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Progress Report 2023 Week 14

Last week, one of my characters staged a rebellion. They actually won that particular battle! Were they satisfied — or did they want more? Also, aren’t we getting close to the publication date for Evolution’s Hand Book 3: Primary Target? Is that still a thing? Let’s talk about those things and more after we look at the numbers.

Progress Report 2023 Week 14 By the Numbers

You can tell from the word count that things are humming along!

Last week, I talked about how the character Atticus Porter rebelled — he didn’t think his arc was dramatic enough. He was right! He’s not quite done, and he’s still talking to me. More whispering than yelling now, which is good! I’m still thinking through the next steps, but I think we’re on the right track.

Jadwiga Janczak, too, surprised me. She clashed with the top generals in the German space fleet. She did something unthinkable — to her, at least! It was completely in character, and I think it moved the plot forward. I still think it’s a good sign when the characters flow like this. I hope that comes across to the readers.

Gearing Up for Evolution’s Hand Book 3: Primary Target’s Go-Live

With the plot and characters settling down in Evolution’s Hand Book 5: Split Infinities, I had some energy to turn toward preparing to publish Book 3: Primary Target. First, I prepared the Word document that will become the print edition. And of all the programs I have ever used, from the BASIC that Radio Shack shipped with their PCs in the late 1070s until now, Word makes me the most furious.

This Tweet, from all the way back in 2017, says it best:

Truer words have seldom been spoken.

This is truth. This is Word. If I could live the rest of my life without having to open that application, I could die a little happier than I likely will. But I persevered. After about four hours of work, the paperback previewer for Amazon looked right. I ordered a preview copy to confirm.

I also used Kindle Create to create the ebook version. Going from a standing start to finished product took about thirty minutes. That included starting over when I discovered a typo in a chapter heading — a type that I missed, ProWritingAid missed, and a professional proof reader missed.

Well, at least I caught it before a reader did.

Progress Notes

Here’s how I did against my goals from last week:

  1. Finish Leon Weber’s Pinch 1: Done!
  2. Finish Jadwiga Janczak’s Pinch 1: Done!
  3. Finish Porter’s Midpoint: Done!
  4. Start Jadwiga Janczak’s Midpoint: Done!

I’m pleased with the progress I made this week. I hope I can keep writing at this pace!

Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2023 Week 14

Here’re my goals for the week:

  1. Finish Jadwiga Janczak’s Midpoint
  2. Finish Leon Weber’s Midpoint
  3. Finish Melchizedek Conrad’s Midpoint
  4. Start Leon Weber’s Pinch 2

What Do You Think?

If you’re writing and self-publishing, how do you balance maintaining momentum on writing and handling other activities like formatting and other pre-publication work? I should add — at the same time you’re working a day job? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments!

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