Watermarks

Okay, so way too much stuff going on, none of which is writing. But I’m experimenting with online fiction and have just posted my first short story to Smashwords. It was one published a number of years ago, so it was a good choice for this format.

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I was able to cut about 350 words from the story. Final title is Raven Among Angels. Still feeling uncomfortable with this story, but maybe that’s good. Will get it sent out tomorrow, I hope.

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Wow, had no idea I’d be writing a story this long. I’m at 6900 words and going into the last scene. Where Bliss puts it all together and knows what she has to do. Sometimes this writing thing is crazy. Hope it doesn’t go much past 7500 words. We’ll see. I will take it to it’s conclusion and hope it doesn’t become a novelette. I had dinner with a couple of friends tonight after work, so I didn’t get home until nearly 9, so only had a little over an hour for writing tonight. I definitely will finish it tomorrow, maybe even during lunch tomorrow.

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The story’s at 6000 words and still has another scene or two to go. It will probably run up against the edge of 7K. Been a while since I’ve written anything this long. And yeah, I still feel really uncomfortable with it. Not sure why. It’s nothing really ground-breaking in content or structure. Just feels weird for some reason. Will keep at it though.

In other news, 2 rejections today. Got one back out. Debating on the other one. Resisting the urge to trunk it. It’s only been out to 3 markets so far, so I haven’t really given it a chance yet. Lisa chants “Heinlein’s Rules, Heinlein’s Rules” to herself. Off to bed.

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Got through most of the second act and I’m working on the transition into the final act of the story. Had to rework the opening structure a bit and get some better focus. Think I’ve got most of that worked out and was able to write more words. The story is over 4K now. I’ll probably finish it tomorrow night. Need to unwind a bit before Monday and the day job.

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Wow, put down another 1200 words tonight. The story’s at 3200 words and counting. It’s into its second act. I see the ending coming and I feel the excitement trickling in as I get closer to it. I hope it’s gonna be as cool as I see it in my head. I still feel that sense of awkwardness, but maybe, as my friend Vera put it, that’s a good thing.

Still haven’t gotten the story out that came back yesterday. Hoping to do that this weekend. Maybe I’ll even get that other novel out too. Gonna try at least.

Got another writer’s workshop coming up in a couple of weeks. REALLY looking forward to it. This is the best possible time for a break. I’m in desperate need of a scenery change right now.

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Managed 1300 new words tonight. This is such a weird story and I feel awkward telling it for some strange reason. I know the structure is screwed up, but I will check that out as soon as I finish it. Betting this one goes at least 5K. Tonight I figured out Bliss’ goal and her major internal obstacle. Just need to tell the future part of the story credibly enough to make the whole thing work. Have to look at a mechanism or two once I finish to see if they still work when I get to the end.

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Feeling very uncertain about this story. It just feels awkward for some reason. I’m 750 words into it and will definitely have to take a very focused look at the opening once I finish writing it. Feels like it’s taking forever to get to the story, if that makes sense. We’ll see where this goes. Hope it isn’t total crap when I’m done. Working title is Confessor of Plagues.

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My eyesight is getting better. Still having a lot of blurriness, but I’m told that’s normal. I’ve had 1 follow-up for each eye and both eyes are testing in the 20/20 range. That part is exciting and my distance vision is really good. Still working on computer and reading. Computer is getting better though. Reading is still a bit difficult. And my eyes get tired faster. I think I am seeing well enough to get back on the horse. Really tired of this damned horse kicking me in the teeth, but I’m gonna climb back on anyway.

Y’know, I think I am suffering from genre confusion. I can’t seem to figure out what the heck it is that I’m writing. And oddly enough, there are some mainstream stories. I don’t know what it is I write anymore (which makes sending them out a real fun challenge).

So…for this week, I picked out 5 random words from a random word generator for this story: quieter, difference, hollow, rise, and plea. Gonna roll those around in my brain a bit and see what sparks my imagination. Still need to get that 1 novel that came back out and the other one I tried to get out before my eye surgeries. Bleh. Will try this weekend. Think I still have a couple more short stories to get back out too.

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Happy Birthday, Ron — hope it’s a good one!

Just finished the newest short story. Title is now Horizon. This story isn’t really a genre story, I don’t think. It’s kind of a near future story, but that’s not really the core of the story. So I’m gonna submit this one to general fiction markets. Final word count is about 3600 word. Need one more pass on it and it’ll be ready to submit. Then I want to get one other novel out and do some work on another one. I have 2 new books that I want to write soon. I don’t know if I’ll be able to write a story this week. My first cataract surgery is on Tuesday, so I may not be able to see well enough to do anything. We’ll see.

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