Introduction to the Accountability Post 2021 Week 17
Have you ever purchased any of the classes from Master Class? I did. I bought Neil Gaiman’s series on creative writing. I’ve always enjoyed reading his works. Then I read Neverwhere. No, it was more than just reading it. I listened to the audio book, which Neil Gaiman himself narrated.
We live in a world of hyperbole. So I’ll try to restrain myself. I’ll just say this: If you love fantasy; if you love fiction; you need to read this book. It’s not like you’ll die if you don’t read it. You life, however, will not be as rich as if you did.
No lie.
Immediately after completing it, or maybe half way through (I don’t remember which), I bought his master class. It’s packed with goodness, but in terms of this post, there’s a module that talks about the rules of writing. He speaks of Robert A. Heinlein’s 5 Rules For Writers. Rule number 2 is:
You must finish what you write
I’m writing this with a sense of superstitious dread. I can see the end of A Ghast in the Machine. This weekend, I wrote the first draft of Porter’s Plot Turn 2. I can see the end of the book. I’m probably a month out at my current output, but I can see it. It’s right there! So of course, I expect the asteroid to plow into the planet. That’s how much I feel like life wants to prevent me from writing.
That would count as negative thinking, wouldn’t it? Then what’s it called when I continue to write, despite thinking the world’s about to end? Just being a writer? I hope it’s something that noble…
Accountability Post 2021 Week 17 By the Numbers
By the end of week 16, I had written 4,430 for that week to take the total to 108,044. How’d I do during week 17?
Pretty consistent this week. I wonder if 150,000 words is too much for my genre? Come to think of it, I need to pick a new genre. Space opera ain’t gonna work for the first trilogy…
So, I wrote 6,685 words to take the total just short of 115,000 words. I’m guessing this book will hit 150,000 words. Is that too many?
One of the writers I really like and respect, Peter F. Hamilton, wrote a trilogy called The Night’s Dawn Trilogy. According to Wikipedia, that trilogy was 1.2 million words. That’s about 400,000 per book. I hung on every word. Hamilton’s work is the kind of thing I’d like to write if I ever get good enough. I want to get to the point where I could write a single book of 400,000 words that people would want to read. Hell, I’d like to get to the point where I could write 400,000 words that don’t put people in the hospital.
But it doesn’t answer the question of genre. When I started this trilogy, I had hoped it would be a space opera. That ain’t happening. I started too early in the Conrad family history. Later books, yes. Now?
I’d better figure that out. In fact, I’m late. If I botch the tropes readers expect for whatever genre I pick, they won’t react well. And since I hope to ask them to part with their hard-earned cash, I need to make a compelling case.
Well, I am where I am. Rule #2 compels me to finish. So let’s see where that leads me.
Feedback Welcome!
Do you have any news about what you’re working on? Any tips about how you keep focused? Have you read anything that struck your fancy? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!