Howdy!
How’d it get to be April already? Last time I checked it was November. And then I blinked. I’m going to assume I’ve just been in autopilot and decompression mode since then.
NaNo update – I completed NaNo! My final total was 67,805 words. The only problem is that I did not actually finish the book. I got pretty close to where I assume the end of it is, but I’m to this day still poking at the first draft. More on that later.
Decompressing – The last few months, I’ve been watching my dad get his strength back, if not his taste buds. He’s back to writing and walking and baking bread. (It is really good bread.) I couldn’t be more proud of him. It’s been a weird year. I hope I’ve learned something from it.
What Am I Working On?
The Surveyors’ Guild Chronicles – That’ll be Urien of Escathir and the rest of the trilogy. (Tentative titles: Shades of Salrohis and The Dragon of Gil Girau.) Titles are very much a WIP, much like the rest of it. I think I’m a few hundred words away from the end of the first book, as of writing this. It’s had a few setbacks. For example: a character that I thought was going to be a POV character ended up… not? Which means I need to rethink my outline for the rest of the series. I may not need to change much, but after a certain point this draft feels… a little bit meh. I’m looking for ways to diagnose the problem and tighten up the plots as we speak. (And watching a certain writer’s BYU lectures on YouTube, which has been very enlightening.) I’m learning a lot.
Barbarians 2: Electric Boogaloo – I’ve still got my half-a-draft sitting in my documents folder idling. Dad’s on a roll with his new stuff and I’m waiting for him to get the cat settled before I chuck this in his direction for Tan and Wazor’s half. My hope is that I’ll have Urien’s first book out before then and will be able to apply what I’ve learned to what I’ve got going on in Iron. (Title WIP.) Sukhetai is my problem child. I will find a way to make him Better.
Nagoa – I’m definitely not already planning Strongholds of the Sun or whatever Nagoa’s series ends up being called. I’ve done test writes of him with a friend and… Oh Boy. He’s fun. I’m excited to see what kind of story I can tell with him and his crew. All I have right now is a cast and a setting. I could discovery-write a first draft, just chuck ’em all into the jungle and see what happens, but I am very much an outliner. His “noodling” document currently consists of a bunch of names and ideas for what might be cool. Same world as Urien’s story, which means I can use the same magic system, but this takes place about a thousand years prior and on a different continent. With dinosaurs. As you do.
Other Noodling – I’ve started a folder full of ideas. Physically. It turns out my brain works better if I can see stuff in front of my face, which I learned when I put up a white board of sorts next to my desk so I could take temporary notes. I now have an actual folder with loose-leaf paper in it where I’ve started collecting story ideas. I’m excited. Stories will Happen. (Assuming I can get Urien’s hammered into shape.)
That’s all from me! Tune in in July when I remember again that updates are a thing I’m supposed to be doing. 😀 Which is mostly a joke… but we’ll see. Keep on keeping on.