Writing Report for the Week Ending 12 February 2017

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Time for the weekly recap. First, the goals:

1. 2,500 words of new fiction.
2. 2,500 words of new non-fiction.
3. The last 5 chapters on the final draft pass on Universal Destiny.
4. 3,500 words progress on the 2^nd draft of Draugr Rising.
5. ISIRTA*. Finish listening to series 2.
6. Storyline three post for the original BSG** pilot.
7. Short Story Submissions: 1.
8. Stretch Goal 1: add two chapters to the rough plot for Fallen Heroes.
9. Stretch Goal 2: continue with the third draft on Scattered on the Wind.
10. Stretch Goal 3: continue the final draft of the Uhura novelette.

The Results:

1. 1,801 words of new fiction. A little weak, but not too bad.
2. 4,029 words of new non-fiction. Mostly several blog posts and the lion’s share of that on the Battlestar Galactica pilot finale.
3. Finished the final draft pass on Universal Destiny. Actually, I finished it all in one sitting last Monday.
4. A little over 9,000 words progress on the 2^nd draft of Draugr Rising. This is going to be my primary editing focus for the next few weeks, and I made a pretty solid inroad here.
5. ISIRTA*. Finished listening to series 2.
6. Storyline three posted for the original BSG** pilot. The longest of the three posts yet. Probably, the next one will be shorter. Probably.
7. Short Story Submissions: 0. Moving right along.
8. Stretch Goal 1: added two chapters to the rough plot for Fallen Heroes.
9. Stretch Goal 2: about 4,800 words of progress on the third draft on Scattered on the Wind. Because I finished the last pass on Universal Destiny so early in the week, I focused a little more on this.
10. Stretch Goal 3: a little over 4,400 words on the final draft of the Uhura novelette.

Really, a pretty good week. Mostly editing work, but there’s a good reason for that. There are four novels and seventy-eight shorter works (of various lengths from flash to novella) on my hard drive that are somewhere between first draft completed and final draft not completed. Not that I don’t want to produce new stories, but the old ones need some attention. They may not all be great stories, but I’d like to try making them all at least readable.

Goals for the coming week:

1. 2,500 words of new fiction.
2. 2,500 words of new non-fiction.
3. 7,000 words progress on the 2^nd draft of Draugr Rising. My primary editing project for the next little bit. Probably 4-5 weeks of daily work correcting the problems with the story and tidying up the transcription errors (the story was originally dictated during commutes).
4. 5,000 words progress on the third draft on Scattered on the Wind. This is going to be my secondary editing project
5. ISIRTA*. Listen to the first four episodes of series 3.
6. Storyline three post for the original BSG** pilot.
7. Short Story Submissions: 1.
8. Stretch Goal 1: add two chapters to the rough plot for Fallen Heroes, which will get me to 75% on the basic plot. Ish. A couple of things I’ve decided I want to include will lengthen things a bit.
9. Stretch Goal 2: 3,869 words progress on the final draft of the Uhura novelette, because that’s what left. This now has a title, by the way, tentatively, at least: “Sub-Solar Whispers”.
10. Stretch Goal 3: story selection for inclusion in The Undead.

I’m going to try to have two major editing projects going for the next little while. Leaving the short stories aside, Scattered on the Wind, Draugr Rising, Arena, and Hero’s Life are all past first draft status and not yet final draft complete. By the time I get those done next year, I hope that Shrine, Bad Teenage Poetry, Fallen Heroes, and maybe even the sequel to Universal Destiny will have entered the editing mix. Not to mention all of the stories for The Undead that need polishing before that’s ready.

Be well, everyone.

* ISIRTA = I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again

** BSG = Battlestar Galactica

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