I always feel a little funny about the first RoW80 update of a round, usually because it comes up so quickly that you haven’t really done much or gained any traction on your goals. So I thought about skipping this one, as I only posted my goals on Monday, but I really didn’t have much else to post today, so here it is, anyway. A rather tiny little update, though, typically, Monday and Tuesday are my most productive days. So let’s break it down, as usual, shall we?
Goal One: Soulless. With the new chapters added, editing is going really smoothly, right on schedule and keeping a good pace. I have to admit, one of the cool things about editing a chapter you’ve done well is feeling so proud when you come out of it thinking, “Man, that was good!” The fact that I’m still tweaking here and here shows how much work is still left to go, though!
We’re honing in on a cover, too, so I need to start thinking of my back-cover blurb to send to my artist so we can get that finished, as well. I want August to get here just so I can show you the amazing work she’s done with a Cover Reveal! It’s very unique and different, yet also a classic throwback to the Gothic horror I loooove. Granted, I think it might be a little “misleading,” as many people feel the cover for Bowlful of Bunnies is, but, meh. I likes what I likes.
Goal Two: Short Stories. I thought up a little yarn for Weird Bard’s Torn Pages contest. It isn’t very good and it might not even really fit the theme or what they’re looking for too well, but it ends July 31, so it’s worth a try to pull something together. If anything, there’s another story to add to the revolving door of pieces to keep brushing up and sending it, and then gathering all together for my own book if no one else is interested in finding a home for it. I really want to push to get a lot of new stories out this round, so I think I’m off to a good start.
Goal Three: Heartless. As messy as the subsequent chapters were, I really do love the prologue to Heartless. Something about a little girl being a bad-ass will always be awesome to me. Plowing along on the slight rewrite of the prologue, and then the challenge of the rest of the book will come along. I’m excited to implement some of the ideas borne from the new chapters of Soulless, though.
How about you? Are you hitting the ground running this round, or are things off to a slow start? Either way, you can catch up with everyone else by checking their posts here (which I highly recommend you do!).
Happy writing!
L.S. Engler 
I hear you – it’s hard to have much success after only a day at it. I’ve downsized my usual lists to “Edit” – I’ll see how that goes.
Good to see you’re chugging along on ‘Soulless’, but how do you keep motivated on that?
That’s a good question, Mike, and I’m not even sure if I have much of an answer beyond, “Um, necessity?” I set myself a deadline of August 15th for a release date. I will not go back on that. I must have it ready by then. Clear-cut deadlines tend to be the best motivation for me because I’m kind of a perfectionist and I get really down in the dumps when I don’t make them. I keep chugging, because I must chug.
Honestly, I’m off to a slow start–I just posted my goals today instead of Monday, but I’m happy with what I’m setting out to accomplish this round.
I like that you’re balancing writing longer works with short stories. I enjoy going back and forth between writing a longer work and then writing a short story. That rhythm just works for some reason. Stephen King even recommends this approach in “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.”
Good luck with your revisions! Thanks so much for letting me beta read “Soulless” and get a sneak peek into the Slayer series. 🙂
And thank you for reading it! Your comments made a huge difference in the rewrites and I’m much more confident about the story. I just hope you enjoy how I’ve incorporated your excellent feedback. Seriously, a lot of your advice made a huge difference (I feel!).
I’m glad I could help. I look forward to seeing the finished story. 🙂
Ooh, I do enjoy a good cover reveal! One of my goals for this round is organising the cover for my first book, so I’ve got the ball rolling on that and am equally excited and terrified!
I don’t care what anyone says, a cover is a huge deal. I’m still staggering a little from how much money I’ve put down into mine, but, then I look at it, and I feel much, much better. It’s gorgeous…but I must stop talking, we’re way far away from the reveal still!
I loved the cover for Bowlful, and wasn’t misled. Lots of different bunnies, lots of different stories. It worked for me.
Sounds like you’re doing well, for the beginning. I’ve always had that same uneasy feeling about the first post of the round. I’ve just decided to accept that it’ll always feel weird, but that I want to write it, anyway.
And badass little girls ROCK. Not only am I the mom of one (I call her the Force of Nature, ’cause, well, she is!), but I also have a few as characters…I love writing for them.
I think a lot of people are mislead by the cutesie-ness of it. It is pretty darn cutesie.
And Force of Nature is a great nickname. I have a feeling your Force of Nature would get along swimmingly with a daughter of a friend of mine. Two peas in a wild little pod.
It IS cutesie, but there’s something in those little bunny faces that suggests deeper and weirder waters to me. But then, I’m notably weird, so maybe it takes one to know one!
Before she was the Force of Nature, she was the Tiny Tornado. And she does love other wild children (and, extra points if there is swimming involved!)
I charged to the lead right out of the gate. Between drafting, editing, and plotting, I’ve written almost 10k so far this week.
Sounds like you’re doing great so far. Can’t wait to see the cover.
10k is amazing! Keep it up! I’ve stopped keeping track of word counts, so we’ll just pretend I’m keeping pace, lol.
I can’t speak for most readers, but (especially when it comes to self-published books), I find I’m even more interested in the “why” a cover is designed the way it is when I don’t instantly sense the meaning in the image. I get curious about the way the author’s head works and what made them choose the things they did. I also tend to reread the story to see if I missed any nuances.
So what works for you could definitely work for you… (and for BoB… those bunnies are definitely UP to something).
But covers aside… great progress. Keep chugging along.