Really starting to feel like the Universe is conspiring against me at this point. Had to wait to see my doctor to go over the MRI results as is and now she's gone for vacation for three weeks and I don't even get a reschedule call until Aug 8th at the earliest. After all the other delays and insurance bullshit it just feels cruel. Not that the woman isn't super overworked and overloaded and doesn't deserve her time off, but...feels like the office staff bungled everything yet again.
July WAS better than June which was better than May, but I'm still extremely limited writing-wise and just about anything wise. Tell me, what's it like sitting in a chair? Is it fun? I've forgotten by this point...
Instead of 1-2 hours every three days call it 2-3 hours every other day with the occasional extra break day thrown in. Tried buying a mini-keyboard controller I could just text-type slowly with and see if that was better, but pretty sure it was actually worse and I've tweaked something, so back to the normal laptop keyboard as able.
Progress wise I'm down to just 3 pages needing to be typed in and then we'll be onto new material. This should be easier since I'll just have my eyes on the screen instead of twisting back and forth to read and then type and think and edit-as-I-go and all that.
Even at 2-3 hours every other day I figure I can manage 10k words a month, not fast, quite the malaise actually, but...do that ten months in a row and you do have a novel. A normal novel. Not the ever monstrosity WAR TO END ALL WARS is turning into. So...the possibility of progress exists when it seemed very impossible just a few months ago. Consider that a bright spot.
I like what I've written, so...that's also going well. At least the scenes as they are. The novel...I've extended the estimate out to 180k and even then I'm not sure 95k is enough to wrap everything up I've set into motion. This shouldn't be this complicated...it's just a school story. But then...it's capping six novels and dozens of shorts and references on a whole timeline while introducing a whole new generation which will have active roles in our mainline, so...
I think my biggest WTF RALEY is that I'm 85k into this monster and there's an argument to make we're just getting to the real story starting. Which even for me is super slow rolling things...so I wonder if I should cut off parts of the beginning and yet they set other beats up that I need later in the novel and... well, this writing gig is hard if you want to do even a passible job of it...
And it's FRESNO SUMMER HELL, so my brain is generally just overheated mush and my laptop's fan is threatening to strike unless it gets overtime pay. I hear some of our European brethren are getting to share our misery this year, so cheers, mates!
Anyway, the ellipses are breeding rapidly at this point, so let's call this your proof of life for the next month or so.
6/30 UPDATE: 1 page left. Sneezed yesterday and my back is very outraged, so might need a few extra days. But the important info: I finally watched "EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE" last night and it's highly recommended. Best movie I've seen in years. Maybe since Mad Max Fury Road...at least since Parasite. Tears, uncontrollable laughter, disbelief, cool camera techniques, great acting...Ke Huy Quan especially blew me away. I mean...it's an existential horror, exploration of suicide, multiverse, martial arts, family drama, coming of age comedy...
Just...watch it if you haven't already.
The way I see it (for whatever that is worth)- more words = good. If people want to squawk about "filler" or "bloat" or whatever, they will. The guide I (try to) use is- "Does this add interesting/needful/fun information? Does it move things forward?" (And in the case of the KH stories- "Does it make me laugh or yell- or... FEEL?") If the words hit those sweet spots- they need to be in there.
ReplyDeleteI am fighting what feels like a "bloat-monster" with novel 3 of my stuff- I was stuck needing to do MORE with the female lead, and then when I was handed an inspiring idea... it is now 106k and 6 more hand-printed pages to get typed and that still doesn't FINISH that part.
I know you tend to delete with a fire-axe when you get to the editing, so all the more reason to keep as much as possible at this stage, even if it feels to you like you won't ever finish....
Otherwise, do only as much as you can without making the ailments worse- it gives me an excuse to go back and start over with "Fanged Lady."
Speaking of that- I was pleased to see that William Mark Simmons has released the next (final?) book in the Half-Life series (apparently 3 years ago? I need to pay more attention). Anyway- while I am not a big vampire fiction fan, but these are humorous, heartfelt, and well-written- including deep dives into supernatural lore across cultures. Highly recommended.
Bottom line from over here- no cutting off of nothing, at least not yet. Take care of yourself, boss.
Saying this as someone who's had to cut down on a number of different projects, if you cut it down you'll probably not end up happy with it. I'm not going to lie either and say I'm not eagerly anticipating the next book in the adventures of either adult or young King Henry. At the same time, you're incredibly transparent with your life situation and the progress in the writing process. Coupled with the segments you give us, the wait is understandable and more than acceptable.
ReplyDeleteMy point is, yes you have fans chomping at the bit, but your stories are entertaining enough that your readers can go back and read everything from KH's first interaction with Annie B to Evelyn Strange dealing with Jethro Smith having a crush on her. So take time to keep your body from destroying itself. Just let us know you're still alive, because I've seen some indie authors die, like Matthew Storm, and it take forever to find out they were dead, and nobody wants that to happen to you dude.