July 2025 Daily Writing Challenge

Nether

Nether

is out of the park and... into the theme park?
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Day 3 was 4 pages marked up and spot-edited (JDC), 27 # marks reviewed and 17 resolved (STMHB), and 3 agents queried (plus 3 rejections)

I started off by closing out the last 4 pages of JDC (I think I'd done a page or so right after the day rolled over then came back a bit later for the rest). Since I wasn't sure I wanted to start reviewing those marks (since it'd all be a little soon), I moved on afterward. Honestly, I don't think there's that much major stuff I need to do. There's one or two larger things I'm still on the fence about -- basically whether to move some chapters and split others. On the whole, I feel like the manuscript is in a pretty good shape... although that's based solely on my outlook.

While debating what to move to next, it really seemed to make the most sense to start going over STMHB's marks... even though I finished those rounds of mark-ups recently. Right now, I think I'll just focus on the important marks and the continuity marks. I was kinda surprised to see I only labeled 49 as important (#), although I guess the difference between this and other manuscripts was I used to tag everything with a # then would add or change the designation. More recently, I've kinda broken it into important marks (meaning thing I really need to take care of before the manuscript goes out), continuity marks (which tend to be a concern and may need resolution), and then just the prose/line edit/minor marks (where if I change it, cool, but nothing is so serious it can't go out like that, especially since some of them can be kinda nitpicky (ie, I don't want to use "regard" but I have "ways" earlier so I either need "ways" twice or to stick with "regard" or find another word).

Between both sessions, I kinda-sorta got a good amount done. I reviewed 27 of those marks and resolved (or downgraded) 17. A few that technically aren't resolved, I could let ride -- such as not being sure I like something as a break.

Anyway, I expect to finish looking over the important and continuity marks over the next... maybe 1-3 days. I'm not sure what I want to do after that. Although Mister Nobody seems like a good prospect, the fact it's 89k words means it'll be more of a struggle to find an agent. I could finally do HHH (which, at 88k, isn't long for adult), which would give me a second adult project to query. Or I could just go back to JDC early. However, I kinda don't feel like starting my next drafting project soon, so... maybe I should pick something long enough to eat up at least a little time.

On the agent front, I got 3 rejections and queried 3 agents -- really a 1-for-1 deal there, considering I just queried other agents at those agencies (either with the same project or a different one). In the case of one agent, I decided I'd go with somebody else simply because I didn't want to look like I was inundating that agent (who'd responded around 11pm tonight, just a day after I'd queried her).

As for the research/comp... I decided to DNF Pari Thomson's MG fantasy Greenwild. I just really didn't care for the writing and the story wasn't really hooking me. On top of that, I'd kinda written it off as a potential comp.

After that, I started reading Emi Watanabe Cohen's MG contemporary fantasy Golem Crafters, which seems really good and in many ways could be a decent comp... if the book seemed more successful. However, it has significantly fewer than 200 Good Reads ratings atm whereas I feel feel iffy using books with only 1k ratings as a comp (although MG tends to see fewer ratings on GR, there are plenty of books with 1k+ ratings (1-3k is uncommon, but not rare; you don't see a lot of over 10k, though). Putting all that aside, it seems like a decent read and I love some of the humor. Great voice in general. The only kinda issue is the worldbuilding is a little odd since the kids don't seem to react that much to golems being real, despite the MC's brother not knowing why he was given clay.

Currently 169/169 pages marked up and spot-edited (JDC) - FINISHED
Currently 32 #s left, started with 49; 27 # marks reviewed, 17 resolved (STMHB)
Queried 10 agents so far this month. - +3
Currently 16/x pages into a research/comp (Pari Thomson's MG fantasy Greenwild) -- DNF'd
Currently 51/264 pages into a research/comp (Emi Watanabe Cohen's MG contemporary fantasy Golem Crafters)
 
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Woollybear

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Day three.

Coming to terms with the idea that this draft will take as long as it takes.

Worked on the new opening chapter, worked in some historical detail, worked in a scene goal for the protagonist. It's not a satisfying scene goal, but it might be enough. It's good that it establishes a major goal for the story as a whole. There's also a secret, and a cat being saved. Those help. I started condensing the old chapter one into this new one.

This re-write starts the narrative later, by about 12 years, which is good in the sense that it'll help condense a few chapters.
 
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Comradedima1

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Day 3: Did some more outling, but not much in the way of words.
Day 4: Completed and sent an article off to be edited, hoping to have a quick turnaround to get it published by end of the month. Likely going to be busy for the rest of today and tomorrow, but it feels good to get things done.
 
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Nether

Nether

is out of the park and... into the theme park?
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Day 4 was 22 major (#) marks reviewed (17 resolved), 4 continuity (%) marks reviewed (2 resolved), and 4 agents queried (plus 1 rejection)
EDIT: Oh, and 196 words (pre-write for Witch's Stew)

I closed out the remaining major marks between the early and late sessions. There were 15 left at that point, but I might've labeled one as major since. Since I had a little bit of time left over on my late session, I started to look at the continuity marks. Thankfully, there were only 23 to start and I suspect a few are just double-checks. I should be done in no time... meaning I need to pick what I'll work on next.

I'm currently leaning between Mister Nobody, Hot Pirate Crab Summer, and reviewing the marks on JDC. HPCS is 81k words whereas Nobody is 89k, so it's a little shorter (although I feel like HPCS is a lot shorter). I feel like Mister Nobody is the stronger manuscript, so... I'm a little conflicted. It's a case of wanting to present the manuscript the best way I can. As such, maybe I'll quick-read HPCS (I haven't QR'd it before, whereas I already QR'd Nobody and would be starting on marks) then break after that to work on JDC. Unless I go over JDC's opening pages a few times first so I can post those to SYW? idk.

Anyway, I fully expect to finish STMHB's continuity marks review on day 5. The minor edits will likely be far more substantial, but I'm waiting on those.

The final bit of writing progress (which I'd forgotten to mention and edited in after the fact) was I kinda wrote a bit more for the opening of Witch's Stew, just a pre-write as part of the planning process, trying to figure out the foundation and tone. (Particularly since I already pushed the project back, iirc.)

On the agent front, I goofed something today -- the agent who I gave the marked-up copy of Manse (with all of my notes) got back to me, asking that I upload the fixed version I mentioned... and I wound kinda accidentally uploading it twice because I was confused by how it adjusted the file name. Beyond that, I got a rejection today, so I queried the next agent (it's a 1-equals-all decision agency, where one agent turned down LL1, another turned down FGI, and I chose to query the founder with Manse instead of one of those other agents). And then I just queried a few other people. I'm kinda getting close to hitting my temporary cap for Manse, though.

Still reading Golem Crafters, which has been mostly-good although a few things have disappointed me a bit. Overall, I've found it a pretty quick read and should finish soon. Afterward, I might read Scare Waves (the other Hoopla borrow) to get it out of the way despite the fact my focus should be on something else.

Currently 15 #s left, started with 49; 49 # marks reviewed, 34 resolved (STMHB)
Currently 21 %s left, started with 23; 4 % marks reviewed, 2 resolved (STMHB)
Queried 14 agents so far this month. - +4
Currently 177/264 pages into a research/comp (Emi Watanabe Cohen's MG contemporary fantasy Golem Crafters)
 
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Woollybear

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Day five.

Stitching this new story goal in. I'm making good progress on understanding (at an introductory level) the development and progression of opera, how certain people associated with one another (like Puccini and Mascagni, who despite being in the same school of composition which followed Verdi's romantic period had a falling out, then a reconciliation), the role of international touring and which countries and why and when and that sort of thing. I also found some nice overviews of Cristoforo Colombo, the cast and synopsis and reception and such.

There's less good progress on the new drafting and editing, but that's what it is. Chapter one is sort of good for now--it's got the new bits and the original merged. Chapter two is the protagonist navigating herself toward Mascagni to divine ways to pursue her goal of finishing something and finding a benefactor or whatever she might need. After that I hope to segue into the existing second-draft work for a string of chapters before returning to the story goal as a scene-frame.

The stakes need work.
 
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Nether

Nether

is out of the park and... into the theme park?
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Day 5 was 14 % marks reviewed, 5 resolved (STMHB), 23 pages of HPCS quick-read & spot-fixed (plus 1 rejection)

I finished reviewing STMHB's continuity marks. Although I left most in place, technically they're probably "resolved", too -- I just left the tags there in case I wanted to find them again. At this point, the manuscript is most of the way ready. However, I'll review minor marks before I start to query. (Not sure whether I want to describe the MC or not, though -- technically, the reader could infer his appearance from comments made about similarities among his kind, but that comes way late in the manuscript)

After that, I started the quick-read on Hot Pirate Crab Summer and... oi, some of those early pages could use a bit of work. I kinda want light on dialogue tags and action beats (since I've often been criticized for going a bit overboard on both at times), but it doesn't look so great when it's all back-and-forth dialogue for a bit (which could also be a matter of cutting dialogue).

However, after the early pages, things start to pick up. The late session ended right around the time the MC realizes his sister tricked him and I naturally had to keep reading, not just stopping at the scene where she's caught (which I love). That helped me get an early start on day 6. (As for day 5, I used the late session on it... but I also started pretty late.)

No progress on querying today, although I had some... well, it's not really regress and I won't make that congress joke, but I got a rejection so the number of outstanding queries went down instead of up. It was from that one agency that's a little eh, but all of the agents have great turnaround times.

As for the research comp, I finished reading Emi Watanabe Cohen's MG contemporary fantasy Golem Crafters, which was... well, it started great, anyway. There's some stuff I liked, but the ending is extremely flat. I might read Scarewaves next, just to get it out of the way because it's a Hoopla borrow.

Currently 16 % marks left, started with 23; 23 % marks reviewed, 7 resolved (STMHB) -- FINISHED
Currently 23/295 pages quick-read & spot-fixed (HPCS)
Queried 14 agents so far this month. - NO CHANGE
Currently 264/264 pages into a research/comp (Emi Watanabe Cohen's MG contemporary fantasy Golem Crafters) - FINISHED
 
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Woollybear

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OK, finished drafting the new second chapter, in which Maria pushes toward her story goal. She's made measurable progress and is driving her plot.

I want to incorporate the old drafted second chapter into this one, then find a way to segue the narrative into what already exists so I can use that yardage. I'll work toward that tomorrow.

I need to hike now and then do some cooking. I might pull up an opera to watch.
 
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Nether

Nether

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Day 6 was 56 pages quick-read & spot-fixed (HPCS), and 1 agent queried (plus 2 rejections)

Although I'd wanted to get a lot further through my quick-read of HCPS today, that kinda didn't happen. I made decent progress in the early session because I kept going after the reset before taking a break and coming back to do a bit more much later. I got a little done during the evening. And then a very late start on the late session limited what I finished then. Made a few edits as I went along, as well as highlighting things to circle back to them. On the plus side, it's been a good read so far, so any issues might be limited to the opening pages.

And I kept reading, hoping to get to the part where the MC meets the eccentric regular visitor... and in the process I think I hit a tease/foreshadow where I can't remember whether I actually went ahead with an element in a certain character's backstory. In short, there's too much skullduggery in my tale about a pirate theme park, yarr...

On the agent front, I got a rejection on Manse from the MG Hub PP agent who'd requested both Manse and CCC but whose QM limited me to one at a time. So, I wound up querying her with CCC, meaning all of my MG Hub PP queries finally out. This means I've now heard back on 4/7 (with the 7th having just gone out, but I expect to hear back on that one soon-ish).

Finally, I started reading Trevor Henderson's MG horror Scarewaves, which has been... well, it takes a while before it begins to seem promising. Not sure that I hit that point on day 6. However, I'm mostly happy that it's not actually an anthology. I was under the impression that the book was short stories because the chapters are titled and the way the first chapter turns out. Instead, there seem to be three main POVs whose story (or stories?) are told throughout the book, along with POV characters who kinda effectively provide short stories set within the town and relating to things either discussed or menacing the main kids.

Currently 77/295 pages quick-read & spot-fixed (HPCS)
Queried 15 agents so far this month. - +1
Currently 58/208 pages into a research/comp (Trevor Henderson's MG horror Scarewaves)
 
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Nether

Nether

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Day 7 was 71 pages quick-read & spot-fixed (HPCS)

Calamity struck yet again. My one laptop is having that same issue it had the previous times... and I can't remember how I finally resolved it (and, if it doesn't work itself out, I'll have to dig through old daily writing topics to see if I described what finally worked... or seemed to work). tbh, I should've reloaded Firefox prior to all that... and probably restarted the laptop, too.

Anyway, trying to get that sorted out kinda killed the early session. However, since I'm just doing a quick-read, I wound up looking at the Google Docs copy (and making a copy of that copy to make notes... which will suck when implementing them) then squaring it against the Word Doc which I could load as a preview in Outlook. (Only one laptop has MS Word.) I kinda made up for that a little bit by messing around with it later, and then I did some additional reading in the afternoon. It kinda helped me catch up and then, because I'd started the late session a little closer to on-time (partly since I finished the research/comp early), I wound up a lot better than expected. Of course, even though I got a bit more done today, I'll have to do extra stuff for having done it this way. Can't be helped, though.

At a minimum, the QR will probably take at least 2 more days, so I'm kinda sorta set with that. The much larger problems will start if I don't have this fixed by them. Among other issues, I kinda fell behind on some of my back-ups -- including backing up the edits -- so I might be stuck drafting, except the planning doc for Witch's Stew isn't on Google Docs, so... that's also an issue. In short, I might have to try drafting something else, so... it'd be a mess.

With all of that down, I couldn't do anything with agents.

As for the research/comp, I finished reading Trevor Henderson's MG horror Scarewaves, which was... well... at least better than I thought, even if I was iffy throughout most of the book and didn't care for the end. I'm not sure whether it actually has a sequel (for some reason, I thought I saw something about a Scarewaves #2), but I probably won't bother with it. Although Scarewaves has some neat stuff, the storytelling was a bit weak and the book could've used some additional polish.

I'll likely start... I think Bruce Coville's The Thief of Worlds next. I'm still waiting on two ILLs (and wondering if the fact I still have an ILL out might be holding them up -- although I still want to read WP: Extinction again, time permitting), which feel like much better prospects.

Currently 148/295 pages quick-read & spot-fixed (HPCS)
Queried 15 agents so far this month. - NO CHANGE
Currently 208/208 pages into a research/comp (Trevor Henderson's MG horror Scarewaves) -- FINISHED
 
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