Questions

It feels like it has been years - and it has been too long, I apologize - since I wrote a blog entry, but hopefully, as I get back into the swing of writing, I will be posting more regularly once again.

My senior year of college has begun.  It's been a shaky, stressful start, but I'm making it.  Last night, I worked out my semester schedule and managed to find time for editing and writing.  Monday and Friday mornings will be for editing, Tuesday through Thursday for writing new projects - the sequel to Prophecy and the start of a new series of new adult books.

But as I've gone through these past three weeks of talking to people I haven't talked to since last spring and meeting freshmen and other new friends, I've answered the exact same question a hundred times - "What did you do this summer?"  I feel more awkward about answering than I should; what do I have to be ashamed of?  But I always answer, "well, I, uh, wrote a book... kinda," like I'm trying to brush off my greatest accomplishment to date like I worked at McDonald's (for no pay).  It's been most difficult talking to my writer friends about it; it's like I'm depressing them and shoving their "failures" in their faces, which is not what I'm trying to do at all.  I want my summer adventure to be inspiring for the other writers I know, for everyone who wants to do something and won't because they're too afraid or they're just procrastinating.  I don't consider not finishing a novel before the age of 22 a failure by any stretch, but purposefully avoiding doing what you love because you're afraid of how people will respond to it or that for some reason you "can't" do it definitely is.

So there was my rant to kick off my post-writing portion of the blog.

I'm nearly done with my second round of edits on part one of Prophecy (if you'll remember there are six parts), and I've decided to hold off on having people read until I get through this second round.  So, probably in another week or so, I'll be looking for readers to give me feedback on the book.  If you're interested, drop me a line; I can't wait (except I'm totally dreading) hearing what you have to say!

Weeks Twelve and Thirteen: And... Scene

I may have "written the last line" two weeks ago, but that in way means I was finished with this project.  The idea was always that in my thirteen week time limit I would complete three drafts: a first/rough draft (FMD), a working draft (WkStD), and a readable draft (no clever acronym on my harddrive).

After thirteen weeks of what seems like non-stop work, I finally have something I feel like I can show people (metaphorically speaking) and say "why, yes, I actually have done something with my life."  Doing something with my life is, of course, why I went on this crazy, obsessed, compulsive, waking-up-at-six-fucking-a-m, summer-long novel-writing adventure.  Not that I'm ready to die now or anything, but should I get a repeat deathly illness, maybe I won't have so much to regret.

So what does one do when they edit?  Well, in my case, it was a lot of writing.  So much for that last post, eh?  I still consider that line the "last," but I'm sure there will be a lot more writing for this book in my future.

So... Final Stats for The Escaterra Summer Project:
440 pages; ~118,000 words
~40 pages/week (written)
~10,700 words/week (written
~37 pages/day (edited)
~9,800 words.day (edited)

So there's that.  This is just the beginning really.  I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please comment.  I'll definitely (eventually) respond.

Thank you, you five loyal readers all of whom I know, who have supported me for the past three months and a week.  I love you dearly, and I'll keep you updated, so keep reading!