Author Journey (August 29, 2022)
A bit of a mixed bag this week. Actually did some writing. Would have liked more but it was the last week my parents were visiting and that took priority. There’s still plenty of time to finish the year with a bang!
August 29, 2022
Hot Topic
I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned that I listen to audiobooks while walking Gus and lately I’ve been listening to Nights of the Living Dead, an anthology of stories that all take place in the world created by George A. Romero. He even has a short in there too. So, if you like zombies, I would absolutely recommend you check this book out. There have been some good ones, but the one I finished last night was incredible. It was Orbital Decay by David Wellington.
Of course, I’m listening to this as I walk Gus in the dark. It’s usually late and we only occasionally see people walking the streets… and I’m merely listening to zombie stories. I know, I have lots of issues and this isn’t even worth worrying about. Anyhow, all these zombie stories got me a little inspired to go back and try to finish a short story I started a while back, but more on that shortly…
What have I been watching/reading?
I had less time for pretty much everything this week, but I did manage to watch six episodes of an anime that I’ll be reviewing in the New Year. I also read a couple of manga volumes. I said last week how I had visited a bookstore and spent a bit of time soaking up the inspiration of all these long-running titles. Well, I did a little more than just soak them up. I randomly bought a couple that caught my idea. I’ve only had time to read one of them, and it was fantastic. There are only three volumes out and one on its way, but I am considering a series of posts focused on ongoing manga, rather than the finished series that I can binge.
So, the other book I read this week was the first in my newest series that I borrowed from the library. Basically, I returned all eleven volumes of Sankarea: Undying Love five days late although there were no fines, which was nice. I had a quick look through the books there and spotted one cluster of books from the same series. However, they didn’t have volumes one and two there. After the debacle with Rosario+Vampire, I wanted to make sure they had all of them before starting. They did, they transferred them to my local library, and I picked them up. It’s not my usual type of series, so I’m curious to see how I go. The first book was interesting enough to make me want to keep going…
Anyhow, here’s a quick look at what I posted last week.
The first fight in Record of Ragnarok has finally finished and without spoiling anything, it was a fairly obvious outcome. Seriously, how are mortals supposed to defeat gods? Bring on the next fight!
There was some great tension in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as Edward and Alphonse ended up in the Fuhrer’s house and nobody wanted to be there more than them.
We’ve almost reached the end of Season two of Fire Force and are still waiting for some big answers. Will we get them or will we have to wait for season three?
Evil-Lyn said bollocks in this episode of Masters of the Universe: Revelation making it the best one so far. There was more to it but that’s the memory that stuck.
And don’t worry, I’m still watching ecchi anime and reviewing them in secret. Just don’t tell anyone else…
Work in Progress
For a while now, I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to write. I’ve done it in the past and produced a lot of words in a fairly short amount of time, but something’s changed since then and I’m busily trying to rediscover it. After a week with zero words and the inspiration from the Nights of the Living Dead audiobook, I decided to find a quick win. A while back, I started writing a zombie short story and have now decided that I will finish it, although now it’ll probably be a novella. We’ll see where it gets to when I’m done.
I wrote out a quick outline that should take me all the way through and I’m pretty happy with it. So, on Monday of last week, I wrote the first chapter. It was just over one thousand words which is a good starting point as I often underwrite my first drafts. Either way, I tend towards shorter chapters anyhow. Sadly, those were the last words I wrote that week. This week, I should have some time to really focus on it. I think having something that I can finish will help get things going again. At the moment, I can see it being anywhere between twenty-five and fifty thousand words.
The Plan
I have just three non-author journey posts left to write for 2022, so I’m going to squeeze the tracking into just the annual numbers. 2023 will continue with the quarterly view until it gets to a similar place… Any bets on when that is?
Posts
- 2022
- Author Journey – 35/52 (+1)
- Review Posts – 232/235
- Review Pages – 131/131
- 2023
- Quarter One
- Author Journey – 0/13
- Review Posts – 52/78 (+7)
- Review Pages – 16/39
- Quarter Two
- Author Journey – 0/13
- Review Posts – 2/78
- Review Pages – 0/39
- Quarter One
This train is still rolling and I still can’t believe how much I’ve done this year.
Writing
- MSR (Paranormal Harem Rom-com)
- Chapters – 0
- Words – 0
- Valiant Lineage (Epic Dark Fantasy)
- Chapters – 0
- Words – 0
- Black Death (Post Apocalyptic Shoujo AI)
- Chapters – 0
- Words – 0
- Asteroidea (Horror Science-fiction)
- Chapters – 0
- Words – 0
- Out of Time (Time-travel Murder Mystery)
- Chapters – 7
- Words – 7,423
- RIP Tide (Zombie Novella)
- Chapters – 1
- Words – 1,055
So, I added a new project… It’s a shorter one, but the words still count. Now, I’ve got to build on that and gain some momentum.
Final Thoughts
It feels like forever since I had any real traction in the writing department and in reality, it’s been way too long. The last time I really built up any momentum was November 2020 and stupidly, I decided to take a break rather than keep going and finish the novel. At least, I learned something then. Once I get my writing going again, I’m not stopping for anything. Momentum is key.
Anyhow, thanks for reading.
When writing , do you find that having an outline to work from is the best option? Any of the short stories or story ideas I have embarked upon are all just off the cuff and have no forward planning. Would you recommend having an idea of the story line wrote out before the actual task of writing begins?
I like to have an outline although I tend to keep it fairly bare bones. I want to have an idea of what the ending will be before I begin and then I write a sentence or two for each chapter as an outline. That leaves lots of room for discovery writing while ensuring that you have an idea of where you’re trying to get to. You can also revise the outline as you go.
I’ve found that if I try to write without an outline, the story fizzles out after a couple of chapters. Too much planning, however, and I’ll never get started.
Thanks for the response, going forward Im going to try a basic outline as you have said stories can fizzle out easily.
No worries. I find I need a balance between knowing enough of what’s going to happen to keep me pushing forward, but not too much that I know everything and don’t want to write it anymore.
“Once I get my writing going again, I’m not stopping for anything. Momentum is key.”
Before December 2020, I had tried, unsuccessfully, for more than 30 years to restart my novel writing. Thirty freaking years! But once I found the re-ignition sequence, I got moving and stayed moving. And I think “not stopping for anything” is the key.
Six days a week, I set aside two hours to write the novel. Of course, Real Life Family Events or Real Life Work Events happen. But absent those, I write. If I don’t feel like writing, I write. Feeling has nothing to do with it. New video game I’ve been looking forward to comes out? Too bad. It can wait until after I get my two hours in for the day.
For me, the only way to stay ahead of my doubts is to run and run hard.
Good luck on the zombie novella! I like the title RIP Tide.
Yeah, my most consistent period of writing was in the first half of 2017. I started small and within three months, I was writing more than 50,000 words a month, every month. Everyday, I sat down and wrote. Then, I stopped to take a break… and now we’re here.
Thanks. If I can just finish one project, I’m hoping that’ll be the spark that starts the fire.