Weekly Writing Update

Week of 07 August to 13 August

Some weeks are bad writing weeks, some weeks are mediocre writing weeks, and then there are writing weeks like this one, when I’m busy at work and still manage to crank out some fifteen thousand words.  There must be some controlling factor, some factors I could identify to help facilitate more of the latter and less of the former, but I don’t know exactly what that might be.  For now, I will just take advantage when it happens, and keep forcing myself to the keyboard when it doesn’t. 

I finished Drive On on Monday, and I don’t think it will require much in the way of revision beyond some cleanup, which will happen just as soon as I finish revisions on Trust but Verify, which is the one task that I did not get to this week; however, I did complete revisions on Rest for the Weary, which was the must-do writing assignment for this week.  With Drive On complete, I plunged right into Blood Magic’s thirty-fourth episode, Principles, which is the last stand-alone episode before the two-part series finale.  Principles is already over six thousand words, and I’m hoping to finish it next week.  If I can do that, I’ll be in excellent shape to focus on the bonus episode, A Spiritual Journey, before I need to start on the final two episodes. 

Since that wasn’t enough writing, I finished an independent short story, which I’m currently titling Executioner.  In a first, I intend to submit this story to a writing contest for publication in a magazine, instead of publishing it directly on IGC Publishing.com.  I’ll keep you posted with updates on that process, and where you’ll be able to read the finished version. 

Executioner is only two thousand words – I managed to write an actual short story, instead of the ten-thousand-word pieces I like to pass off as short stories – and I wrote it in a single day.  Well, a lot more than a day went into its creation, but the actual writing took place over the course of a day.  The piece is inspired most by the Epic of Gilgamesh, and borrows something of the rhythm and style used in those stories for its narrative, which makes it a far ‘artsier’ piece than most of what I write.  My other inspiration was a discussion I had recently about why, in the days of public executions, the executioner would always wear a mask.  I’m quite pleased with how it turned out, so I will definitely be sharing it with you in some form or another, whether that’s in a magazine, a contest, or through my own imprint. 

Plus, I wrote a couple of posts and book reviews for the site, finished a couple of books…it was a productive week.  I doubt I’ll quite match the same level of productivity next week, but you’ll find out in the next weekly writing update.  Before then, you’ll see the re-release of Rest for the Weary, a post on cause and effect, and a review for Off on a Comet.  Don’t forget to follow the site for the latest updates and new reading material.