Here’s something I’ve been planning to add to the blog for a while: a daily note on how much writing I got done, and what I’m working on.
What’s that? You say you’re not really interested? Well, don’t worry about it–it’s not for you, it’s for me. I kinda hope that if I post something every day about how much (or how little) I wrote, it will shame me into working harder.
So, today, I worked on two different projects. One was a rough outline for a general science book on genetics, for a publisher-requested proposal which I sincerely hope will lead to an actual contract in the not-too-distant future, accompanied by actual U.S. dollars. That proposal should go in by the middle of next week, I hope.
The second project, the ongoing fiction project at the moment, is the first book in what I hope will be a young adult fantasy series (not open-ended–I’m envisioning seven books at the moment, if a publisher bites) which combines the Arthurian legend and some of the Arthurian characters with a couple of modern-day teens, computers and the Internet, and is set right here in Regina, Saskatchewan, well-known hotbed of fantastical events.
I’ve managed, after years of intending it, to create a routine in which I put in at least an hour to an hour and a half on some sort of fiction project no matter what else I’m working on. Every day, pretty much, I take my laptop to a coffee shop and work there while sucking on an iced cappuccino. (I figure if J. K. Rowling can succeed by writing in a coffee shop…)
I’m currently working my way through the (very rough) first draft of the book, which doesn’t have a title (working title for the series is REFORGING EXCALIBUR), smoothing over problems I glossed over the first time, adding whole chunks of additional viewpoint (first time around I only used my girl-teen’s viewpoint; I decided I need to add in the boy’s viewpoint, too), and, I hope, improving the language.
Today I worked at Starbuck’s down at the Regina Chapters bookstore for about an hour and a half. I added a big chunk to a scene from the viewpoint of my villain, computer magnate Rex Major, that will make possible some magic-and-computer mixing I’ve got later in the story, and I went over a big fight scene between my heroine, Ariane, and her guardian, Aunt Phyllis, that plays differently now because of changes I wrought (and wrote) in scenes yesterday…
The whole book came in at about 250 pages in the first draft, but it’s getting longer and longer; I think it’ll be more like 350 when I’m done with it this time.
I’ll keep you (and myself) posted!
