Hello, dreamers. We’re entering the final week of August, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but my query prep is nearly complete. I need a few minor tweaks to my materials, but by and large the work is done, beyond refining my list of target agents. It’s been a long and winding road, but the end is finally in sight.

With August drawing to a close, I am entering another transition period. In the week ahead I’ll be wrapping up query prep while also preparing for my next major project. Novel writing season is approaching, and that means the last week of August will be a busy one. With that said, here’s what I’ll be working on this week:

Querying Seven Days on Samarkand

In case you missed it, last week I did something I hadn’t really believed was possible: I wrote what appears, to me and to my critique partner, to be a good query letter. It’s not perfect, but then nothing ever is. If you’re a querying writer, or just harbor some perverse curiosity for this awful process, you can read more about how I did it here.

For now, all that matters is I’ve cleared what has been the one major hurdle remaining. But there is still more to do. This week I’ll be cleaning things up. Starting today I’ll be conducting a “phone edit”, and over the next few days I’ll be reviewing my synopsis and sample pages. Then, later in the week I’ll be reviewing my target agents for this round.

That last one may prove more tedious than I’d originally expected. For one thing, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on Twitter from agents who’ve updated their Manuscript Wish List (MSWL) pages. For those unfamiliar with MSWL, it’s an invaluable resource for querying writers. The best way to describe it would be “Facebook for Literary Agents”. I’ll be making a post about it on Sunday, but for now suffice to say it’s the best way to know exactly what an agent is looking for at any given time.

My goal is to have everything (except the phone edit) tied up by Friday night. That will give me the long weekend to decompress, enjoy some college football, and catch the WEBN fireworks show with the family before I dive into the publishing world. My current goal is to begin sending out queries on September 3. Wish me luck.

Short Fiction

Originally, I’d planned to dive right into my next novel project, Aquarius 1, immediately after finishing my query materials. However, I hadn’t anticipated just how involved and grueling a process this was going to be. What I’d planned on being about a week’s worth of work turned into an entire month, and though I’m deeply proud of the results, it wasn’t until I actually sat down to write in earnest early last week that I realized how consuming this process has been. So before I move on, I’ll need to write a struggle story.

For a writer, finishing a major project (particularly a novel) produces mixed emotions. There’s relief knowing it’s over, a sense of accomplishment of course, but also a healthy dose of “…shit, what now?” The thing is, a good novel project will consume your thoughts. When it’s over, it can be hard to gain traction on a new project. Over time, I’ve come to realize the only way to get back into the swing of things is to find a story idea and write it. However long it takes. I call these stories struggle stories.

Every major transition I’ve had after a major project has been marked by a struggle story. They’re always short fiction, though usually on the longer side. They’re often complex, and almost invariably grim. Most are not the sort of story I’d ever consider publishing, or even sharing with anyone else. But none of that matters. These are the only stories I write these days where publishing isn’t the point. The point is to get myself back into a rhythm.

It can be hard. When I first begin a struggle story, I usually average only around 700 words per day (a far cry from my 2-3k per day average while working on a novel). But as the days pass things start to flow again. I find myself wanting to write more, enriching the story as I go. And while the beginning is usually (and I say this without a shred of modesty) hackneyed trash, by the climax I find myself actually enjoying the story.

Thus, I am currently working on a struggle story. In this case, it’s a dystopian Formicapunk story about the crew of a cargo spacecraft responding to a distress call and running afoul of invading aliens from another dimension. In other words, it’s pretty much nothing like any of the stuff I typically write these days. Once it’s finished, I’ll probably test the waters in short fiction for another week or so, before moving on at last to Aquarius 1.

Website and Platform

Either this week or next, I will at last be formally launching my Substack, Martians and Lasers. While this blog will continue to function as the primary source for news regarding my writing efforts, my Substack will be focused on the ins and outs of modern sci-fi writing. I’ll explore common tropes, emerging subgenres, and may even post short fiction now and then.

As I normally post here on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, my plan is to make two to three posts on Substack per week: one on Tuesday, one on Thursday, and possibly a periodic post on Saturdays. If you’re reading this and you’re on Substack, I strongly urge you to follow me. My plan at present is to always keep my Substack totally free. I’d love to simply promise that I will always be totally free, but I fear I may run into the same piracy concerns there I’ve encountered here. However, please be assured I will do whatever I can to keep my platform completely free. You, my readers, are the reason I do this.

Short Fiction

Though I’ve continued my daily sketches, most days over the past several weeks that’s been the only actual writing I’ve done all day. Much as was the case when I transitioned to query prep (and later urban renewal on my manuscript) in mid-spring, I’ve lost momentum in short fic as my focus has shifted.

I have managed to write a few sketches that have potential as short stories, but every time I’ve tried to work on one of them I inevitably find myself staring at my latest query letter again. Unfinished projects bother me. Especially ones that have a clear deadline.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to knock out my query materials and all the prep by mid-week. That will at least give me a few days to work on short fiction and see if anything shakes loose. Then college football season begins. And from that point on, my Saturdays are essentially spoken for.

New Content

This week in my “WIP Wednesday” post, I’ll be getting back to Aquarius 1, and discussing my thoughts on starting over when writing a novel. On Friday I’ll finally be releasing my next “Science in Fiction” post. I’ll be closing the week out on Sunday with a new “Dear Sir or Madam”, in which I’ll be writing about Manuscript Wish List and its value to querying writers. Until then, dare to dream. – MK