This has been a tough week, mainly due to stress at work. Unfortunately, I haven’t quite mastered compartmentalizing work stress from my home life, so I needed a break from computer-related endeavors.

In short, I didn’t write much this week.

I did, however, get myself a bit more organized for my upcoming works-in-progress. Note the plural there.

Despite my Camp NaNoWriMo goal of writing 20,000 words in July, I have written about 5,000 words total for The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy this month.

Part of the issue is that I spent several days not making much progress on my opening chapter rewrite. I came to a scene and got stuck, and it took me a few days to realize that I should just move on to work on a different section.

Overall, I’m happy with what I’ve done. The chapter rewrite is a much cleaner and more interesting way to open the novel. I just need to tie it off.

New Work In Progress!

In addition to drafting out The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy, a follow-up to my first novel, I have another project that has been nipping at my brain for months.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve written a handful of short stories totaling about 7,000 words.

What?!  you might exclaim.

You’ve been spending time writing other things and not talking about them?!?!

Yes, and I regret nothing.

Fine. Are these stories at least in this fantasy universe you’ve been building up for forever?

Indeed they are, but not just any stories. I’ve been writing a grand mythology for my universe!

From the very creation of the universe itself to the first creatures and beyond, I’ve done a lot of brainstorming, a lot of note-taking, and a bit of writing on the mythological origin of everything my fantasy universe has to offer.

My goal is to publish these stories digitally as an ongoing anthology. How and when this occurs is still in the works, but I’ll be planning (and writing) this out over the next few months.

The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy is still my priority. However, it may take me two to three years to really close to publication. So I’d like to have something to publish in the meantime, even if it’s not a novel.

(Although, truth be told, I would love to ultimately expand upon and publish this mythology in a massive tome of a book, fully illustrated. But that’s a dream for another day.)

So, I now have two works in progress. Figuring out how to divvy my time between them will be a serious challenge.

Goals for 8/3

1. Plan a beach trip, because holy crap it’s already August.
2. Write 5,000 words.
3. Enjoy our baby shower this weekend.

Steve D