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Boarders writing a novel


Derfel Cadarn
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I love that the mods have just let this thread trail on to 28 pages and counting :cool4:

Writing goes slowly for me. Was excited about my new manuscript but since the holidays progress has come to a standstill. My fiance is being super supportive and trying to encourage me to take a year if I want and really focus on writing. So far I'm of the opinion I'd feel too guilty not being a contributing member of the household and knowing that I probably wouldn't have any success in that time period which is a bummer. So trying to convince my stupid brain to get some stupid writing done now while I have still have a job and a shred of sanity.

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Mods are asleep. Upload the fan fiction.

 

ETA: @Starkess Some advice from an old fart: if you guys can make ends meet (by that I mean current expenses and putting money aside for retirement, etc), take a sabbatical and focus on writing. It's a gift he's offering you.

I wish I had done that before having kids. Then I put my writing aside as they were growing up to handle all the things you do for and with your children. Don't regret it. But now 7-8 years have somehow passed without me doing anything substantial writing wise. They're both in high school now, so I find myself blowing the digital dust off my drafts and notes. I'm even thinking about doing one of those writer retreats this summer. 

If you can do it now and not set your career back, do it. Your fiancé sounds awesome. 

Edited by Myrddin
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Nora, definitely jump on that if you can.

---

On 1/17/2023 at 2:50 PM, Myrddin said:

I wish I had done that before having kids. Then I put my writing aside as they were growing up to handle all the things you do for and with your children. Don't regret it. But now 7-8 years have somehow passed without me doing anything substantial writing wise. They're both in high school now, so I find myself blowing the digital dust off my drafts and notes. I'm even thinking about doing one of those writer retreats this summer. 

 

Also put a lot of my creative stuff on the backburner since my daughters arrived. Both early teens now.  

I don't post in this thread much, not sure. Maybe because my work was so sporadic? Anyway, the gears of my ancient project MacPeach continue notching, that's the novel, from which I got a compressed cutout I'm polishing for submission to the Clarion Workshop [sub deadline is mid March, iirc]

I'm also working on concept art and two scripts [a duology] for an unsolicited Marvel pitch, and, just last night had an near -sleep brainfart so am now also outlining the structure of another pitch [and initial character sketches]  

I'm not sure if these latter are semi-deliberate distractions from MacPeach or what, but it's nice to get out of the box you know? Doing art for all of them [or whatever I feel like drawing] has also been fruitful of late. 

I was talking with a friend of mine not too long ago and this year just feels different.

Hope it is for everyone. 

 

Edited by JGP
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My fiancé is indeed awesome. I've reached the breaking point with my job so I am going to resign next week (at least, that's what I've decided today, will be TBD come Monday if I chicken out  :leaving:

I have a potential job lined up and if that doesn't work out, I might actually just take the break and do it. If someone tells me a hundred times they're happy to do something, I suppose I ought to take them at their word and not worry so much that they don't really mean it. In the meantime, I'll try to do some writing this weekend!

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2 hours ago, Starkess said:

My fiancé is indeed awesome. I've reached the breaking point with my job so I am going to resign next week (at least, that's what I've decided today, will be TBD come Monday if I chicken out  :leaving:

I have a potential job lined up and if that doesn't work out, I might actually just take the break and do it. If someone tells me a hundred times they're happy to do something, I suppose I ought to take them at their word and not worry so much that they don't really mean it. In the meantime, I'll try to do some writing this weekend!

DO IT!!!!!

Go for it babe! Carpe diem and all that. 

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14 hours ago, Starkess said:

My fiancé is indeed awesome. I've reached the breaking point with my job so I am going to resign next week (at least, that's what I've decided today, will be TBD come Monday if I chicken out  :leaving:

I have a potential job lined up and if that doesn't work out, I might actually just take the break and do it. If someone tells me a hundred times they're happy to do something, I suppose I ought to take them at their word and not worry so much that they don't really mean it. In the meantime, I'll try to do some writing this weekend!

Swing for the fences!

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In other news, I've received the covers for my next two books (a mini-anthology/pseudo-sequel and digital deluxe artbook with trivia) and am working on a couple of flash fictions while awaiting feedback from my friends on one or two short stories. Also recently picked up a book for the first time in years and it honestly feels good. (If anyone's confused I developed some reading issues early on in college.)

That being said, most of my output is, by necessity, being relegated to the weekends by rotations but it is what it is.

Edited by The Grey Wolf Strikes Back
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Got another review on Amazon and Goodreads, which was a nice surprise. Been working on a longform vignette I hope to be done with this weekend. Goal is to finish one short story a month going forward. Also tried my hand at writing a two-sentence horror story. Oh, and I hired a formatter to prepare a print file for Volume I. Commissions (art + music) are starting to trickle in as well.

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Not my usual forum for this - mostly I limit myself to the 'Politics' subforum. Plus, I keep forgetting about this part of the site.

 

That said, I spent a decade plus putting in an hour or two of writing dark fantasy tales after work. Last time I bothered to count...

lessee...

- eight novels completed to the second rewrite or better. (53,000 - 128,000) Two series, six in the one, two in the other.

- two or three more novels with finished rough drafts, plus a few that I might get around to finishing someday.

- Six or eight novella length works - usually around 20,000 - 30,000 words. A couple of these are not really publishable, and a couple more are in dire need of revision. Some of the others, well...

- Another six or eight novelettes - call it 8000 - 15,000 words. Again, a couple that are not publishable for whatever reason, but whatever.

- Maybe thirty short stories - 7000 words and under, with about half needing serious revision.

Published (Self Published through Draft2Digital, didn't care for the Amazon Kindle interface)...

Five novels from the one series. The sixth should be released next month. Made it a personal policy of mine to not publish the first work in a series until I had at least a passable rough draft of the last book in the series - and the first draft of this series goes back to like 2011 or sometime thereabouts. Released the first in May of 2022 - then had to rerelease it - twice. Kind of sucked. 

This part might get me in trouble, but...

Empire: Country - Kindle edition by Goff, Tim. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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104k words completed of Lucifer & Son’s first draft! Another 5 or 6k words to go I think. Hopefully have the final draft submitted to (indie) publisher by end of June.

Diabolic Immunity and The Blood Hour still out on submission to publishers. My agent does chase them up re Diabolic Immunity, but after almost two years, I’m not holding my breath from those still to say yea or nay.

Inexpect to start getting replies regarding The Blood Hour next month. 

Once Lucifer & Son is done, not sure what to work on next. Priority would be sequels to either DI or TBH if either is picked up. I have an idea for a sort-of Tomb Raider meets Ocean’s 11 with some time travel adventure, where a team of adventurers for hire get sent back to the Titanic to secure a bottle of rare wine in a safe so it can be retrieved in drinkable condition in the present for some ultra-rich douchebags. With double crossing.

Or I could go straight to Sooty Feathers #4 (following on from Lucifer & Son) in the hopes I can finish it by early next year, so that the publisher might get it out there in time for WorldCon Glasgow. Since the urban fantasy series is set in Victorian Glasgow, and a completed series might get more interest than one not yet done.

(My Sooty Feather books don’t involve my agent as I found a small press for them prior to being signed up)

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On 1/20/2023 at 9:48 PM, Starkess said:

My fiancé is indeed awesome. I've reached the breaking point with my job so I am going to resign next week (at least, that's what I've decided today, will be TBD come Monday if I chicken out  :leaving:

I have a potential job lined up and if that doesn't work out, I might actually just take the break and do it. If someone tells me a hundred times they're happy to do something, I suppose I ought to take them at their word and not worry so much that they don't really mean it. In the meantime, I'll try to do some writing this weekend!

2 months later, update? 

 

Check all boxes that apply: 

[  ] - I made the best decision of my life!

[  ] - Oh god, what was I thinking?

[  ] - Writing is hard. 

[  ] - Actually, writing is really easy. Writing really well is hard. 

[  ] - Need help (no strings attached, just trying to be nice) from weirdo writing savant who can literally give away ideas/plots/theme-insights without creating a dynamic where the recipient feels like they're being impressed upon to do something other than their own root inclinations? 

[  ] - Fuck that weirdo, I got this through sheer spite alone if needs be! 

[  ] - When did I start drinking so much?

 

( If you don't check the last box you're not a real writer no matter how good your efforts turn out :P ) 

Edited by Secretary of Eumenes
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On the writing front, things are going really well! I'm about 30k words into my novel, been getting 3 dedicated writing sessions in per week, and having the fun "this is the best thing I've ever written" feelings (surely will not last lol). The other day I found myself being like "I should pick that book up and see what happens" before I remembered that it's my book and nothing is happening until I write it!

My fiance is being immensely helpful and covering our rent, and I'm using savings for the rest of my monthly expenses. But I feel too guilty to fully become a burden, so I am still looking for jobs. Hopefully will finish this first draft by then!

I also started sending out queries again for my last manuscript. I stalled out at ~25 last year after getting a 0% positive response rate, my absolute worst ever experience with querying. I'm still at 0% and I don't know if it's just harder than ever out there or if this really is a terrible novel, but I'll at least grind through another few dozen before I give up (yes, I am updating/revising/completely rewriting my query letter from time to time, though with no change).

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7 hours ago, Starkess said:

On the writing front, things are going really well! I'm about 30k words into my novel, been getting 3 dedicated writing sessions in per week, and having the fun "this is the best thing I've ever written" feelings (surely will not last lol). The other day I found myself being like "I should pick that book up and see what happens" before I remembered that it's my book and nothing is happening until I write it!

My fiance is being immensely helpful and covering our rent, and I'm using savings for the rest of my monthly expenses. But I feel too guilty to fully become a burden, so I am still looking for jobs. Hopefully will finish this first draft by then!

I also started sending out queries again for my last manuscript. I stalled out at ~25 last year after getting a 0% positive response rate, my absolute worst ever experience with querying. I'm still at 0% and I don't know if it's just harder than ever out there or if this really is a terrible novel, but I'll at least grind through another few dozen before I give up (yes, I am updating/revising/completely rewriting my query letter from time to time, though with no change).

Wel done!

Querying is getting harder, and sgents/publishers are likely still dealing with the covid backlog. The book that netted me my agent has been going round the publishers for almost two years, with most still to respond.

My agent submitted my latest book in November and reckons may be April before we start to hear.

Regarding Lucifer & Son, I’m almost at 110k words, with 1.5 ‘main’ chapters, a brief prologue and epilogue, and maybe three brief-ish flashback chapters to go. Then onto thr next draft. Hoping to be done and dusted by end of June to send off to my indie publisher.

 

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