Writing Journal/Random Notes 5.27.2018: Getting back in the groove as vacation starts

So… I was kind of lazing around for the past few weeks, but things… sort of picked up this week?

+502 words written.

Days writing: 1 out of 7.

Days revising: 2 out of 7 for 180 total minutes.

Daily Writing Goal Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of revisions): 3 out of 7 days.

So, there’s that. Less writing, but more revising. So, I want to talk about where I am at with the three writing projects I’m actively working on, then get into some RANDOM NOTES. 🙂

• The Holy Fool: I’ve been in contact with a publishing company for the past few months. Basically, it’s now at the point where we are bouncing cover ideas off each other. As soon as I have signed a full contract with them and getting everything set as far as number of pages, etc., I will give the full details on it. The upshot is, as I might have said previously, is that my goal of being a published author by the end of the year looks to be on target.
• The American Nine: I am now in the process of rereading the manuscript. It is a light revision – the idea is to cut any unnecessary wording as I see it and see what would be absolutely necessary to add. I am also looking for anything that I need to add to the story. My initial thoughts on this area is that I need to add some scenes – maybe “moments” would be a better description of that, as they might not have to be too long – that illustrate the ferocity of my main character’s father and the type of dominant personality he is. I don’t think I’ve shown that enough. Also, I need to expand at least one scene that shows that father discuss with his son, for the first time, his son’s sexuality. Usually in revision, my aim is to cut stuff – and I’ve already made a couple of subplots disappear during this process – but I will also have to add on things. It’s a good thing I still have 5,500 or so words before I hit the 100,000-mark, isn’t it?
  Also, my local writing group is going to do a critique of it two months from now, and I’m interested in seeing their input.
• We Can Be You…: I’ve now come around to how I can make the first book in what I’m projecting to be a three-book series interesting. I want to focus on the collaborative and friendship-based bonds between my band’s members rather than who they eventually end up with romantically. That I can save for the next two books in the series. So, I believe that I will be restarting the rough draft very soon.

That’s it for the projects; now, it’s time for Random Notes:

• My summer vacation has officially started, giving me more time to write and help my wife out with projects. With that in mind, I can see myself doing at least two posts per week, but not being too much of a yammerer here. If you just want to see me post interesting random stuff connected to writing I find online, you can check out my Facebook and Twitter pages. (I also cross-post all of the blog posts from here on those pages, too.)
• This conference is happening near me later this month. I’ve been to two of them before, and got something out of them. I likely will sign up for a couple of things and leave it at that to save cash.
• It’s the end of the month, and I know what time it is – time to schedule some posts for the month of June for the Facebook and Twitter pages. I’ll try to find some cool stuff.

More later.