C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 163
August 1, 2015
Progress Report: Week 1, August 2015
Lots of university work, this week. I still feel like I’m flying blind and can’t find my feet, but I will get there. Got my release schedule and writing order settled for the rest of the year, and now have to get into it. The Story Match Challenge showed me I could, not I just have to DO. Let’s see how it goes.
Overview
New words produced: 2,796Old words revised: 0Works completed: 0Works revised: 0Covers created: 0Works published: 0Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 1,378University Prep and Assignments: 5,196
Publishing Tasks
Created 8 blog posts for this blog
New Arrivals
The following pieces arrived last week and are awaiting completion:
ShortStory502—Memory’s Vampire: an unfinished piece;ShortStory503—Fate in the Sun: a science fiction story set in the Sideshift Universe;ShortStory504—Cloud Door: an unfinished piece;ShortStory505—Souls of the Serpent: an unfinished piece);ShortStory506—Season of the Starman: an unfinished piece;ShortStory507—Dreams of the Serpent: an unfinished piece;ShortStory508—Lord of the Vortex: an unfinished piece;ShortStory509—Ships of the Beginning: an unfinished piece;ShortStory510—In Memoriam: a piece of post-apocalyptic fiction;ShortStory511—Because of a Wand: a piece of fantasy flash fiction about a broken wand;ShortStory512—Holiday Misadventure: a piece of flash science fiction about job security;ShortStory513—End of the Day: a piece of flash post-apocalyptic fiction about ending the day well;
The Story Match Challenge—Day 26: August 1, 2015
I honestly thought yesterday was the last day of the challenge, and that I’d completely missed it so, when I went to Dean’s blog, I discovered the entry was for July 30, 2015, which meant there were two stories to go. Today’s randomly rolled title was: Lord of the Vortex , and the word goal was 2,700. It’s 1400 and I haven’t started yet. I’ve spent the morning doing odds and sods and am about to get into more reading for university. I really need to write. Not writing is making me grumpy… aaagh!
So writer admin got done, and I caught up with the stories and poems that had ended up in my notebook, and got them drafted onto the computer.Total Words Today: 3,000
The Story Match Challenge—Day 25: July 31, 2015
Today, the challenge was a total bust. I felt unwell and, after yesterday, I had to catch up with the study and the first half of that took all day. But it was still a valuable learning curve. I had to accept that life is full of choices, that sometimes stuff happens that we have to swing with.
Could I have focussed on the challenge and written another story? Sure, and I was hoping to.Would that have been the best thing to do? If I wasn’t trying to walk two life paths at once, sure.Do I really want to write full time? Yes, but I have to finish this first. It’s important. I can’t explain why. It’s important to me that I complete the degree I’ve started.Why, when I might not use it? I have no rational explanation, save that it is something I will regret if I do not finish it—and I am aiming to keep my regrets to a minimum. And I will use what I’m studying in my writing. I’m using it already.An understanding of international relations is helping me understand the political dynamics that will hold worlds together or pull them apart. From a writer’s perspective, it’s kind of like an extended course on world building and character motivation… and I’m enjoying the learning.From a more holistic perspective, it could lead me to a new non-writing career path, or it might not. All I know is that by the end of it, I will be sure of what I want to do. No doubts. No regrets. And that is important.So, writing is important, but it is not a decision to be taken lightly, and I need to complete this degree in order to decide, and to be sure of where I want to go. And that means I have to prioritise… which is a long-winded way of saying that I chose to fail to meet today’s challenge—and that’s a bit sad, but I can live with it.And what did I do instead? Well, I got through seven mandatory readings of 30+ pages each and prepared the study questions and notes I would need for class. As a break, just as I would for story writing, I studied a language and did the washing. It was a long day.If I’d gotten into the challenge, the title would have been Dreams of the Serpent , and the word goal was 3,100.Word Total for the Day: 2,897 – all study related.
July 30, 2015
The Story Match Challenge—Day 24: July 30, 2015
I woke up at 0500 and got straight into the readings for my first class for next week. The plan was to clear two classes’ worth of readings and then reward myself with fiction. I had the first class’s readings complete along with a load of washing before I had the little one off to school. A good start—and then had to take my biggest to see the doctor with suspected appendicitis. That was at 1100, after the second load of washing and starting the notes for the second class.
I got home at 2030 and spent the next hour and a half reassuring and settling the littlest, doing some quick house chores and wondering why I was feeling so tired. No writing got done. At 2250 I still hadn’t checked out the word goal (2,300) or random-rolled the story title: 35-column 1-Season of, and 66-column 1-the Starman. Good title—I’m looking forward to writing this, but it won’t be tonight.I did a quick catch up of the past few days of Story Match and headed to bed after posting the blogs.Word Total for the Day: 1,470
The Story Match Challenge—Day 23: July 29, 2015
Another 0500 start. Very quickly looked over the word goal—3,200— and random-rolled the title: 03-column 2-Souls and 85-Serpent, which I morphed into Souls of the Serpent. No real time for short fiction today. Tuesdays are my long day, but Wednesdays are the days I run. I did more research for my essay, realising as I did so that I could apply the research to my steampunk setting and maybe even RPG development. Yay—but right now, I had an assignment to right. Spent two-and-a-half hours studying Russian history. Wow. Got the littlest off to school and left the oldest at home, not feeling well at 0850. Caught my first bus at 0912, hit the library at 0940, my first class at 1000, my second class at 1100, my third class at 1300 and my bus at 1408 so I could eat (1430) and pick my littlest up at 1500. Got home and got straight into doing the readings for next week, in preparation for getting the next assignment done.
Somehow I managed to start a piece of flash fiction on the morning bus, but didn’t complete it.Total Words for the Day: 731 of class preparation and unknown fiction and notes for assignment.
The Story Match Challenge—Day 22: July 28, 2015
Tuesday, I was hoping for a repeat of Monday’s success—and maybe an advancement—so I checked out Dean’s blog early. The word goal was a nice 1,250 and the title was 61-column 1-Cloud and 50-column 1-Door, so that was easy. But the bus trip consisted of two short hops and the lecture and tutorial weren’t conducive to writing something unrelated… and I got side-tracked by the assignment and started reading the books I had borrowed. Home late (after nine-and-a-half hours out of the house) to children, dinner and assignment prep. My choice, I guess—I could have written the short story instead, but it might not have been the best decision. My choice.
Total Words for the Day: 954-Lesson preparation
The Story Match Challenge—Day 21: July 27, 2015
Monday. First lecture at 0900. I got up at 0500 and checked out the word target (3,150 words) and Dean’s blog, and then decided to try something new for the day—hand-writing the story while at university and on the bus. With that in mind, I random-rolled the title 65-column 1-Fate of, and 03-column 2-in the Sun, which morphed to Fate in the Sun . Once that was decided, I wound up my emails and got stuck into making sure my littlest was ready for school, and so was I. I said goodbye at 0730 and caught the bus. The story writing started fine. I even wrote through my first lecture and by the end of the day estimated I was close to 1500 words. Going home, I realised I had more readings to do for Wednesday and that I should select books from the library for the next assignment, and that was the end of creative writing for the day. Total Words for the Day:Unknown, a typed word count will be done towards the end of the week.
July 28, 2015
Blogs Read in July 2015
This month I made a concerted effort to get back to reading blogs - especially those of writers with more experience and knowledge than I have. I need to learn and I need to try and maintain something of a decent perspective from this somewhat sheltered and blinkered corner of the world. Also, I write in isolation. I don't have a lot of in-depth contact with people, let alone other writers. Too shy, not enough time, strong feeling of being too different and not welcome, and not fond of people, pick your reason, but those sum it up for me. Anyway, here are the blogs I got caught up on this month. There are a lot, and if one author seems to be a focus, just remember that I'm working down a list and I'll be culling that list as I go. These are the folk I am learning from at the moment, my unwitting mentors who don't know me from a bar of soap, and to whom I am very grateful. These are their words.
Publishing Industryhttp://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-23/: Dean Wesley Smith on changes in the publishing industry and new ways of approaching being a writer and publisher; http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-22/: Dean Wesley Smith on cash streams in the new world of publishing and how these differ from traditional publishing.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-17/: Dean Wesley Smith on how to make a living on short fiction - and the writing life.http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/ebook-subscriptions-q-a.html: a mock-up conversation on changes in the publishing industry http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/subscription-ebook-services.html: Joe Konrath on the rise of subscription services.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-25/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living, KDP and pay-per-page - also eggs in one basket.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/the-new-world-of-publishing-the-real-price-of-traditional-publishing/: Dean Wesley Smith on the world of traditional publishing and what it costs. Just when I have doubts about going through a publishing house, he goes and sums up what my research told me nearly five years ago.https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/07/02/yes-once-more-amazon-is-screwing-authors-set-to-pay-them-006-per-page/: Bob Mayer on the Amazon pay-per-page debate.https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/is-the-subscription-model-in-trouble-scribd-dumps-romance-titles/: Bob Mayer on the subscription model and ScribDhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/the-authors-guild-has-a-fair-contract-initiative/: Bob Mayer on Authors Guild contract advicehttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/29/brian-white-of-fireside-lets-feed-some-storytellers/: Fireside Fiction, its needs and its mission.
Roleplaying Publishinghttp://dndadventurersleague.org/being-the-dungeon-master-in-a-shared-universe/: On being a Dungeon Master and organised play
About Writing and Writing Tipshttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/24/todays-flash-fiction-writing-challenge-is-not-about-fiction/: Chuck Wendig asks writers to share why they write. http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/21/think-plan-write-edit-repeat/: Chuck Wendig with some commonsense writing tips http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/15/writing-a-lot-writing-a-little-and-the-power-of-failure/: Chuck Wendig on writing - from a Twitter conversation with other writers http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-21/: Dean Wesley Smith on the importance of writing and how writing short stories can help you find your next novel, world or setting. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-20/: Dean Wesley Smith on the writing life and more about making money from writing http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-18/: Dean Wesley Smith on the writing life and on the wisdom of writing what you love https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/de-bullet-point-your-dialog/: Philip Athans talks about de-bullet pointing your dialogue in stories. http://kriswrites.com/2015/07/08/business-musings-brain-quakes/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes about shaking up the brain and learning new things and avoiding ruts and why they're important. https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com... Philip Athans on the perfect chapter lengthhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/outlining-craft-tuesday-at-write-on-the-river/: Bob Mayer talks abut the value of outlining a novel http://kriswrites.com/2015/07/01/business-musings-writing-for-the-ages/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes about writing, how writing dates, and writing advice http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-2/: Dean Wesley Smith on the challenge of writing a story every day, and especially on 'writing in the dark' or what I call 'writing cold'.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-1/: Dean Wesley Smith on the writing life and title generators.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-29/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and writers setting goals.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-27/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and what to expect when setting writing goals and life intervenes.https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/book-dissection-craft-tuesday-at-write-on-the-river/: Bob Mayer on dissecting books of the genre to see how they were successfulhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/research-craft-tuesday-at-write-on-the-river/: Bob Mayer on the importance of research and how it can be used to spark ideashttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/good-is-the-enemy-of-great-5-things-special-forces-taught-me/: Bob Mayer on success and what to expect and other stuffhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/conflict-the-fuel-of-your-story-craft-tuesday-at-write-on-the-river/: Bob Mayer on mapping conflict in stories, a more mechanical approach than I usually take, but one I should consider for at least some of my stuffhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/09/3911/: Bob Mayer talks about theme and intent in writing and getting it acrosshttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/30/the-secret-behind-making-me-care-about-your-characters/: Chuck Wendig on how to keep readers reading through character crafting
Writer News
http://kriswrites.com/2015/07/03/a-new-short-story/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch sells a story to Asimov'shttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/01/blackbirds-is-a-kindle-deal-sdcc-and-more/: Chuck Wendig on a new Kindle deal and SDCC workshopshttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/120500.html: Richard Lee Byers' schedule for GenConhttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/119763.html: Richard Lee Byers has a short story releasehttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/119418.html: Richard Lee Byers has a novella availablehttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/119163.html: Richard Lee Byers on Pulp Podcasthttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/118627.html: Richard Lee Byers working with Risen Phoenix Studioshttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/118500.html: Richard Lee Byers going to Stokercon 2016
Writing Workshopshttps://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/worldbuilding-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy-writing: an on-line science fiction and fantasy world-building workshop run by Philip Athans http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/june-online-workshops/: a variety of workshops on the craft of writing and the business of it.
Flash Fiction Challenges:http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/03/flash-fiction-challenge-six-random-titles/: deadline July 10.http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/17/flash-fiction-challenge-random-phrase/: deadline July 24thThe Writing Lifehttp://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-19/: Dean Wesley Smith on the writing life and the importance of writers to practice commonsense. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-8/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, life balance and enjoying writing http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-6/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and the power of a challengehttp://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-5/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing and writing to a challenge.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-4/: Dean Wesley Smith on the power of challenge and writing short stories cold.www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-3/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living, and the hazards of the fourth of July.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-30/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and the short story writing challenge that will run in July. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-28/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-26/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing and living.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-24/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and cats.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-23/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and a new writing challenge.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-22/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing and living.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-21/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing and living.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-20/: Dean Wesley Smith on life and writing... or not writing, as the case may be.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-19/: Dean Wesley Smith on life and writing.https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/no-news-is-good-news/: Bob Mayer on technology and real life.http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/06/eject/: Chuck Wendig on taking a break from social mediahttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/29/in-which-i-learn-to-talk-less-and-listen-more/: Chuck Wendig on social media lessons and etiquette
Publishing Industryhttp://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-23/: Dean Wesley Smith on changes in the publishing industry and new ways of approaching being a writer and publisher; http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-22/: Dean Wesley Smith on cash streams in the new world of publishing and how these differ from traditional publishing.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-17/: Dean Wesley Smith on how to make a living on short fiction - and the writing life.http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/ebook-subscriptions-q-a.html: a mock-up conversation on changes in the publishing industry http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/subscription-ebook-services.html: Joe Konrath on the rise of subscription services.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-25/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living, KDP and pay-per-page - also eggs in one basket.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/the-new-world-of-publishing-the-real-price-of-traditional-publishing/: Dean Wesley Smith on the world of traditional publishing and what it costs. Just when I have doubts about going through a publishing house, he goes and sums up what my research told me nearly five years ago.https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/07/02/yes-once-more-amazon-is-screwing-authors-set-to-pay-them-006-per-page/: Bob Mayer on the Amazon pay-per-page debate.https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/is-the-subscription-model-in-trouble-scribd-dumps-romance-titles/: Bob Mayer on the subscription model and ScribDhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/the-authors-guild-has-a-fair-contract-initiative/: Bob Mayer on Authors Guild contract advicehttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/29/brian-white-of-fireside-lets-feed-some-storytellers/: Fireside Fiction, its needs and its mission.
Roleplaying Publishinghttp://dndadventurersleague.org/being-the-dungeon-master-in-a-shared-universe/: On being a Dungeon Master and organised play
About Writing and Writing Tipshttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/24/todays-flash-fiction-writing-challenge-is-not-about-fiction/: Chuck Wendig asks writers to share why they write. http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/21/think-plan-write-edit-repeat/: Chuck Wendig with some commonsense writing tips http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/15/writing-a-lot-writing-a-little-and-the-power-of-failure/: Chuck Wendig on writing - from a Twitter conversation with other writers http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-21/: Dean Wesley Smith on the importance of writing and how writing short stories can help you find your next novel, world or setting. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-20/: Dean Wesley Smith on the writing life and more about making money from writing http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-18/: Dean Wesley Smith on the writing life and on the wisdom of writing what you love https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/de-bullet-point-your-dialog/: Philip Athans talks about de-bullet pointing your dialogue in stories. http://kriswrites.com/2015/07/08/business-musings-brain-quakes/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes about shaking up the brain and learning new things and avoiding ruts and why they're important. https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com... Philip Athans on the perfect chapter lengthhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/outlining-craft-tuesday-at-write-on-the-river/: Bob Mayer talks abut the value of outlining a novel http://kriswrites.com/2015/07/01/business-musings-writing-for-the-ages/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes about writing, how writing dates, and writing advice http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-2/: Dean Wesley Smith on the challenge of writing a story every day, and especially on 'writing in the dark' or what I call 'writing cold'.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-1/: Dean Wesley Smith on the writing life and title generators.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-29/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and writers setting goals.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-27/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and what to expect when setting writing goals and life intervenes.https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/book-dissection-craft-tuesday-at-write-on-the-river/: Bob Mayer on dissecting books of the genre to see how they were successfulhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/research-craft-tuesday-at-write-on-the-river/: Bob Mayer on the importance of research and how it can be used to spark ideashttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/good-is-the-enemy-of-great-5-things-special-forces-taught-me/: Bob Mayer on success and what to expect and other stuffhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/conflict-the-fuel-of-your-story-craft-tuesday-at-write-on-the-river/: Bob Mayer on mapping conflict in stories, a more mechanical approach than I usually take, but one I should consider for at least some of my stuffhttps://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/09/3911/: Bob Mayer talks about theme and intent in writing and getting it acrosshttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/30/the-secret-behind-making-me-care-about-your-characters/: Chuck Wendig on how to keep readers reading through character crafting
Writer News
http://kriswrites.com/2015/07/03/a-new-short-story/: Kristine Kathryn Rusch sells a story to Asimov'shttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/01/blackbirds-is-a-kindle-deal-sdcc-and-more/: Chuck Wendig on a new Kindle deal and SDCC workshopshttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/120500.html: Richard Lee Byers' schedule for GenConhttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/119763.html: Richard Lee Byers has a short story releasehttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/119418.html: Richard Lee Byers has a novella availablehttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/119163.html: Richard Lee Byers on Pulp Podcasthttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/118627.html: Richard Lee Byers working with Risen Phoenix Studioshttp://rleebyers.livejournal.com/118500.html: Richard Lee Byers going to Stokercon 2016
Writing Workshopshttps://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/worldbuilding-in-science-fiction-and-fantasy-writing: an on-line science fiction and fantasy world-building workshop run by Philip Athans http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/june-online-workshops/: a variety of workshops on the craft of writing and the business of it.
Flash Fiction Challenges:http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/03/flash-fiction-challenge-six-random-titles/: deadline July 10.http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/17/flash-fiction-challenge-random-phrase/: deadline July 24thThe Writing Lifehttp://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-19/: Dean Wesley Smith on the writing life and the importance of writers to practice commonsense. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-8/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, life balance and enjoying writing http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-6/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and the power of a challengehttp://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-5/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing and writing to a challenge.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-4/: Dean Wesley Smith on the power of challenge and writing short stories cold.www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-12-day-3/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living, and the hazards of the fourth of July.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-30/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and the short story writing challenge that will run in July. http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-28/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-26/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing and living.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-24/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and cats.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-23/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing, living and a new writing challenge.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-22/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing and living.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-21/: Dean Wesley Smith on writing and living.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-20/: Dean Wesley Smith on life and writing... or not writing, as the case may be.http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-in-public-year-2-month-11-day-19/: Dean Wesley Smith on life and writing.https://writeitforward.wordpress.com/2015/06/10/no-news-is-good-news/: Bob Mayer on technology and real life.http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/07/06/eject/: Chuck Wendig on taking a break from social mediahttp://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/29/in-which-i-learn-to-talk-less-and-listen-more/: Chuck Wendig on social media lessons and etiquette
July 26, 2015
The Story Match Challenge—Day 20: July 26, 2015
A.M.
Up late this morning—0730—so a very slow start to the day. I took a look at Dean’s blog and discovered he’d been very busy with WMG Publishing business as well as creating a new series of lectures about turning short stories into novels, which sounds pretty exciting. After reading the blog, I decided to write up the poems I’d written in my notebook during the week, and to get to day’s poetry written, formatted and in the collection. That took until 1030. I followed this with the flash fiction, which I didn’t finish until after lunch (1440).P.M.Knowing I had a movie date with my little one at 1500, I took a look at the word goal for the day—2,400— and then randomly rolled my title. The result was: 19-Memory’s, and 26-the Vampire, which I tentatively morphed into Memory’s Vampire . With only 10 minutes to go before the agreed movie time, I started to type and was then distracted by the necessary administration for the stories and poems I had written yesterday. I may not finish this story today, but we shall see.Challenge Results:Story Match: Partial— Memory’s Vampire (urban fantasy; 171 words)Poetry: Complete; 3 poems; 237 wordsFlash Fiction: Complete; 3 flash; 1,123 wordsTotal Words for the Day: 3,615
Progress Report: Week 4, July 2015
This was the first week back at university, so I didn’t maintain the writing speed while adding in 6 hours of travel, 19 hours of being on campus, and around 24 hours of reading and essay writing. I’ve got a bit better handle on it, now, and will make a few changes this week to accommodate the different aspects better. On the upside, I did finally get Orb Wielder out to market. Now I just have to get Pyrie , Freeman’s Choice and the three volumes of last year’s short work up and running… and I should have at least one more short essay done by the end of the week as well, possibly two, and I will have started work on a third, longer one.
OverviewNew words produced: 10,715Old words revised: 0Works completed: 0Works revised: 0Covers created: 0Works published: 0Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 1,367University Prep and Assignments: 3,513New Tasks
ShortStory494—The Magicians and the Silk Road: added 956 wordsShortStory495—The Plain Magician: added1,163 wordsShortStory496—This Year’s Starfish: Added 33 wordsShortStory497—Years of Voyage: Added 2,259 wordsShortStory501—The Heights of Winter: completed at
Publishing Tasks
Created 8 blog posts for this blog;Created 1 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Publishing blog;Created 0 blog post for the C.M. Simpson Art and Photography blog;
New ArrivalsThe following pieces arrived last week and were not completed:
ShortStory494—The Magicians and the Silk Road: a short fantasy story about magicians in search of the perfect clothShortStory495—The Plain Magician: a short fantasy, science-fiction blend about dragons, starships and hopeShortStory496—This Year’s Starfish: a short fantasy story about fish and stars and dreamsShortStory497—Years of Voyage: a short science fiction about a colony in search of answers
The following pieces arrived last week and were completed:
Poem588—Twilight Comes: a poem about twilight and the battle for sleepPoem589—Good Morning to the Dream Defenders: an urban fantasy poem about the battle for sleep and its defendersPoem590—The Sun Has Come: another urban fantasy poem about the battle for our nighttime slumberShortStory498—When the Zombies Dance: a flash post-apocalyptic horror about zombies dancingShortStory499—Flight into the Dawn: a piece of flash fantasy fiction about werewolves and dragonsShortStory500—The Cats Call Treaty: a piece of flash science fiction about cats and being trappedShortStory501—The Heights of Winter: a short science fiction story set in the Medilo, Odyssey and Miss Delight universe
