Adopting the Scrivener Approach

Hey there!

When I first set my goals for this session of ROW80, I said I wanted to finish self-editing EyeCU to the point that it was ready for submission to a small press that is considering it.

That goal has been met.

I didn’t set any formal goals beyond that, but I did indicate some things I’d be working on.

So here’s a check-in on my bonus goals.

1) I have a pen-name I do completely different stuff with than the books I normally do, and I set a goal to do six shorts for that pen name, to revive sales for that part of my writing life.

Progress so far is that instead of six shorts, I decided to do a short novella instead, and while it’s progressing, it’s not done yet. So that’s still in the works. But I’ll trade six shorts for one novella, even up, most days anyway. It’s a fun thing, a bit of escapism, and not a labor. So far.

2) I said that outside of my professional writing, I have a ministry writing goal of authoring a study on King David. So far, I’ve written (and delivered) two lessons, started a third, and have several more lessons roughly sketched out.

In honesty, I’m a bit behind schedule on this as my goal is to have two lessons ahead written at all times. That way, when I’m called upon to teach, there’s no rush to complete writing anything… I’ll have the next two lessons done at least, all the time. But I’m not there yet, so I need to make more time for this.

3) I was going to jump back into EMBER right away after finishing EyeCU; that, or write a trilogy of holiday-themed novellas, which is something I’d still like to do as I think it could be a very commercially-appealing project.

But something happened along the way. Or a couple things, actually.

The first thing that happened is that I took advantage of a sale on Amazon, and finally invested in my own copy of Scrivener for Windows. For the last few weeks, I’ve been learning the program and how best to use it and take advantage of its tools. I’m now a convert to the usefulness of the program for novelists like myself. But it took several weeks to really get comfortable writing in it.

The other thing that happened is that a nascent idea for a completely different project formed in my mind and started banging on the back of my eyeballs, begging to be set free via my fingers and a keyboard.

So, I’ve started working on that project, now, which has a working title of SIN. If it sounds like a religious-inspirational novel, it’s not. Instead, it’s about a friendship that ended in a betrayal, and the journey back from that dark place.

The other thing I did over this weekend is that I learned how to import Word documents into Scrivener successfully, so now I have all of Ember in Scrivener and I can proceed with that book, too, a lot more smoothly now.

So, my time this summer will continue to be divided among these projects:

1) Continuing my King David study

2) Finishing my pen-name novella

3) Working on EMBER

4) Working on SIN

We’ll see which of the last two ultimately takes over as the higher priority project, but I’d kind of like to keep both moving forward.

Okay, I’m annoyed with the new Google Chrome browser…

Time to get honest, folks. As much as I love Google products like my Android phone and my Google Nexus tablet, and as much as I kinda-sorta gotta get a Chromebook someday within the next couple years, the company is far from perfect.

The latest example of Google doing something annoying is a feature in the latest edition of their Google Chrome browser for Windows.

There’s this new “next-gen” version of Auto-Complete featured in the latest build, but it’s annoying as heck. Why? Because it acts preemptively too soon.

First, a confession: I almost never search by going to the Google home page (or any other search engine’s home page) first. Instead, I tend to click up in the web address bar and start typing my query there.

For example, in the action that inspired this post, I wanted to find out of there was a web site that explained how to clear MS Word settings from documents created in MS Word but imported into Scrivener.

So I clicked up in the Chrome address bar, as is my habit, and started typing: “How do I clear…”

Suddenly the screen jumps and doesn’t let me finish my thought. It even kicks my cursor out of the address bar.

And brings me to a page of search results for… “How do I clear my cache?”

That’s NOT the question I was asking, Google. Stop interrupting me! I have real-life friends who make stupid, incorrect assumptions about what I’m about to say all the time. I don’t need that from my web browser, too.

Let me ask my question completely so that you can know for sure what I’m about to ask and give me the correct answer, because I’m sick of having this happen and then having to retype the question over in a results page full of answers for a question I never asked.

Whether they call this Auto-Complete or Auto-Anticipate or Just-Plain-Rude, this feature needs to get smarter, and more patient, or go bye-bye.

Yuck!

Latest news: EyeCU is completed and submitted!

This is a post over a year in the making.

For the last several sessions of ROW80, I’ve been laboring on (working title) EyeCU, a thriller that, at this point, runs over 102,000 words in length. It took me just under a year to write the first draft, and just under four months to edit it sufficiently to feel at ease with it.

And by “at ease with it,” I mean I’ve submitted the manuscript to a small press, rather than pushing forward and processing it as an indie. Were I to do that, my next step would be to hire an editor and a cover artist. Instead, I’ll wait over the summer for this small press publisher to evaluate my manuscript and decide if they like what they see. (I won’t name the publisher unless they accept the book. If they don’t, I’ll simply resume my self-publishing efforts in the fall and get it out there myself.)

Not only is this a goal for this session of ROW 80, it’s been the major goal of the last five or six ROW80 sessions I’ve participated in.

And now, here I am, done. And free, at last, to work on other projects.

Until fall, at least. By then, I’ll either be hip-deep in content editing with the small press I’ve submitted to, or I’ll be hip-deep in some type of editing with whoever I hire to help me as an indie.

Either way… I can finally work on the next thing. That’s my update. How’s that?

ROW80 2013 – Round 2

This is going to be a weird round of ROW80 for me. Why? It’s largely a transition time for me.

Here’s why: I’m closing in on finishing off my pre-beta-reader editing and polishing on EyeCU. So that story will be off to beta readers soon. Then there’s polishing and editing in reaction to that. Plus, I’ll be submitting the book to a small press during this round, as well.

Plus, I have to listen through the work my lovely narrator is doing on the audiobook version of Most Likely.

That leaves this big, gaping hole in my schedule that’s filled with a lot of busy-work, but no big project yet. (Because I don’t want to launch into EMBER quite yet, when I’m going to be interrupted so much by EyeCU edits.)

What I’m thinking of doing, however, is setting a different kind of goal for myself. I have a secret pen-name I’ve been using to write in a completely unrelated genre, and since sales have started to lag over the past year since I dedicated all my writing time to EyeCU, I think it’s time to inject some life back into that pen-name.

So, how’s this for a main goal?

1) Write and publish at least six fiction shorts under my pen name, to rev up the income on that end of things. That’d total two a month and ought to be attainable.

Everything else will be EyeCU-related.

(Although I’m also writing a Messianic character study of the life of King David, as well, so that’s taking up writing time, too.)

So, I’ll be busy. That’s my main goal for this Round of ROW80. Work on EyeCU and the King David study, and write six new fiction shorts for my pen-name. If I can get that much done, I think I’ll have accomplished a lot.

EyeCU is complete! The work has just begun…

At long last, I am happy to report that the novel I’ve spent the last eleven months of my life writing is complete. At least in terms of the writing and crafting of the story is concerned.

How I enter polish-draft mode, preparing the manuscript to go out to my beta readers. Then more revisions. Then sending it to my editor, and then… we’ll see what happens from there.

When last I checked in on Wednesday, my word count on EyeCU stood at 93,489 words. Now that the final two chapters have been written, the book in its complete form for this draft, consists of 100,254 words, which means since Wednesday check-in, I’ve written the best surge of words I’ve managed since I began writing EyeCU last March.

In a mere three days plus, I’ve written 6,765 words to finish out my narrative.

Now I can get busy, between other phases of working on EyeCU, on starting my next project. Thanks for sharing this long, long journey with me. And thanks for sticking around in the future as I forge ahead to the next.

Third check-in of 2013 for me

I’m checking in for the third time in 2013.

I know the general expectation is twice a week, but I don’t like checking in until I have something significant to share. And now, I do. Again.

At last check-in, my word count on EyeCU stood at 90,262. I’m now at 93,489 words and counting. That’s 3,227 words of new progress since my last check-in. Not overly impressive, I know, but I’m not beyond the climactic action of the story and into the closing sweeps of the story. Tidying things up at the end.

In other words: I’m close to the end, but I’m not rushing it. I want to give readers a solid sense of closure since this isn’t a tale I’m expecting to turn into a series. It’s a one-off, so the payoff needs to leave the reader satisfied that they’ve been told a complete story.

I have a couple more story beats to go, consisting of mainly a chapter or two. And that’ll be it.

I’m close.

But I’m not quite done.

Not yet.

But soon.

Second real check-in of 2013

Yeah, I know. I know, I know.

I’m bad at checking in regularly.

But I have been writing. As you can see by the EyeCU Progress bar on the right side of the Web page, I’ve surpassed my length goal for EyeCU. By a lot. And before the novel’s done, it’ll probably be by a bit more.

That’s right; EyeCU isn’t done yet, but it is in the closing action. The climactic action with the fallout to follow.

Last time I checked in, my word count stood at 83,149 words. It now stands at 90,262 words. That’s 7,113 words of progress since my last check-in. It’s come in fits and starts for a while, but has been rolling now pretty smoothly for a few days. That’s because, as I said, I’m finally at the climactic stuff that all the novel has been leading to.

So, that’s where I stand. I hope to check in sooner this next time. And with, perhaps, some huge news that I’ve spent the last ten months or more working toward: the completion of EyeCU. (Well, in first draft, anyways. It’ll be with me for some time to come in editing, revision, and smoothing mode.

First real check-in of 2013

Last week, I set my goals, but I skipped the mid-week check-in, so this is my first real check-in of ROW 80 2013 Round 1.

I’m pleased to report that my word count on EyeCU currently stands at 83,149 words. When I checked in a week ago, that count stood at 79,694 words.

That means that in the past week, I’ve written 3,465 words of new progress, and I’m only 1,851 words away from my minimum length goal for EyeCU. It’s not quite a 5,000-word week, but I’ll sure take it.

While I’m close to my minimum length goal, the story is going to need more space to play out the climax and closing action. Things are definitely happening fast-n-furious right now, but I don’t want to rush the payoff, so I’m thinking 95,000 words is a more realistic end-length, prior to editing. Give or take a few thousand words.

Still, it’s a strong first week of the new ROW80 year for me, and I’m happy to have the light at the end of this tunnel so close at hand, finally. See you at the next check-in I can make time for.

New ROW 80 – 2013 Round 1 Goals

So, here we are at the beginning of a new round of ROW 80 and the beginning of a new year.

As I write this, my never-ending novel, EyeCU, stands at 79,694 words.

At my last report, which came during the ROW80 Winter Hiatus, that word count stood at 75,165 words.

That’s 4,529 words of new progress since December 28.

My original word-count goal for EyeCU was “at least 85,000 words,” so there’s no danger now of not reaching that total. The question is how far I’ll go over that goal.

Right now, it feels like 95,000 is around where it’ll end up. But I’ve taken my readers on a 79K+ words journey thus far, so I definitely do not want to disappoint them with a rushed ending.

As the new year dawns, though, I finally have the end of EyeCU in sight, and will be able to move on to other projects. Hopefully, ones that will write faster than EyeCU has.

With that in mind, here are my goals for the first quarter of 2013.

1. Write at least four nights a week, 1,250 words per night minimum. That would put me at 5,000 words a week, which would be good to achieve given my schedule.

2. Finish EyeCU.

3. Move EyeCU into MS Word, revising as I format it a bit, and get it ready for my first-readers.

4. Act on wise feedback from my first readers.

5. Place a nice, clean manuscript in the hands of an editor for a small press that, at this point, I’m not going to name unless something good happens.

6. During breaks in working on EyeCU, work on Holiday Horror Trilogy. (That’s my next project’s code-name, until I’m ready to reveal it to the world.)

7. That is all.

See you during my regular-to-semi-regular check-ins.

I will return to ROW80 in 2013

So, I had three weekly update reports filed in a row and then, like magic, my reporting stopped cold for the rest of Round 4, 2012.

Did I have a health crisis? No.

Did I stop writing? Absolutely not.

Did I just come down with a case of forgetfulness? No, not really.

Here’s the thing: I needed to get serious about finishing EyeCU and as I’ve been very short of time in the fourth quarter of 2012, even the time it takes to write a quick update on this blog became precious writing time. And I found that when I spent twenty or thirty minutes doing a blog post about my progress, I often felt exhausted enough (since I write during graveyard shift hours to begin with) that I’d call it good enough for the night and not get any writing done at all.

As in, actual progress on EyeCU.

So, here’s the deal… last time I checked in, I was at 68,075 words. As of this writing, I’m now at 75,165. So, in the last two months, I’ve made about 7,100 words of new progress.

That’s not staggering. That’s a good week’s worth of writing for me, back in 2011.

But had I kept updating my status, I’d have been fortunate to get half that much progress done.

The good news is, I’m now in the home stretch. I’m less than 10,000 words away from my length goal, and the novel has entered Act 3, the climax and closing action of the story. While the real amount of writing left in front of me might be closer to 20,000 words than 10,000, the light at the end of the tunnel that has been this slow-progress process of writing EyeCU is nearly done.

I’ve written almost half of my new progress in the last three nights alone, which means my free time is opening up again. So, with a bit of good fortune and discipline, it’s my hope to have EyeCU out to beta readers and in revisions by the time the first round of ROW80 begins, on January 7, 2013.

Will I be a regular progress-reporting participant in 2013, as I was in 2011, or will I be sporadic again, as I was for most of 2012?

I don’t know. But I do know that regardless of how often I post, ROW80 has been a help to me in getting more disciplined about my writing.

I’ll put off talking about my plans for 2013 until we do goal-setting for Round 1, but let’s just say that the plan for the coming year is sure to include getting more works written to completion, and publishing more than one new short story over the course of the year.

But I’ll go into detail on that in a week or so. See you all then.

Back to EyeCU…

Third midweek check-in in a row! ROW80, that is…

The important stat first.

Last week when I checked in, my word count on EyeCU stood at 65,843.

As I write this, my word count is at 68,075.

That’s 2,232 words of new progress. Still not great, but for three weeks in a row, I’ve made about that much forward progress every week. So, I’ll take it. It’s better than nothing.

I’m less concerned at this point about reaching 85,000 words than I am about not rushing the climax and closing action of the story. I want to maintain the nice, tense pace I’ve set, so if that means it stretches in the 90K range, then that’s what it means.

See you in a week, unless I’m inspired to do an update on Sunday. (I’m usually not.)

Better a little late than never

Well, my midweek update is going up Thursday morning instead of Wednesday morning, but here I am. Two weekly updates in a row! It’s not two per week, but it’s something!

When we talked a week ago, I revealed my WIP, EyeCU, stood at 63,754 words. As I write this, it now stands at 65,843 words. That’s 2,089 words of forward progress over the last week. Which is roughly the same amount of progress I’d reported last week.

Well, there’s something to be said for consistency. It’s at least a stepping stone toward the 6,000-word a week goal I’ve set for myself. If I can’t reach 6,000 words a week these first couple weeks, at least I’m regularly producing progress, which was a huge stumbling block for me most of the third quarter.

Next step? Increasing my output, now that I have output to increase.

See you next week, even if I blow off Sunday again.