Becoming an Author

Writing Log August 1st, 2016

3:07 - I woke up a bit earlier than I expected. I'm still a bit drowsy. I need to make some coffee and take another thirty minutes to relax into waking up. I've only got one more scene before the climax arch. Given the speed of the story at this point, and how excited I am to write it, I'm confident I'll finish the novel today. Writing goal is finish the novel by 15:00.

6:18 - Word count, 3,148. Eight more scenes left. My adrenaline is pumping at over drive. I'm going to finish this novel today. I can feel it. I'm so fucking close!

6:52 - Word count, 3,919. Six more scenes!

7:58 - Word count, 5,056. Five more scenes! My head hurts from writing so much. It's been a whirl wind of a story. I'm averaging about 1,100 words an hour. However, I've been taking breaks between each scene, so I'm cool with my WPH. Total word count is up to 68,288. I'll probably end up around 73,000 when it's all done.

And of course I didn't finish the novel. I left the room to eat and never got back to the computer. I've got to learn how to survive without food, or get my ass back in the chair. There's always tomorrow.

Writing Log July 29th, 2019

6:25 - Woke up, and now it's time to write. I need 4,000 words today.

6:42 - Word count, 0. Cut more scenes. I'm up to eleven scenes cut. I might have just shaved enough of the subplot to get the novel back down to the original goal of 70,000 words!

8:08 - Word count. 1,752. Not bad for just over an hour. I did take a few breaks during the scene. Now that I'm looking at the word count, I think the scene might be a bit long. However, it might be the most important scene of the story. So, I'll let me editor tell me if it needs to be trimmed down. Now I'm going to take a twenty minute break and get back to it by 8:30.

10:58 - Word count, 3,042. My twenty minute break turned into nearly two hours. I didn't get back on the computer until right after ten o'clock. I'm down to 13 more scenes! Total word count is up to 62,640! I've got a lot of momentum here, and there is a crazy chance that I might finish this novel today. I've got two more scenes before the major climax, which will happen over seven scenes. Then there scenes for aftermath, and two final scenes for resolution and setup of book two. However, this novel will not end on a cliff hanger. At least don't intend to do that.

12:40 - Word count, 3,664. I took another hour break and then wrote for about 30 minutes. I've got to watch the little one for about an hour, and then I'll be able to get back to writing. I've got 11.5 scenes to go. I think I've got less than 10,000 words to go. If I finish the novel today, I'll be ecstatic.

17:45 - I didn't get back to the novel. I had lunch with the family and hang up for the rest of the day.

Writing Log July 26th, 2016

6:11 - Word count, 0. Just woke up about 10 minutes ago. No coffee yet. I'm going to try writing without it and see what happens.

6:37 - Word count, 371. The power went out on the block. It's pitch black in the house aside from the glow of my laptop screen. I'll have to come back to writing after the power comes back on.

9:38 - Word count, 1,454. The power came back on about an hour ago. I'm down to 20 scenes left to write. Total word count is at 57,766. I'm thinking I'll come in under 75,000 word, but over the initial thought of 70,000. It's time for some food. I'm not going to do anything but write today, until 17:00. If I stay focused I'll hit scene 60 before I'm done. I have no idea about a word count. I just want to get down to 10 scenes. If I get that close I'll be able to finish up tomorrow with the momentum. I can't wait to plot out my next novel and start writing it, while my editor has this one.

11:44 - Word count, 3,286. Writing is going well today. Only down side, is I keep adding more scenes as subplots become larger than I originally planned for. The novel will turn out better for it, but it's a bit annoying. I did cut a scene or two, that no longer needed to be there. However, despite the words I'm still about twenty scenes away from the end.

Release Date Set, November 1st, 2016

I finalized the contract with my editor on Wednesday. We've got a game plan for how the edit rounds will go, and he even agreed to my next novel. Based on what we've discussed the official release date for Aether Walker: Game Changer will be November 1st, 2016!

I just bought my domain name, and will be setting up the website over the next week. I'll also be setting up a news letter for everyone who wants to stay appraised on my novels.

I'll make more posts with updates as they happen. Until then, it's back to writing.

Writing Log July 23rd, 2016

5:13 - Woke up about an hour ago. I've showered and made my coffee. Now it's time to write. I'm going to write until 9, and I'm aiming for 5,000 words.

6:09 - Word count, 1,091. I'm having to dig deep to finish this novel. I already knew every detail of these final chapters. There are no surprises so I'm having to force myself to put the words on paper. Plotting helps my productivity, but it kills part of the excitement I get from discovery writing. Major bonus though, my editing is going to be a breeze compared to my novels in the past!

7:01 - Word count, 2,220. I'm almost half way there, both in time and word count. If the words keep flowing like this, I might put in an extra long writing day and see just how many words I can get on the page. The little one will be up soon, so I might have to take a break. I'm hungry, but I keep putting it off. I think it's Stephen King, who said he doesn't have breakfast until he has hit his word count. I can see that being a good motivator.

8:10 - Word count, 3,491. I seem to be plugging along at about the same speed. 1,200 words an hour isn't bad. I keep taking short breaks between scenes. When I factor that in, I'm probably at about 2,000 words an hour. I just had to stop and do some research for this scene on cars. Hopefully I got it right. I'll have to get someone who knows cars to read the scene, and see if I did it right.

Final word count, 3,649. The child woke up, so I spent the rest of the day with her.

Writing Log July 19th, 2016

1:38 - Word count, 0. The hotel server is down. Internet keeps going in and out, and there is a leak in the roof over the front desk. On the plus side I'm by myself tonight. I had to train the new guy last night, which was interesting since he is a reader. However, it meant I was only able to write 386 words. Better than nothing, but a far cry from what I want. Goal tonight is 3,750, and six scenes.

2:11 - Word count, 1,026. First scene done. Time for more coffee, check on the server, and then back to the story. I can't wait to hear back from readers. I hope they love it as much as I have writing it.
Checked the server again, but it's still down. Still can't check people in, or run night audit, so the hotel is at a stand still. The GM isn't returning my texts or phone calls. I've done what I can, so I'm setting it aside, and getting back to writing.

3:28 - Word count, 1,464. Second scene done. New podcast episode is out for Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing. So… I'll be watching that for an hour before I get back to writing. This is one of their better episodes. It has John L. Monk, he has great advice for authors just getting started or authors who are struggling to build their platform.

5:45 - Word count, 1,464. Breakfast is made. Finished the podcast. The night audit still isn't done, so it's creating problems with checking guests out, and until it's fixed no new guests can be checked in. Spoke with my GM. I did everything I was suppose to, everything else is out of my hands. I've written down everything that happened in our daily binder, and I'll explain it all to whomever relieves me. Until then I'm going to watch the podcast again and take notes. This episode is one of the best they've ever done.

8:59 - Word count, 1,496. I'm home. Had to stay late to finish work. Plus side, internet is back. I've got a phone call with my editor in about an hour. I'm excited and terrified. I'm not sure how this is going to go, but I'm being optimistic.

Writing Log July 16th, 2016

1:55 - Word Count, 0. Talked beer and whisky with an old friend via Facebook, and how excited we both are for the new Scott Lynch novel. (Scott if you're reading this I'm dying over here.) It was fun, but now it's time to put words on the screen. I'm technically 6,142 words behind schedule this week, due to the setback of fixing the sub plot. While I'd love to hit that and set a new personal best, I'm going to go with a more manageable goal of 3,700, which will put me over the 10,000 word mark for the week.

4:14 - Word count, 0. I'm hitting the conclusion to the novel (Act III kind of), so I needed to look at what I had plotted and work accordingly. So far the novel has followed all the major points I thought would be there, but most of the minor scenes have changed substantially. I had to cut two more scenes, and in eight. I had this weird 24 day gap in my timeline. It still makes sense to the plot, but I decided I needed a couple scenes to explain the gap and keep up the tension, without there being this giant time gap. A week is one thing, but nearly a month I think would be a bit jarring. The majority of the scenes from here on out will be short compared to the ones in the middle of the novel. I'm hoping that will help keep my own personal writing momentum going.

5:58 - Word count, 1,413. Broke the 50K word mark. I wrote what I think is my shortest scene ever at 302 words. When I got done I looked at it, think I had to have left something out, but upon rereading I think adding any more would be a waste. I knew the scenes moving forward might be shorter, but 302. I'm not quite half way to my goal, but I started writing much later than I had intended. I've got to start turning my WiFi off when I'm ready to write. Social media is the death of productivity!

8:19 - Word count, 1,413. Going to call it. I got side tracked with plotting. I'll be at the hotel tonight, so I should be able to get a good 3,500 words.