We getting into August. If I’m going to hit my goal of publishing a novel every six months, I behind finishing the first draft of Evolution’s Hand Book 3: Primary Target. Will it be done any time soon? How’s the effort going? Is it moving forward well, did I stumble and face-plant over some plot problems, or did something somewhere inbetween happen? Let’s take a look after I present the numbers.
Progress Report 2022 Week 32 By the Numbers
I consider a week successful if I write over 10,000 words.
The previous two books, the published Executive Action and the upcoming Dying Breath, were 156,980 and 198,018 words, respectively. I expected this book to be longer than Executive Action, but I wasn’t sure if it would be as long as the second. Right now, it looks like it’ll be shorter.
I’m Writing the Resolution Arcs!
In my previous update post, I mentioned that I had been struggling with the resolution chapters for Matsushita Sachi and Dek Conrad. Building out the location of the set for the space elevator complex in Araracuara, Colombia helped me visualize the setting. Once I had that, I had somewhere for the characters to interact. Finishing the chapters felt easier after that. Heck, it was possible after that.
This week, I had a very different experience. I had already designed the sets I used for the Jadwiga Janczak’s resolution chapter. I didn’t consciously know how the scene would go, but the character did. I had to go back to a couple of her previous chapters to lay a little ground work, but once that was in place, I could barely type fast enough to keep up! I really love it when that happens.
To answer the question I posed earlier, I didn’t face plant this week. Not that I know of, anyway. In fact, I think there’s a high probably I can finish the first draft by the end of August. It’s later than I like, given I wanted to finish it by the end of June. I wrote the first draft Executive Action from late December 2020 to about June 2021. I wrote the first draft of Dying Breath from about the end of June 2021 to the end of November 2021. I started the first draft of Primary Target around the end of January 2021, and I’m only finishing it now.
Primary Target is almost done! But I wish I had finished it by the end of June.
I suspect the second drafts of Executive Action and Dying Breath had a bigger impact on my schedule than I realized. But if I’m going to keep up two books a year, I need to figure that out and get moving on the next book! But I can’t forget to publish the second, then put the third through its second draft and beta reader cycle. Maybe I can get more efficient as I go?
Oh, and the cover reveal for Dying Breath is coming! I liked the first cover; I absolutely love the second! I hope you’ll like it, too.
Progress Last Week
Here were my goals from last week:
- Finish Matsushita Sachi’s Plot Point 2: Done!
- Finish Dek Conrad’s Plot Point 2: Done!
- Finish Ira Malhotra’s Resolution: Done!
Also finished:
- Booth’s Resolution
- Janczak’s Resolution
- Additional chapters about Director Brianne Tierney and Zhao Kun; those chapters tie into the over-arching plot of all three books
I don’t want to overstate, so in the spirit of full disclosure, the Tierney and Zhao chapters were pretty short.
Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2022 Week 32
- Finish Atticus Porter’s Resolution
- Finish Matsushita Sachi’s Resolution
- Finish Dek Conrad’s Resolution
- Begin the wrap-up chapters (stretch goal)
What Do You Think?
Have you been in a situation where you have multiple books at different stages in the pipeline? Do you have any tips for how to keep things moving? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please feel free to share in the comments!