Not only was this a holiday weekend, but we also had a school dance I had to chaperone, so my entire routine is off-kilter. Hence, the late post. Let’s just get right to it, shall we?
Last Week
- Write 2x/week
- Queries
- Finish reading a book
- Apply for workshops
How'd I Do?
- Write 2x/week
- Yes! This week I sat down and worked at the novel two times. Each session was wildly different in output, but that’s why I track hours as well as word counts.
- Queries
- Yep! It was a bit of a chore, but I launched seven new queries out into the void.
- Finish reading a book
- Yes! I finished listening to American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land by Monica Hesse.
- Apply for workshops
- No? Here’s the thing. I researched workshops and retreats, and I found a couple that I could apply for, but none of them seem like particularly good fits. Or that I have a project I want workshopped at the moment. The timing just isn’t right this year, so I’m gonna take a pass for now.
Weekly Word Count: 2,057
This was a nice, productive week. I wrote a bit, read even more, and submitted a butt-ton of queries. We also managed to record the December episode of Top Shelf Librarians! So good things all around, although there’s nothing too exciting to report.
What's Next?
- Write 3x this week
- Edit and post podcast episode
- Read a book
- Queries
You’ll notice that I upped my target number of writing sessions this week. You see, I did some math (not my strong suit) and realized that, if I want to get this draft done by mid-May, I need to up my productivity. I feel like the manuscript is just shy of the halfway mark, which means I have another 40k+ to write in the next four months. Which means at LEAST 10k words a month…
See? I gotta buckle down a bit more and get those words down. I’d really like to have it done, revised, and ready to pitch/query by the first week in August, which means the rough draft HAS to be done in May.
The podcast is back on track and will be posting more regularly going forward, which will be nice. It’s much easier to edit and post episodes when I can schedule it in consistently.
I’m making a dent in my current audiobook Tombstone: The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell by Tom Clavin, and I’m still working my way through The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. That book is more of a sipper, and I’m really enjoying reading a chapter or so before bed. I’m hopeful that I can finish at least one of these this week.
As for queries, they are just like short story submissions. You send ’em out, get some variation of “thanks, but no thanks” and then send it back out until somebody finally says, “I love this!” My round of queries last week included two agents with short turnaround times, so I need to send out a couple more this week now that they’ve rejected the book.
And… that’s the state of things. Nothing too exciting these days, but if you want to get updates and free mirofiction each month, please sign up for my newsletter! Emails go out on the last Sunday of the month (usually), and that’s gonna be here before we know it!
Because this post is late there will be back-to-back posts this week. Tomorrow I’ll be back with Outings! and I also have another writing craft related post slated to come out this week. Point is, I’ll be around.
Until then, Blogland!
BZ
