The Recap – May 2022
*GASP* Another blog post? On time? Maybe that weekend at the coast knocked something loose and got my butt in gear… one can only hope. May Goals Finish Tavi (Something Sulfurous) Revision Finalize Query Package Submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God How’d I Do? Finish Tavi (Something Sulfurous) Revision Nope. But I am working on it now and am a few chapters in. Finalize Query Package YES!!!! Yes. Yes. Yes. YES! This is done and just waiting for the manuscript to be “done” so I can start querying! SO. CLOSE. Submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God *sigh* No. But again, I’m close. Just need to harass my beta readers and get some feedback to be sure it’s ready to send. Total Word Count: 1,208 That… doesn’t feel great. That word count could be a lot higher. But… it just isn’t. My brain was in revision mode,…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #21
I just want everyone to notice that this post is on time. This hasn’t happened in months, but here it is. On schedule. *bows to the audience, to roaring applause* Last Week QUERY PACKAGE!!! Polish/submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Read! Follow writing schedule Record Podcast How’d I Do? QUERY PACKAGE!!! YES!!!! The query letter and synopsis are DONE! The first two chapters are also DONE, but more on that in a bit. Polish/submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Nope. But close. I just need to touch base with my betas and get some feedback. Read! Yep! I read a whole book last week! Follow writing schedule Yes? I didn’t write on Tuesday like I’d planned, but I made up for it by writing on Thursday, which wasn’t planned. I call that a win. Record Podcast Nope. One of our hosts was feeling under the weather. Hopefully we…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #20
I know it’s been literal months since I’ve done a Goals Summary post, but I’ve spent more time in my office this week than I have in forever. And if I stare at this whiteboard long enough, I naturally want to write goals all over it. So, that’s exactly what I did on Wednesday — write goals for the remainder of the week. Last Week Edit and post podcast episode Revise/finalize query package Revision #2 of The Finest Creation of an Artful God Read something How’d I do? Edit and post podcast episode Yep! The newest episode of Top Shelf Librarians is out now — listen here! Revise/finalize query package Nope. But, to be fair, I only refocused on this goal this week. I plan to get it done by June 1st. Revision #2 of The Finest Creation of an Artful God Yep! Officially on its third draft, I’ve sent…
Spring Cleaning, aka Brain Dump
Ok. It’s May, and it’s been a minute since I’ve written about what I’m working on in any detail. You know what that means? It’s time for my Quarterly Review! Or is it a Triannual Review? I don’t know, Man, I’m just gonna talk about what I’ve worked on this year and what I’m working on in the coming months. If you’ll harken back to January and February, you’ll see that I really started the year out strong. I was reading a lot and writing a bit. My big focus was revising Tavi (now titled Something Sulfurous) and writing my query letter and synopsis. And I did those things. Y’all, when I say I’m so close to being DONE with this book… it’s SO CLOSE. Like, probably two weeks’ worth of polish and effort, and it’s ready. Which is, of course, why I haven’t done it. I’m terrified to query…
The Recap — Mar/Apr 2022
It’s been a minute since I’ve posted anything. Let’s fix that!
Monthly Recap – February 2022
Time is a construct, and nothing quite drives the point home like the shortest month of the year in the third year of a pandemic, with a highly anticipated game release capped off with the start of a war in Europe. God damn. And yet, here we are, living our lives and talking about dreams and goals. Call it futile. Call it resilient. Call it whatever, I guess. I’m just caling it past due. Let’s get this show on the road! February Spend at least 16 hours with Victoria Prep Tavi Query Letter and Synopses Read four books How’d I Do? Spend at least 16 hours with Victoria …. *sobs* Prep Tavi Query Letter and Synopses Yes! I’m doing some more revisions this week, but rough drafts were finished and even revised some in February! Read four books Close! Three books and most of a fourth. Not too shabby! Total Word Count: 3,541 Hours Check Here’s…
Goals Summary 2022 — Wk #8
Remeber when I said I didn’t have high hopes for my productivity this week? Ha. Ha. Ha. Last Week Tavi Query + Synopsis Revision Spend >2hrs with Victoria Write/Prep Newsletter Podcast How’d I Do? Tavi Query + Synopsis Revision Nope. Spend >2hrs with Victoria Nope. Write/Prep Newsletter Nope. I’m really sorry about this and will get it out sometime this week. Pinky promise! (Maybe sign up if you haven’t already? And if you do, don’t forget to check your spam box!) Podcast Yes! Recording went… slowly. there were a lot of technical issues, but we eventually sorted it out and got the show on the road! Weekly Word Count: 0 Well. I knew it was going to be a rough week for productivity. Mainly because I have no self control and I played over 50 hours of Horizon Forbidden West. I think at this point I’m just going to focus on finishing the game…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #7
I know, I know, this is late. But with the holiday and a highly anticipated video game released on Friday, my schedules and routines have been severely impacted. There’s lots I forgot to do, and the weekly update was one of them. Sorry. (ALSO, Horizon Forbidden West is amazing and I have zero regrets.) Last Week Send Query + Synopsis to Mentor Spend at least 2 hours with Victoria Read The Secret Skin by Wendy N. Wagner How’d I Do? Send Query + Synopsis to Mentor Yep! This was a big challenge — synopses are not my fave — but I got it done. Spend at least 2 hours with Victoria So close! I spent about an hour and a half on Victoria this week, and I’m calling it a win. It’s output and it’s consistent. Win. Read The Secret Skin by Wendy N. Wagner Yep! It was quite good, creepy in all the best ways…
Thoughts on Revision
Good morning Bloggarts! As promised, now that I’m “done” with Tavi, I am back to discuss the revision process. I do want to note that I did write a very similar post on the old site back in August, although it also included pre-writing and drafting. So check it out if it’s of interest, otherwise, buckle up for a deep dive on revising novel length works. On Revision Historically, revision has been my least favorite part of the writing process. I (usually) love drafting. It’s the fun, adventurous part when I learn all the things about the world, the characters, and the plot. It’s a tapestry revealing itself one thread at a time. But revision? Revision is pulling those threads, cutting them, and reassembling them. Revision is a lot of work. It’s solving a puzzle that you designed and realizing you don’t know shit about making puzzles! (A/N: This is…
Monthly Recap – January 2022
Well, damn. A whole month gone already? I always feel like time goes entirely too fast, but add in the pandemic’s particular brand of time blindness and realizing the date can be downright bewildering. I feel like January was an unusually good month for me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this consistently productive. I don’t want to jinx it, but I think… I think I’m back! January Revise Tavi Write 5k words Read at least three books How’d I Do? Revise Tavi YES! YES YES YESYESYES! I did it! I not only finished revisions on time, but also got them entered into the computer, compiled in a single doc, formatted, and sent to my beta reader tribe! Write 5k words Nope. It wasn’t nothing, just not quite 5k. While I’m happy that I was able to get some words down, I’m largely disappointed with my drafting output…