So close but not quite there

The few readers of this site may know that I’ve been trying to get a book published since I was 18. The first book I tried with was the first draft of “Elseworld.” The first draft, looking back now, had lots of issues. There were lots of info dumps (still working on cutting those down), and too many characters and subplots.

I rewrote Elseworld multiple times, then started on a second book. Then a third, and now have six. The second, “The Garden of Abel” is now on the site. It is the shortest of my works, so I figured I could try to upload it here to see if it gets any traction. The length makes it a tougher sell for traditional publishers.

I recently rewrote my third book, the fourth needs a rewrite. The fifth is my favourite and the first 1,000 words of the sixth became my first published short story.

I’ve been able to get three more short stories and a poem published since, but these works were meant to serve another purpose. Doing short stories was an exercise to help my pacing, which was pointed out as a weakness by three different agents (who read parts of my book but declined taking it on).

So, I got promising feedback on my fifth book recently, and at first, it seemed like I finally cracked the code.

Then, I get feedback I’m more used to getting.

So again, something is not quite right to get it to the next stage. I was pretty livid when I read this. However, I’m trying to look on the bright side. The pacing was “nicely done” according to this agent. That gives me some hope that the book’s pacing doesn’t have to be a roadblock for any agent, and maybe the same could be said for other works. Perhaps there is a chance that I find the right agent, and don’t have to rewrite all of my books (again).

 

Idle Ink Podcast

A bit late but here is the Spotify link for my podcast with Idle Ink.

Idle Ink gave me my first published credit when they posted “Memory Catcher” to their site. It was an honour to speak with the editor, J.L. Corbett, about my writing journey and my projects.

It’s a long one (around 45 minutes) but give the last 10 minutes a listen if you’re short on time.

Re-reads and edits

Now that I’ve got copies of “Alive” and “Memory Catcher” back I’m working on re-reading them. I still feel like “Hazard” is the strongest work but I’ve exhausted most sci-fi agents so I need to start shopping other works around.

I’m going to try “Memory Catcher” with an agent who I submitted “Elseworld” and “Hazard” too.  Both times she said my writing style is great, but she didn’t like the concept. Hopefully “Memory Catcher” can be the one. The agent reopens to queries in late January so we’ll see what happens then.

Anansi Complete

A draft of “Anansi” is complete at 68,000 words.

Once I finished, I realize I didn’t know what genre this work fell under. I’ve been so used to writing sci-fi that it didn’t even occur to me that this falls outside of that genre. There are sci-fi influences for sure, especially since my protagonist is essentially a Jim-Crow era Mysterio.

However, this work is still more grounded than my others. Let’s see if querying “Anansi” is more fruitful than my other works.

My next project will likely be to write “Alive” or “Memory Catcher” again.

Anansi at 34,000

Been a while since I posted. Losing my USB has been a big blow to my writing interest. I always kept it close to me and now I feel foolish for not having everything on the cloud, but nothing I can do now but put the remaining content on there.

I don’t have the will to rewrite “Elseworld,” “Alive” or “Memory Catcher” now so I started on a new project instead.

“Anansi” is now at 34,000 words and should be done by year-end.

Writing goals for this year

A quick update on my main writing goals. Life has been hectic, and writing/publication effort has been staggered. However these things remain:

  1. Complete Anansi
  2. Get another short story published
  3. Get an agent for Hazard

The third is more tentative than the first two. One is in my hands, and I believe I can do it, even with the delays I’ve had so far.

Two and three are partly on me. I need to get back to querying but losing my tracking sheet left me demotivated about it, and unsure of how many submissions I’m still waiting on.

I’ve been at work on #2 and #3 for almost a year now. The last publication was August and no bites since. However, I need to try to remain hopeful.

Anansi- Working from the end

Yesterday I was struggling to even get through a page of “Anansi.” My girlfriend was sitting beside me and I mentioned that I had the ending wrapped up in my mind. Then she suggested writing that first.

I got through the page, doing a mockup of what I had in mind for the ending. The ending lends itself to a visual medium well, since I have a reel in my head of what I want it to show. I’ll have to see if the text is enough to convey that to readers.

Although I’ve been working at a slower pace than normal, I’ve still reached over 2,000 words already. Page by page I’ll get through another book.

Anansi- Slower Progress

I usually start a new project aiming for 500 words a day, but “Anansi” has been tough to get into at the start. Instead of letting that discourage me completely I’ve decided to just go back to my one page a day goal. This was the goal I started writing with over a decade ago. It is slower, but is better than not doing anything since 500 seems overwhelming at the moment. As I get further into the story I may have days where I hit 500 or even 1,000 easy. The one page goal will help me stay motivated and get to the meat of the story quicker.

If I stay consistent with it now I should still have a draft done by year-end.

Also, I still hope to recover my USB and get access to my fourth and six book. Fingers crossed.