What are you working on right now?

[Celine_Brace]

Well, besides Tooninoot-an always ongoing project, that, I'm afraid, which may never wind up getting finished -I have a thought or two from my past bouncing around my head...


So...let me ask...in these dark, trying times of the world, what would opinions be on revisiting a story idea about a hypothalamus-killing virus?

Everyone is binge-watching these Epidemic shows on Netflix, so I think the idea is a go!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The Winds That Move the Worlds

High fantasy, the third book of The Rune of Unmaking—was going to be a trilogy but I now realize there is enough story left to write it is going to be a quartet. @Karn's Return Yes, I am working on it again.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I'm cracking through my novel, on what I think is the final revision before I ask for betas. Since last Monday something shifted in my motivation and as of tonight I have revised/edited 97k. I'm disappointed that Scrivener tells me I've only deleted 2,455 words but as I've been writing this for ten years, I've been doing lots of editing and tinkering along the way.

It approximates to 665 pages according to Convert Words to Pages - Free Calculator (select font & size) but I washoping for around 500 which means losing another 45k. i just can't see that happening so I've now accepted that this is going to be as long as it needs to be.

Maybe the feedback will highlight something I can slice.

pH

 

[J.D. Robinson]

• Book #5: two-thirds done with principal writing (spinning complete outline into prose)
• Book #4: waiting for my editor to get back to me with red ink (pandemic delays)
• Book #3: waiting for cover designer #1 to get back to me with updates (pandemic delays)
• Book #2: waiting for cover designer #2’s schedule to open
• Book #6: taking notes, being distracted by

My main focus is my book in progress (#5), since that’s the only thing I have control over right now. Books 3 and 5 are closer to urban fantasy, while 4 and 6 are hardish sci-fi and space opera, respectively. Books 2 and 3 have been in the can for more than a year, so the frustration is that it presently looks like I’m a one-book author who gave up in 2018. It’ll be nice to go from 1 to 5 books released “overnight.”

Pipeline issues are real.

 

[Bren G]

I'm cracking through my novel, on what I think is the final revision before I ask for betas. Since last Monday something shifted in my motivation and as of tonight I have revised/edited 97k. I'm disappointed that Scrivener tells me I've only deleted 2,455 words but as I've been writing this for ten years, I've been doing lots of editing and tinkering along the way.

It approximates to 665 pages according to Convert Words to Pages - Free Calculator (select font & size) but I washoping for around 500 which means losing another 45k. i just can't see that happening so I've now accepted that this is going to be as long as it needs to be.

Maybe the feedback will highlight something I can slice.

pH

Hi Phyrebrat,

97k words is on the lower end for sci-fi or fantasy. The first Harry Potter was approx 77k and the largest one in the set was 260k. The average page count was approx 265. I've always heard 300 is a good estimate and counted some other novels in my shelf to validate it. Just curious how you arrived at your page counts as chopping half of your book might be very hard. Maybe I'm out to lunch here so if anyone else has some figures would be great!

BG

 

[Phyrebrat]

Hi Phyrebrat,

97k words is on the lower end for sci-fi or fantasy. The first Harry Potter was approx 77k and the largest one in the set was 260k. The average page count was approx 265. I've always heard 300 is a good estimate and counted some other novels in my shelf to validate it. Just curious how you arrived at your page counts as chopping half of your book might be very hard. Maybe I'm out to lunch here so if anyone else has some figures would be great!

BG

Hey Bren G,

Thanks! You’re right, my post is unclear and I omitted the most important figure which is a total word count of 250k. The 97k refers to how much of the 250k I’ve edited this week. So you’re not out to lunch at all; my mistake.

So I put in the 250k number into the above link out of interest, to see what my estimated page count would be (12pt; Times New Roman, single spaced) and got 665.

My story is a sort of historical horror mystery set over 1000 years.

pH

 

[Bren G]

Hey Bren G,

Thanks! You’re right, my post is unclear and I omitted the most important figure which is a total word count of 250k. The 97k refers to how much of the 250k I’ve edited this week. So you’re not out to lunch at all; my mistake.

So I put in the 250k number into the above link out of interest, to see what my estimated page count would be (12pt; Times New Roman, single spaced) and got 665.

My story is a sort of historical horror mystery set over 1000 years.

pH

Ah! That makes sense now! I didn’t put two and two together. But that begs another question. Could you make two books out of it? If self-publishing for example, I’ve come to understand the business model whereby you give the first one for free and charge for sequels can be a good model, particularly if you’re a newbie author (not sure that you are though nor interested in self publishing but one never knows).

 

[Astro Pen]

In December I started volume 2 of a trilogy. Unfortunately for me it involved a specifically viral pandemic so has had to be binned while I devise an alternative mode of decimation.

Whist I do have another idea, and like it,dumping half a book and working out the 'knock on' effect for volume three has left me demotivated. So I have been writing a sheaf of short stories and poems.

 

[Dan Jones]

I'm cracking through my novel, on what I think is the final revision before I ask for betas. Since last Monday something shifted in my motivation and as of tonight I have revised/edited 97k. I'm disappointed that Scrivener tells me I've only deleted 2,455 words but as I've been writing this for ten years, I've been doing lots of editing and tinkering along the way.

It sounds as though you edit almost identically to the way I do - tinkering almost unendingly throughout the story build itself, which means the first draft takes a long time, but makes editing a less onerous task. I know others couldn't abide working that way but it seems to work for us!

I know one step at a time but have you given much thought to what you'll do with the finished MS? I mean, it is a big mammajamma, and the size alone will need some hard sell.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Ah! That makes sense now! I didn’t put two and two together. But that begs another question. Could you make two books out of it? If self-publishing for example, I’ve come to understand the business model whereby you give the first one for free and charge for sequels can be a good model, particularly if you’re a newbie author (not sure that you are though nor interested in self publishing but one never knows).

If I'm being honest, at this stage I'm writing it for myself. I don't want to bore any chronners here who've heard me bang on about this WIP for the past 9 years, but ... I deleted an entire historical era (arguably the most 'important') and other bits and pieces when I started realising this book was going to be a monster. The Victorian era is now set aside and I have a loose idea to write a follow-up book set in the distant future using the Victorian era and what-not in that.

I have to admit also, I'm not a fan of series - or serialised - narratives and the only reason why I considered a second book was because I thought a supernatural horror set 500 years in the future, yet also linking to Victorian England, would be a refreshing spin on gothic haunted house/land horror tales. Otherwise I'd've just left it at one book.

I've only had a little bit published here and there, say six or seven shorts in a literary journal, and a contribution to a small-press horror antho.

Thanks for your interest, it's lovely of you; what are you writing?

@Dan Jones I know, I think up till last year I was doing exactly that - tinkering - (and I think @Jo Zebedee works like that, too) and then I had so many problems with 'flow' that I decided to just write and clean things up in the mix. In that regard, the periods of 1178, 1347 and 1761 are much cleaner than present day which is the last part I've written. As I'm writing, I have a little blue exercise book (looks the size of rent book!) and I'm making written notes in that to address on the fourth pass 'Why aren't the police asking Willie XYZ?' which means I can get a sense of the book's pace without stopping and starting.

As far as publishing, well, I don't now. I mean, I'd love that, but I was always writing it for me I guess. We'll see. It's very you to ask that, dahling .

Thanks for the comments, all.

pH

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I don’t follow any strategy any more. I just write what I can when I can between stuff I actually get paid to write or create. My model isn’t based around self publishing anymore but being seen as a valid voice. Depressing, innit?

 

[Toby Frost]

What do you mean by being seen as a valid voice, Jo?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

What do you mean by being seen as a valid voice, Jo?

Basically I get more money publishing stuff that isn’t so much about commercial success as it is about Northern Ireland
Which isn’t to say my novels are about that - but I got more money last year for a short piece in Belfast than all my novel sales combined....

 

[Phyrebrat]

 

[Steve Harrison]

I finished the pilot script and outline for a proposed TV series based on my novel TIMESTORM, but I'll hold off on submissions until things settle down. I suspect some of my target production companies might not survive.

In the meantime I have returned to my WIP novel, LIVING THE DREAM, a quirky, mid-life crisis story with a touch of fantasy. Just rewriting the first fifty pages and then I'll kick on...

 

[Bren G]

If I'm being honest, at this stage I'm writing it for myself. I don't want to bore any chronners here who've heard me bang on about this WIP for the past 9 years, but ... I deleted an entire historical era (arguably the most 'important') and other bits and pieces when I started realising this book was going to be a monster. The Victorian era is now set aside and I have a loose idea to write a follow-up book set in the distant future using the Victorian era and what-not in that.

I have to admit also, I'm not a fan of series - or serialised - narratives and the only reason why I considered a second book was because I thought a supernatural horror set 500 years in the future, yet also linking to Victorian England, would be a refreshing spin on gothic haunted house/land horror tales. Otherwise I'd've just left it at one book.

I've only had a little bit published here and there, say six or seven shorts in a literary journal, and a contribution to a small-press horror antho.

Thanks for your interest, it's lovely of you; what are you writing?

@Dan Jones I know, I think up till last year I was doing exactly that - tinkering - (and I think @Jo Zebedee works like that, too) and then I had so many problems with 'flow' that I decided to just write and clean things up in the mix. In that regard, the periods of 1178, 1347 and 1761 are much cleaner than present day which is the last part I've written. As I'm writing, I have a little blue exercise book (looks the size of rent book!) and I'm making written notes in that to address on the fourth pass 'Why aren't the police asking Willie XYZ?' which means I can get a sense of the book's pace without stopping and starting.

As far as publishing, well, I don't now. I mean, I'd love that, but I was always writing it for me I guess. We'll see. It's very you to ask that, dahling .

Thanks for the comments, all.

pH

Well Phyrebrat,

that sounds like quite a journey. Clearly a passion project and a very unique one at that. Good luck!

as per me, I've been working on my first novel for the last 2.5 years. I'm targeting to self-publish in Sept come heck or high water since I need a deadline to focus on. I've been 'off' for the last month since I put the manuscript away and am in the process of getting feedback and await my editor who frees up in June. I was so bored of not writing that I found this wonderful place and it's been a great find at that. A fantastic outlet and am learning a lot from all the talented people here!

I just put the Prologue up in the Critique section if you're curious.

Thanks for asking!

Bren G

.

 

[Eric Lewis]

I finished the first draft of my second novel, which is really a rewrite of something I tinkered with years ago and never finished. I'm almost done with a first-pass revision for plot. I'm nervous that my editor won't be interested in it because it's set years after the first one and has all different characters. A band of fierce forest-dwelling rangers is all that stands against an invader with a messiah complex. Same guerrilla tactics as my first book, but with a powerful, almost-magical explosive weapon thrown in.

 

[BT Jones]

I finished the pilot script and outline for a proposed TV series based on my novel TIMESTORM, but I'll hold off on submissions until things settle down. I suspect some of my target production companies might not survive.

In the meantime I have returned to my WIP novel, LIVING THE DREAM, a quirky, mid-life crisis story with a touch of fantasy. Just rewriting the first fifty pages and then I'll kick on...

Wow, @Steve Harrison, did a studio approached you to do that or are you putting it together to pitch yourself?

 

[BT Jones]

...and, in terms of what I'm working on: the 4th draft of the 1st act of the 1st story in The Inexorable series.

 

[Steve Harrison]

Wow, @Steve Harrison, did a studio approached you to do that or are you putting it together to pitch yourself?

I've been talking to a local (Australian) producer who has worked with Netflix and who expressed some interest, but I sense he's either gone cold on the idea or is understandably distracted at the moment. I have a list of other companies I'll approach in a few months, but they will be cold pitches.

Although I'm convinced the novel would make a terrific TV series, it would be a big budget production and getting anyone interested is very much a long shot. That's never put me off, though!