Why? you may ask.
Hardly an unwarranted question.
Editing and revision, world-building and reading. Did I mention revision? I did write four short reviews and post them (see the last post).
If you recall the last update post, these are all things I expected to do, but I didn’t expect to take quite so long at them. The issue with November is I’ll be afk for over half of it; that alone kept me from attempting NaNo. Finishing 50K words in a month is doable for me, but in 8-10 days? I fear not.
Enough whining.
Updated 2 November, data from 1 November.
Since Blogger won’t properly handle an internal link, I’ve reordered the updates to put the latest on top. Older ones are below the text.
As of (11/1), the WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
• The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 490 words. No change.
• The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 103 700 words; revised draft is complete. Revisions finished October 23. To be sent to my long-suffering reader as soon as she’s ready.
• The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 22 462 words; draft underway. With True Princess revised, I’ve flowed those changes through this story—I think I have them all, ha-ha. I hope for mid-December to have the draft complete.
• Blood Moon (A Beckie and Ian story) formerly Princess: 53 435 words, Started working the breakthrough into the story. Plan to finish draft early in December if not by the time November disappears.
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 107 954 words; sent the finished version to my reader on Oct 13. On hold til those comments are back.
Amerith and Rhion have had no attention paid them; I’ll drop them from the updates.
For reference, here was August’s status.
As of (9/1), the WIPs along with my plans for them, are
• The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 490 words. No change.
• The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 106 324 words; draft is complete. On 9/1, received comments back from reader; problems. I’ve started a new version as a result. Plan for revisions to be done in September.
• The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 22 255 words; draft underway, although on hold for now, til True Princess is revised, as the changes will affect it as well. I hope for mid-October to have the draft complete.
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 508 words, the first breakthrough occurred; now to put some meat on the bones. Plan to finish draft in October.
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 109 912 words; sent the first half (57 000+ words) back on 8/15 to see if the issues have been addressed. On hold til those comments are back.
• Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 900 word; no change.
• Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 042 words; no change.
Here’s August’s work. With no changes since September 1, this is the most recent. Since I’ve not done enough original writing to justify entries, the Y-T-D total is the same as it was: 282 333 words through October 31.
What happened?
I enumerated the factors above. The work I’ve done on Voyages highlighted places where I needed to figure out things in Tanial’s universe; that took time and energy figuring out for example, maps and roads, what governments existed, and holidays, which then led to the religions people followed, or didn’t follow. I do expect Voyages to take til the end of the year.
The plan is to finish Blood Moon, now that I think I’ve found a rational way to finish it. The name change may hint at the direction. Some hours were spent on designing a cover for it as well. I hope to finish it before November’s hours vanish, but it may run into December.
Of course, I expect and hope to have some reading to do for my reader; I enjoy her work and hope she has time to complete the stories in her head, too.
As always, comments and opinions welcome.
The spreadsheet: Created by Svenja. See svenjaliv.com for more info and resources, including a free online word meter. All images are © 2011-2016 SvenjaLiv (http://svenjaliv.com).
Earlier updates:
As of (8/1), the WIPs along with my plans for them, are
• The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 490 words. Took care of the few questions and said, that’s done.
• The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 106 324 words; draft is complete. Reread and revised, and sent to beta reader on August 5.
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 49 336 words, the understanding of where the story is isn’t complete.
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 104 578 words; Received comments back, fixing is started.
• Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 900 words; last questions answered and it’s done.
• Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 042 words; done.
As of (7/1), the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are
• The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 343 words. To my reader on June 6; comments back and revisions complete. A few more q for the reader, and this one will be finished.
• The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 94 750 words; draft is not complete. Two more scenes; I can see the end. The title has changed because I liked where the characters ran off to. Update July 6: Draft complete.
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 49 370 words, began understanding where the story is; draft complete by July 30,
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 100 178 words; almost no work. First read to beta by July 6.
• Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 848 words; sent to beta June 6. Comments received and incorporated; Q’s back to reader by July .6
• Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 018 words; sent to beta June 6. Comments received and incorporated.
As of 6/1, the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are
• The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 115 518 words. Did the revisions, but need to reread, then to my reader by June 5
• The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 62 162 words; draft is not complete. Now plan by June 30.
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by July 30,
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 99 247 words; corrected most significant problems; revising. First read to beta by June 15,
• Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 848 words; proof and send to beta by June 5, and
• Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 018 words; proof and send to beta by June 5.
As of 5/1, the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are
• The Faux Princess: 110 651 words. Found even more holes with the aid of my reader; plug them with the revision to beta by May 15
• The Voyages Home: 37 735 words; draft may be complete by May 15, but more likely, the 30th;
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by June 30,
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 99 053 words; found significant problems; revising. First read to beta by May 30,
• Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 854 words; proof and send to beta by May 15, and
• Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 013 words; proof and send to beta by May 15.
As of 4/1, the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are
• The Faux Princess: 108 807 words. Went over notes from my reader. Revisions complete by April 20; return to beta by April 30.
• The Voyages Home: 13834 words; draft complete by May 15;
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by April 30, and
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 96 958 words; proof and send to beta by April 15.
As of 3/1, the four WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
• The Faux Princess: 90 954 words was sent to beta reader Jan 30; notes came back by 2/12 and have lain waiting for Low Places to be complete. Goal is to have it ready to publish by 3/31.
• The Voyages Home: 8382 words; draft complete by April 30;
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by April 30, and
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 81 365 words; failed to complete draft by Feb 15. The goal is now to have the draft by 3/15, and on to my long suffering beta ready by 3/31.
As of 2/1, the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are:
• The Faux Princess: 90 956 words, sent to beta reader Jan 30;
• The Voyages Home: 2500 words, no change; draft complete by April 30;
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by April 30, and
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 65 932 words, still on track to complete draft by Feb 15.
As of 1/23, the four WIPs along with my plans for them:
• The Faux Princess: 91 300 words, to beta reader by Jan 31;
• The Voyages Home: 2500 words, draft complete by April 30;
• Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, draft complete by April 30, and
• Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 50 000 words, draft complete by Feb 15.
