Monthly Status Report
December was a quiet month for me. As usual, my monthly goal was just to finish up loose ends, and I am happy to report that I have finished the rough draft of Prime Tower. I wrote most of it in November for National Novel Writing Month, but didn’t quite finish. I was able to get it done on Sunday, December 27 during my weekly writing stream.
Speaking of which, that has become a new part of my life, and it has become completely habitual. I still fumble around when I don’t know what to say during the chatting breaks, but they are still nice to have, and it is enjoyable to converse with the people who show up while also getting work done!
I did create my loose yearly plan, which looks like this currently:
December 2020: Loose Ends
January 2021: Website work
February 2021: Revision of Cipher
March 2021: Covers/Copy for the Hazel Kanetzki short story
April 2021: Camp Nano: Revision of Cipher
May 2021: Revision
June 2021: Website work
July 2021: Revision
August 2021: Revision
September 2021: Covers/Copy
October 2021: Nano Prep
November 2021: NaNoWriMo
December 2021: Loose Ends
If I happen to finish the whole revision before the end of August, I think I will work on developing either the Hazel Kanetzki or Cipher series. I think it is highly unlikely, though, because I am a very slow reviser!
Optional Monthly Question
January 6 question – Being a writer, when you’re reading someone else’s work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people’s books?
This is a difficult question. It’s pretty rare that I don’t finish something I have started reading. Besides being a completionist in general, I am also almost always curious about what will happen next. So, most of the things I can think of are not actually deal breakers, just things I am tired of or get frustrated with. So here they are, in no particular order:
- Redemption arcs that fall apart: If I think a character has a chance for redemption, it irritates me to no end if the author makes them slide back to being evil.
- Turning every M/F friendship into a romance or a failed part of a love triangle, but never turning other friendships into romances.
- Sexy vampire romance.
- Hot cop love interest in cozy mysteries.
- Potential vampires who want to remain human.
- Sex scenes that take away from the main plot.
I’m sure there are others, but these are the main ones. You may notice that I don’t have anything like “bad writing” or “grammar mistakes” or anything like that. That’s because I actually tend not to notice those things unless I am trying to. And I don’t like trying to unless I have a good reason. When I am reading for pleasure, it all goes right past me as I devour the story. But the things above will distract me and irritate me. I may not put the book down, but I may sigh . . . and wish it had been something else.
Which is why these books are often ones of great value. Because it’s these missed moments that give me the inspiration for my own works, and why I continue to write and find great joy in the writing. Because I’m writing the stuff I can’t find anywhere else. And maybe others will appreciate the novelty as well.
INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP
FOUNDED BY
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG
The awesome co-hosts for the January 6 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren , J Lenni Dorner, Gwen Gardner Sandra Cox, and Louise – Fundy Blue!
Congrats on finishing Prime Tower! Woot! Woot!
I cringe at typos, especially when they’re mine:) I think you are right. I think if we are caught up in a story, we see what we expect to see.
Wishing you a Wonderful-Writing New Year.
Oh yeah, I cringe at my own typos, too! When I am reading critically, rather than for pleasure, I see them all. But it’s a switch I have to deliberately turn on. Thank you for the wonderful wishes and for the congratulations!
I wonder if the writers that start down the ‘redemption arc’ and then the character ‘backslides’ is trying to do ‘something new’. I don’t know how that can work, as most of us want the ‘happy ending’ and that usually involves redemption. Too many ‘ ‘s in this comment, sorry. 🙂
It actually mostly irritates me when it is NOT the MC, so I completely get why they do it — makes the antagonist a bigger threat. But it still irritates me ;).