October. Here we go…

New Content

Last week I finally resumed one of my monthly features, reviewing The Acolyte. I received a decent response, and will continue to gradually reintroduce my “Thursday Features”. That said, however, I currently have no plans to resume my weekly posts.

The fact is, much as I enjoy writing, my time for writing is limited. If I’m to continue generating new fiction, I can’t reliably stick to a rigorous weekly posting regimen. Among other things, the time I previously spent writing posts for almost every day of the week took up what I might have spent on daily sketches, which I regard as a more productive pursuit.

This may change in the future (especially once Aquarius 1 is complete), but for now the simple reality is that I must choose how I spend my writing time. And it’s more fun to write than to talk about writing. Over the coming month I’m going to have my hands full, but I still plan to resume work on my Turn of the Century novella series, possibly with a looser release schedule. In the meantime, if you’re hungry for my short fiction, don’t forget to check my Short Fiction Page for free short stories and flash fiction, and check out the titles I have available now on Amazon and elsewhere. Until next time, dare to dream. – MK