• What were your goals last week and did you accomplish them?
• Describe what you worked on.
• Set goals for next week.
• Did you learn something during this week?

Here is a list of things that you can do each week as we work on our novels (suggestions welcomed).

• Writing on a novel
• Characterization
• World Building
• Relevant research

=-=-=-=-=

Last Week's Goals

I only got 700 words or so written last week. Better than nothing, but I had another issue at work that distracted me.

My goals for next week:

• Improve scene details
• Write detailed scenes

This weekend I want to focus on detailing some scenes so I have some new stuff to write. I have one scene I can write but I could use some more scenes detailed.

What did I learn this week?

Just keep moving.

DREAMER'S ROSE: Work on chapter exchange revisions as they come.
Yes, and the DR side of the chapter exchange is now complete.

THE SHAMAN'S CURSE: Let it rest for a while longer.
Easy goal.

THE IGNORED PROPHECY: Time to start thinking about getting back to this.
No. Didn't even think about it much.

BLOOD WILL TELL: Send two new queries out.
Yes. One rejection back already, too.

MAGE STORM: Start working on the synopsis. *sigh*
No. Avoidance.

SEVEN STARS: Start really working on the world building and at least a rough outline for this.
Yes. First chapter, even.

OTHER:
Update my blog twice a week.
Make some revisions to a short story.
Yes to the blog. No to the short story.

Next Week's Goals:

DREAMER'S ROSE:
Let this one rest while I contemplate what almost amounts to a rewrite.

THE SHAMAN'S CURSE:
Let it rest for a while longer. When I've finished the revisions on its sequel, I'll take another look at it.

THE IGNORED PROPHECY:
Time to start thinking about getting back to this.

BLOOD WILL TELL:
Send two new queries out.

MAGE STORM:
Start working on the synopsis. *sigh*

SEVEN STARS:
Complete the world building and outline.

OTHER:
Update my blog twice a week.
Make some revisions to a short story.

Mainstream novel: I continued running through the first few chapters in search of anomalies and contradictions.

"Agents of the Fourth Wind" (SF): There's a particular 'vehicle' in this novel that does not exactly adhere to the laws of physics as we understand them. The past two weekends, I worked on more of its design specifications.

UPCOMING WEEK
"Metzgerhund Empire" (YA): Complete the last few scenes of the last chapter, and rewrite the agent query letter.

Mainstream novel: I’m anticipating getting back to a more consistent schedule sometime during the coming week.

"Agents of the Fourth Wind" (SF): Continue my technical research.

BLOGGATHAH
Up
Bad Form

NOTES
Short story overview: Last week, I mentioned I was working on completing three of my short stories. Since then, I’ve changed gears a bit and have dedicated my effort to completing five short story-ish projects. It’s not as monumental a task as it sounds, since most of the stories were already mostly done but languishing on my shelf. If you’re interested, check out the details of this undertaking on my site.

Oh...I finished the second task last night (early this morning), but was too blurry-eyed to update the web site.

S!
S!

This week - I can feel it in my bones: I'm onto something that's going to pull a lot of the multiple Ideas I've been working on into something great - I can almost taste it. I have the concept - I have the research - and yet there is something missing - and it is just nagging at me. I know something is missing - but I have know clue of what it is. So I think and I think some more, trying to follow this gut feeling as if it is driving me toward something only for it to continue to elude me.

and I want to start badly but for a deep driving feeling saying not yet! Wait for it!

Other than that insanity I'm finishing up my Q1 2011 wotf first draft for the exchange coming up on the fourteenth.

It is a concept that sort of started at Boot Camp in a sideways kind of way. But I'll explain that in the other thread.

Title - Sandfishing
Genre - Science Fiction/Space Opera
Est.Length - 75,000 words (give or take 10,000)
Finish Date Goal - February 14th, 2011
Last Week - Completed first chapter - 2600 words
This Week - Complete two more chapters or 3500 - 5000 words

I always marvel at how authors here can even begin to estimate what there word length is going to be for a book or a chapter because I have the hardest time thinking what chapters lengths should be.
like: Should I stop now? - should I go just a little more? - end on the action? Leave them wanting? Was that to much info? Is that to short to be a chapter? Is that to long? Am I skipping around to much for the reader? Etc. Etc. I have a hard time imagining just how long something is going to be, but maybe I will get better with experience.

W.

My word count estimate is more of a goal than a feeling on this one as it's too early to tell. All of my 'short' stories lately have been tending to the 8k-16k range. Some time back I wrote a 32k novella but I didn't know where it was going to end at all.

Though having also written a 110k novel, I do have a sense of how much story it takes to fill a certain amount of words. But I chose 75k because it seems like it would be a good length to present to an agent or publisher as a first novel in this genre.

So I guess that yes, estimating word count gets easier with the more stuff you write and as you learn about your own style and such. I have a rough outline in my head but I'm writing this book mostly by the seat of my pants so I could really end up anywhere on words count. I just want to make sure I don't get to 45k and run out of story.

As far as knowing when to stop? I write in scenes. So for me they stop when they come to their natural conclusion. I like them to have a complete feel to them, but that doesn't mean I don't leave the reader wondering what happens next (I hope). Chapter two is going to turn out to be three scenes, all happening on one day and they will tell their own little story within the story. Does that make sense?