News Progress Post

Progress Report 2024 Week 29

One of my point of view characters decided to step up and take control of their narrative. That was great — mostly. Also, I had to work through a Real Life Family Event. Everyone’s fine; it was actually a leisure activity with my son. But did it impose a toll on my word count? Before we talk about those topics plus talk about progress against the week’s goals, let’s take a look at the infographic.

Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers

My goal is still at least 10,000 words per week — 12,000 on a good week. So far, so good!

I wrote on five of seven days this week. I’m shooting for six (with Friday night off from novel writing), so I missed a day. Earlier this summer, I added Monday night to my writing schedule to make the goal six, and writing Monday night helped me recover from no writing on Friday and Sunday this week.

This week, the characterTrent Raven stepped up and took more control of his narrative. Both Atticus Porter and Jadwiga Janczak starred in previous books, so their characters and motives are pretty clear in my mind. Trent Raven is new, so he’s a little less clear. This week, things moved in the right direction.

I can’t go into much detail without spoiling a minor reveal, but Raven “for reasons” took many theology classes in college. In a chapter I just wrote, Raven remembered an argument he’d gotten into with a professor in moral systematic theology class. It was the same argument I experienced in real life. Connecting those events helped me better understand Raven. He and I both came to the same conclusions after that argument — conclusions that weren’t flattering to the authority structure. That’ll help me write the rest of his chapters!

Progress against Last Week’s Goals

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

  1. Write Atticus Porter’s Pinch 1 (it might be multiple chapters): Done! It did turn out to be two chapters.
  2. Write Jadwiga Janczak’s Pinch 1 (it will likely be two or more chapters): Done! It only needed a single chapter.
  3. Write Trent Raven’s Pinch 1 (again, it’ll probably be more than one chapter): Done! And yes, it needed two chapters.
  4. Bid the cover job for The Sword of Sirius Book 3: Firebreak: Not done! I looked at my budget and decided to delay this until August.
  5. Receive the final beta feedback on Collapse Zone: Not done! The beta tester requested a two day extension, which I granted. I mean, I know all about RLFEs!
  6. Send Collapse Zone for proof reading: Done!
  7. Bid the first beta read for Firebreak: Done! The manuscript is out now.

Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2024 Week 29

Here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:

  1. Finish the helper plot chapter tentatively called “Getting Situated”
  2. Write Jadwiga Janczak’s Midpoint
  3. Write the helper plot tentatively titled “False Start”
  4. Write Trent Raven’s Midpoint
  5. Take delivery of the final beta read for The Sword of Sirius Book 2: Collapse Zone
  6. Take delivery of the first beta read for The Sword of Sirius Book 3: Firebreak

What Do You Think?

Do you start writing before you have a clear idea of a character? Do you dive right in? Or do you use a combination? I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments!