My attempt to write at least 1k/day is working pretty well at the moment. Last weekend, I had 17k, and now I'm at 25k, so it's moving forward quite steadily. Despite that, as a I move forward, the book seems to be getting longer. I was calculating that Scorpion II would get roughly to the size of Scorpion (72k), but looking over my notes, I have too damn much plot to squeeze it in.
So I'll either have to up my daily wordcount, or restructure the plot. Right now, I'm not entirely sure what makes sense (I don't want to screw up the plot because right now I like what's happening--it has a certain amount of elegance and I hate tempering with something that seems well-rounded and self-contained). The vote is still out, and I might postpone it to the point where I have a first draft, but for the moment, I'm upping my wordcount target to 1,500 and 2,500 on weekend days, just to be on the safe side.
In the next two weeks, I'm expecting my edits for If It Fornicates (long novella) and our WWII novel (70kish?), so there will be days when I won't get anything done at all because editing is intense as you hold the whole thing in your head and fiddle with all the details without losing the bigger picture. Editing a novel can be a special kind of hell. I'll try to at least write a tiny little bit during that period, but I very rarely manage. Editing is usually a dead time for writing. So that'll screw with Scorpion II, no doubt.
In positive news, I've received my biggest ever royalty payment. Analysing my numbers there, some of my favourite stories seem to be getting a bit more love than they used to (I'm looking at you, Incursion and Skybound), and having two Amazon bestsellers really did not hurt (Take It Off and Quid Pro Quo). My workhorse in terms of royalties is Dark Soul, however, which sells steadily and disproportionally. And a few people even pre-ordered the re-released Scorpion (I know several of you already owned the old version, and bought it even though I told you that nothing much has changed--but your support is very much appreciated).
So, to everybody who bought anything, everybody who read one of my stories and everybody who reviewed anything, thank you. That royalty payment was a nice big uplift and gives me hope I can quit the rat race eventually to write more stories. (I might still work somewhere for a couple days a week, or maybe take freelance financial editing gigs when they arise, just to keep my hand in and not lose contact to the real world). Every time I look at a royalty statement, I'm very aware that there are hundreds of people out there who enjoy what I do, and that, in itself, is humbling and awesome. It's also a huge motivator to finish this story and edit all the others, as I know people are waiting.
On that note, I'm back to work. Gotta get to 30k by Sunday night.
So I'll either have to up my daily wordcount, or restructure the plot. Right now, I'm not entirely sure what makes sense (I don't want to screw up the plot because right now I like what's happening--it has a certain amount of elegance and I hate tempering with something that seems well-rounded and self-contained). The vote is still out, and I might postpone it to the point where I have a first draft, but for the moment, I'm upping my wordcount target to 1,500 and 2,500 on weekend days, just to be on the safe side.
In the next two weeks, I'm expecting my edits for If It Fornicates (long novella) and our WWII novel (70kish?), so there will be days when I won't get anything done at all because editing is intense as you hold the whole thing in your head and fiddle with all the details without losing the bigger picture. Editing a novel can be a special kind of hell. I'll try to at least write a tiny little bit during that period, but I very rarely manage. Editing is usually a dead time for writing. So that'll screw with Scorpion II, no doubt.
In positive news, I've received my biggest ever royalty payment. Analysing my numbers there, some of my favourite stories seem to be getting a bit more love than they used to (I'm looking at you, Incursion and Skybound), and having two Amazon bestsellers really did not hurt (Take It Off and Quid Pro Quo). My workhorse in terms of royalties is Dark Soul, however, which sells steadily and disproportionally. And a few people even pre-ordered the re-released Scorpion (I know several of you already owned the old version, and bought it even though I told you that nothing much has changed--but your support is very much appreciated).
So, to everybody who bought anything, everybody who read one of my stories and everybody who reviewed anything, thank you. That royalty payment was a nice big uplift and gives me hope I can quit the rat race eventually to write more stories. (I might still work somewhere for a couple days a week, or maybe take freelance financial editing gigs when they arise, just to keep my hand in and not lose contact to the real world). Every time I look at a royalty statement, I'm very aware that there are hundreds of people out there who enjoy what I do, and that, in itself, is humbling and awesome. It's also a huge motivator to finish this story and edit all the others, as I know people are waiting.
On that note, I'm back to work. Gotta get to 30k by Sunday night.
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