So a bit back I dropped a note to say I was embarking into the great unknown of a Double Dare—writing two books in one month. Or at least two full first drafts in a month. (Aside: one of the things I like best about being a writer is that, in general, you don’t have to be cool in first draft). To the best of my ability to tell, it’s now May 12th.
So, I hear you say, how’s it going?
Well.
Um. Good, I think. But what do I know?
First, I should note a few other things I’ve dealt with in this time. That’s a thing, you know? Even a full time writer, and especially not a full time independently published writer, can’t generally focus full time on one thing. So, looking back, I’ve spent two days doing a rewrite on an earlier book to prep it for copy edit. I spent big chunks of a couple days recording audio for One Writing (and Reading) Short which I expect to one day semi-soon become my own entry into the “how to” column. I also did a quick demo recording for the project my brother and I are working on.
Yes, I really do need to do a post on that sometime. It’s going to be a blast.
Technically I could call that progress on one of the two books I’m writing. It will fold into the project, anyway. But for now I’ll call is an extracurricular activity.
There have also been a set of things regarding to upcoming personal life changes. Yeah, that’s another post, too.
And did I mention I launched Collins Creek, Volume 1?
Not bad. But, the books, right? What about the Double Dare?
Here’s where I think I stand:
Book 1: STARBORN, Book 9 of Stealing the Sun: Today it sits at about 24K words in, and I’m guessing it to wrap at 48K, give or take. So call it 50% done. The writing itself is coming along relatively easy. I’ve had only one real spot where I had to go back and replot a bit. So I’m thinking it’s on track pretty well.
Book 2: SPECIAL BROTHER PROJECT #1: This one is only at about 5K words. So, it’s behind. The writing of those 5K words were almost lightning quick, though, because the outline Jeff (the brother unit) and I hammered out a month or so ago has held up well. It’s going to be another medium short novel—I’d guess 40-45K, but we’ll see. In a “normal” month I’d say I had a good chance of finishing both, but alas this will not be a normal month because I’ll be offline for much if not all of five days at the end of the month as we head off the Las Vegas for a run through the Licensing Expo.
So, will I make it?
Well, maybe. It’s not off the charts yet. Time is admittedly a little tight, but most of my other “big” projects are through the mill now, so there’s a good chance that for much of the rest of the month I really can focus on making words. Time will tell, as the cliché goes. Time will tell.
In the meantime, here’s a good blog post from Kris Rusch that lays down some thoughts about how writers fail.