Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it (and a happy festive season to those who don't). Happy Sol Invictus day/Solstice (even though we're late for that now).
As I'm writing, there's several things I've been working on that I haven't really been talking about. Maybe because the projects ambushed me. So, LA Witt and I went off on a writing binge after we had so much fun at GRL a couple months ago. We wrote two shorts, two novellas and a full historical novel in seven weeks, and are currently knee-deep in a second novel after a very productive weekend. So, 2013 is starting to look much better in terms of release schedule for me. My schedule is actually pretty damn ludicrous, getting two WWII novels and a fantasy series written on my own, but if I manage to write 2k/day, that's 730k in words and might just cover everything I'm itching to write. (Editing, now, that's a different matter...)
That's not counting the "Wouldn't be cool if..." projects. The books that hook in my brain out of nowhere and demand that the world stops for them. Predicting them or pushing them to the side doesn't usually work. Hell, Skybound demanded to be written, even though I was working hard on other stuff. It just took over. So much for controlling the Muse. I'd say most of my best work were "Wouldn't it be cool" books. There's just something extremely compelling about a book that forces its way. I think they have a different energy. Maybe more blood and guts.
Above all, though, I need to rethink how I write to be able to hit that required wordcount. I don't believe that writing a lot or fast necessarily means it's lower quality. I have written huge chunks of text in a kind of blissful rage, and the end result had power and rang true. I've also painstakingly assembled paragraphs, and at the end I can't really remember which bit flowed and tore through me and which parts I agonized over. As long as the overall project has a good energy, and breathes and pushes, I'm usually safe. It doesn't matter how fast it was made.
So, yeah, if all works out, six novels from me next year. Gods help me. (I take comfort in that one is, and three more are halfway.)
Christmas here is going to be low-intensity. I handed the dude a couple presents. Tomorrow, we'll have Christmas dinner at a friends', exchange more gifts. And then I can crawl into the suspense novel I'm co-writing (and which has no right to be so incredibly hot). And push one historical's wordcount, while outlining the Scorpion sequel. Ah, who am I kidding? I think I'll write Scorpion II before the year's up.
As I'm writing, there's several things I've been working on that I haven't really been talking about. Maybe because the projects ambushed me. So, LA Witt and I went off on a writing binge after we had so much fun at GRL a couple months ago. We wrote two shorts, two novellas and a full historical novel in seven weeks, and are currently knee-deep in a second novel after a very productive weekend. So, 2013 is starting to look much better in terms of release schedule for me. My schedule is actually pretty damn ludicrous, getting two WWII novels and a fantasy series written on my own, but if I manage to write 2k/day, that's 730k in words and might just cover everything I'm itching to write. (Editing, now, that's a different matter...)
That's not counting the "Wouldn't be cool if..." projects. The books that hook in my brain out of nowhere and demand that the world stops for them. Predicting them or pushing them to the side doesn't usually work. Hell, Skybound demanded to be written, even though I was working hard on other stuff. It just took over. So much for controlling the Muse. I'd say most of my best work were "Wouldn't it be cool" books. There's just something extremely compelling about a book that forces its way. I think they have a different energy. Maybe more blood and guts.
Above all, though, I need to rethink how I write to be able to hit that required wordcount. I don't believe that writing a lot or fast necessarily means it's lower quality. I have written huge chunks of text in a kind of blissful rage, and the end result had power and rang true. I've also painstakingly assembled paragraphs, and at the end I can't really remember which bit flowed and tore through me and which parts I agonized over. As long as the overall project has a good energy, and breathes and pushes, I'm usually safe. It doesn't matter how fast it was made.
So, yeah, if all works out, six novels from me next year. Gods help me. (I take comfort in that one is, and three more are halfway.)
Christmas here is going to be low-intensity. I handed the dude a couple presents. Tomorrow, we'll have Christmas dinner at a friends', exchange more gifts. And then I can crawl into the suspense novel I'm co-writing (and which has no right to be so incredibly hot). And push one historical's wordcount, while outlining the Scorpion sequel. Ah, who am I kidding? I think I'll write Scorpion II before the year's up.
Wow. That's all I can say. I need to get my arse in gear so I can chase your wake. That's a lot of writing.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to everything!! Happy Holidays luv!
ReplyDeleteLove your zest for the muse and looking forward to more Vashtan wonderfulness in 2013. More strength to you :)
ReplyDelete