The SFF Writing Check-in Corner

It's really encouraging to see everyone else's progress here. Keep up the great work everyone

Glad to see so much activity in this thread.

While we are talking about word counts - well, we were talking about word counts - with traditional publishing, word count matters, especially for new authors. All those pages that have to be printed and paid for, ya know? Going the self-pubbing route, a book can be any damn length you want to make it.

I made some progress yesterday on my first editing run through. I deleted a chapter. That is very hard for me. Very painful. I confess that I buried it where it can be resurrected if I find I am unable to recover from my loss.

WriteMinded, I get the feeling if you and I were to get together and write a book, it would end up the size of a set of encyclopedia... 'Caues right now, I've just started chapter 19, and am at 99,306 words... and I've still got a helluva lot more to say.

... and although I know I'm gonna have to "prune without mercy", I still dread what I know's gonna need to be done.


O.H.

Nice! I am just ending chapter 13 of mine and cresting the 24k mark.

Cresting 25k now. Chapter 13 was a very long chapter O.O

My current project is moving along. I wrote enough this week that, even missing a couple sessions, I still met my overall goal. I've even decided to add a chapter; I'll plot it out when it get closer to that part.

Still at the edit. Still trying to think of ways to pump up the tension. Still unsure if that is necessary.

BTW, down to 169,450k.

5400 words so far. And I think I've reached the point where I can tell this story is going to be special (not sure if good special or not yet). I'm wondering if I should reach for novella length. It was originally meant to be a short!

Definitely heading for novella country here.

Currently editing my contemporary fantasy manuscript. Trying to reduce word count from 99k to 90k, and doing a read through to kill filter words.

Looking at my previous post, I see that after weeks of hard work, I am still in the same place. After removing a chapter, rewording, slicing off hundreds of sentences, killing unnecessary phrases, and editing for clarification and color, word count is at 169,420. A big thirty word difference,

I'm on to draft five of my sci-fi fantasy novel, around 82k words. I've taken a couple of breaks between drafts to come back to it with fresh eyes, and I'm now at the point where I'm seeking feedback from others. Initial feedback has been good, though I've yet to get feedback on large chunks of the book. I'm very interested (and slightly terrified) of finding out what people think of it as a whole.

As for ambitions, I'm an indefatigable dreamer. I'd love to make a living from my writing. I'd love to put all of my stories into print. I'd love to see them evolve beyond print. Sure, maybe they're pipe dreams, but I'd rather aim for the stars and miss than never fire a shot.

Been a while since my last post, I see.

Early last week I finished the work I'd been writing. It turned out to be a short novel. I paused for a day or so to plot out another work. I started on a project I'd already plotted out after that. The writing has been flowing since I started. I would like this to turn out to be novel-length; I suppose I'll find out as I go along, though it does feel a bit more substantial than the last project.

33K on my book's sequel, so third-way there. I've been dilly-dallying around this figure for nearly two months, now I see a way forward!!

Life has dealt me an almost unbearable blow. Writing is my only escape. On the other hand, I'm unable to concentrate for very long.

WriteMinded said:

Life has dealt me an almost unbearable blow. Writing is my only escape. On the other hand, I'm unable to concentrate for very long.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that, WriteMinded. If life were a tree, it would definitely be a birch. Not sure what encouragement to offer, but maybe some time later, this experience will be the basis for your magnum opus. In the meantime, at least the weather's nice.

I've been plugging along on the project since my last update. It does feel pretty substantial. It's interesting to be writing a work where world-building advances the plot. I think I might even have to add one more chapter at the end to resolve a plot thread. I'll see how things go as I push towards the end.

I have a couple projects in the woiks:

Adventures of Elsabeth Soesten

No Good Deed...: Currently expanding from a novella to a full-length novel. It currently stands at a bit over 60,000 words, and will probably end up around 70,000-75,000 once the rewrites are complete.
Bait And Switch: Pending a new edit pass and likely some rewriting.
Prize Play: It's been beta read and edited. Right now it's on hold while I deal with rewrites of the the first two books in the series.
Gonnes of Navarre: I have a basic plot synopsis and some basic ideas, but have yet to begin extensive development.
Confession of Godra: Exists as a basic plot synopsis and a smattering of notes.

Changeling Saga

Gyldenéage: First draft complete, waiting to hear back from beta readers before editing.
Bælméce: Have the basic plot synopsis, but no work yet on outlining.
Dréag: Have the basic plot synopsis.

Reflections of Exeter: Currently on hold. It's the story I most want to get done, but I'm focusing on the others first because the scope and style would make it very difficult to self-publish, and it would likely be an easier sell if I have more writing credits to my name.

I also have notes for a number of other concepts that I've yet to begin any serious work on.

Earlier this week I finished the project I'd been working on. It ended up being a novel, and it came in at just shy of 70K words. I decided to junk what I had been planning on writing next; I didn't want to go back to that world because I think I've written all I wanted to. Instead I took a couple days to plan and came up with a new story idea. I've started writing on the new idea today. Interested in seeing where this one takes me.

I finished the first draft of my book! Comes in at 57.6k words right now, but it'll probably lengthen as I go into my editing runs.

Working out the final (!) details of my plot, sf-fantasy, happy with the list of characters and their trajectories.
Lots of conflict between them all.
Mostly outlined but will leave some leeway at the end for a possible change of heart.

I'm moving forward with the new project. Seems like it's going to be fairly substantial, maybe even a full-length novel. I'm a handful of chapters in right now. I also seem excited enough about the world to want to write at least one more work in it; I'm plotting that out when I'm not writing.

Writing has been steady. I'll have a blog post Monday about how much I wrote in November. I can say that I'm not yet to the middle of the current project, and the length is already 45K words. If that continues I should have a proper novel-length book written when it's done.

I’m new to this thread, working on my first novel, Two by Two, 72,000 words currently, which I plan to self publish. It is in a developmental edit right now. I have a rumbling undercurrent of anxiety about what will come back to me. So in the meanwhile, I am working on the cover, a tagline for the cover (so hard to come up with this but it needs one because the title is fairly cryptic), and a blurb. All new territory for me.

Quick update to the book I'm working on: it's 39 chapters, and right now I'm in the middle of Chapter 26, so I'm about 2/3 through. Present word count is right about 75,000. If this continues, I might have a novel that breaks 100K (which would be my first at that length). The writing is moving along. Fingers crossed for a good end to the year!