In a bid to get myself back on track writing wise, as well as generate a more regular slew of blog posts for this site, I’m reviving my old “Monthly Writing Report” blog post. I’ll look back on the month past, take stock of my efforts, and set goals for the next month.
Personal News: we have settled into Maine now and are building our lives here, meeting neighbors, joining the Friends of the Library group. Jennifer landed a job with the local high school as an English/Geometry teaching, which we’re both very happy about. We’ve gone out every weekend for a hike or to visit one of the many nearby little beaches and explore. We miss Cooper every day. The house in Maryland is going back on the market any minute now and we can hopefully get that sold soon.
Life moves on. And now I move on to accountability…
Writing Conferences/Workshops/Classes/Professional Activities:
I finished my volunteer work for SFWA’s New Release Newsletter for July and August and it’s off to be proofed. That’s about the only professional activity I engaged in, other than finally attending one of my weekly critique group meetings this past Sunday, after missing many in a row during the period of our move.
Also note to we’ll be moving to a monthly release of the NRN instead of every other month. We’ll be starting with September’s newsletter.
Finished:
Nothing finished this month.
WIP:
I’m working once more on The Fallen Veil, my third world fantasy world war I style magic versus technology novel. This is a re-work from the original crappy first draft, and I feel like this new draft is far better. I’m closing in on 50k. Mostly re-working all that came before, reordering scenes, and adding new ones. At the same time, I’m re-reading Elizabeth Bear’s Lotus Kingdom trilogy again, it helps me in setting the tone of authorial voice I’m looking for.
Outstanding:
Currently there are six stories on submission. The oldest is at 153 days (I probably need to mark that one as “no response” and move on), the newest at 22 days. I do need to revisit my list and see what’s ready to resubmit.
Submissions:
3 submissions made in July.
Rejections:
4 rejections received.
Acceptances:
No acceptances
Publication Credits:
No publication credits in July.
Goals for August:
Hit 80,000 words completed on the novel (adding about 30,000 more, drawing from what’s already there and new words, so it’s very doable).
Complete at least 2 new short stories by completing 1 work in progress, and writing 1 new one from start to finish.
Start catching up on edits by picking one story, making changes, and getting it submitted. Grow the submission list from 6 to 8 by month’s end.