September 2022 Progress Report

When I started this blog, I had some lofty intentions. My very first post declared that I was going to write a short story every month while also writing my novel and, presumably, posting regular updates on my blog.

That post ended up being 1 of 3 that got posted.

Apparently, I had some issues with my goals being realistic, given life and family circumstances and responsibilities. Having now been writing consistently for a couple of years, I hope my aspirations align better with my expectations.

So let me give an update on the writing I've been doing over the last couple of years.

  Blackout Day (short story)

The third post I made on this blog was to share a short story called Blackout Day. It was a sci-fi story that I thought was pretty good. Then I joined a writing group. They confirmed it was good, but suggested that, with a bit more work, it could be better. I took their suggestions and attempted to implement them, figuring if it didn't work out the way I liked, I always had my earlier draft.

I worked on the story on and off over the last two and half years, even going so far as to completely rewrite the first part of the story twice.

The latest draft, which I finished just a couple of days ago, is a far superior version than what I originally posted. I like to think that if the thirteen (13!) drafts of the story were set next to each other, my growth as a writer would be evident.

I ended up removing the story from my site because it was an earlier version that didn't accurately represent my abilities anymore and because I want to get it published. In fact, I just submitted it to the Writer's of the Future contest! I'll let you know how that goes in a few months.

Eventually, I want to post the major version of the story so you can see how the changes.

Shadows of Light (novel) 

This has consumed nearly all of my writing time. It is the first book in an epic fantasy trilogy.It has world building, magic, armies, religion, and huge consequences for the characters and the world. It should cover all the expectations of any epic fantasy reader. In my 2020 goals post, I mentioned I was going to start writing it during the 2020 NaNoWriMo, which I did, and which resulted in my first NaNo win. 50,000 words in a month! After that, however, progress slowed. I realized I had plot/pacing issues that would need some non-trivial work to fix. I took a break from the main character to write another character's point-of-view chapters, before coming back to the main character around the first of this year.

Then I shared a few chapters with my writing group.

The result has been another big step forward in my writing ability and the quality of the characters and story. Unfortunately, it came at a cost of writing speed and forward momentum, which I'm now working on getting back.

Shadows of Light is now sitting at almost 121,000 words. I'm currently expecting this draft of the book to be about 165,000. So it's about 73% complete. I'm hoping to have this draft finished before the end of the year.

Conclusion 

So there you have it. I haven't stopped writing (yay!) and I'm going to try to post on the blog more often, even if it is just to say "I wrote 10 words this month ☹".