New Year, Same Story

So 2020 is over. We made it. Onward to 2021 and hopefully fewer major disasters. I haven't made one of these posts in like two months, so here's an update and a sort of plan for books stuff this year.

December wasn't the most productive month, I'll admit. I had hoped that, with the Covid restrictions, I would be able to get lots done instead of going to all the gatherings and functions that usually occur around Christmas time. That didn't really happen. Oops. Seeing as it wasn't going great, I decided to completely stop writing for the back half of December, take a break, let my writing muscles relax and rejuvenate. It seems to have worked, because I've already done significantly more this month. Sometimes breaks are needed.

If anybody recalls the last blog post, they'll remember I mentioned having an epiphany that let me connect everything together and it was going to be smooth sailing, all fine and dandy, everything figured out. Yeah, not quite. I'm still using much of what I had put together back then, but I realized that in order to craft it the way I want it, I would need to cut out some of what I already had and replace it. So, I began that the other week. 3 full chapters and 3 partial chapters were found guilty of crimes and executed and I started rewriting them, with the new goal in mind. So far, I've finished 2 chapters and I must say, it is so much better. More intriguing, more exciting, better paced, better connected to the rest of the story. I was already planning on introducing some of the things later on, but now, they show up early and I believe I'll be able to cut down on length a bit. It's still gonna be pretty long, but not as lengthy as before.

Also, this marks the first time that I, as a pantser, have actually had to completely redo a section of chapters. So far, through 2 and a halfish books, I've managed to make everything play out as intended without really planning anything. I figured that, sooner or later, I would face this problem and now I have. It's a bit of a setback, for sure, but I'm actually enjoying the rewrite and I know that this book will be better because of it.

This draft still has a while before it's totally done, but I'm cautiously optimistic that I can have it done in March. Then, based on previous editing and formatting experiences, I expect it to be ready for publication by late summer. Fingers crossed. And during that time, I will definitely start on Book 4, which I already have some ideas for. Those are the two big goals for this year, writing wise. The other one that I'll try for is expanding my reach on social media, connecting with more people, getting myself out there a little more.

Of course, I'll keep updating the website, probably at irregular intervals again, adding new blog posts, some reviews, maybe some more sneak peaks as well as more soundtracks. Speaking of those, I just finished my 7th the other week. I finally managed to find the right sound for Miri and got it up. I titled it, Words Of Silence, and I think it captures her character pretty well. Well, as good as it can be with an amateur songwriter. I'll continue to churn those out every so often, whenever the inspiration strikes and I find the right sound. I enjoy it a lot, but it's a back seat project. Finishing Book 3 is definitely the priority.

Look, here's a zoomed out world map I made with Inkarnate. It's a fun site.

Well, that about does it. Hopefully the next update will be about how I'm super close to done. Thanks to anyone reading and have a good 2021. Cheers.